Trent's house was quiet when Brock arrived. The door was unlocked but the lights weren't on which made Brock uneasy until he saw his best friend sleeping on the couch. There was a cold mug of vanilla coffee sitting on the table to his right. A pang of guilt hit Brock realizing that Trent had attempted to stay up to talk to him and that he needed the vanilla in his coffee tonight.

Cerb jumped into the recliner and curled up letting their brother sleep. Brock took the cold coffee into the kitchen and rinsed the cup. Returning to the living room Trent was sitting up.

"Hey. You wanna go back to sleep? We can talk in the morning." Brock sat at the opposite end of the sofa.

"Haven't been sleeping all that great myself. Can we just do this now?" Trent ran his hand through his hair.

"Yeah, yeah that's fine." Brock leaned back into the cushions closing his eyes for a moment.

"So... what's been going on?" Trent didn't want to push but Brock had been isolating himself and becoming more agitated over the last two months. It was time to push a bit.

"I went to dinner with Mandy. That's why I'm late." Brock sat forward. "I guess I underestimated her a bit. After we found her and she was... hurt... the way she was, it took me back to someone else. Someone I didn't know how to help. Lily. She was just a kid but so was I. She didn't survive the trauma and I wasn't sure I would either..." Brock turned to Trent before speaking again. "But tonight, tonight Mandy laughed and it reached her eyes. They weren't filled with the despair I was expecting. I really think she's okay, I mean as okay as she can be right now... does that make sense?" Brock realized he was rambling.

"It does. She's a damn strong woman." Trent thought back to the physical injuries she had sustained, not allowing himself to revisit the rest, and doubted some members of Bravo would be back after only two months. "So Lily is why you have been so... I don't even know lately?"

"Yeah. I hadn't really allowed myself to think about her for years... after her funeral I sort of put her into this place in my mind where things get dealt with later or never. I guess this is later." A tear slid down his face.

"Brock I've known you a very long time now and I can tell you if that girl could have been helped by you then you would have helped her." There was nothing that could make Trent doubt his brother did everything he was capable of doing.

"I didn't know what to do then."

"Brock I've always believed that every thing that happens in our lives happens for a reason... sometimes the reasons suck but they are still reasons. I also think that every bad thing that happens is preparing us for the next. Without Lily would you have been able to help Mandy?"

"Probably not but that doesn't make the fact that she was so young and so alone any easier." Brock put his hand on Cerb's head. The dog had moved closer as his handler lost some of his composure.

"Didn't mean for it to or for it to sound as though I was saying what happened to her was right. Sometimes things just suck." Trent yawned.

"They really do suck." Brock's own yawn joined Trent's. "I'm sorry I shut you out. I didn't mean to do it."

"Brock you don't have to apologize for having a shitty time with a shitty thing that happened." Trent sat more upright to keep himself awake. "When we first found her... I didn't think. I saw the blood, bruising, and injuries. I didn't see what you saw and I could have made it so much wprse by not seeing it. Brock I would have traumatized her more if you hadn't been there. Thank you for stepping in and helping her feel safer."

"You know Lily was a tiny little blonde with eye's bluer than Clay's but in that moment I saw her instead of Mandy and I knew I had to do better this time." Brock looked toward the clock noting the time.

"Ray would have a lot to say about that I'm sure." Trent chuckled slightly. "Speaking of Ray after you left it was decided that we are doing a team breakfast in the morning."

"I'm sure Sonny would have something asinine to say too." Brock yawned again. "If you don't mind I'm exhausted."

"I was sleeping when you got here, brother." Trent stood and walked toward his bedroom. "Hey Brock, you know I love you right?"

Brock layed back on the couch with Cerb curled at his feet. "Yeah, I do and Trent... same brother."

A/N~ Well that's about it for this piece. I am still working on Crumpled Papers for anyone wondering. If anyone has any prompts for that story or the next please feel free to send me a PM or leave it in the comments. Hope everyone enjoyed this one and is having a great day. I'm currently buried under a foot or so of snow so I'll be keeping warm and working on fics!