Brothers by Elsa Pieterse (best romance books of all time TXT) 📕

January 2020

It was 10:00 when Ryan and Justin arrived at May's house. The greetings were awkward and uncomfortable, Ryan felt tense around Jake and he hated it.

May invited them to have a seat in the living room. Jake was sitting in his wheelchair while Justin and Ryan shared a couch. 

Jake's astral projection appeared on the single couch left open and Justin noticed that he looked pale and he could see a slight tremble in his hands.

Jake however spoke clearly and apologized to Ryan again for the secrets, who in turn just gave a shrug and told him that they needed to find out what Dr Chambers agenda was. Why he wanted Jake away from the institute and they needed to find out who, if anyone, was after him and what they wanted from him. They would deal with the rest after the problems at hand were dealt with.

Jake nodded reluctantly and glanced at May who spoke up for the first time. May took the glance as her queue and suggested that Ryan and Justin confront Dr Chambers and ask him directly what his involvement were. Ryan replied that he had a similar plan and that he thought the direct approach would work best with Mason. May quirked an eyebrow at him and wondered, not for the first time, how close Ryan and Mason really were. She would not mention anything to Jake yet, but her suspicions about Ryan and Mason hiding something were growing with every meeting they had. 

Jake spoke up and said that he would go with but he would stay invisible, all three his companions shook their heads at the same time. Jake gave an exasperated sigh and asked May if he could see her in private for a moment. May gave Ryan an eyeroll but agreed and moved out of earshot of the two younger boys.

Jake looked at May seriously and told her that he knew about her suspicions of Ryan and Mason and that he wanted to go to prove to her and himself that she was wrong. May was taken aback for a second but quickly recovered enough to shake her head in denial.

It was a weak attempt and Jake only glared at her. She knew he had won, but she told him anyway that, if she was correct, he would need back-up. He glared at May as he asked her back-up for what, he couldn't believe the matron would think his brother would actually harm him. May just shook her head as she headed back to the other boys. 

Ryan knew before May opened her mouth that his brother had convinced her somehow to let him participate. "Damn, you're good", he said to his older brother with a mixture of awe and disgust, before May had a chance to say anything.

Jake just shrugged happily and turned to Justin. He gave him a smile and said that it was really good to see him and that it had been to long. Ryan watched the strange exchange between his brother and best friend and knew there was more to the simple comment. Justin in turn just smiled back and nodded in agreement.

Ryan looked from Jake to Justin slowly but spoke to May, asking her if she had enough medicine to keep Jake stable if he were to go with. Ryan had decided to let his brother go with just to try to find out what the exchange between his brother and best friend was about. 

May told him that she had enough and that she would get more from the institute that night as she was on duty then.

They all agreed that the three young men would visit Dr Chambers at the institute that afternoon. 

JANUARY 2020

The drive to Dr Chambers office was tense but quiet. Jake was meeting them at Mason's. Each friend caught in their own thoughts. The boys had no way of knowing how similar their thoughts were. Ryan was still pondering the strange exchange between his brother and Justin. He knew his brother well enough to know he didn't do small talk and that the comment to Justin had been intentional. As far as he knew Justin and Jake had lost touch the same time Ryan had stopped visiting his brother. But now he wondered if something had happened between the two in the time he had spent away from his brother.

Justin was silently bristling at his best friends brother. He knew exactly why Jake made the comment, it was to peek his brothers interest and thereby make sure he would let him go with to meet Mason.

He was really regretting his involvement with Jake and the institute as he imagined his best friends reaction when he found out.

Justin stayed carefully behind Ryan as he followed him to the doctors office, being careful not to let on that he knew the way quite well. 

Jake stood just outside the office door, impatiently tapping his foot. "What took you guys so long?" he whispered impatiently. 

Ryan just gave him a glare as he knocked on the door. Jake went invisible next to him and Justin steeled himself, preparing for the inevitable fallout he was sure to come. 

Dr Chambers answered the door with a friendly greeting and invited the two young men inside. 

Justin extended his hand in introduction, and the doctor shook his hand with a hint of amusement in his eyes. 

Justin silently sucked in a breath, he knew his secret was going to be revealed soon. 

As if on queue Ryan spoke up and demanded to know what was going on, he had obviously seen the small exchange and Justin knew his very observant friend would have picked up on the vibe. 

The very close to genuine confusion on the doctors face left Ryan speechless for a second, and he wondered if maybe he had imagined the whole thing. 

Justin spoke up and told the doctor to drop the act and that his friend knew something was going on.

Dr Chambers gave a shrug and told the two to sit down.

Next he asked if Jake was there to which Jake's astral projection became visible next to Ryan. Mason gestured for him to take the remaining seat in the small office.

Mason gave a nod and told Ryan he would start at the beginning and that things would make more sense when he was finished.

Mason told the three young men that he had noticed an increase in Jake's brain activity at night that first year he was admitted to the institute. He started an investigation into the findings and shared some of the information with certain investors in the institute. He had been monitoring Jake closely upto the night of the Roseville Heroes ball and after that nights events he was sure there was something special about Jake's brain. In the time Jake was in the hospital he had placed cameras and extra monitors in his room without anyone knowing. When they brought Jake back to the institute after the two days in hospital he monitored his brain activity closely and he found the anomoly at that time. He named it the Mentalite gene and shared these findings with the investors. He had mentioned the brothers close connection to the investors before and they became interested in Ryan as well. Ryan and Jake had drifted apart at that time and Mason had no way of getting info on Ryan. He had his suspicions that Jake could communicate with people he was close to and that was when he decided to speak to Jake about the Mentalite gene. He sat at his bedside and told him that he had isolated the gene and that he could help him if he trusted him enough.

Jake had tried to contact his brother but Ryan was adament about protecting his brother by staying away from him and his abilities.

Mason was patient and kept asking him to trust him and that he could help.

Mason went on to explain that Justin showed up at the end of April and told him that Jake had sent him. That was when they started with the medicine to help with Jake's newly diagnosed "Mentalite disease". Dr Chambers got approval from the board of directors of the institute for the new treatment.

The investors was however getting impatient and wanted information on Ryan as well. That was when Mason sent the nurse to May who started the events to get Ryan back into the picture.

All three boys were staring at the doctor with varying degrees of disbelief evident on their faces. Ryan was the first to find his voice and thanked the doctor for his honesty. He then asked him if he knew what exactly they wanted with him. Mason replied that they wanted to check if he maybe had an anomoly in his brain to and if he could be the key to stopping the degeneration of Jake's condition. He went on to tell him that the people who was interested in him was however dangerous and not to be trusted. He said that if Ryan agreed to the tests he would be involved closely to protect the young man.

Jake and Justin both spoke up at the same time, both vehemently against the tests and Ryan getting involved. Ryan ignored them both and told the doctor to schedule the tests. He then turned around and walked out of the office without acknowledging his brother or his friend.

Jake was left speechless and frozen as his brother stormed out of the office. Justin however was in the doctors face and grabbed him by the collar. He pushed him up against the wall and asked him what he was up to with barely contained rage. The doctor was both surprised and impressed with the young man's reaction. He was a lot stronger than he pretended to be, the fact that he had the visible disability had helped in his cover. The doctor chuckled dryly and told him that he had always been honest with them. He had just omited a few details. The doctor knew he was taking a gamble by provoking the young man, but he wanted to see how far he could push. He was willing to face the consequences. Justin however surprised him again by releasing him. He watched as the interesting young man took a step back and turned to Jake. His voice was soft, almost tender as he spoke to him. He told him to go back to May and to wait there until he contacted him. Jake nodded and giving the doctor a heated look he disappeared. 

April 2019

Lily wondered again if this was a good idea. She was on her way to see Justin. As she drove into the shadier parts of Roseville she hoped Jake would find her as he had never astral projected to an unknown location, with only the caller as anchor before.

Lily parked her car in the short driveway and made her way to the door uncertainly. She knew Ryan was at his parents house, she had made sure that he was out of the picture before she drove to see Justin.

Ryan's best friend was her last hope of convincing Jake to tell his brother about the Mentalite program and the possible treatment options.

Jake had told Lily about Dr Chambers visits and had asked her opinion. She had told him to tell his brother and that the two should then decide together what the best course of action would be. He was not convinced and told her that Ryan had made it clear that he didn't want him to use his abilities. He wanted to respect his brothers wishes.

Lily had seen Ryan and Justin interact at the expo earlier that month and she had been surprised and overjoyed at seeing a side of Ryan few people probably got to see. She realized that Justin was the only person who could possibly convince Jake to confide in his brother because he arguably cared for Ryan as much as Jake did.

Lily took a deep