up and retrieved another glass of grape juice and another bottle of vodka. He took it and put it on the counter.
"I don't even know what I can say to make up for what an ass I've been," he said with a sigh. "But it's over now, and I am sorry."
"I'm sorry too," Kaylee said, her words slurred slightly.
"You are my sister, and I completely turned my back on you." His eyes began to tear up. "You are the one person in the world I should trust above everyone, and I shut you out and didn't listen to a word you said."
She waved her hand in the air as if it didn't matter.
"Don't worry about it. We all make mistakes. I'm still here, and I'm still your sister. That's never going to change. Push me away all you want, you know I'll always be here in the end," she assured him.
"Well, if I ever do something this stupid again, be sure to kick my ass, and never let me forget this little lesson I learned," he asked of his sister.
"You got it," she promised.
"How am I ever going to face the guys?" he asked.
"You'll just have to do it. Of course, they won't be as forgiving as I am, but you'll figure out how to make it right with them," she told him honestly.
"So, do you want to talk about why you're sitting here in the kitchen, all alone, nursing a bottle of vodka in the middle of the night?" Noah asked, making her realize that he wasn't as self-absorbed as he'd been lately.
"Just washing the taste from my mouth," Kaylee replied flippantly.
"I don't think I want to know what that means, but if you want to talk, I'll listen," he offered.
"Thanks, but I've done really well with not crying yet, so I think I'm going to hold off," she paused, not sure if she wanted to say any more. "Let's just say that no matter what you do, sometimes you'll never live up to other people's standards."
"Amen, sister!" Noah said and held his glass up in a toast.
Kaylee clinked her glass against his, and then drained the contents. In the distance, she heard the door to her room slam shut, then a few loud footsteps, and another door slam shut. She knew then that it was all clear for her to go back to her room.
Wanting to be alone, she put down her glass, gave Noah a shaky smile, walked to her room, and allowed the tears to flow.
The next day, Noah called everyone over to the house, band and management alike, to start asking for forgiveness. He knew that he had a long way to go before they would forgive and trust him again, but he was willing to do whatever it took to make that happen.
During the meeting, the absence of his sister didn't go unnoticed, nor did the dark circles under Ashton's eyes. Noah wasn't the only one to notice, but they all knew they had to focus on one problem at a time.
After Noah spoke, the guys shook hands and told him that they were on the road to forgiveness, but they had a lot of work to make up for to get their album out.
Their managers told them they would be back in the studio the next Monday, and to rest up because they would need to work hard to meet their deadlines. Noah couldn't have felt worse after hearing that, knowing that they were all going to have to suffer through long hours of hard work, all because of him.
When all the guys left, Noah sat Ashton down for a talk. "Anything you want to talk about?" he asked.
"First of all, this isn't something that I want to talk to you about, of all people. Second, don't try to play big brother now, after all the shit you've put Kaylee through lately. You know, I can forgive you for what you did to me and the band, but all the crap that you put on her, that's inexcusable."
"I can speak for myself," Kaylee said, walking into the room after hearing Ashton go off on her brother. "Stay out of our business. Besides, what the hell do you care? Do you think that you haven't hurt me either? You have no room to talk after what you did!"
She thought she was ready for the confrontation, but she wasn't. The emotions were too raw, too big for her to deal with. She turned and ran