Riptide (Bondi Rescue)

 "Thanks, Hugo," I muttered, ducking under my brother's arm as he held the door open for me.

Hugo grunted in acknowledgement, following me out of the building and to the uber waiting by the curb. Cole was already inside, leaning against the window with his eyes closed. I would bet money that he was already asleep.

I slid into the middle seat, towel wrapped around my still damp body, hair dangling in wet strings about my shoulders. Hugo climbed in after me, sandwiching me in the middle and shutting the door behind himself. He groaned, banging his head against the headrest before he put his seatbelt on.

"D'you think they'll call us back?" I asked, blinking slowly. The driver pulled out from beside the indoor pool. Cole must have already given him the address.

"I hope so," Hugo answered, voice deep with exhaustion. He leaned his cheek against the vinyl seat belt and closed his eyes.

I didn't blame my brothers for falling asleep. Not one of us had been prepared at all to put our bodies to the test like we had just done for hours. I was grateful for the opportunity to be a lifeguard, but privately amazed at the sheer amount of things I was required to complete to even be considered as a lifeguard.

Hoppo had explained to all of us that the next part of the process would include evaluating how well we had done during the training, and then one on one interviews. He would review our resumes, look into our history, see how we handled the beach rather than the pool, and then make the call.

I was clear with him that my brothers and I had little to no experience on the ocean shoreline, except that which we had gotten already in the mass rescue. Privately, I wondered how that could have only been a few days ago. It seemed like it had been ages since I had even last seen the ocean.

I must have drifted off, because I awoke to Cole poking me none too gently in the ribs. "Ungh?" I asked, lifting my head up.

"We're h-back at the house, Belle. Time to get up."

"Ugh," I groaned, forcing my heavy eyelids open and reaching to unbuckle my seatbelt. I thanked the uber driver and climbed out of the door that Cole held open for me, wrapping my cold, damp towel tighter around my body.

Hugo had already gone inside by the time Cole and I reached the front porch. "Are you sore?" I asked him as we kicked off our sandals in the entryway and closed the door behind us.

Before Cole could answer, Mom came hurrying through the room. "You're here!" She exclaimed, sounding concernedly relieved as she flung her arms around Cole's neck, squeezing him tightly.

"Mom?" Cole asked, eyebrows furrowing with concern as he hugged her back, but then gently pried her off and stepped away. "What's wrong?"

She looked surprised that he'd noticed anything was wrong. "Nothing, dear! Nothing at all!" She reassured Cole.

Branden entered the room at that moment, somehow managing to look even more tired. He reached up, running a hand through his brown hair, his eyes, and the deep bags underneath them, betraying the strength of the worry he was feeling.

"What's wrong?" I repeated Cole's question, shuffling to stand closer to my twin.

Cole glanced down at me, and straightened slightly, shifting so that we were both facing Mom and Branden. A united force of the kind only twins could have, formidable as ever, inseparable even as we aged.

"Well...," Mom hesitated, trailing off slightly. In the face of us, her expression faltered.

"It's nothing to worry about," Branden said from behind her, arms crossed eyes stern despite the blatant fear laced inside them.

"Is it Dad?" The voice came from slightly below, as Hugo emerged from the basement, having changed into cargo shorts and a t-shirt and drying his hair with a towel. His tone was bold and firm.

Neither Branden or Mom said anything for a long moment. Finally, Branden said, "It's nothing to worry about, Hugo."

I blinked, surprised at his sharp undertone. Branden rarely spoke like that to us.

"Well, clearly you're worrying about it," Hugo pushed.

Branden shook his head, looking frustrated with our brother. "It's not your problem. Leave it be," He said, "Come on, Mom."

Cole, Hugo and I watched as Branden took Mom by the shoulder and drew her away from us. As they left, I caught a glimpse of emptiness in her eyes again, like how it had been back in Iowa.

Definitely something to do with Dad, I thought grimly.

Hugo made a move like he was going to go after the two, but I reached out and put a hand on his arm, stilling him. "Let them be," I said, "Fighting isn't going to get any of us anywhere, except maybe farther apart from each other."

Hugo heaved a heavy sigh, forcing the tension from his shoulders, and nodded in agreement. "You're right, Belle," He said, "But I don't like it. If they continue with their secret keeping like they have been, we'll grow apart anyway."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence.

Finally, Cole said, "Well, on that unhappy note, I'm going to go and shower."

He disappeared down the stairs.

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I'm finally getting into the plot of the family storyline as well as Bondi's plot... we're about to kick everything off for real now, peeps! Thanks for joining me and I hope you enjoyed your read so far!