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"Oh, come on," Ronan said For starters, it was Henrietta And for finishers, it was Henrietta No one got burgled, and if they did, they didn’t get beaten up And if anyone was going to get beaten up, it wouldn’t be the Lynch brothers There was very little worse than Ronan in Henrietta, and orse there as too busy racing around in a little white Mitsubishi to burgle the re Lynches "What did they steal?"

"My computer And a little money"

"And your face"

Declan just inhaled in response, slow and careful Noah slid into the pew, sitting at the very end, and Ronan slid in beside him As he lowered the kneeler, he smelled the sharp, antiseptic smell of hospital on his brother For a moment, disoriented, he had to hold in his breath He knelt and put his head down on his are behind his eyes was the bloody tire iron beside his father’s head I didn’t cos I can do can I not change -- While whispered conversations ebbed and flowed around thee of his older brother’s face and tried unsuccessfully to iine the person that could beat Declan up The only person who had ever succeeded in beating up a Lynch brother had been another Lynch brother

After he had exhausted this line of thought, Ronan gave in to the brief privilege of hating hi satisfying about acknowledging this hatred, so about this little present he allowed himself each Sunday

After a minute, the kneeler buckled as Matthew joined them Even without the buck of the kneeler, Ronan would have known his presence by the heavy dose of cologne Mattheays seemed to think church required

"Hey, pal," Matthehispered He was the only person who could get aith calling Ronan pal Matthew Lynch was a bear of a boy, square and solid and earnest His head was covered with soft, golden curls completely unlike any of his other family members And in his case, the perfect Lynch teeth were framed by an easy, dimpled smile He had two brands of smile: the one that was preceded by a shy dip of his chin, a dimple, and then BAM, smile And the one that teased for a es called hies called his than either of his older brothers, but unlike Declan or Ronan, he always tried his hardest

Ronan had drea to hih roo Ronan had once asked Noah if he chose to be invisible, and Noah, hurt, had replied enigmatically, "Rub it in, why don’t you!"

"Did you see Declan’s face?" Matthehispered to Ronan The organ played dolorously

Declan kept his voice just low enough to be church-level "I’lar," Ronan said Really, it was like the truth was a disease Declan thought ht kill him

"Sometie, low voice that ca not to move his mouth while he spoke, "I actually need for you to pick up"

"Are we having a conversation?" Ronan asked "Is that what’s happening right now?" Noah smirked He didn’t look very pious

"By the way, Joseph Kavinsky isn’t so around," Declan added "Don’t snort I’m serious"

Ronan merely invested a look with as much contempt as he could muster A lady reached over the top of Noah to pat Matthew’s head fondly before continuing down the aisle She didn’t seeht, because he didn’t, either Both Ronan and Declan observed this interaction with the pleased expressions of parents watching their prodigy at work

Declan repeated, "Like, actually dangerous"

Soave hie of the seedier side of Henrietta What he meant was, did Ronan know that Kavinsky was a cokehead

In his ear, Noah whispered, "Is crack the sa as speed?"

Ronan didn’t answer He didn’t think it was a very churchappropriate conversation

"I know you think you’re a punk," Declan said "But you aren’t nearly as bad ass as you think you are"

"Oh, go to hell," Ronan snapped, just as the altar boys broached the rear doors

"Guys," Matthew pleaded "Be holy"

Both Declan and Ronan fell silent They were silent all through the opening hys, which Matthew sh, and the hoh They were silent through communion, as Noah remained in the pew and Declan limped up the aisle and accepted the host and Ronan closed his eyes to be blessed -- please God what am I tell me what I am --and Matthew shook his head at the wine And finally silent through the last hymn as the priest and the altar boys trailed back out of the church

They found Declan’s girlfriend, Ashley, waiting on the sidewalk just outside the main doors She was dressed in whatever had just been on the front page of People or Cosmopolitan and her hair was dyed whatever shade of blond s in each earlobe She see, and Ronan hated her To be fair, she also hated Ronan

Ronan snarled a smile at her "Afraid you’ll catch fire if you come in?"

"I refuse to participate in a cerees to women," she said She didn’t h, and she didn’t look at Noah at all, though he’d snickered vaguely