ORPHANED

:: one hundred two ::

he felt the counter press into his waist, all of his weight lent onto the edge, disapproving of the sharp pain he felt yet refusing to move. his fingers typed against the screen, the conversation passing, the blonde unsure if he had even been aware enough to perceive it. he read the unsent text, realizing he had poured out almost the entirety of his life story as he waited for his matter to merge with the sink's so his problem would be gone forever.

he shook his head, a hand reaching his face to press against the lips that had caused him so many problems. who gave him the privilege of sentient thought? it seemed he couldn't use it for anything good. his eyes returned to the unsent text wondering if the person on the other line had been waiting for his response. he deleted the paragraph, interchanging his words for the first cop-out that came to mind.

'its a long story'

he wasn't lying, it was a long, exhausting story, and for him to stand here and recite it for really no reason at all, but to unearth feelings he had already decided he dealt with, it would be foolish of himself. unfortunately for him, the next question came with a speed he hadn't anticipated, leaving no space in his brain to think of an excuse.

'well how are you holding up then?'

he waited to answer until the typing halted. 'just trying to get used to not being around him all the time i guess'

'are you free tomorrow?'

he had to hold back an audible laugh, knowing he would be the only person on earth to find humor in the situation he currently found himself in. 'i mean i haven't had anything planned for weeks'

the response had came just as quickly as the last, like it was already thought out, like she knew the answer she would get but nonetheless she was willing to try and see if his opinion would change. 'how about i come pick you up tomorrow and we go on a walk, so you can get some fresh air and actually tell me about what happened'

it was at this particular point in time when he had realized he had fallen into a trap. there was no excuse to offer that could pull him out of this quicksand of a question he had been tricked into. 'oh red i don't know' the next response could have gone unspoken, he knew exactly what she would bring up to make him give in.

'you already said you don't have anything planned'

typical. if only he had learned to use his brain to prevent himself from falling into situations like these and not overthinking instances that had a simple explanation.

'there must have been a really big reason why you finally decided to ask me for help?'

she was right, just like anyone else he asked for advice was. if everyone had a solution for him he wondered why he was being so ignorant to ignore the help he had set out to find several different times.

'im tired of you sparing me all the details, i wouldn't have offered to help you all that time before if i didn't know what i was getting myself into.'

he recalled the day of the trampoline park, how everything had played out so well, he had so much fun with the brunette, until the very moment he had gotten distracted and knocked off his feet. it had gone downhill after that. she offered her help and he left her hanging, this was the least he could do. 'alright.'

she responded with a smile and thus began his struggle to count down the hours until he'd have to spill his guts all over again. he set down his phone with a sigh, running his hands through hair that had gone disregarded for far too long. when he finally turned from the sink he didn't expect to be met with the smirk that settled on his sister's face.

he didn't bother asking what she was thinking about, the answer most likely something that would fluster him much too quickly for his own liking. she had gotten good at it for no other reason than she seemed to enjoy doing it, having a power over him he couldn't control. sometimes he would describe her as cruel, but then he would remember the time she knocked out her two front teeth on the merry-go-round.

"you're dumb."

her face dropped almost immediately, offended by the words they both knew meant nothing. he turned from her before giving her a chance to respond. he took his time while washing the dishes in the sink, knowing she had been waiting for him to turn around before she voiced her response.

instead of waiting around for that to happen, he pushed through the kitchen to throw himself face first onto the couch. his smile pressed into the cushions when he heard his sister's quiet steps following. she had no remorse for him, jumping on top of him to situate herself on his shoulder blades.

"ow." he was spoken over.

"when are you going to cut your hair, you look like all the wannabe edgy kids from school."

he shouldn't have taken as much offense to that as he did.

"i was actually thinking of growing out my hair." his voice was muffled under the weight of the both of them.

"what?"

he rolled over a little, sending her onto the ground and giving him room to repeat himself.

"ow." this time she was spoken over.

"i said, i was thinking of growing out my hair."

her reaction was priceless, her mood dropping and her face screwing as if he had just confessed to murder. she stood from her seat on the floor to repeatedly hit him with a pillow. "thats so gross, why would you give people another reason to think we look alike, i don't want people to know we're related."

"what the hell, i was just joking." the atmosphere around them feeling light again, and his laugh flowing just as easily.

at least she could distract him for the time being.

—

i want to hear from you guys, since coffee compilations doesn't really suit the story anymore, if you had the chance what would you rename it to?