Living

Chapter 11: Overwhelmed

After Snipeshooter's party, Davey noticed Les was quicker to anger than usual, and he was always in some kind of mood. The older didn't pry much, but when he did, Les would either ignore him or start yelling about everything being fine. Everyone assumed it was puberty.

Davey had the apartment to himself when he heard a knock. He got up from his place on the couch, leaving the pictures he was sorting through on the coffee table. He opened the door, happy to see who was on the other side. "Sarah!"

Sarah's eyes widened in shock as she forced a smile. "Hey, little bro!"

Davey laughed, squeezing her tightly in a hug. "It's been so long!"

"Yeah", Sarah rasped, breathing when her twin released her. "It's good to see you, too."

"Come in! Are you hungry? Thirsty?" Davey was so happy to see his older sister after months of missing her smiling face and bad jokes.

He couldn't tell Sarah didn't feel the same.

"Okay", Sarah says hesitantly, walking inside after her brother.

—————

Les was at his girlfriend's house, talking her ear off.

"It's like he's trying to ignore me!" Les sat with his arms crossed, talking animatedly. "I don't know what I did wrong!"

"Uh-huh", Sally says, a bored expression on her face. "Hey, do you-"

"And don't get me started on his attitude!" Clearly, Les wasn't done ranting after an entire hour of it. "He acts friendly and nice and stuff when Snipe, Boots, and Newby are around, but then he'll-"

"Les!" He stopped talking and looked at Sally, who took a deep breath. "Can we talk about something else? It's just- you've been talking for an hour."

Les nodded quickly, relaxing and hugging her. "Yeah. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bore you."

"You couldn't bore me", Sally responded with a soft smile. "It's just that you were starting to repeat yourself."

"I'm glad you stopped me then", Les laughed. "I'd hate to be a broken record player."

Sally giggled and hugged him. Les hugged back and smiled. "So, what's been going on with you?"

Sally smiled. "Well, my brother just left for college. I'm really going to miss him, but at least I'll get some peace and quiet. However, that does mean I'll probably get more chores-"

Les liked listening to Sally. He truly did, but he couldn't help but be distracted. There was just so much going through this mind at once, and Sally had a lot of lights on, and for some reason he could here the TV from downstairs, and his head was buzzing-

"Les!"

He looked up at Sally, who had a worried expression on her face. "My mom said you need to go home. We have to set up for Christmas. I'll...I'll see you later, yeah?"

Les nodded, grabbing his shoes and putting them on slowly, quickly walking out of the house.

That's never happend before, he thought as he walked quietly to Morgan's.

—————

"You've missed so much", Davey laughed, looking at his sister. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, you know", avoiding you, "around. I've been pretty busy lately."

"I can tell. You haven't stopped by once."

"You're starting to sound like a grandma", Sarah quips, a small smile at her lips.

"Sorry", Davey mutters, a sheepish smile on his face. He continues talking as Sarah looks around the room.