Billie Eilish x male reader (Rewrite)

Intermission : Joshua (I)

The Michaels' Residence, Los Angeles, California

Friday, June 15, 2001

4:40 AM PST

Joshua's eyes sprung open. He turned to his night table for his watch. 4:40 am; he was early. At 4:43 am, he finished making his bed, at 4:55 am, he had finished showering and taking care of his daily hygiene, and by 5:00 am, he had already got dressed and was waiting in front of his brother's room for him to wake up — which Kaleb didn't.

Joshua sighed. Kaleb was still having trouble adjusting to the flow of things, even after all this time. By 5:02 am, he had already opened the door to his room and found his brother on the bed. He was awake that much was sure from his weak sobs. "Still having a hard time adjusting to the flow of things."

Joshua took a heavy breath and sat down on the edge of the bed. Kaleb suddenly stopped crying, acknowledging Joshua's existence. He sprang upright from his position and hastily cleaned up his tears, mumbling apologies while doing so. Joshua cringed. He held Kaleb by his shoulder and pulled him into a hug.

"You don't need to apologize for anything, Kaleb, not to me," that seemed to have gotten to his little brother as he loosened up and started sobbing slowly again. "I-I can still see it when I sleep," Joshua heard Kaleb's muffled sentence, and the image from that night came into his mind, prompting him the hug his brother tighter. "You know you could always come to my room," Kaleb didn't reply. They stayed like that for a good minute. Joshua kept gazing upon the room, and his eyes landed on the watch on Kaleb's night table; 5:12 AM, his body tensed up — they were late.

Kaleb felt his brother tense up and took at his face, then followed his gaze to the time. Kaleb mustered his strength and let out a heavy breath, "We should get going," he said. Joshua nodded. Kaleb got up from his bed, and they started making the bed. It didn't take them a minute. Then he went to the bathroom for daily hygiene. He looked at his wristwatch, 5:13 am. He decided that he didn't have enough time for a shower and opted to just do the rest.

When he got back, Joshua had already prepared his clothes for him. "C'mon, we only have so much time," he said to him. Kaleb nodded. He got into his clothes as fast as he could, and after his brother helped him fix his tie, they managed to make it downstairs in the nick of time.

Theodore was waiting for them downstairs, his face littered with too many complexions for a person barely in his twenties. His eyes softened as they landed on them. "Why are you smiling?" Kaleb asked, "Just thinking about how much you kids have grown," "You're not old enough to call us kids," replied Kaleb cockily, "You're barely 14, and Josh here is barely 17. Don't get your height to get to you Kaleb," they shared a small laugh and let their guard down, just for a bit. Till Joshua took a heavy breath, resetting the mood.

"How late are we?" he asked, "Not too late," Theo replied. He turned and looked at the bandages on Joshua's face and asked, as calmly as he could, "Are the wounds healing well," Joshua turned to him with a smile and replied, "Yeah, you don't need to worry. We better get in; it's better to not keep him waiting," Kaleb gave him a reassuring smile, and they led. "What a failure have I become to this family lady Martha. I couldn't even shield them for that long." He collected himself and followed close behind them to the hall.

There waiting was their father, Master Joshua. The kids naturally tensed up when they got in, and so did he. Theodore to his side to the wall and observed the man. He couldn't have fathomed how 5 years could mess things up so much. He couldn't have fathomed how hard her death would hit the man.

Senior took a sip of his drink as the kids sat down. He stared them both down then said, "You're late. Which one of you will take responsibility?" "I will," Joshua answered without hesitation, "That will hold for any other mishaps that might happen throughout the day. You sure?" He asked him again. Surely he knew that that won't make any difference. The kid always acted irrationally when it came to his brother. Always being a martyr for every mishap that occurred. It was something that he really started to dislike about him.