[complete] #2
"This isn't amusing. You're smiling, and your face is all bruised and bleeding. Is that not putting you in more pain?" Ren shifted on her feet and placed a hand on her hip. I smiled wider when her cheeks began to flush.
"Maybe just a t...
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S E R E N I T Y
I woke up with a weight pressed against my chest. A breath was difficult to chase, and my mind had trouble grasping the reason as to why I was already anxious.
It was barely 6 a.m., and my heart was drowning in fear. I didn't know why. Blaming it on a dream I must've forgotten, my mind seemed to settle.
It was easier to have something or someone to blame than to spend time looking around for a reason something came to be.
"Ren," Arlo greeted me when I walked out of my room, ruffling my bed head.
"Asshole," I greeted back with a sweet smile on my face.
He side-eyed me and walked a little faster down the stairs and took a right into the dining room. My brother was only a year younger than me and already towering over my frame. He was almost six feet at the age of sixteen, and I still couldn't fathom how fast he'd grown. His blonde hair stuck out in the large, vintage dining room as he turned to face me with a small smile.
Arlo only smiled like that when he was concealing some ugly news. Like when grandma went to the hospital before my birthday, and he immediately sympathised for me over her - pretty insensitive but grandma always made him feel like shit for the smallest things - or the one time Melody came home after the whole mother-daughter vs. other daughter situation with mother-daughter's boyfriend.
Yeah, it was not a good look.
"Spill," I instantly demanded of him, narrowing my eyes on his brown ones.
"I'll tell you later." He pursed his lips together and walked into the kitchen.
I followed him. He was going to answer me whether he liked it or not.
"You know, I could always call up Dawn and get her sister on the phone. Maybe I'll accidentally tell her you've had a crush on her since third grade," I threatened him with an intensive look, watching as his eyes widened.
"Ren, you gotta eat first. I don't want to ruin your appetite," He sighed, rubbing his palm against his forehead as if he was beginning to stress.
"Okay, I get it," I shrugged, seeing where he was coming from. He cared about my health too much, and I loved him for it. "But you're telling me after."
Arlo moved around the kitchen, fixing himself a bowl of cereal, and I trailed behind him doing the same. We ate in silence on the kitchen counter, not bothering to sit on the stools as we stood beside each other.
Minutes went by before he finished, waiting for me to be done before grabbing both our plates and rinsing them. He situated them in the dishwasher like a good little boy and leaned against the sink.
