Oh Brother (Completed)

Wake Me Up

As soon as my eyes opened, I had about forty-five seconds to make it from my room a few feet from the staircase to the bathroom at the end of the hall before I covered the recently mopped upstairs floor in vomit. Fortunately for me, Sam was just walking out when I shoved passed him and threw myself down against the cold porcelain, throwing up all my internal organs and then some. He stood in the doorway, massaging his own temples as he contemplated what to do. I'd only thrown up this much once before; the first time I'd ate after my mother died. For over two weeks all I did was pick at the crust on toast, so when my aunt forced me to eat an entire bowl of soup and pie for dessert, I'd sat curled in a fetal position with the toilet as my best friend the rest of the night.

I could barely make out Sam still in the doorway, or Nix, who'd wandered over to him at some point. It felt as if someone was taking a jackhammer to both temples while spinning me around in a computer chair. Nix's figure leaned into my brother, then Sam was in his room a few feet away, the door clicking shut sending another surge of pain through my head.

"Not looking too good this afternoon are we, Fae?" I groaned, thinking it was just a dig at my current state until I turned my head in his direction. Despite my head still feeling as if it were moments from exploding, he slowly came into focus. He was wearing a pair of shorts that were sitting a little too low on his toned abdomen. Just under his left breast there was a nasty bruise, and every time he shifted his body, his entire body tensed with pain. It was his beautiful face that had taken the brunt of it all. His right eye was completely swollen shut, his left not far behind. Though it was obvious he'd done his best to clean it, there was still dried blood on and around his nose, and above his busted top lip. If I were more able, I would have stood and did my best to comfort him, but I couldn't even move without taking the entire room with me.

"I feel like death." Once I comprehended what I had just said, I swallowed hard and added, "What happened last night?"

As he moved closer, my eyes caught the familiar tall glass of Sam's hangover remedy in one of his hands, a small bottle of aspirin was tucked in between his arm and his chest.

"A lot apparently." His voice was quiet, very much not like the usual Nix. Maybe he was speaking so softly because he was scared he'd cause me more pain, that sounded more like him. "I don't remember a lot from last night, Damen filled me in."

Damien. Suddenly in the bank of fog that was clouding my mind, an image of Damien throwing himself at his brother surfaced. Damien had completely mutilated Nix's face.

"It hurts." I touched my cold fingers to my temple. "I feel my head is seconds from splitting open. I'm never touching alcohol again."

Nix tried at a smile, but it must have hurt, because it faltered as quickly as it appeared. "Yeah, I know the feeling. You get used to it though. Not that I want you getting used to it, you're a really bad drunk. Look at the damage you caused my beautiful face."

The damage I caused? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

I reached over my head to flush the toilet as Nix edged closer and slowly extended the smoothie out of to me, setting the pills on the bathroom sink in front of me. "I promise this will help. It gets—"

Before Nix could finish his sentence, Phil began pounding on the wall somewhere in the house, shouting as loud as humanly possible. "Family meeting in fifteen minutes. That includes you too, Damien and Phoenix. Let's go!"

I cried out, burying my head in my hands, and felt Nix wince beside me at the obnoxious noise pollution.

"I'll get out so you can shower. Just try not to think too hard, makes it hurt worse." Nix commented, but just as he was about to turn around, his hand brushed against my thigh and his head whipped back toward me. Even with my head feeling like a heavy weight, I was coherent enough to see the shock register in his eyes.