THE MILLERS

CHAPTER TWELVE: Siblings Over Friendship..?

Khris could rarely recognize what had happened as soon as he and his brothers got shoved into the car by their outraged mother and the security guard. It was a little after the huge fight between him and his older brother. The raven's vision was getting a little blurry as he wiped the side of his head. As expected, red trickled down his wrist. He recalled his head crushing a hand-sized stone after his sibling shoved him. Another thing he remembered was the curses his mother spewed out of her mouth.

Some felt like lava covering his heart, while some were the same insults the light brunette spat. He didn't know why, but the words specifically from his brother hurt more than his mother's. Why did he feel this way? He declared he had no care for the boy anyway.

'Stupid mind...' Khris thought, wiping the blood from his nose, ignoring the swears of his mother as the limo moved on the road to get home.

"You morons disgust me! How could you get in a fight like that in public? Do you have any clue how bad it would look on my hand!? Huh!?" Katherine glared at them through the small mirror, ensuring her gaze could be burning through the boys' foreheads.

Beside the ten-year-old was his twin, who was patting his scruffy hair. Beside Carl were Kayton and Kevin, both appearing to be completely frightened. Beside them were Caden and Kori, with the brunette calming his older brother down for he kept mumbling harsh words that he wished not to repeat when his younger siblings asked what was wrong.

Caden, too had a bloody nose and mouth caused due to the chipped tooth and the gut punch. His right eye was swelled up and some of the scars he had on his wrist had reopened. He squeezed his eyes shut, the words repeating over and over.

'I would appreciate it'd stay that way. I wish you weren't in my world.'

'I don't love you. I hate you, and I wish every single bad thing to happen to you!'

Curse that excuse of a brother, he thought.

"Are you brats listening!? I don't want you to influence my diamond to fight because of what you pulled off today!" his fists clenched tighter that he knew there would be marks by his nails.

"You haven't even asked if we were okay! One of us could've died by that stupid rock blow in the head and you wouldn't care! Don't you ever get tired of your ego!?"

The vehicle fell deathly silent. The tension in Katherine's back relaxed and she slumped in her passenger seat. The only thing they could hear was the heavy pants from an outraged Khris, wincing a bit as he pinched a nerve near his stained mouth.

A hint of surprise glinted in Caden's eyes before he turned away. 'Does he care for me? He didn't say 'me' or any phrase for himself. There's no way he still does, not after what I did...' his eyes darted to Kori, his gaze softening a bit.

"Are you alright? Do your injuries still sting? We're almost home, it's down the-"

"As much as I appreciate your concern, I don't want to talk about it." the grey-eyed teen muttered, earning a soft hum in understanding. The thirteen-year-old glimpsed at his little brother once more.

Carl was combing his fingers through his twin's hair, smiling empathetically at the peaceful look he had on his face. "He's enjoying his sleep for sure," he snickered quietly when Kevin shot them a hesitant peek.

***

The clips of the boys fighting were being spread like a virus all over YouTube and Twitter, infuriating the Miller woman while Tanner had no care in the world. Seeing the video, students in their grades were stunned at what they said and had done to each other. However, in less than two days, they were taken down due to personal threats from anonymous texts.