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"Holy shit..." Avery huffed, "Did maintenance ever come by last week?" She pressed her palm to her damp neck as she sluggishly paced through the apartment. She was dressed in a tank top and a pair of athletic shorts and still, she was burning up. Ericka was splayed out on the couch in similar attire, a box fan pointed directly at her. Her eyelashes fluttered, but she didn't look up.
"Yep... fixed the fridge, clearly didn't fix the A/C." She mumbled. Avery groaned and made her way to the kitchen.
"Where's Alex?" She asked as she opened the fridge and scooted her body as close to cool air as she could manage. Ericka shrugged, offering nothing more. Avery chewed the inside of her cheek. She had a shift at the diner in a few hours, but she felt too heavy and slow to get ready and put on her uniform. Jarring her out of her thoughts, the apartment door shuddered forcefully as Alex pushed his way into the kitchen, scowling at the sight of his twin.
"Close that! Our power bill will be fucking outrageous..." Alex slammed the door back and threw his keys onto the table. He had clearly been on a run as he sported his running clothes and an impressive amount of sweat.
"Hello to you too..." Avery made a face, closing the fridge in a sweeping motion. She followed Alex to his room, cringing at what a mess it was as she entered.
"What, Avery?" Alex asked over his shoulder as he dug through his dresser for a change of clothes. His tone sizzled with almost as much heat as the sunny apartment.
"What's wrong?" Avery plopped down on Alex's bed, pulling her legs up in a criss cross position. He let out a frustrated breath, crossing the room to grab a towel that had been thrown over a pile of clothes in a chair.
"Work." Alex said. Avery raised an eyebrow.
"Birch?" She tilted her head. He nodded.
"He chewed me out for taking off for the concert and, yet again, is complaining that I'm not keeping enough good entertainment at the bar. I can't ever please that old bastard." Alex seemed strange to Avery... like something was off. He was jittery and angrier than usual.
"You know Birch... he's-" She began, but Alex cut her off.
"He's a fucking joke! I don't know what else to do. I'm trying to do my online classes at the same time as all of this, and he's constantly pissed at me for not keeping someone on the fucking stage every moment the bar's open. I don't get what the big deal is, no one fucking cares about the live music anyways!" Alex froze, his face falling as soon as he realized what he had said, "Ave, I didn't mean that..." He stepped towards his sister, a tightness in his chest at the deflated look in her eyes, but she shook her head vigorously.
"Don't be! You're right..." Her voice trailed off, and she looked away for a split second before perking back up, "Hey, I'll come do a set tomorrow after my shift, okay?" Avery's eyes were sad, but bright. Always bright. Alex's shoulders drooped, and he nodded, smiling weakly at his twin. She nodded back as she stood and made her way out of his room holding her pinky up in the air as she disappeared through the door. He knew he had hurt her feelings, but she would never tell him, and that made Alex feel worse. He was stressed, but he didn't need to take that out on Avery. He pondered on it the entire time he showered, how hard Avery had been working on her music and how frustrated she had been that she didn't seem to be making much progress. A new guilty feeling flooded Alex as he realized keeping her constantly booked at The Parlor probably wasn't helping. He was rinsing the shampoo out of his hair when an idea smacked him upside the head so obviously and prominently that he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before. He hurriedly finished his shower and wrapped a towel around his waist, not even bothering to dry his hair as he ran out of the bathroom, a trail of water following his footsteps. Thankfully, Avery had already left for her shift at work.
