Rhythm Of Rivals

8.

Author's POV

Gemini takes a deep breath, wiping away the remaining tears, and looks up at Fourth with a determined expression.

"I'm s-sorry, Fourth," Gemini says, his voice still shaky.

"Hey, it's okay," Fourth says softly. "You don't have to carry it all alone. What's going on? Tell me everything."

Gemini's voice cracks as he begins to speak, the words tumbling out in a rush.

"I'm tired, Fourth... so tired. I'm tired of everything..." *hiccup*

"Calm down, Gem, I'm here!" Fourth urges, his voice gentle.

"They never understand me, Fourth... Their expectations are suffocating me. I can't do this anymore. I miss my brother so damn much... I know why he ran away now." Fourth listen's attentively as Gemini continues speaking

"That day... "

Flashback

Gemini's POV

My eyes were fixed on the presentation, my mind racing with last-minute tweaks. Suddenly, my father stormed in, his face red with rage.

"Always glued to that laptop, when will you take your life seriously?" he shouted.

"Just because you top your class doesn't mean you're the best. You think you're above hard work? Newsflash, son: your grades will plummet if you don't keep studying. I won't have another loser son. You're better than that."

My anger simmering at the mention of loser son, noo another loser son??? Something inside me snapped.

"I'm trying, okay?" I shot back, my voice trembling. "But your constant belittling, your endless expectations... it's suffocating me. I'm not a failure, but you're making me feel like one as you did to phi."

I could see his face turned purple with fury. "How dare you!" he bellowed, his hand raised.

I flinched hard at the sudden action, but
didn't back down. "I dare because I'm tired of being your puppet. I'm tired of being controlled."

The slap came out of nowhere, making me stumble back, the PC in my hand crashing to the floor, the screen shattering into a thousand pieces.

Him towering over me, his chest heaving. "You'll regret talking back to me," he snarled before storming out of the room and brought his belt and suddenly started heating me my mind went blank as memories of him hitting my brother flashed in my mind after beating me he yelled

"NEVER DARE TO TALK BACK AGAIN OR YOU WILL FACE WORSE CONSEQUENCES THEN THIS" He threw the belt and walked away

I sat amidst the broken glass, my heart shattered, my world turned upside down. This was the first time he had laid a hand on me after my brother ran away, and the shock was paralyzing.

End of flashback

Author's POV

Gemini's eyes refocused on Fourth, his voice barely above a whisper. "...And after I calmed down a bit, you came. I didn't intend to act rudely with you, Fourth. I'm s-sorry... because of me, you failed too."