Boat boys fic

Chapter Four

Gem's POV

I left the hospital feeling lonely and kind of betrayed. I know Etho, and I know when he's lying. He didn't have to stay in the hospital, he wanted to. I just didn't know why. 

The car ride home was silent and tense. Mom was obviously not in a talking mood, every now and then muttering about "another thousand dollars of hospital bills down the drain for that worthless kid." Beef didn't offer any conversation starters, and I wasn't about to either. 

When we got home I went right to bed. I didn't have any homework, as it was only the first day of school. I had so much to tell Etho about! Middle School was so much scarier than I expected. I frowned, realizing I wouldn't see Etho until tommorow. Beef was great and all, but he was more worried about College and other old people things. Etho was the one who tucked me in, helped with my homework, and always made sure I had something to eat. With our dad unofficially out of the picture, save for the occasional child care check, and with our mother being... the way she is... Etho was my main caretaker, and without him I struggled to fall asleep, my brain choosing instead to replay every part of the day, from the panic of the  morning to the humiliating, lonely bus ride to the mean teachers, murderous students, nasty popular girls, a humilating lunch, and worst of all the call up to the office when I learned that my brother was in the HOSPITAL of all places. I started to cry remembering the panic of the day, and eventually fell into a fitful sleep, vowing to kill the boy who hurt my brother. 

I woke up several times due to nightmares of evil 8th graders and alcoholic moms and dying brothers. Though I usually have bad dreams, it was so much worse tonight. With no one to comfort me, I only got about 3 hours of sleep, finally getting out of bed around 5 am. I quickly rushed through my morning routine, my sleep deprived state causing me to jump at small noises, including the snoring coming from Beef's room and the sound of glass smashing from down the hall, where my mom's room was. Both were normal noises in our house, but everything felt so strange. Not like it was my first night away from Etho-we'd both been to sleepovers before- but this time I had no idea if he was ok or not. For all I knew he was dying!

I leapt a foot in the air, hearing a soft knock on the door. I padded downstairs cautiously, knowing that it wasn't Etho. After all he has a key. I opened the door to see an unfamiliar face of an adult male staring at me. I was surprised- it wasn't even 7 am yet, after all, but I remembered my manners and stopped gaping. 

"Um... hi. Can I help you?"

"Yes, is your mother home?" I glanced at him and then behind me desperately, wincing as another sound of breaking glass rang through the house, followed by loud cursing. The man seemed not to notice. 

"Um... yeah? Let me go get her. Why are you here?" I winced again, aware of how blunt I was being, but in my defense I was running off of basically no sleep. 

"It's about your brother Etho." I blanched and suddenly felt quite sick. The man chuckled. "Don't worry! He's ok. I'm just here to talk with your mother. If you could..." I nodded and scrambled towards the bedrooms. I glanced into my mom's room, and from the unending stream of cursing I figured it wasn't a great time to interrupt. Instead, I pushed open Beef's door. He was standing in front of his mirror, looking critically at his outfit. 

"Hey Gem... have you ever heard of knocking? Never mind. What do you think of this? Not dull, like I don't care, but not screaming 'Look at me!' Hey, what's wrong?"

I rolled my eyes at his one ended conversation but forged on. "Beef there's someone at the door. I don't know him but he said... he said it was about Etho." Daniel, who was nicknamed Beef after an unfortunate incident before I was born that he never mentions, had a similar reaction to me. He put down the comb that was in his hand and rushed down the stairs. I followed him at a distance, eavesdropping on the conversation. 

"Hello, is your mother home?"

"If it's about Etho you can speak to me," Beef said firmly. The man seemed caught of guard, but he continued regardless. 

"Im just informing you that the boy Martyn Littlewood-" I heard Beef snort in what might have been poorly disguised laughter- "will be punished severely for injuring your..."

"Brother. My brother got beat up by a guy with the last name Littlewood? Remind me to tell him to man up when he gets home from the hospital. You got that Gem?" I giggled a little and peeked out from my hiding spot. The man cleared his throat and Beef quieted down.

"I'm the superintendent of this district, and I wanted to let Etho's parents know..." the man paused, emphasizing the word "parent"- "That further disciplinary actions will be taken against Mr. Littlewood, and the mention of a Juvenile Detention Agency has been thrown in the conversation, since this is not his first offense. We take bullying very seriously here in Rivendell."

I met Beef's gaze and rolled my eyes. If the superintendent cared so much about bullying he would send 3/4 of the kids in my new middle school to his precious Juvenile Detention.

Etho's POV: NOT 1ST PERSON I SUCK AT WRITING 1ST PERSON OML

What was it, the fourth time in 2 days that he had vowed not to care just to be hurt again? Etho was furious with himself for thinking that Joel needed him. But last night... 

"Last night doesn't matter" Etho said aloud as he hailed a cab. He stewed in his hurt and anger for the entirety of the fifteen minutes drive. Etho tipped the driver and began to walk up the driveway of his house. Suddenly a wave of guilt hit him as he remembered how upset Gem looked when they parted. He knew that she had trouble sleeping and how eager she would be to talk about her day yesterday. As soon as he began to fiddle with his keys, the door flew open. Etho dodged the heavy door with the speed that comes from much practice. Behind the door stood a very tired, stressed looking Gem. As soon as they locked eyes, Gem beamed and Etho's anger and hurt faded away. He knelt down and Gem hugged him, beginning to talk a million miles per hour.

"Slow down Gem, I can't understand you!" Etho laughed, hugging the girl tighter as she began to cry. "Hey it's alright! I'm here now!"

All the hurt from the past day came rushing back as Gem hugged her brother. "You're ok!" She beamed through the tears. 

"Gem, you saw me twelve hours ago! Why wouldn't I be ok?" Etho smiled as his sister looked up at him with wide eyes.

"You were unconscious when we saw you! And some guy came to our house and I thought you were dead, and yesterday was so scary, and-"

"What guy came to our house?"

"The superintendent. He said the boy who hurt you was sentenced to death." Etho smiled nervously.

"Gem..."

"Fine, maybe not death. But he should be! I hate him. If I ever see him in the street-"

"You don't know what he looks like," reasoned Etho, stroking Gem's hair. The doe hybrid rested her head on her brother's shoulder as he scooped her up like he used to when she was little. She giggled a little, which brought a smile to Etho's face.

"Put me down," she squealed, laughing. Etho swung her around then placed her back on the ground.

"Fine, but you have to tell me what happened at school yesterday. I'll make breakfast."

The siblings, joined by Beef, walked into the kitchen, Gem talking frantically about her horrible day. Etho forgot momentarily about his own troubles.

worst. chapter. ever. why. am. I. so. sleep. deprived. I'm. gonna. go. to. bed. I'm. sorry. if. you. read. this. stay. cool. 

-shade.