Brothers

Chapter 4 - Kate's House

I studied the room. The walls were painted a light, peanut butter brown with a white edge at the bottom of each wall. The room was square almost exactly but it still seemed large with how empty it was. The door was on the wall in front of me and was positioned as far as it could be to the right. The bed was just two mattresses on top of each other but aligned perfectly and covered with an off-white sheet. The thick blanket was a dirty gold and it shined from the little bit of sun that came through the window. The entire room lit up in gold and bright oranges as the sun set. The window was on my left and faced the West to see the sun perfectly.

There was nothing else in the room except for a small, closed closet on the same wall as the door. When Kate had left, she had left the door slightly open. I could hear the TV emitting random voices of all kinds and occasional laughs. Kate and Ryan could be heard just barely over it. I was bored again, but this time I had nothing to do. I felt as if it would be rude if I left the room but I had nothing with me.

I heard the sound of a garage rumbling open and I figured it was her dad home from work. A sudden wave of extra sadness swept over me when I thought of the same noise from my garage very late in the night.

"Hey kiddo." A deeper voice echoed through the house and the TV was silenced.

"Hey." I heard Ryan say with a laugh.

"How are you doing? Is everything fine?"

"Ya, I'm doing OK."

"That's great. We're always here if you need anything." I heard more talking all at once and couldn't understand anymore conversation.

Very bored of the room, I decided to go back downstairs. I reached the bottom when Kate's father spotted me.

"Who the hell is that?" He said loudly.

"Oh that's Ryan's brother!" Kate said quickly.

"You have a brother?" He turned to Ryan who nodded.

"I didn't know he had one either." Her mother laughed. I felt bad, Ryan didn't even talk about me to his girlfriend's parents. What was I to him? Just another person he knew?

"Well it's good to meet you kid." Her dad smiled and sat down on the couch with Kate's mother.

Ryan wandered over to me. "What are you doing down here?"

"I got bored."

"Well, I can't help that." He sighed. I stared at him, waiting for something but he stayed silent. Eventually he gave in and pulled out his phone. "Fine! Here, take this and go entertain yourself."

I smiled, took it, and left back up to the room. I turned on the big, warm phone and explored what apps he had installed on his phone. I got hooked onto a game called Geometry Dash where you are a little shape and you have to jump and avoided other shapes. There were different levels and each got harder and harder but I beat the first level in a few tries and continued to progress forward.

I checked the time when I heard footsteps up the stairs. Ryan and Kate's voices crept through the door which was still slightly open and then the voices muffled when Kate shut her door. It was 10pm exactly. I felt very tired from the day and turned Ryan's phone off. I didn't want to bother him so I just set it gently on the floor next to the bed. It took me forever to get comfortable into the once perfect sheets and blankets, and even when I did get mostly comfortable I still wasn't comfortable enough. I knew tonight would be a very long and restless night.

I closed my eyes and hoped for some sleep but it never came. I tossed and turned for hours, throwing the blankets off and then positioning them back onto me every so often. I finally gave up and got off the bed. Everyone else was asleep and in their rooms by then so I walked slowly down the hall and to Kate's room. The door handle thankfully didn't squeak when I pushed on it and the door glided open freely.

Kate was in a tanktop as far as I could see and Ryan was shirtless and facing her. She was facing away and leaning off the bed. The bed was reasonably big but the two were close together and on the right end of the bed. I closed the door but not all the way to avoid making noise and then made my way to the bed in the dark. Surprisingly I hadn't woken anyone up yet. I lifted the covers and was very thankfully to see both Ryan and Kate dressed with pants. I crawled into the bed and pressed my back against Ryan. He was very warm, I noticed.

Kate's blanket was less thick and was softer. The company of others alone helped me sleep better but the sheets did too.

------

I tiredly opened my eyes when I heard a small yelp. "Dude! What are you doing here!?" Ryan yelled at me. I turned from my stomach onto my back and squinted my eyes from the blinding sunlight.

"What?" I still felt half asleep. Kate was giggling and both had gotten out of the bed.

"When did you get in here?" Ryan didn't think it was funny and seemed actually pretty angry.

"I don't know." I mumbled and buried my face back into the pillow.

"Well get up and get out!" Ryan got into the bed and rolled me off. Instead of doing anything I fell onto the carpet and stayed there with a moan.

I heard Ryan sigh in an irritated way but I was too tired to care.

"Come on." Ryan took my feet and began to drag me out of the room which only made Kate laugh more.

"Hey!" I clawed the carpet to try to make him stop but it didn't work.

"I don't know why they even bothered to let you stay." Ryan frowned at me. I stopped struggling and stared at him. He let go off my feet, leaving me in the middle of the hallway. Him and Kate receded into her room once more and I sat up. I was hungry but I didn't think it would be a good idea to go hunting for food in their kitchen. After a minute Ryan came back out with new pants and a shirt and Kate was still in her PJ's.

"Why are you still out here?" Ryan raised an eyebrow. I shrugged, not feeling up to answering any of his questions.

"Well come downstairs if you want and we can have breakfast." Kate said with a smile.

Yesterday I had liked her but now I felt like she was treating me like a toddler. I knew she was trying to be nice but I felt very angry reason. I felt angry with myself, with Ryan, with Kate, with this stupid house, with everything. I was angry about everything that had happened and I hated everyone!