Into My Own

Thirty-Six

Only when I was walking down the hall past Charlie's vacant room did it occur to me that I'd promised to help him move out tomorrow.

Shit.

I shot Kellan a text before I could forget.

Hey Kellan?

Yeah? Did you forget something? Or do you just miss me already?

I rolled my eyes.

Neither of the above. But I did just realize that I promised to help Charlie move tomorrow...so I don't think I can make roping practice happen. :/

Oh. Well how long do you think that'll take? Because if you wanna just swing by whenever you're done I'm sure we'll still be here.

My god, that boy was persistent!

I'll try. Now go to bed. You have a long afternoon of getting your butt kicked tomorrow and you gotta be bright eyed and bushy tailed!

***

I woke up on Saturday with a crick in my neck from falling asleep on my porch swing. That, accompanied by my mother's continued childish behavior and Charlie's departure, had my stress levels soaring.

My brother entered the kitchen right as I was sitting down with my first cup of coffee.

"Help yourself," I waved him in the direction of the still brewing pot.

The two of us sat at the table in silence, waiting patiently for the caffeine to kick in. I had a feeling it was going to be a long day.

Finally, he spoke up.

"So, how was the date? Do I have to kick Kellan's ass or what?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, and it was a lot of fun."

"What, that's all you're gonna tell me?" He asked incredulously.

"We went out to dinner and then he took me to meet his horses. The end."

"Did he make you uncomfortable at all? Because I'm seriously itching to start a fight right now and that'd be a perfect excuse..."

"Charlie!" I whined. "Wait, why are you itching to start a fight? Did mom say something else?"

He nodded grimly. "Yeah, we had another argument this morning before you were awake. I actually just got back in from moving some bales to blow off the steam..."

That would explain the drying sweat all over his body.

I bit my lip. "I'm sorry. About making you and her fight, about you moving out, about all of this..."

Charlie looked me directly in the eye. "None of this is your fault. Me and mom had been fighting long before that... It all kind of came to a head."

I drew back as if I'd been slapped. "I had no idea you two were fighting..."

He shrugged. "It's mostly petty little arguments. And honestly I'm really liking being on my own just because it means I don't have to deal with her."