Arsen (Editing)

Why Don't We All Sit In The Living Room

When I got home from work Chase was waiting for me on the front porch. My brother looked like hell, ever since he found out that he would be a dad he hasn't been able to function. His hair was a mess, his blue t-shirt was on backwards, and he was wearing Cookie Monster pajama pants.

The bags under his eyes indicated that he hadn't gotten any sleep recently. I got out of the car and walked up to him.

"You look like hell." I told him, bending down to his level.

He sighed. "I don't care."

"Chase you have to keep functioning. When's the last time you ate something."

He shrugged. "I don't know, yesterday?"

"Come on." I said, holding a hand out to him to help him up. "You're going to go get a shower and put your shirt on the right way and I'm going to make you some dinner."

"Why bother, mom will be home soon, and then it'll be the end of me."

I rolled my eyes. "She's going to be livid, but she won't kill you. Plus, what would it look like to the neighbors if she killed you? That would completely ruin our perfect family image."

The sarcasm went right over his head and instead of joking with me like he would usually do, he just sighed and forced himself up onto his feet.

"Take a shower!" I called after his retreating back.

I followed him into the house and he headed upstairs, I headed into the living room. Felicity was laying across the couch, staring at her phone.

"Hey, come help me make dinner."

She looked up at me. "I'm not hungry."

"Okay, but everyone else is, come on."

She groaned and got off the couch, dropping her phone on the coffee table, and following me into the kitchen. We silently got to work on making hamburgers for dinner. She rolled the meat into patties and I heated up the pan. We also got to work on making sweet potato fries.

I knew something must be up with my sister, she was never this quiet.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked her.

She shrugged and continued to cut up a sweet potato.

"Felicity really, what's wrong?" I prodded.

She set the knife down and looked over at me. "Sam broke up with me."

Sam was my sisters first love. She had to leave him behind in South Carolina when we moved to Texas. Felicity might only be fourteen but Sam was sixteen and they actually worked pretty well together. Their relationship lasted a year, which was longer than any of mine ever did.

"Aw no, Felicity, I'm sorry." I pulled my sister into a tight hug.

"I knew this would happen, I just didn't think it would happen this soon. I thought maybe he would at least have had the decency to call me."

I kissed the top of her head. "Well just think," I told her. "You're one heartbreak closer to finding the one."

She managed to smile a little and went back to cutting the potato up.

I heard the front door open and in walked my mom and dad. They looked tired and agitated, a look I've gotten used to over the past week. I hated that they were fighting but I couldn't blame all of this on my tattoo, I've caught bits and pieces of their arguments over the past week, and most of it was about money and the fact my dad made us move here.

"Are you hungry?" I asked them, when they came into the kitchen. "Dinner is almost ready."

My mom shook her head no and walked out of the kitchen, not even looking at me. My mom and I were usually on pretty good terms but once in a while she got into these moods and became hard to deal with. Lately she's been emotional and cranky, I haven't seen her smile in days.