Skinny Hips // Ashton Irwin

seven // nothing came before kieran and i

ANNIE.

There wasn't much I remembered about the trip to dad's, just that the neighborhood was scary, Kieran was scary; everything was scary, and I was tired.

My dad lived not far from me, but this side of town was trashy and rough, and we were always advised to never go there. Part of me always wanted to visit, but the other part didn't have the balls.

After a while of driving down streets filled with dirty houses and dirty people staring us down, Kieran finally pulled up outside a house. I sat up, my weak arms shaking under my weight as I pushed myself forward to look out the window.

"How do you know he lives here?" I asked, shocked as to how my brother had this information.

"I used to visit when he first moved out. As far as I know, he still lives here."

Our father left because he was broke and my mother was sick of him never putting in the effort. That, and the fact that he loved drugs more than he ever loved her. But us? Nothing ever came before Kieran and I.

Kieran climbed out of the car, leaving our belongings behind as he made his way towards the building. I climbed out after him, following not far behind, staying wary of my surroundings and keeping myself a few steps back from the door.

After a few short seconds of waiting, a woman answered the door. Unlike everything else in this neighborhood, she looked clean. Her ginger hair was tied up in to a messy pony tail and she wore an apron with dough and icing spilled all over it, a bright smile with crooked teeth taking over her features. She, too, seemed shocked to see someone just as clean as she was, stood in her doorway.

"Hello," she greeted, "something I can do for you both?"

"Hi." I felt Kieran's hand grab mine before he yanked me forward, almost tripping as I stood closer to my older brother's hip. "We're looking for Marcus?"

The woman's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she watched us, clearly wondering why a teenager and young man were looking for her, I assumed to be boyfriend.

"He's working on some painting in the garden, is it important?" she asked.

"Very," I chirped in, but instantly regretted it as my voice cracked.

"He knows us," Kieran added.

"Alright... well, follow me in so." She took a step aside, letting Kieran and I enter her home which smelled like roast chicken and looked just as clean as she did. We followed her as she brought us through to the kitchen and then to another door which I assumed lead in to the garden.

The house was small, along with the garden, but it was neat anyway.

"Marcus hunny, there's some teenagers here to see you."

My father stood upright and wiped his brow, clearly tired from the painting he seemed to be doing on a shed. His frame was just as large as I remembered it being, but he was clearly more buff then fat. He was clearly more healthy.

Slowly, but not before cracking his knuckles, my father turned around, his eyes widening and mouth dropping at the sight of Kieran and I stood with his ginger friend. We were all frozen for a while, the lady from the doorway watching us all intently as we all watched each other.

"Kieran," he said, his voice almost a whisper, "Annabelle... I can't believe you're here!"

Excitement immediately took over his features as he rushed to pull my older brother into a hug, a chuckle escaping his smiling mouth. He pulled away, and then bent down to my height, wrapping his muscular arms around my waist and hauling me up, giving me a spin before letting me down at the sound of my squeals.