Bad || a.i. or l.h.

1: Not Like You

"Yeah, mom. I will, don't worry." I held the phone to my ear with my shoulder as I switched my bag over to the other arm.

"Yes, I got it! I promise. Love you too." I nodded as if she could see me before hanging up and sliding my phone back into my pocket.

I was making my way up the street from the bus stop after a long day at the shop, wanting to make it inside before it got dark.

Of course my mom had called to remind me of her extra shift at the hospital that night. She made sure to let me know she wouldn't make it home until the morning and wanted me to lock everything before I went to bed. It wasn't a big deal to me like she assumes, honestly. I've been pretty used to staying home alone since Matt, my older brother, took off about 8 months ago. He just completely disappeared one morning with a good amount of his clothes missing and his phone disconnected. We hadn't heard from him since.

We couldn't understand why he would do such a thing because he wasn't the type of person to just get up and leave. It had always been just me, him and my mother. It was strange but he's 21 so it's not like we could call him a runaway. We sort of brushed it off after a few weeks, figuring he had just wanted to be on his own and would call when he was ready to. At least that's what my mom kept saying and I guess she was right. I tried my best to make myself believe that.

I let out a sigh, dragging my feet up the steps to the door of our townhouse. I was ready to get inside and crash on my bed. I quickly dug for my key in my bag but when I reached for the door knob, I realized the door had already been unlocked and was slightly cracked open.

My mother never leaves the door unlocked. She was never the type of parent to be paranoid but when it came to keeping the doors locked, it was always a must. Although Baltimore is pretty populated, our part of the city was pretty calm and really didn't have trouble going on but no one would be dumb enough to just leave their door unlocked.

I had high doubts that anyone would ever try to rob us. There was not much to take in the first place. It would have been pointless and besides, nothing like that ever happens around here.

I slowly pushed the door open, taking a step in as my eyes shifted to the right side and scanned across the living room. Nothing was moved or missing, it all looked exactly the same as always. The decorative pillows were lined up perfectly along our dark brown couch, my moms magazines neatly stacked on the edge of the coffee table directly in front of it. Our small flatscreen still present across the room.

Maybe she had just left the door unlocked by accident and the wind knocked it open?

It was strange. The uneasiness of my stomach convincing me so.

"Hello?" I called out, my heart slightly racing as I closed the door behind me. I wasn't really expecting an answer back.

I then snapped my attention up the steps as I heard a sudden thud coming from upstairs.

"Shit!" the familiar voice cursed out.

No way, I thought dropping my bag and instantly rushing up the steps, swinging myself into Matt's room.

And there he was. The tall and dark headed brother of mine that I hadn't seen in months, digging through his closet making a complete mess all over his room.

"Matt! Where have you been?" I questioned. Disbelief took me over as I walked up behind him.

"Nowhere, Violet. Don't worry about." He shook his head, continuing to dig through the mess he had made.

His tone was harsh and it wasn't the response I was expecting from him. It threw me off a little, the way he just brushed the question off like he didn't even care he had disappeared.

"Well, mom and I have been worried sick about you!" I informed him, hoping to make him feel guilty.

And he should have felt guilty. Him disappearing like that hurt me a lot. Almost as much as it hurt our mother. I missed having him around everyday. We were closer than most siblings and we never really went through the whole "hating each other's existence" stage. I guess it was because I didn't have many friends so he made sure to always be there-- not that I had a problem with any of that. I liked keeping to myself and staying away from the cliques at school. It just wasn't me.

"What are you even looking for?" I stepped to the side of him leaning against the wall, continuing on the conversation since he didn't even care to respond the last time. I crossed my arms, watching him intently as he rummaged through the junk taking up his closet. Clothes, magazines, shoes and more clothes.

He looked different since the last time I saw him. The bags under his eyes were were dark and heavy. I had never noticed them like that before. He looked tired from what I could tell.

"Just something." He traveled farther into the closet, making more noise as he caused an even bigger mess. It looked as if a tornado had ripped through.

"Are you done yet?" a voice questioned, making me slightly jump when I realized we weren't alone.

My eyes immediately snapped to the doorway where an unfamiliar guy was leaning against the frame with his arms crossed. I had never seen him before and he definitely didn't look like the type to be one of Matt's friends.

His tousled light brown hair almost curled down into his eyes and he wore a plain black jacket that was unzipped, showing a white shirt underneath with a pair of black skinny jeans. He looked impatient, tapping his fingers against his arm.

I furrowed my eyebrows, confused by who he was and why he was exactly here, "Who are you?" I blurted out subconsciously.

"None of your business." He responded a little too quick as if he was used to being asked that question. He kept his gaze over on Matt, ignoring me as I looked at him.

I wasn't used to all of this rudeness floating around and it was really starting to bug me. There was something that wasn't right.

"Who is he?" I turned back to Matt who was now digging under his bed. He completely ignored my question once again and finally raised up, holding a huge handful of cash.

"Thank god." He sighed in relief, counting the money in his hand.

"Holy crap, Matt. Where did all of that come from?" I hadn't seen this much money since mom had sold her old car. He had all that money stashed and I know neither my mom nor I knew about it.

I heard a groan come from the door and turned my attention to the brown haired guy. I watched as he rolled his eyes and pushed himself off of the frame. "Finally. Let's get out of here." His voice trailed off as he turned on his heels and headed back down the hallway.

Matt passed me up, shoving all the money into his pocket without saying a word. I quickly followed behind him, needing to know what was going on. I was quite confused and I deserved answers from him. He can't just leave for over half a year, randomly show up then leave again. This wasn't like him.

"Will you just stop for a second?" I grabbed onto the back of Matt's shirt, hopefully catching his attention at the bottom of the steps. I was impatient with him now.

"What?" He snapped at me, spinning around to face me right before he made it to the front door. His hostile attitude caught me off guard as I let go of his shirt and stepped back.

I heard another groan from the guy and gave him a quick glare. He was getting more annoyed than before but I could have cared less right then.

"You can't disappear for months, Matt! Then show up like nothing and not answer questions. Mom is going to be upset about you stopping by without saying anything!"

"Then don't tell her." His voice was emotionless and his face wasn't much on any kind of emotion either. I had never seen him act like this before and I hated it. It didn't make any sense to me. It was like I was dreaming.

"I have to go, Violet." He glanced back at the guy who was pointing at his wrist as if he had on a watch before turning back to me. His face now had an apologetic look. "I'm sorry." he said in a low voice.

And with that he turned around and shut the door behind him, disappearing for the second time.