Glitch

Chapter Twenty Seven

I hadn't noticed that we coming up on our house. Well tectonically it was only mine and Charlie's, but I had a feeling Skylar would start to call it home too. "Hey, Skylar do you mind if I talk to you before we head in?" She quickly nods. "Charlie head on inside."

Charlie frowns and looks at me square in my eyes. We have a silent conversation and finally understood and went on inside. I pulled Skylar over to the curb so we could sit. "Skylar, I just want to tell you now that my oldest brother and I are in a fight. We're just on edge with everything happening."

But that wasn't the only reason I kept her out here. I wanted her out here so she didn't have to see the family reunion. I don't know how she would react. Because I know I would breakdown if I was in her situation.

She looks at me sadly. "You should fix it because you never know when you can lose them. Family is what you fight for, whether it's through blood or not. Family doesn't betray you. They only care for you. So hold on to it as long as you can." She sniffs and wipes her eyes before they can spill more tears.

I nod. "I know." I didn't have much to say to that. There wasn't much to say about that.

I stood up after another few minutes. "Come on, let's head inside. You can meet the others." I helped her up and we walked toward the house.

I take a deep breath before opening the door and ushering Skylar inside before me. She raises an eyebrow at me, showing me she knows what I'm doing. She's probably in middle school, meaning she's not stupid. Not that I thought that, but when I saw her crying, I thought of her as more of a young girl.

Charlie and the rest of my family are all there talking with wide grins. Charlie quickly moves to stand next to Skylar. "Oh, this is Skylar. She'll be staying with us." He turns and looks at Skylar. "Skylar, that's Will, that's Nate, and that's Emily." He points out each of the family members.

Nate isn't even focused on the new girl, he's looking straight at me. Emily was talking to Skylar while Charlie was telling Will everything that happened. I walked past everyone and slightly bumped into Nate. He got the memo and followed me.

I walked downstairs to the basement. I looked around and noticed that the Xbox was on and someone had been playing Halo. I frowned at Nate. "Who the heck was playing Halo, Nate?" He doesn't meet my eyes. "Nate why would you do that? It could have brought you into the game too!" Yes I was mad at him, but he's my brother. I don't want him to die.

He frowned at me. "Last time I checked, you didn't care about me." He remarks. I cross my arms and don't respond. "It only lasted three days. It won't bring people into games anymore. Trust me, I've been hoping it will bring me in." He looks at me directly. I can now see the bags under his tired eyes.

I take a deep breath and let everything flow out of me. I finally broke. I held in all my anger too long. Tears roll down my cheeks. My brother opens his mouth to say something, but I hug him before he can. "I-I just d-don't want to l-lose you t-too." I silently cry into his shirt. "Someone told me that, I should hold onto my family for as long as I can. That includes you."

I feel droplet of water like liquid fall on my head. I realize Nate's crying too. "Rei, I-I'm so s-sorry." He stutters.

I pull back to look at him. His once tired eyes were now filled with emotion and were puffy and red from his crying. "I forgive you...for everything." I don't need to force it out or even think twice about what I've said. I know I mean it. I know it's what I've always been wanting to say. There's so much hate. I just needed to let go. And dang did it feel good.

He lets out a breath that I know he's kept in for too long. "So were all good?" He asks hopefully. I can see a sparkle in his eyes that I haven't seen in awhile.

I nod and grin. "Yeah." I pause. "So it's alright for Skylar to stay here. She's lost everything." He nods. "And Nate...you know we're going to have to talk about what we're going to do about the government." He grin fades away and he nods.

"Come on, lets go be with the rest of the family." He says and smiles once more. I nod and follow him upstairs to the others with a grin.

We enter the family room and are greeted with laughter. I see that Skylar is quickly adjusting to everyone. That's a good sign. Nate and I join the conversation. I quickly start to laugh and don't know if I can stop.

And for a moment, I forget about everything else...

But that's the problem...

It was just only for a moment.