Dear Brother.

Chapter Two: A Bad Night

I slammed the door behind me, the action causing a sigh from Danny as he too got out of the vehicle. The old white and black painted three-story house were the same as it had been when we left. The paint was slightly chipping, and the lawn was nearly immaculate.

The grass was green, though not necessarily in a healthy way, it was more bright neon green rather than the dark shades you find on generally cared for lawns. There was a gnome on the porch, Benny, I called him when I was younger. It was the same gnome that scared my brother half to death since we were kids back in the trailer park we grew up in.

I opened the small white gate, it hinges squeaked in resistance. I guess Grandpa wasn't caring so much about the little details around the house much anymore. The sidewalk to the house was lined with mini lanterns of various colors, flowers bursting with excessive tones next to them. It was gaudy, it was everything that my Grandma represented in her life.

I loved it.

"You okay?" Danny's voice shook me out of my reverie.

I thought for a moment as I took in more of the place I didn't realize I missed so much. I wasn't okay, but being here was slowly changing that. I shook my head, refusing to enlighten him anymore on my brief episode of insanity.

"You know you can talk to me," he mumbled softly, his shoulders drawn in obvious discomfort.

"Keep that shit for your boyfriend dude," I waved him off.

A tint of red splotched his face as he spluttered out nonsense.

"Trev isn't my boyfriend, for the last time!" he trailed behind me as we walked along the ridiculously long sidewalk. I swear it was two miles from the front gate.

"Could've fooled me when I walked in on you two last week."

His face seemed to burn brighter at this.

"I was trying to comfort him! His freaking parents just got divorced!"

"You comfort everyone by shoving your tongue down their throat?" I smirked. "Not sure I'd like to confide in you then. No consoling here bro."

He huffed, pushing past me as he stomped up the driveway at a faster pace. It wasn't that I was trying to piss him off, I just didn't want to form the words that explained what the hell happened before. I don't think I could if I tried.

"Danny!" the familiar lilt of my Grandma's voice spread warmth through my heart.

I increased my pace and reached the front porch in no time, the screen door left wide open with the view of Danny hugging our Grandma fiercely. I smiled, it had been way too long.

"Where's Sam?" she asked, muffled from his shoulder.

Danny wasn't tall by any standards, but my Grandma was a shorty. She barely came up to my chest, and I was only 5'10. I cleared my throat, catching her attention as they broke apart. I was immediately wrapped in loving arms, a smile plastered on my face as I kissed her cheek.

"Grandma, I missed you!" I chuckled, lifting her off the ground briefly.

She patted my shoulder, giving me a bright smile.

"Oh, you get taller every time I see you!" she turned to my brother. "I swear the two of you will be towers before you stop growing!"

"Pretty sure I'm done growing much more at nineteen Grandma." I pointed over at Danny. "He stopped growing when he was fifteen, unfortunately."

He smacked my shoulder in response.

"I'm freaking 5'7!"

"Still short." I dodged the next hit to my shoulder.

"Don't you start that already," she said with a stern look. "I've got the both of you for the next two weeks, and I don't want to have to put you in the room right away!"

I froze, could she still do that? Well, I don't think either of us was strong enough to resist the spit-fire attitude that was my Grandmother. She was vicious when she wanted to be, and her threats didn't fall on deaf ears.

"Where's Aaron?" Danny asked, closing the door behind me.

"He's off with his friends somewhere, said he'd be back." She said, moving towards the kitchen, more than likely to finish cooking whatever it was that was making my mouth water at the smell.

"That was about four hours ago."

Of course.

By the time Aaron returned home, we had already unpacked our things in our respective rooms on the second floor. I heard the tell-tale rumble of his age-old ford outside, the sound breaking the otherwise silent neighborhood at night. When the hell was he ever going to just get rid of that piece of garbage and let Grandma buy him a new one?

I threw the rest of my things in the corner of the room, decided to organize it after getting some rest. I was strangely exhausted, the episode in the car weighed heavily on my mind once more. What was that and why the heck did I feel so strongly about it? My thoughts were cut short by the sound of a throat clearing behind me.

"You just gonna stand there and look like a zombie or are you going to say hello to your favorite uncle?"

I turned towards a blonde mop of hair sitting on top of bony shoulders. Holy hell, what was he, cousin It?

"You need a haircut."

He scoffed and gripped me in a firm hug.

"You come to see me after two years, and without even a 'Hi, I miss you and love you, Aaron, I'm not a jerk that never texts anyone back.'"

I hugged him back, spitting out the stray hairs that managed to not only get in my mouth but in my nose as well.

"Dude, been busy trying to figure out my life," I said lamely. "If you really wanted to, you could have texted Danny. He's all about that soft shit, go bother him with that 'love you' garbage."

He frowned at this.

"That's literally the only way I've known what's been up with you guys. At least Danny answers back the measly few texts I send him."

"That's cause he doesn't have a life outside of school and Travis." I know I was a bit of a dick, but it's not my fault I've been busy.

"Come on Sam, lay off Danny," he pushed at my shoulder and crossed back towards the door. "He's at least got his shit figured out. Plus, Travis is an awesome kid, I had already talked to him over Skype last month."

"Look, whatever," I sighed. "I didn't come all the way out here to argue with you, I'd rather us get along like we used to."

He shook his head and leaned against the doorframe, giving me a thoughtful stare, it made me feel uncomfortable, almost like he was trying to read my mind.

"I actually only came to bother you to ask what's up."

What the hell was he talking about?

"Danny told me what happened in the car, said he was worried. What's going on?"

That little shit, of course, he did. He didn't know when to leave anything alone, I told him I was okay.

"Everything's fine!" I said, maybe with a bit too much conviction. "I told him I was fine and he kept pressing on about it, and it irritated me, okay?"

"You don't have to get so defensive, I'm not here to interrogate," he said, putting up his hands in surrender though the face he made betrayed the truth behind his words. "You don't have to be afraid to talk about it, I know about Kevin, okay? Your mom said the same thing--"

I stopped him before he could even utter another syllable.

"I'm freaking fine, Jesus Christ, you two are worse than her!" I pushed past him. "Fuck!"

My first night back here wasn't going in my favor at all.