Sweet as a Strawberry

24 ~ Sour as a Green Mango

a/n: dedicated to intuitives for the beautiful cover she made me that you can see on the side :)

Chapter 24: Sour as a Green Mango

The door to my old room flew open and my brother marched in, his face red and his expression furious.

"What is it?" I asked dully.

"You're a stupid motherfucker!" Archer yelled, storming up to me and punching me in the shoulder.

I let out a grunt from the unexpected impact and then glared at him, my nostrils flaring. "What the fuck, kid?"

"Hey, don't call me kid, Benjamin!" he said angrily, pushing me. "You're the one who's acting like a kid!"

My fists clenched. "Get out," I said. I was in a God-awful mood, and he was doing nothing to help me out.

Archer matched my glare and crossed his arms over his chest. "What's wrong with you?"

I turned my head, my jaw beginning to tick. I knew what he was talking about, but I didn't want to think about it. "Get out," I repeated.

I heard him sigh, and then he said, "Why did you say those things to Charlie?"

My chest tightened painfully when I recalled the stunned and hurt expression on Lottie's face when I spoke cruelly to her. "I don't know," I said. I didn't know why those horrible things spewed out of my mouth. I had no excuse.

"That's not an answer."

I scowled. "It is a fucking answer."

"So you're telling me that you don't know why you were such an arse to her?"

When he said it like that, I sounded like a complete moron.

Okay, so I was.

"She should be used to it by now," I said, feeling a vein bulge in my forehead. "I told her so many times what a big jerk I was, and she didn't even listen to me. It's her fault."

I wanted to take it back as soon as I'd said it.

Archer's mouth opened noiselessly, and he raised his eyebrows incredulously. "Ben!" he said, sounding like he wanted to hit me again. "You're three years older than me, and I know what a dumb thing that is to say!"

I looked away. I wanted nothing more than to find Lottie and tell her I was sorry and that I didn't know what was wrong with me; that I was just a bad person and that she shouldn't take it to heart. Nothing I said to her back there was true, and I wished I could take it back.

But hell if she'd ever want to look at me again. Unless I was being selfish and assumed she liked me more than she did. I probably was.

Archer sighed again. "I just have one more question."

"What?" I asked reluctantly.

"Does Charlie, I dunno, does she become Mr. Clean when she's upset?"

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at my little brother. My confusion caused my anger to simmer down a bit. "What do you mean?"

He scratched his head, just as confused as I. "I can't get her out of the kitchen. She kind of took over making the pastries, and then she started scrubbing the stove, and I just..."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Fuck," I muttered. I sat down and buried my face into my hands. "Fuck," I repeated.

I should've known better than to lash out on her. Just because she made it seem like she absorbed the pain of each blow, didn't mean she was invincible. After all, she was still a human, and she still had a heart. And in her case, it was a huge heart.