"as close as you can be to your twin." that nearly made me cry. tears climbed up my throat, but i'm sure he didn't want my pity.
we don't talk as we prepare the rest of dinner for the eight others scattered throughout the house. all of them are between five and twelve, and it's kind of nice being the oldest. when i ask ethan to set the table, he does so without any snide remarks. while everyone sits at the table, i corner him against the counter.
"do you need to talk?" i finally ask. we're only inches apart, and i can smell the cologne he must've put on this morning. it nearly chokes me.
"forget about it." i grab his wrist when he tries to walk away. i've been here long enough to know what the pain of being lost looks like. kids have come and gone, and i've seen just about all there is to see.
"meet me in my room after dinner." no one talks about while we all eat, but keesha and britney are blabbing away about this new music that someone at school got them into. tyler is talking with conner and ash a bit, ethan sits at one head of the table, and i'm at the other.
++++
"you wanted to see me, mother." ethan sarcastically says, a blank expression on his face as he rests against the doorway of my bedroom. i gesture him in the room, patting next to me on the bed. he takes a seat.
"now, i know this probably isn't how you wanted to spend your sunday night, but i'm here to listen....so, talk." i cross my legs indian style, putting my back against the mountain of pillows. his eyes look into mine, and we both take deep breaths.
"you aren't ready for it, leah." ethan whispers, voice hard and stern.
"i am, ethan."
after two hours, the both of us are crying, and i take him in my arms, and the tighter he clings the more i cry for him.
"everything is okay now. you've got me." i say in his ear, but he suddenly pulls out of my arms, clearing his throat loudly. i wipe my eyes and he wipes his, but to my surprise, he walks out of the room without a word.
