Annalise

Chapter 13: Stay In Your Lane

"Cut off communication with him, end of discussion," Asher demanded, leaving no room for an argument.

I set down the plate of stacked up golden pancakes in the middle of the dinner table. Turning back around, I picked up the plate of crispy bacon, the way Asher likes it, and grabbed the syrup resting on the white kitchen counter.

"I can't cut off communication with Noah just because you don't like him," I huffed, placing the small plate of bacon down with the syrup.

"Yes, you can," he disagreed, picking a bacon strip off the dish.

"Listen, Ash, I would do anything you ask of me, really, but I can't stop talking to a nice person without a good reason why," I expressed, sighing as I took a seat next to him.

"Fuck, I can't tell you a good enough reason why. There is just things you don't know," he exasperatedly fussed, lifting a piece of bacon to his mouth and biting it harshly.

"Are you hiding things from me?" I furrowed my eyebrows, pulling back the plate of pancakes and bacon.

He lets out a deep breath, shaking his head, "I'm not."

"Look me in the eye and say that," I insisted, taking the food I made hostage as he tried to reach for it.

"Fucking, God, no I'm not!" He clearly stated, staring at me with his wide blue eyes and a slightly tense, twisting face.

"Don't swear at your sister," my mom sternly ordered, sleepily walking in, yawning straight after as she covers her mouth with her hand.

"My bad," he mutters, sliding the plate of bacon away from me.

"Smells good," my mom smiles, sniffing the air that's filled with the fumes of mouth watering bacon and tasty pancakes.

"It's the food I made. Your and dad's coffee is in the microwave," I chirped, seeing her lips curve up more.

"Thank you, angel," she says, appreciation in her tone as she grabs two mugs of coffee out.

Just as mom turns around to head back into her room, dad comes out. "Hello, lovely people," he greets, grabbing the cup out of mom's hand.

"Thanks, Annalise," he smiles, hovering the cup next to his nose so he could inhale the pumpkin smell.

"No problem, bacon and pancakes are right here," I gestured to the two plates in front of me, using my fork to grab some bacon, plopping it onto my plate.

"Honey, thank you a ton. I had so many essays to grade that I was up until three," she yawned again, thinking back to this morning.

It's then I realized the bags weighing down her face and the way she rubs her eyes with her small fists.

"Asher, why can't you be like Annalise?" Dad questioned, a serious but obvious kid in his voice.

"Well, Ben, I can't be her cause I'm not completely oblivious to fucking everything," he bluntly answers, dropping his fork to his plate with a loud thud to give dad his undivided attention.

Dad's mouth opened but then clamped together, both his eyebrows rising high as he is lost for words. Me, him, and judging by mom's frozen actions with bringing her mug up to her lips, she was too.