Temporary Bliss [boyxboy]

38: Reality Kicks Back In

Finn

Sadly enough, the magical feeling of the holidays and the good mood that came with it wore off rather quickly.

"Finn!"

I groaned.

"What?" I yelled back.

"Come here, please!"

With a sigh I got up and trotted downstairs.
When I stepped into the living room, I had to refrain from 'aww'ing at the sight in front of me.

Milo - now noticably bigger, but still a puppy - was laying next to a heap of chewed up paper, wagging his tail excitedly.
Beside the paper and the pup, stood an angry Caleb, hands on his hips.

It was clear that some sort of disciplinary action was in order.

"No, Milo." I said, "Bad dog."

"That's it?!" asked Caleb incredulously, "Bad dog?! That was today's figures, Finn. I need those."

"You know damn well that you can just print out another copy right now."

"That's not the point," argued the brunette boy stubbornly.

I crouched down to pick up the paper, "Well, what do you want me to do, Caleb? He's a puppy. He's going to chew things up."

"Well, he shouldn't have done it in the first place!"

"And maybe if you stopped leaving your briefcase on the floor and put it on the table or counter like you're supposed to, he wouldn't have been able to reach it, in the first place."

"That's irrelevant."

I groaned in annoyance as I carried the paper into the kitchen to throw it away, "Whatever."

It was like Caleb was actively trying to pick a fight lately. Like he had one day decided "okay, enough being nice, we should start arguing and make each other miserable again".

It sucked, not only because we were arguing (that was nothing new) but because the holidays had been so absolutely amazing, that it hurt even more to have Caleb be a dick again so soon afterwards - for no good reason whatsoever.

I decided that worrying about it wasn't going to solve it though, so I just sighed sadly and called for Milo to take him for his evening walk.

My hands wouldn't stop shaking, mostly because of how angry I was as I clipped the red leash into the pup's collar.
I looked over my shoulder, and against my better judgement I called: "Are you coming?"

"No."

The stab of disappointment and sadness I felt at the cold answer was quickly overpowered by more anger.
Milo ran out of the front door before I did. I slammed it closed behind me as hard as I could.
Part of me had hoped it'd come off its hinges just to piss Caleb off, but it stayed put.

I didn't go through the park, instead sticking to the main road.
I'd quite taken liking to the walks Caleb and I would go on together every day with Milo. He would always hold my hand and we would laugh together like we had no worries in the world.

I looked around a little anxiously.
The realization that I was on edge without Caleb by my side made sad. Because I liked being with him, and I didn't want to argue, ever.
Especially since it'd been going so well lately; to suddenly feel so alone again was like a punch to the gut.
It sucked, that I was never the cause of Caleb's moods, but I always had to bear the brunt of them.

My anger hadn't really subsided by the time I got back to the house. I was a little hungry, so I decided to have some leftovers after changing.
It seemed that everyone had already gone to bed.