Troublemaker || FDTD

Chapter XV

Chapter XV: Something to sing about

Playing with fire only got me burned, and yet I couldn't seem to stop doing it.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, not being happy with what I was seeing. A slim figure, whose face was covered in dried blood. I was pissed, and maybe in shock as reality hit me quite hard.

Literally.

I let the water run and wet a towel, slowly damping it around my eyebrow. The small cut bled a lot more than I thought it would. The risky bits of the job, one could say. But this wasn't my job nor it would ever be. Despite the small doses of adrenaline it gave me, there were no other good parts about it. Seth and I didn't make as much money as I wanted us to. Not after Kate left us. She was the one with the plan, no matter how much the older Gecko argued about that.

Leaving was easy for her, as she knew that Seth and I would not kill each other. What she failed to consider was that I wanted to leave too. I had to find my brother, and I couldn't do it with the older Gecko breathing down my neck. Especially when I knew he didn't care. He was all over the place at the moment.

A mess.

Ever since the Titty Twister events, he hadn't been the same. He refused to talk about his issues, despite my efforts to make him open up. Seth indulged himself in his situation, making Richie the villain of his story. I gave him space at first, but I couldn't understand his lack of self discipline no matter how hard I tried. Seth wasn't a bad guy, he was just lost and dumb as he recently started doing heroine. I couldn't just leave him in this state, all alone. I didn't want to.

And now I was bleeding for something that was completely out of my control.

I put the towel down and sighed. Although I knew it wasn't Kate's fault for leaving, I couldn't help but be jealous of her. She was doing what she thought was good for her, and I had to babysit Seth for a while longer so he could recover. If he only wanted to do so, which I wasn't exactly certain of.

I wondered so many times if Seth crossed Richie's mind, or if he was at least a little concerned about his older brother. If he only knew how much I hated Seth sometimes, he wouldn't have let me keep an eye on him. I was infuriated by his actions at the bar tonight, or better said his lack of action.

A loud knock on the bathroom door dragged me away from my thoughts. "Are you okay in there?"

The wound was now clean, but swollen. Physically I was okay, but mentally I was tired. The kind of tired that no amount of sleep could've fixed. Sometimes I asked myself if I was doing the right thing or not. All the pain my journey caused was beyond healing, and yet I was still standing. Pushing further each time because I didn't know what else to do.

I walked towards the door, debating whether I should get out or not. It was pretty late and I wasn't in the mood for Seth's preaching. It was my fault for overreacting, I was very aware of that. I wasn't Kate. She knew how and when to keep her mouth shut so we could avoid trouble. The girl even had the power to calm me down, unlike Seth who only spilled gasoline on my already burning temper. I couldn't say that the older Gecko had no fault in what had happened because he did. Just as guilty as I was.

I could already imagine myself packing my things and leave because of Seth.

Opening the door, I saw him leaning on the doorway. He winced, not expecting me to come out so soon. I passed him without saying anything, and sat down at the table. I couldn't bring myself to apologize for losing this gig. He followed me, taking a seat across from where I was sitting. Looking at him, I noticed that he almost completed his tattoo. Most likely earlier today.