Take a Bite of This Slice of Life

Big Brother from Hell Part 1

"You've got to leave right now!"

Hayley blinked.

¨What? Why?¨ She asked as she reached out to steady the panicked looking Jane. Jane looked up at her friend gravely.

¨Luke found the pictures of Clarke from Friday night.¨

Hayley's mind went blank. Jane looked on sympathetically as the only noise to escape her friend's throat was a high pitched squeaking sound, akin to that of a dying baby seal. Hayley slowly regained control of her mental facilities.

¨We gotta hide.¨ Hayley rasped. She and Jane immediately took off as fast as their legs could carry them, Hayley cursing to herself in Portuguese the entire time.

Since they were in their apartment building, it took no time at all to steal away to their shared apartment.

They scuttled inside, and locked the door behind them. They dragged the bookcase in front of it, and also the armchair. They closed the curtains. They turned off the radio and lights. Once they had successfully barricaded themselves in the flat, they sat in the corner and settled themselves in for a long wait.

¨We have enough food to last at least the rest of the week.¨ Jane reassured, nervously fiddling with her blonde braid. Hayley nodded a little frantically.

¨And it's not like he'll be on our case about it for that long; Clarke will calm him down.¨ Hayley said firmly, even as her hands shook.

It didn't take even five minutes for there to be heavy-handed bangs at their door, making them both jump and look at the entrance like Death himself had come knocking.

¨Doesn't Luke work on the other side of the city?¨ Jane whispered; if she spoke louder, she might just start crying. Hayley snorted.

¨You clearly underestimated him.¨ She said lowly.

¨HAYLEY! ARE YOU HOME?!?¨ A booming voice shouted through the thick wooden door. Hayley felt the blood drain from her face. Looking to her friend, she saw that Jane was shaking her head frantically.

¨You know as well as I do he'll just throw the door down.¨ Hayley whispered to her roommate. She felt a blanket of calm fall over her, so she stood and approached the door, willfully ignoring the way Jane had thrown herself forward and attached herself to Hayley's leg.

¨Please, I can't handle the Big Brother from Hell alone if you die!¨ Jane pleaded. Hayley merely looked at her sadly.

¨Come on, open the door!¨ Luke called again, and Hayley mentally weeped as she saw the door tremble violently on it's frame.

Taking a deep breath, Hayley reached out with trembling hands to push away the barricade, and undo the three different locks. This done, she turned the knob and opened the door.

Luke was a physically imposing man. His head was just 3/4th s of a head shorter than the door, which was obvious as he entered, and the t-shirt he wore stretching across his broad chest. He smiled down at her with gleaming white teeth, a terrifying glint in his eye as he pushed windswept blond hair from his forehead.

Hayley swallowed the lump in her throat, viciously stomped the terror roaring through her mind into the mud, and grinned up a him with a sugar sweet smile and cheerful (terrified) sherry eyes.

¨Hey Luke,¨ She greeted warmly. ¨How's your day been?¨ The man's smile became just that much wider.

¨Oh, it's been good; done a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Pretty boring. But then,¨ The glint in his eye seemed maniacal in the dim light from the hall and window. ¨I received the most interesting text from my sweet sister.¨ He leaned forward a little, and Hayley stood straighter under his piercing gaze.

I hope Alena trips on her Christian Louboutin's into a pile of dung. Hayley thought, with uncharacteristic vehemence. However, even the Pope would feel like strangling the only Wilson girl with his bare hands if the oldest Wilson son was set on him.

After thinking this, Hayley mentally apologized, should the apathetic, black-belt wielding, terrifyingly efficient fashionista use her freaky mind reading powers to give her oldest brother another reason to come down on Hayley like a battleaxe.

Hayley stepped further into her apartment, and made a sweeping motion with her arm.

"Would you like something to drink while we talk?" Luke's smile was gone, but that doesn't make him any less terrifying.

"If you could please, I had a nice... run, on my way here." He accepted smoothly. Jane made a soft noise in the back of her throat.

If that death sprint you specialize in could be called a run. Hayley thought.

Jane watched Luke with a wary eye the entire time that he was sat and Hayley poured them all some lemonade.

Once he had nearly drained the glass, Jane was ready to burst from nerves.

¨So,¨ Hayley broke the silence. ¨What did your dear sister rat us out for this time?¨

Luke's eyebrow ticked a bit, but his smile was back.

¨Well, she sent me pictures of my adorable baby brother, and said that you had taken them.¨ Jane looked like she'd rabbit out the nearest window, made obvious from how she fiddled with her fingers and her green eyes darted to and fro frantically. Hayley managed to maintain eye contact with him in a forced calm.

¨Oh?¨ Then, a genius thought occurred to her. ¨Please, Luke tell us why Clarke is so amazing, and why he was even more adorable than usual on Friday.¨

Normally, this would ensnare Luke with no difficulty, and you could see that he was struggling with his knee-jerk reflex to start gushing and bragging about his brother. But he would not be deterred.

¨Excuse me?¨ He asked, his voice a calm, low timbre.

¨You're excused.¨ Hayley responded coolly. Jane gazed at her roommate with no small amount of awe.

Luke clenched his teeth, and bared them in a smile at her. Hayley nearly faltered, but overcame it. They were locked in this battle of wills, neither willing to back down from their impromptu staring contest. Finally, Luke slumped in defeat.

¨Why did you have to make my cute, stupidly adorable baby brother EVEN MORE adorable than he already is?!?¨ He whined, and turned misty steel gray eyes on her.

Hayley rolled her eyes.

¨We were just messing around; besides, he didn't mind.¨

¨Messing around? You dressed him up like your personal Barbie doll!¨ Luke wailed. ¨And then you took him out to a bar; where plebeians could gawk and eye him like a piece of meat!¨

Hayley had never sympathized with Clarke Wilson more in her whole friendship with him, than in that moment.

¨Luke,¨ she sighed. ¨Your brother is twenty one years old; he is more than capable of taking care of himself.¨ The older man looked so pathetic, she was tempted to waver, but held firm.

¨Well you know, Clarke did look amazing on Friday; but then, when doesn't he, right?¨ She coaxed, ignoring the inky dark hair that spilled out of the hasty ponytail over her shoulder as she leaned forward. Luke lit up like a Christmas Tree.

¨I know, right!¨ he gushed. He proceeded to pull out a folded diagram; then, he produced a poster board, and out came the scrapbooks. She figured she would never know how he managed to hide on his person, and lug around a laptop and projector for a full length presentation.

Hook, line, and sinker. She thought, relieved.

¨Big Bro Crisis averted.¨ Jane murmured, and Hayley could only nod, as Luke began to lecture them on why Clarke was the most amazing, precious baby brother in the whole world.

Fin.