Growing Pains

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Duncan

My house was loud. I felt my ear splintering headache already approaching as my older brothers started bickering over the remote. My dad yelling over them, winning the battle, and putting on some football program I had no interest in.

"You want some hot chocolate?" My mom asked me with her kind smile.

My mother was probably the only one in my family that still cared that I existed. My oldest brother, Daniel, was just about to graduate from the Police Academy, making him my dad's instant favorite. My other brother had just completed his first semester at Harvard Law, and wouldn't shut up about it.

Over breakfast, he made a couple teasing comments about hooking up with Courtney when she got there, and I contemplated punching his face in. I decided against it. My hand was just starting to look normal after beating Justin up; my face on the other hand was pretty much healed. His punches weren't very strong.

I shook my head, "I'm okay."

My brothers came home late last night, so I didn't have to deal with their condescending tones until we were opening up our presents this merry Christmas morning. They had both gotten my parents something especially charming and thoughtful, making my presents of sweaters and coffee mugs look rather pathetic.

I just sucked a gift giving, okay? Anyways, I had been saving up all my money to get Courtney something perfect, so it wasn't like I was necessarily going all out.

But since we weren't exactly on speaking terms, maybe I should have rethought my spendings.

"Do you want some more?" She asked, gesturing to the empty plate I was stabbing at. She had made her signature waffles, which tasted better than any breakfast place's. And now, I was dragging my fork around my plate absentmindedly, stabbing it every so often for good measure.

I shook my head and pushed my chair back, standing up. "I'm gonna go for a quick walk."

"Oh, okay," she said with a slight frown. I watched as her green-blue eyes—the matching set to my own—darted over to the three boys all yelling at the screen.

I walked out the main door into the snow room, shoving my feet into my boots and grabbing my thick black coat. I frowned at my blue checkered pajama pants. I probably should go in and change, but that would run the risk of me having to talk to Derek and Daniel, and that thought made me want to drown in a river.

I opened to door, the chilly air blasting me in the face while offering me peace in the tranquil silence that you could only find in cold mornings. I walked down the sidewalk, taking in the white blanket of snow I was currently marring with my footsteps.

We had gotten a couple of inches last night. I stayed up late watching it, admiring the simple view of falling snow—not that I'd ever tell anyone that I did that.

There was something about it that reminded me of Courtney. When I watched snow fall, I had a strange feeling that she was somewhere else watching it with me. Like twin flames. Once again, these are the thoughts that no one would ever get to hear.

I still wasn't all too sure as to why she got mad at me in the first place, but if it had to do with the fact that I punched her boyfriend's face, then I didn't care. The way I see it, the bastard got what was coming.

I did understand why she was mad at me now. I shouldn't have said the one thing I knew would hurt her, but I was mad and I did. And now, I couldn't take it back.

She apparently talked to him, a thought that made my blood heat even in this wintery cold, and made sure that he wouldn't press charges, so I could still go to the cabin. I couldn't tell whether I should've been irritated that she talked to him or happy that she cared, so I settled on neither and just tried to avoid the thought altogether.