Angel's Wings

Chapter Nine: Brother Trouble

"Cross my heart and hope to die, burn my lungs and curse my eyes. I've lost control and don't want it back." -Panic! At the Disco

(a/n: Sorry for the day late update guys! We, the authors, had a slight disagreement about what should happen in this chapter. We want to deliver the best story to you readers as we can, so we wanted to Perfect this chapter before we published it! As an apology, we'll be publishing another chapter tomorrow, so watch out for that! Thanks for understanding <3)

My cheeks burned an intense and fiery red as I pushed Joesephe away from my body. I was breathing heavily, my mind going two hundred miles a minute.

What came over me? I hate Joesephe!

Chadd rushed into the room and grabbed Joesephe's leather jacket roughly. "How did you get in my sister's room?!?" he roared. I jumped at the word sister, and avoided eye contact. I couldn't look either of them in the eye. Joesephe looked at me questioningly, but I couldn't bear to look at him.

Chadd looked back at me, eyebrow raised. "Vael," he muttered, "is this boy bothering you?" I shook my head slightly, unsurely. I still hated Joesephe, but the feelings he'd awoken in me.... it was thrilling and exciting in this odd new world I was entering. My life was changing in so many ways, with the revelation that Alfredo's song was in my dreams... something was off.

But when Joesephe was kissing me, I had no need to think about anything else. Just his juicy, smooth lips on mine so intense and strong. Like we were both yearning for something, even if it wasn't each other.

Chadd glared at Joesephe and growled, "I don't believe you!" to my gesture. He dragged the boy out of the room and to the front door, all the while Joesephe didn't put up a fight. Before the door closed on him, he looked at me and made eye contact. His brown eyes were full of something... both yearning and something darker. Malice.

Chadd spun around to face me once he'd slammed the door shut. "VAELYUMME WHAT WERE YOU THINKING???!!" he yelled, "And THAT boy? That boy is—" I'd had too much.

"Chadd, you do not get to control my choices. That boy is no concern of yours!" My voice was quieter than Chadd's, but just as intense. There was a fire ignited within me, maybe from kissing a boy I hated, or maybe from finding out where the song in my dreams came from. Either way, I was fighting back.

Chadd glared at me, his y'all frame making me want to cower. "Vael," he said, "you don't understand. You don't know what that boy is. What he's capable of. He ev—" I interrupted again.

"You're not my real brother, Chadd, so just drop it!!"

That made Chadd freeze in his tracks, and his face, once angry, now fell. His eyes were almost mournful in their deep sadness, but he didn't say anything more. He slowly turned and walked up the stairs. I listened as his door shut, then walked up into my room.

He can't tell me what to do. The one time he decides to care, it has to be about this?

***

My cereal popped along with the Coke as Tyrone chattered to my ears about Alfredo Jones' hotness. I was merely exhausted from a sleepless weekend, so I couldn't focus on what my best friend was saying. The flavor of my Chocolate-Os in the fizzy Coke was all that was keeping me awake.

Uncle Lythe walked into the kitchen in slippers and a robe, rubbing his eyes drowsily. He looked at the empty spot at the table and then raised an eyebrow at me questioningly.

"Vaelyumme, dear, where's your brother? Have you woken him up yet?" he asked. I glared at my bowl and said, "He's not my real brother." Tyrone tsked and responded, "I'll do it for ya, sugar-coated almond." With that he flung himself out of his chair and pranced up the stairs.

Moments later, Tyrone was back, all flushed and pink. I raised an eyebrow at this uncharacteristic action, but he merely shook his head and sat silently— for once. I didn't mind, I just listened to the crunch of my Chocolate-Os and looked at the Coke ponderingly.

Chadd suddenly came into the room, shirtless. Any other day I might have cared, but today I was still livid. Chadd grabbed orange juice out of the fridge and poured it into a glass, not saying a word. None of us did. I looked at Tyrone to see if he was over the not talking thing yet, but he was goggling at Chad's triceps.

I looked back at my step-brother, then back at Tyrone, then back at Chadd again. Chadd turned around and saw Tyrone watching, but instead of ignoring it he winked.

"Like what you see?" he teased, gulping another round of orange juice. Tyrone turned even redder, hesitated, then nodded. "You're a pretty guy," he said shyly.

Chadd winked. "You're not so bad yourself." He flexed his muscles, then walked back out. To get dressed, I presume.

My jaw dropped as I looked at Tyrone. "Do... Do you like my brother?" I asked in a hushed tone, forgetting how mad I was momentarily. Tyrone day up straighter and said, "I don't know what you're talking about, cinnamon toast."

Oh, he's got it bad.

(Us again, guys. What do you think about Chyrone??? We hope you like what we have planned next ;) it's a rollercoaster!)