Restricted - ON HOLD

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟝

Peter's POV

As I walked towards the kitchen for a quick snack, I could hear my mom laughing with her group. She said it was a book club she formed for the other at home moms. More gossiping and laughing seemed to happen rather than reading though.

The bag that carried my homework slumped to the ground as placed it down. My hands reached out and grabbed one of the Gala apples in the wooden fruit bowl. The apple still being fresh from the shop.

I walked slowly over to the living room, eating the apple. My eyes fell on the circle of six women, including my mom. They laughed about something as the books sat unopened in their laps. My presence was made when the floorboard creaked under my feet.

"Peter! How was school today? We were just wrapping up for the day," my mom spoke in her light voice. The other women nodding as they started to clean up.

"It was okay," I replied. My hand reached up to fix the blonde hairs getting in my face.

"That's good sweetie. Thank you for the cookies Anne!" I chuckled as my mom rushed to the door to say goodbye to the group. This hinted that it was time to go work on homework. The apple core landed right in the trash as I picked up my bag.

My feet thumped up the stairs to my room, occasional creaks every other step. It had been a long day of ball and dealing with Mrs. Kraus. I opened the door to my room, everything just how Ieft it. My body carried itself to my bed to sit down.

Sudden thoughts of today started filling my thoughts, especially what happened after school. The warmth that filled my body so suddenly while talking to Rudi. It could've just been the sun hitting us at a different angle. There would be no other explanation. A sense of calm drifted over me as I pondered even more about what happened.

Every thought came crashing down as the front door was shut rather aggressively. The loud sound was followed by our shocked mom, "Christopher, what have I told you about slamming the door!"

"I barely made a sound closing the door," Christopher said. His laughing was heard along with his two friends. They were coming up the stairs at a fast pace. I quickly got up and started putting some clothes in my dresser as the door to my room got opened.

"Hey Petey, we saw your little doll in the square. He was carrying home some groceries so we decided to say hello," Christopher sneered. The two goons next to him laughing.

Those words pricked at me like a bunch of needles piercing my skin. I turned around to meet eyes with the almost nineteen year old I called my brother. My ocean blue eyes fell on the three who thought it was fun to pester anyone.

"What did you do?"

"He ignored us at first so myself, David, and Roy confronted him about being rude," Christopher's pale blue eyes flared with amusement.

Before stopping myself, I grabbed ahold of the collar of his shirt. It sickened me knowing that my brother and his friends found it fun to continuously mock others. This wasn't the first time Christopher came barging into my room, bragging that he made my best friend scared. He was seen as the rebel when in school, but I made sure that the title wouldn't be placed on me as well.

"You need to keep your hands off my friends, stay away from them. You can't just bully anyone younger than you," my voice low and hints of anger seeping out.

"He picked up the groceries and went home after we were done confronting him. You can ask him tomorrow at school about us teaching him common respect."

Christopher pushed me into my dresser. Roy and David smirking at either side of him. I glared at the three boys in front of me before they finally headed out of the room. Their laughs echoed in the halls, scolding coming from downstairs right after for the noise.

When I moved towards my desk, my hand reached to my tailbone. It felt a little sore after having a dresser knob press on it. I sat down in the stool set up at the worn, wooden desk. My homework was nearly displayed, still untouched by pencil.

When I started to work, my mind flickered to what Christopher had said just moments before. 'You can ask him tomorrow at school about us teaching him common respect.' The words continued to bother me as I attempted to work on the homework.

✦✦✦

After a couple hours of working on homework, it finally was finished for tomorrow. I heard the faint call of my mom calling everyone to the dinner table as I put everything in my bag for school. My brother's words still echoed clearly in my head as I walked down the stairs.

Christopher was smirking at me as I entered the dining area. It was going to be a long dinner of him sucking up to our parents like usual, pulling all the attention to himself rather then me. Our parents went through a ton to keep my brother out of trouble, but it never really helped. My dad just said it was taking a little longer for Christopher to gain some responsibility, but it really meant he didn't wanna give up so easily on his first born.

While eating dinner, at least a few different conversations were happening at once. A conversation between my brother and dad ended up turning into an argument. Christopher knew how to mess with fire when it came with our dad's hobby, which happened to be recruiting people into minor roles of the Party.

He gained a high reputation in the town and many people loved him. Our dad Martin was a loving man, but turned cold in an instant when it came to being apart of the Nazi Party celebrations. His whole demeanor could change if someone dared to speak up against the government or laws placed. He wanted to recruit Christopher into a rank, but my brother would always decline saying he had other jobs he was committed to.

"You should give it a chance," a huff came from our dad. His eyes flickered from his plate to Christopher.

"Dad, you know I have other commitments. I just ask you give me time to settle things," Christopher mumbled.

"Fine," with that, our dad got up and placed his plate in the sink. He headed into the living room to read. Our mom picking up the remaining dishes from the table to clean them. It was a fast dinner, especially after my brother made up another excuse.

I stood up and glared at my brother as I turned to go back upstairs. "I love you mom and dad. Good night!" I called to my parents. My feet guiding me all the way to my bedroom.

When I entered my room, I shut the door and changed to more comfortable clothes to sleep in. It felt nice to finally be able to relax after a long day. My mind filled with vivid pictures of what happened earlier. They included me getting that warm feeling around Rudi up to when my brother bragged about 'teaching' Rudi respect.

Soon enough, sleep took over to drown out the negative thoughts filtered in my mind.

✦✦✦

w/c: 1251

a/n: kind of a sloppy chapter, next chapter should be better

stay safe everyone!