Oh Brother - S01 E17

2 years ago

Oh Brother - S01 E17

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 17

I laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling as my manga book lay on my stomach. Closing my eyes, I thought about yesterday, of how my mom snapped at me like that. It sure as hell hurt, but I was over it. Mostly over it, because there was literally nothing I could do.

After the whole incident, I had run into my room and stayed there for the entire day. I didn’t cry, I didn’t throw a fit. I just sat on my bed and thought. Thought about ways of just leaving, running away from my problems. My mom wouldn’t care, I didn’t have anything or anyone left here, so why didn’t I?

The answer was simple. What Stephen and Christisn did yesterday showed me that I might actually have people who care about me. Who would stick by me, even when I didn’t deserve it. What they did really touched me. Especially since Stephen chose me over his wife, who was actually pretty annoyed that the three of us were eating in the living room. Knowimg he did that, my respect for him grew a lot.

However, when it came to Christian, I didn’t know what to feel. Even though I was touched by what he did, I couldn’t help but still be mad at him. Not just because of what he did to Nate, but because he was the biggest reminder that my mom hated me. Actually, I was pretty sure she only hated me because of him. Mr. Perfect who had seemed to accept this new life with open arms, unlike me. It seemed like we were back to the start, and I was too tired to care at this point.

Opening my eyes, I stared up at the ceiling that was blank. I began to wonder what I would do from now on, or even how I would survive in this house. My mom hated me, whatever that was Christian related was complicated, and Stephen was just Stephen. Someone who didn’t harm anyone, but wasn’t very helpful anyways.

As I stared up at the ceiling thinking about my life, I suddenly smelt smoke. Frowning, I shook my head and assumed it was just my imagination. But then, I smelt it again. My heartbeat picked up, knowing it wasn’t just my imagination.

Getting off of my bed quickly, I rushed out of my room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Just like two months ago, the kitchen was filled with smoke. Surprisingly, I found myself smiling instead of having an heart attack as I rushed to the stove.

Christian was standing in front of the stove, waving a dishtowel around wildly. I stared at him dumbfounded, wondering what the boy was doing. Soon it hit me. He was going the steps wrong.

“Again Christian?” I asked, taking the dishtowel from him.

He looked at me, eyes wide with panic. “Why are you so calm?”

I shrugged and shook my head. “You’re the adult here. I can’t believe it.”

As I looked back at Christian, I was surprised to see that he was actually smiling. Even though he looked nervous, he was smiling naturally. I bit my lip and fought back my own smile, knowing we weren’t exactly on the best terms.

“I’ll take you through the steps of dealing with burning food,” I said. “You really need to know how to do this.”

Christian’s smile grew. “I know, but won’t the house burn down at any second?”

“No… I hope.”

Christian chuckled at that and my heavy heart from yesterday lightened up a bit. I decided to forget all about my feelings of anger towards Christian and my sadness from yesterday as I watched him chuckle.

“First,” I began. “Turn off the stove.”

He obeyed quickly and I was pleased to see that the bowl of pasta had stopped overflowing. A part of me realized how stupid I was for not rushing through this process, but at least the house didn’t burn down. There was no need to worry, I assumed happily.

“Next, open the windows. We need to get the smoke out of here,” I told him. “I’ll put the pot in the sink while you do that.”

Christian obeyed once again, eyes softening as he turned around and left. Using the dish towel I was still holding, I grabbed the pot and walked over to the sink, pouring the water out of the pot. Seeing that the pasta was completely burnt, I frowned. I wondered what he was trying to do by himself.

As I began to open my mouth to ask Christian, I heard a shriek. I jumped and nearly dropped the pot from the shriek. Quickly putting the pot into the sink, I turned to face where the sound came from.

There, standing with her hands on her hips was my mom. Her eyes were narrowed, her jaw was clenched. I gulped, realizing my mom was about to blow. Just like when Christian had dropped the Alfredo pasta a while back, she’d freak out.

“What have you done!” Mom screamed, pointing a finger at me. “What is wrong with you Autumn!”

I stared at her stunned. At this point, I knew there was no point in arguing with her. No matter what I said or did, she would be on Christian’s side. I was smart enough to know that much.

“Autumn, can’t you do anything right?” she continued to scold, seeing that I wouldn’t say anything. “Who told you to cook in the first place? You-”

“Alice,” Christian suddenly said, cutting in. “I was cooking. Not Autumn.”

My eyes widened as they flew to where Christian stood. He was standing in front of the window, staring at my mom as he crossed his arms over his chest. Somehow, he looked both innocent and stern. My heart skipped a beat, shocked overall that he was actually speaking up.

“Christian,” my mom said, frowning. “You’re too nice. Don’t take the blame for Autumn.”

I nearly scoffed at that, wondering what the hell was wrong with my own mom. Christian was not her son. They weren’t technically related. Yet, she was choosing him over her actual daughter.

“I’m not,” Christian replied. “I was cooking and I messed up. Autumn just helped me. Without her the house might’ve burned down.”

“Christian,” she said tentatively. “You-”

“Alice, stop,” he said, sounding suddenly annoyed. “You need to stop treating your daughter so poorly. No wonder she snaps a lot, you made her like this.”

My mom actually flinched at those words. Maybe from Christian’s flat tone as well. To her he was golden boy; innocent and genuinely a good child. What he said must’ve stunned her, but not me. I knew this boy better than her, it seemed. I fought back a smile at the thought.

My mom looked down suddenly and turned around. My eyes widened, shocked that she was just going to take that from him. If it were from me, I would’ve gotten screamed at. Despite everything, it seemed like my mom really loved Christian and she always would no matter what he said or did.

“Okay,” my mom said, walking away from us and up the stairs. “Just don’t do it again.”

I scoffed as she disappeared, annoyed that he only got a simple response. Shaking my head, I chose to ignore that and finally let the warmth at the pit of my stomach blossom.

Honestly, it was such a small thing, but it meant a lot. A lot because it was my mom he had stood up to for me. He had put her in her place, for me. I was pleasantly surprised.

Looking at him, I was surprised to see that he was staring at me. His eyes had a gentle look to them as he stared at me, making me blush. Just like those weird moments with him, I felt like I was transforming into a girl.

“Thank you,” I said to him. “I can’t believe you actually talked back to her.”

“It’s the least I could do.” He shrugged. “Your mom… She needs to be taught a lesson.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “What you said should hopefully be a rude awakening.”

He smiled as well. “Hopefully.”

We stared at each other for a second, and I found myself feeling warm. It was strange because what he did was what anyone with a good heart would do, but it had meant a lot to me. Probably because I knew he did it for me.

Shaking my head, I decided to be the bigger person. For once, I would s--k up my pride.

“I’m sorry,” I said, letting my smile fall. “I’ve been an a-----e to you lately.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he said, frowning. “I shouldn’t have tried to scare Nate away. You’re right, I’m not your actual brother. I don’t have the right to interfere.”

“No, you had good intentions in mind.” I shrugged. “I prefer you not act on your intentions, but I guess it’s nice to know you care.”

To my surprise, he blushed. Not just a small blush, but a full on reddening of his face blush. I had to fight back a smile at the sight, actually finding it cute.

To more of my surprise, he then said, “Yeah, I care about you.”

This time I blushed as I looked down, not wanting to show him the reddening of my cheeks. My heart skipped a beat from the honesty in his tone.

Not knowing what to say, I simply said, “Okay.”