CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Dalton
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Tap, tap, tap.
I stand patiently outside of Kalen’s room, waiting for him to give me the go ahead to enter.
I know he’s in a mood tonight and while I don’t want to make it worse, I’m just hoping there’s something I can do to maybe make it suck less.
Sometimes he gets so far into his own damn mind that dragging him back out is like pulling him out of a deep, dark hole.
One where bad things hide, or where good things get left to die.
A place where no one should have to suffer, least of all my little brother.
“Come on, Kalen,” I call softly through the wooden barrier. “Let me in.”
I hear the muffled sound of his loud sigh followed by the creaking of his bed as he climbs off it.
A few seconds later, the door is pulled open and he’s staring out at me expectantly.
“Pretty heavy stuff tonight, huh?” I ask him with a nervous smile.
“What?”
“What Luna said... you know, about Mom.”
He shrugs, a bored look immediately taking over his expression.
“Anything else?”
I feel a hot surge of anger burn through me as my eyebrows come together in a sharp point.
I don’t get why he’s acting like I’m the fucking enemy when I’m on his side. I’ve always been on his side, and that’s exactly where I plan on staying.
“Snap out of it!” I shout at him.
Kalen shakes his head and attempts to close the door in my face, but I’m faster than he is, and I force it to stay open by putting my weight against it.
“You’re not the only one she doesn’t talk to, you know. She hates me too!”
I wipe the angry tears away from my eyes before they have a chance to fall.
It wasn’t until just now, when I finally said it out loud, did I come to terms with the fact that the only reason Mom isn’t talking us is because she probably hates us.
And while I should have been honest with myself from the very fucking beginning, it’s still a hard pill to swallow.
Kalen drops his hand from the back of the door and looks away for a moment. Almost as if he’s ashamed that he assumed he was the only one of the two of us who has been suffering.
“Sorry.”
I take a deep breath as he steps to the side and lets me enter his room.
“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have shouted at you,” I say as I use the back of my hand to wipe at my eyes again.
He shrugs as he goes to stand by his bedroom window, and I can’t help but smile.