Possessive (Completed)

Brotherhood

     Simon lived at his grandparents house with his only brother Liam. It was a small house, located outside of Boston in what some people had come to see as a bad neighborhood. It wasn't a home to either of the boys, and their grandparents didn't make things easier on them. That was why Liam was almost never home, and why Simon almost never had access to a car. The house was like a prison, so Simon liked to spend as much time as possible outside. Simon liked to hear the birds sing. He liked to listen to the water trickle. He liked to observe the squirrels borrowing. Simon was observant. He wasn't much of a talker, but he understood the world around him. He had a knack for understanding people's exact moods, without them ever even having to tell him about them.

     Liam Matthews had been Boston Central's shining star. He was the best quarterback the school had ever known and had delivered them two championship games. He was a stereotypical jock in high school. He'd had dirty blonde hair, lighter than Simon's, quite a bit of muscle mass, shinning blue eyes, and the prettiest girlfriend on the team. From his appearance, most people assumed that he had it all together, he had a straight shot to a good college through football, nice girlfriend, and lots of popular friends, but Liam struggled, even then. His freshman year of high school, his father left their family. In his absence, Liam began pushing himself harder and harder on the field and trying to be away from home as much as possible. Simon, a middle schooler, had been left to comfort their mother. Both boys dealt with things in different ways. Simon was altruistic, worrying about others first, and tended to show his emotions strongly, at least around those he was comfortable with. Liam was contained, like a bomb, and bottled up his emotions til it pushed him to a breaking point senior year.

     "Hello grandpa." Simon's small voice talked into the landline. "How are you?"

     "Went golfing with your grandmother today. You and your brother take good care of the house?"

     "Yeah." Simon chuckled slightly. The boys didn't mind their grandparents, when they were home, but the old couple lived in the bare model home for only a few months in the summer, before spending their winters in Florida.

     "How's your brother? I haven't heard from him a while." His grandfather asked, and Simon lay silent, pondering a response. He knew his grandfather and his brother struggled to get along.

     "I.. I can't ever really tell with him."

     "Like your mother that boy. Never gives. We all saw how that worked out." Simon felt that like a knife to his heart.

     By Liam's Junior year of high school his mother had started on drugs. Simon pleaded with her daily to stop, but she only got deeper. Liam turned from her to push himself even harder, to try to play even better. Then one day the two boys' mother had finally reached her breaking point, and overdosed on cocaine. She survived, but went to therapy, and her children were placed under the care of their grandparents.

     "I'm going to an early practice." Liam called. "Then I've got classes all day. I won't be back until late." Liam stated, walking out the door without a goodbye. 

     "Be careful with your arm!" Simon called after him. Liam had sprained his arm a while back and he still had to wear a sling round the house. 

      "It's fine." He called back.

      They spent a lot of time together because their grandparents only spent a few months every year at home. Still, they hadn't gotten closer because of this, but for reasons Simon couldn't explain, they'd gotten farther apart. Liam hadn't always been so distant, and Simon missed the person he used to be. He missed his brother with sun-bleached hair and an easy going smile teasing him at the beach. He missed the way Liam used to laugh and crack jokes. Most of all he missed how his brother would make him feel okay. Simon was a worrier, and he worried he annoyed Liam because of this. He wanted the two to be close, close like they'd been before things had gone awry. Simon ached. He ached in ways he didn't even realize, and he wanted a hug more than anything. His brother used to wrap him in strong arms, and make him feel like everything was alright, but he hadn't felt like anything was alright.