A Family Podcast (english)

Chapter 34

Thea

To knock or not to knock?

I had been pacing in front of Taylor's hotel room door for the past ten minutes.

It was the middle of the night, and the dark hotel corridor felt eerie. After everything that had happened today, I couldn't sleep. Usually, I would go jogging with Taylor to calm myself down, but tonight I couldn't bring myself to knock on his door. I had been avoiding him since the incident at the beach, quickly retreating to my room after dinner. But I didn't want to be alone in my room any longer, and I didn't know who else to turn to. Just as I was about to start pacing again, the door suddenly opened, and Taylor leaned against the frame with tousled hair and a tired expression.

I squeaked in surprise and took a step back.

It took me a few seconds for my heart to return to a normal pace, and I cautiously looked up at my brother. He didn't seem angry that I had woken him up. Instead, he looked at me expectantly, as if he had all the time in the world. I cleared my throat and pulled the sleeves of my sweater over my hands.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked, feeling puzzled since I hadn't even knocked yet.

Taylor smiled gently. "The walls are quite thin here," he tapped softly on the wall. "I was waiting for you to gather the courage to knock, but since it seems you only intend to wear out the carpet, I thought I'd interrupt you."

I made a grimace. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"You didn't, I haven't been sleeping too well either" Taylor scratched his head awkwardly as we stood there facing each other in silence. The incident from this afternoon still hung between us, unaddressed, and I just didn't know what to do to make everything normal between us again. I couldn't even remember the last time Taylor and I had clashed like this.

Eventually, it was Taylor who broke the silence.

"Listen, about earlier. I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay" I interrupted him, staring at my feet. Taylor had tried to apologize during dinner, but I didn't want to listen at the time. I had been genuinely upset that he had used what I confided in him against Dad. But even though I still felt a bit hurt by it, I also knew that I wasn't truly angry with him.

"No, it's not" Taylor disagreed softly but earnestly. He pulled the door partially closed behind him, so as not to wake Susan and Coulder, and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I was angry at Dad, but that's no reason to put you in harm's way like that. You told me that in confidence, and I would never forgive myself if you stopped trusting me now."

He looked at me expectantly, and I realized he genuinely cared and was worried.

"I wouldn't be standing outside your door if I didn't trust you" I replied finally, shrugging my shoulders.

"But you didn't knock" Taylor mumbled dejectedly, and I looked at him in surprise. I opened my mouth to contradict him, but then I fell silent and thought about it. Was that why I hadn't knocked? I shook my head slightly. No, I would always trust Taylor. I always had, and it wouldn't change so easily.

"I would have knocked eventually. I just wasn't sure if you wanted to talk to me" I admitted, and Taylor furrowed his brow, perplexed.

"Why wouldn't I want to talk to you?"

I gestured demonstratively along the dark hallway. "Well, it's the middle of the night, isn't it? And Susan probably had trouble falling asleep tonight, and Coulder will likely be up early tomorrow. Not the best moment to wake you up in the middle of the night" I explained, feeling even worse because Taylor probably hadn't gotten much sleep tonight.

"And besides, it's not fair of me to be angry at you. You were just repeating what I said, so let's forget about it, okay?"

Taylor opened his mouth to contradict me, but I quickly took a step toward him and hugged him.

"What's this for?" Taylor asked as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Because we're not going to talk about it anymore and pretend like it never happened" I said hopefully, and Taylor chuckled softly. Then I felt him nod and hold me a little tighter.

"Okay"

__________

Taylor

"Hurry up, already!" I called out as I placed Susan on the suitcase that I had set down in the hotel lobby.

I heard Noah's laughter, Jackson's swearing, and then a loud thud. Annoyed, I watched as Jackson's suitcase slid down the stairs and landed in front of the reception desk.

My gaze landed on one of the hotel staff, and I shrugged apologetically. These people were probably relieved when we finally left.

Shortly after, it was Noah's turn to curse, echoing through the room, and then Jackson ran into the lobby, grabbed his suitcase, and laughed his way outside.

I rolled my eyes and pushed Susan and the suitcase outside as well. We loaded all the luggage into Dad's and my car and divided ourselves.

This time, only the twins and Noah were in my car. After Dad had gone waterskiing with Jackson, my brother had willingly hopped into Dad's car without much persuasion. Luckily, because I couldn't bear another ride with Jackson and Noah together in one car.

Dad ignored me, but I didn't care. I had resolved things with Susan and Thea last night, and that was all that mattered. Dad would disappear after the vacation. Just like he always did. So, what did it matter if he was mad at me?

We left Oregon and started our journey home. The sky was dark, and it didn't take long for the first raindrops to land on the windshield. The closer we got to Louisiana, the heavier the rain became.

I drummed my fingers impatiently on the steering wheel as the additional fog forced us to drive slower. A three-hour drive could easily double in time.

"Annoying" Noah said as he removed his headphones and held up his phone. "Battery's dead" he grumbled and reached for the car radio, but I shook my head.

"The twins are sleeping" I explained, pointing to the backseat. Liam had fallen asleep two hours ago, and after Aden dozed off half an hour ago, I turned off the music completely.

"How can they sleep through this noise?" Noah complained, referring to the rain that continued to pound on the car roof.

"Says the expert. When you were little, Mom used to put you on the washing machine to make you fall asleep" I grinned at the memory. Our washing machine rattled and shook like crazy, but as soon as Noah lay down on it, he would immediately doze off. When Mom finally had enough money to buy a new machine, Noah cried for hours.

Noah rolled his eyes. "Of course, you had to bring that up."

I grinned. "Always a pleasure."

Noah chuckled softly before something seemed to occur to him.

"Has Susan shown you her video yet? She still won't let me have a look."

I nodded in agreement. Susan had to edit a video for school, and she had been working on it constantly for the past few months. But she wouldn't let any of us even catch a glimpse of it, which only made everyone even more curious.

"Nope, I'm not even allowed near her camera" I replied, grinning, and Noah shook his head.

"Someday, I'll get to see that video." Noah crossed his arms over his chest, and I was about to reply when the truck in front of me slammed on the brakes.

The back of the truck slid onto the opposite lane, and I cursed as I slammed my foot on the brake pedal. The truck was now blocking the entire road, and I had no chance of stopping in time. The screams of my brother echoed in my ears as I jerked the steering wheel to the side and crashed into the bridge railing...