A fractured fairytale

44

"Boys!"

I turned at the sound of mom's voice and Chris used the opportunity to tackle me, sending me stumbling to the ground with a grunt. He was small but fuck me he was strong. Jay doubled over laughing while I jumped back to my feet, my ego officially bruised. I'd never been knocked on my ass by my little brother before. That was a new low.

"That was embarrassing to watch," Alex said with a chuckle, nodding to where Chris stood, a smug smile on his face.

"Don't get used to it," I warned him. "I'll get you back for that."

He only shrugged, that cocky grin widening. "Worth it."

I rolled my eyes and brushed the dirt off my shorts. The sun had come out today so we'd taken the opportunity to have a family football game. Me, Jay and Em versus Alex, Chris and dad. Meanwhile, Vi migrated to the far end of the garden, lay out a towel and sunbathed instead. "We still beat you," Em told Chris in a singsong voice. Sometimes, I thought she was even more competitive than we were.

"Fuck off."

"Chris!" dad scolded, a glare flashing across his face. I saw Em's answering smile, but he didn't catch it. He never did. "Come on sweetheart," he called, placing a hand on her shoulder and steering her towards the patio doors. "Time to get ready for dinner."

The rest of us turned too, mom having disappeared from the doorway to go back to the kitchen. The match had been her idea since apparently 'all the testosterone was really starting to piss her off'. And, after my dad had teased her about bad language, she'd shooed us all away. So, Alex suggested a game of football and after half an hour of arguing about teams and an hour of mostly tackling each other to the floor, we were covered head to toe in mud.

"Violet!" my dad bellowed when we reached the patio doors. "Dinner!"

She raised her head, looked at him, waved a hand and then lay back down as if he hadn't spoke. "Fine, starve," he muttered under his breath when Em ran off ahead. I laughed at the grumpy frown on his face. "Em! Shoes off!" he called.

She kicked her shoes off and scurried away, Chris not far behind her. I joined them, stepping inside and taking off my once white trainers which were now caked in mud. It had been raining a lot recently so the backyard resembled a mud slide more that it did a football field, but we made do. I took off before mom found the pile of dirty shoes on her nice cream carpet and headed to my room for a shower.

I washed off all the mud splattered up my legs and arms and dumped my clothes in the laundry basket before heading back downstairs in my jeans and shirt for dinner. "Hey mom."

She stood at the stove, stirring a huge pot of something that smelled amazing. It was the last Friday of the month again, which meant family dinner. And this time, Rose was invited. "Hey, sweetie, you look very handsome."

Violet chose that moment to come back inside, scoffing a she shoved passed me to refill her water bottle. She was in a pair of shorts and a bikini top and I could see the skin on her back was red from laying in the sun. Mom had told her to put sunscreen on, but I doubt she listened. I rolled my eyes and ignored her, turning back to mom.

"Do you need a hand with anything before I go and pick Rose up?"

"No, no, I-."

"Rose is coming?" Vi interrupted, spinning to face me. Her face was mostly hidden beneath her ridiculously large sunglasses that she definitely didn't need to be wearing inside, but I could see her brows dip.

I wanted to snap at her for interrupting or for just being a bitch in general but I bit my tongue and just nodded my head. Her gaze swivelled from me to mom and then back again before settling on her. Even without seeing her expression, I could tell she was pissed. "So, Matt can invite his girlfriend to family dinner and my boyfriend isn't even allowed in the house?"