Just Act Natural

Chapter 1 - Brownies and family trauma

It was about 10 years later.

There was no sense of urgency in the busy streets but he dashed anyways, the building in front of him quickly becoming larger.

He jumped up the steps, two at a time, he was already running late. His heart raced as he wondered what could be so important for him to have to cancel a show.

The doors swung open to the relatively calm café, a few people looking over as the little bell chimed. His eyes searched the building before landing on a lady who was seated in an opposite corner.

Her hand waved him over as he swiftly crossed the small cafe. She was a gorgeous woman, appearing to be in her mid thirties with a strong and tall stature.

"Finally, I didn't think you'd actually make it!" Her chuckle rung out as the man sat down, his face curved into a frown.

"What's wrong, I'm missing a show for this." His gaze shifted towards the window as his leg bounced under the table.

As the woman in front of him opened her mouth, a waiter appeared beside the table. "Two brownies?"

"Ah, yep, that's us." She smiled as the waiter placed Nerium down before walking away.

"Nice of you to get something I guess, I'm- I'm not hungry though, you can have mine." He nudged the plate towards her but she pushed it straight back to him.

"Nerium for the love of god, eat, just a bit ok?" She whispered, her eyes worried. Her gaze softened when she watched the man gently pick up the fork and tentatively take a bite, his face filled with discomfort and disgust towards what he was eating. After the bite he quickly pushed the plate back to her and swallowed what was left in his mouth.

"Ok, what's going on, why'd you call me here." The tone he carried was one of frustration, annoyance, and curiosity.

"Your family-"

"No, don't talk about them, we've been over this before." He clenched his jaw, his body running stiff and his mind racing with thoughts.

"Nerium, it's important, I need you to listen-"

Nerium cut her off with a slam of his fist into the table, his eyes glaring daggers at her as the two earned a few stares from across the cafe before people went back to their normal routines.

"I have been over this with you, many, many times, please don't talk about them. They hurt me, I was just an experiment to them. For the love of god, don't mention them, let alone in a public place." His voice was a shallow whisper as his eyes threatened to tear if they continued talking about the current topic.

"Then can we go to a more private area, please?" Her voice was pleading and sounded almost desperate as he stood from his seat, his eyes narrowing as frustration took root in his mind.

"Fallyn, now is not a good time, I'm not having a good day and I really don't need to think about this sort of stuff at the moment." He turned and walked from the building before the lady could protest, his breath coming out shaky and shallow.

He soon arrived back at his flat, contemplating breaking his streak of sobriety, the thought slipping from him as he realised it was only mid-afternoon. Nerium settled onto the floor instead of walking the extra few metres to his room, laying his back against the cold tiles of his kitchen. Time eventually became a subconscious thought, his eyes almost unblinking as he stared up at the roof.

There was a knock at the door, soft and hesitant as he moved his eyes from the roof to the handle of the door.

"Come in." Nerium's voice was barely loud enough to pass through the walls, contrary to his usual loud and bright personality. Not to his surprise, a worried and sheepish Fallyn walked through the door, her face twisting in concern at the sight of her best friend on the floor.

"Hello, Fallyn, what do you want?" His voice wasn't aggressive, simply exhausted and somewhat croaky, leaving both members of the conversation wondering how long it had been since he'd drunk water.

"I- I came to check on you, to see if you're ok." Fallyn was concerned, she still hadn't moved from her place at the door. Nerium lifted a wrist, looking at his watch before dropping the heavy limb back to the floor.

"Considering it's about 6pm and I've been here since 12, no, not really."

"Look, I'm sorry for earlier, I know you don't want me to talk about it, but there is an actual reason to talk about them." Fallyn's voice was careful, worried that she might say something to frustrate him again.

"I know you didn't mean to piss me off, and if anything, I should be apologising, I'm the one who stormed out like an angry 6 year old." Nerium sighed, slowly sitting up and resting his back against a wall. "If what you want to say is actually important, please, tell me what it is."

Fallyn finally moved towards Nerium and sat beside him, her eyes scanning over him to make sure he was alright.

"How long has it been since you've eaten?"

"About 6 hours, I think?" As if on cue, a loud groan came from his stomach.

"If the brownie counts." He added, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"Nerium, you ate a singular bite of that, how long before that?" Fallyn's voice was concerned, and he simply looked at her with an awkward grimace.

"Not... sure. Yesterday? I think." Nerium looked away, his hands running across the tiled floor of his kitchen. Fallyn gently placed a hand on his shoulder, a pitiful look on her face.

"You can talk about it if you want, you know that, right?" Nerium laughed bitterly before composing himself, no way in hell was he saying anything more.

"It's- fine. Look, I'm getting help for it so, y'know, I'll be alright." Fallyn nodded unconvincingly at him, her eyes wary but unwilling to push any further.

Nerium eventually pulled himself to the old, worn couch in his living room, collapsing into the plush material. He and Fallyn talked for hours in the dull, sunlit room. Eventually, the sun slowly filtered below the windowsill and slowly sent the room into darkness. The duo fell silent momentarily before Nerium spoke up, his voice soft and hesitant.

"What... What did you want to tell me?" He fiddled with his clawed fingers, a wary and reserved look on his face.

Fallyn looked up with surprise, brushing the light brown strands of hair from her eyes. "Sorry, you're voluntarily talking about this? No way." Her voice was mocking, teasing him with a grin before she nodded slowly, beginning to speak once again.

"You have a brother."