Friendzoned

21.Forgot

——

I’d completely collapsed on my couch and didn’t wake up until the sound of yelling filled my ears at about midnight. Dazed and confused, I rose off the couch and went to see what was going on. I walked into the kitchen to see Louis and Dad in each other’s face, and Mom desperately trying to get them to calm down.

I could barely understand what they were saying, but judging by how red Louis’ back was, I assumed it was probably about that. Both of them were screaming, veins popping out of their necks and faces reddening. What the hell happened?

“I’ve been pushing myself for years, Dad! How can you say I’m being lazy?!”

“You have a pulled muscle! It should only keep you out for a couple days at the most—you need to fight through the pain that you claim you have and work harder!”

“Claim?!” Louis voice nearly made the glass door shatter, I bet. “I’ve been running with Chip every day! You have no idea how much it hurts, Dad, but I keep doing it to fucking keep you off me!” Louis must’ve gotten hurt on at their scrimmage tonight. Oh, no, Louis.

“The painkillers only make me feel better for a couple hours and you keep making me play past what I can do.” Louis stepped closer, “But you don’t give a fuck about that do you?”

“LOUIS!” Mom shouted, scolding his language.

Dad ignored her, stepping closer as well. “To keep me off you?! You wouldn’t go anywhere if I didn’t push you. You’d still be failing your damn physics class if it wasn’t for me—you wouldn’t even be playing soccer if it wasn’t for me!”

“Well I wish I wasn’t!” Louis screamed. “You’ll still have Chip. Why does it matter if I stop playing when you’ll always have Chip?”

“It doesn’t.” Dad spat, pushing mom aside as she tried to get between them again. “Chip has always had a better work ethic than you. When he gets knocked down, he doesn’t stay down like you do!”

“I’M HURT! It hurts for me to walk! What do you expect!?”

“Something better than this ‘I’m hurt’ bullshit!” Dad poked him in the chest before pushing his shoulder, making Louis wince. They were an inch away from each other and my heart pounded in fear for my brother. I didn’t know what to do.

“What do I have to do, kill myself before you realize?!” Louis! No! Mom gasped as his words sunk in. Dad didn’t seem to be as concerned as Mom though, he just stepped forward so both his and Louis’ chests were pressed together.

“Well you know what Louis—” My body reacted before my brain. I didn’t want to hear what Dad was going to say, because I knew it wouldn’t make the situation better. I ran to forcefully push Dad away from Louis and stood my ground between them. Dad stumbled back in surprise before the anger came back. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He shouted at me.

All I could do was shake my head as I gripped Louis behind me. I stared hyperventilating. Dad and I have had our fair amount of arguments, but looking into his eyes right now, I could see this wasn’t just an argument. It was a full on fight—minus the punching. I racked my brain trying to think of something to say but I just couldn’t. Mom gave me a worried look, speechless herself.

“What is your purpose, Hunter?” Dad shouted. “What do you want?” My purpose?! Am I just some kind of pest to him? Tears picked my eyes at the thought. “What is it!?” His voice boomed.

“Stop yelling at her!” Mom said panicked as she watched me crumble under the pressure. “You can’t be angry at the whole family! Look at her!” Dad’s eyes burned into me and my chest rose and fell quickly as I struggled to take a deep enough breath. Mom let out an agonized sound before pushing past Dad and gripping my face in both hands. “Hunter, honey, breathe.” She said soothingly. I felt Louis’ hands rubbing my arm as he tried to comfort me too.