Moose

03

"Okay," Fred begins, pointing to the kitchen window, "I left my phone in Eddie's car. How long do you think it will take to go get it?" He asks.

"Where'd you go last night?" Lucy replies, furrowing her eyebrows.

"That's irrelevant," he states, running a hand through his hair.

"Look," Eleanor starts, placing the black spatula onto a napkin. "You go put on a shirt and sweats, Lucy will go retrieve your phone from the car, and I will continue to make breakfast."

Staring at his sister with hesitation, Fred finally nods his head, and quickly runs out of the kitchen.

Lucy hops down from the counter. "I'm not getting his phone," she states, crossing her arms.

"You don't have to. I just said that to get him to leave. All he was doing was running his mouth. Besides, I saw his phone on the coffee table," El tells her, flipping the pancakes. Reaching for a plate, she jumps when she hears a loud and obnoxious yawn. She glances over at the entry way, and sends a glare to her oldest brother Eddie.

Letting out another obnoxiously loud yawn, he trails into the kitchen, his hands behind his back as he inspects the scene in front of him. "Are you making thin pancakes?" He questions, raising an eyebrow.

"Fluffy," Eleanor corrects.

"Yeah, I guess I'm not eating," he quietly announces, approaching Lucy.

"Did I say I was making you any?" She retorts back. "It's seven, anyways. Don't you usually wake up at eleven?" She asks, pouring a new batch of pancakes into the pan.

Huffing in annoyance, he grabs a pancake from the plate and starts tearing it apart. "Fred's irritating, loud voice woke me up," he answers, dropping a piece of the crispy, golden bread into his mouth.

Yanking the pancake from him, Eleanor places it back on top of the other three.

"Do you know why he's being so annoying this morning?" Lucy asks, pressing her back against counter.

Nodding his head, Eddie doesn't reply until he knows that no one is listening to their conversation. "We sort of went clubbing last night," he whispers. "Fred stayed longer than I did, though, and I even told him not to. He got home at four, wasted as hell. When I asked him how, he said he got a ride from some kid named Max," he admits.

Turning the oven off, Eleanor sets both the pan and the spatula into the sink. She pulls a plate out from the dish wrack, and places it beside of Lucy's hand. "Here," she says, shoving the glass to her sister, "take two and save the others for mom and dad."

"Can I have an extra? Dad doesn't ever eat them," Lucy accidentally blurts out, grabbing a pancake.

"Why?" El asks, her hand gripping the marbled counter top.

"He doesn't like how they taste," her sister replies, tipping maple syrup above her plate.

Eddie sends her a glare, but before he can say anything, Fred stomps back into the kitchen with their mother following right behind him.

"What's for breakfast?" Chipper asks, fully awake. Her voice has a certain cheerfulness to it and her face glows brighter than it has in the last few days. "I'm starving," she states, grabbing her stomach.

"She knows," Fred juts in, his jaw cocking out in anger. "I wasn't even being loud," he mutters to himself, making Eleanor roll her eyes.

"I made pancakes," she answers, pointing to the plate that has food on it. "I'm not going to eat anything and neither is dad, so, enjoy," she states, irritated.