You & Me? We're The Same

A Not So Fresh Start

Bonnie walked through the hallway of their new house in the middle of the night trying to get to the kitchen for some water after waking up from yet another dream.

Grams used to tell her that dreams were important, that they had meaning. "Dreams are never just dreams to a witch. They trying to warn you of the future, child" she told her when she started teaching her how to control her magic.

That was five years ago when she was twelve, before they first moved. They've moved three times since then.

Three.

She stopped short of entering the kitchen when she saw her brother sitting on the island table in the dark like a creep with a cup of warm milk and his prescription pills in front of him as she turned the corner.

Liam.

He was the reason they moved this time. He got kicked out of school after he trashed coach's car with a crossbar for benching him for the rest of the season after they 'got into it' over his anger issues on the field.

That was an understatement, the kid got more red cards than all the players on the field combined just because he couldn't control his rage.

He suffers from Intermittent Explosive Disorder, I.E.D, which often causes him to rage out with little motivation. It's why he got into lacrosse, dad said it would help him redirect his rage into something constructive and help him control his anger, which was why him and dad had been practicing lacrosse together for the past ten years. It didn't help much with the rage though, but it was something that they bonded over after our parents first got married and we became this blended family.

It became their thing.

She made up her mind to make herself some warm milk too so she could sleep instead of turning around and walking all the way back up to her room like she wanted to because she wasn't about to go out of her way to make him feel more comfortable.

She knew why he wasn't sleeping though, it was the guilt. It was a vicious cycle he constantly went through after he raged out, the guilt always caught up to him, only this time he also hated himself for being the reason they had to move when dad was the one who usually held that high honor.

She made quick with her warm milk and was almost home free when his whispered apology came as she was pouring it into the cup with her back to him. She wasn't sure what he was apologizing for because it wasn't like she had any attactments in New York. She learnt not to get too attached after their first move so whatever he was apologizing for right now didn't matter anyway, and so she ignored him.

She was mad at him though, which only piled onto the existing ten year old resentment she already held towards him.

She was about to leave with her cup of milk when she heard him pop open the bottle of pills, and honestly she didn't like Liam very much, but she knew he loved lacrosse and he wouldn't be able to play if he was on that junk. They both knew it so she did the idiotic thing and snatched them from his hands so she could toss them down the disposal.

She refused to acknowledge his shock though as she turned around again and told him to go to sleep.

"We have school tomorrow", she barely looked at him as she walked out of the  kitchen and went back to her room to hopefully get some sleep herself.

***

Liam stopped trying to figure out his sister years ago. He used to think she hated him, her hostility making it pretty clear, but then she'd do things to look out for him. Like last night when she drained his pills because he wouldn't be able to play lacrosse if he was on them.