Ṫḧë Ṡöüṅḋ öḟ Ṗëṛïḷ (M. Wheeler)

Suzie, Do You Copy? (pt. iii)

Yeah, keep telling yourself that, you mullet-wearing schmuck, it commented rather snidely. Just knock on the door and prepare yourself for hell.

He pointedly ignored this as he raised his hand to the large wooden plank blocking out the horrors form inside his brother's room.

Don't be a wuss, Billy thought bitterly when he contemplated forfeiting at the last minute. He had to do this; he'd go crazy if he didn't.

Taking a deep breath, he rapped on the door.

"Hey...Dyl?" He called tentatively, fighting back his growing nerves.

"....yeah?" Came the curious reply a few seconds later. Billy bit on his lip nervously.

Here goes.

"Can I.....can I talk to you guys a minute?" He asked, mentally cursing at the way he damn near stammered out the words.

There was no response for a couple of seconds and the suspense, no matter how short it was, was literally eating away at his guy. Billy resisted the urge to listen in on the whispering he knew was taking place. Most likely consisted of Wheeler trying to convince his brother to tell him to get lost—and he didn't want to risk any broken bones by listening to them.

Finally a reply came. "Yeah," Dylan spoke lightly, and Billy exhaled his breath of pure anguish. Thank God. He didn't know what he would've done if he'd said no. "It's open."

Billy blinked. Great, he had to be the one to open the door? Ugh, that just added to the whole sense of dread. At least if Dylan and opened the door there would be less of a chance of the two noticing his hands shaking.

He drew in another deep breath. You got this, he told himself confidently, grabbing the door knob.

No you—

Shut up.

Twisting the handle, he slowly opened the door. The first thing he saw was Dylan and Mike sitting a small ways away drone ach other on the bed (acting as if they hadn't been making out a few minutes ago clearly, Billy wasn't that easily fooled). Dylan looked thoughtful while Mike just looked—well, annoyed.

That in itself was enough to make Billy blow.

He forcefully drew his eyes away from the irritating kid's face before he could succumb to the temptation to crush it. He instead focused on Dylan, who seemed more confused than thoughtful now; and Billy presumed it was probably due to the fact that his dumbass hadn't said anything yet.

Panicking slightly, he scrambled to think of something to say:

"....hi," he ended up mumbling dumbly.

Dylan and Mike furrowed their eyebrows. "Hi?" They responded, sounding perplexed.

Billy sighed inwardly. Jesus Christ this was gonna be a long night, wasn't it?

Sighing again, he closed the door behind him and pulled up the desk chair that was in Dylan's room to situate himself right in front of the two teens. Realizing that they were going to be talking, Dylan shifted himself to be sitting beside Mike, the two of them crossed-legged and staring at him. Billy tried not to be bothered by the way Dylan's knee was rested on top of Mike's. He instead tried to focus on what he had to say.

.....and just like all those times before, he lost it.

Billy hoped they couldn't see him sweating in manic. How could he forget this now?! He'd practiced so much!!

Dylan and Mike looked at him weirdly, allowing Billy to realize he'd just been sitting there silently. Shit, he thought in panic, looking around. Think, think.... Why the he'll couldn't he think of the words?!