Scars On Ice | Charlie Conway

t w e n t y - e i g h t

[ this chapter is a bit long, and it's the first in which i cried while writing it. ]

Aspen was finishing up her English homework Sunday afternoon when her door flew open. She met Joey's gaze angrily. "Have you ever heard of knocking?" she snapped.

Joey rolled his eyes. "Cry me a river. I need your help."

"No."

"Aspen."

"Fine."

Joey waved her over, impatiently chanting at her when she took her sweet time moving away from her desk. He led her out of her room and down the hall, not stopping until they were directly outside of Caine's room. His music was loud, but his annoyed grumbling was louder. Aspen raised an eyebrow at her oldest brother. "I thought you said you needed my help," she muttered in annoyance.

Joey sent her a pleading look. "You know just as well as I do that angry Caine is not a one-person job," he hissed back. When his sister rolled her eyes, he let out a breathy sigh. "You're better at this than I am. And I'm really getting sick of listening to him cry through the walls."

Aspen's eyes widened in shock. "Caine is crying?" she asked, clearly taken aback.

Joey nodded with a deep frown. "Don't tell him I told you that," he warned threateningly. His blue eyes were cool as he set his serious gaze onto the short girl. Both of them new exactly how infuriated Caine would be to hear that they had discussed the topic of him crying.

Holding her hands up in surrender, Aspen wore an innocent expression. "Hey, I value my life just as much as you do," she assured complacently. When Joey gave a curt nod, the pair let out twin sighs. Aspen scowled as she eyed the door in front of them. It felt like a death sentence. "So... do we just... How do we do this?"

Her older brother matched her frown and seemed to think for a few seconds. When he apparently came up short, he heaved a shrug. Without a word, he layered a soft knock on the door before slowly letting the both of them in.

Caine was sitting on his bed, his arms crossed like a child who had been thrown in time out. He didn't bother sparing his siblings a glance. He just continued in his aggressive pouting, his eyes studying the mess that he had made of his room. There were various piles of clothes strewn across the floor, and his trashcan was overflowing with discarded letters and photos. There was a baseball laying on the floor a little ways away from his foot that Aspen figured he must have been throwing at the wall.

"Wow," Aspen breathed before she could stop herself. Joey sent her a cautionary glare, but she just couldn't help herself. "You deal with stress worse than I do."

For the first time, Caine turned his head to stare at her. When their gazes met, his dull eyes narrowed into predatory slits. "Get out," he growled.

Aspen was honestly a bit frightened by his genuine aggression. She glanced helplessly up at Joey, who was squeezing the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. He counted to three in his head and took a deep breath. Then he met Caine's gaze. "What's up, Caine?" he asked gently. There was a degree of restraint on his face that betrayed the fact that he felt like he was tiptoeing around a sleeping bear. When Caine had no response, Joey sighed, "You can't keep doing this to yourself, Cainer. You need to either tell me and Asp about it, or get over her"

Caine's posture snapped to attention, his narrowed eyed widening once more. His jaw trembled as he tried to come up with a response, but he was quick to steady himself, his lips drawing into a thin line. With a labored grunt, he insisted, "I'm fine."

The two blue-eyed siblings exchanged an exasperated look. Aspen found herself wondering how Caine had managed to survive to be as old as he was, considering his intensive hardheadedness. But even as he demanded that he was alright, there was no hiding the wavering sadness that encased his tired countenance. She hadn't completely believed Joey before, but the bloodshot tint to his eyes confirmed that there had been tears shed that morning. It was enough to make Aspen herself want to cry.