Unravelling

Chapter 56 - Disconnected

Things are quickly going downhill.

"Sit," Alex orders as soon as we have reached the living room.

His voice is eerily calm, a dead giveaway that he is trying really hard to control his temper and not yell at Aidan and I for hitting each other.

I hesitate, looking around the room. With relief, I notice that nobody else seems to be here. They must all be either in the kitchen or in the backyard already. I just hope they stay there because I definitely don't need any witnesses when Alex gives us a piece of his mind about our bad behaviour earlier.

But I really shouldn't worry about it too much. Even if my oldest brother is angry with us, he would never lecture us in front of other people. He doesn't usually yell at us kids in these situations, either. Instead, he has an earnest conversation with us about what he thinks we did wrong and then we can tell him our side of what happened. Alex is always conscious to treat us fairly and give us a chance to explain ourselves if we misbehaved. That doesn't mean that there won't be consequences, of course, but Alex only decides on our punishment once he has a clear picture of the situation.

"Preferably in this lifetime," Alex states sarcastically when neither of us moves to sit on the sofa.

Aidan scoffs and walks past me. As he does so, he "accidentally" bumps into me, causing me to stumble. But since I have dealt with his stupid behaviour for years, I anticipated this insidious move and successfully manage to stay upright. And I immediately retaliate with an elbow into his side.

Before things can get out of hand once again, Jordan gets between us, effectively separating us. He puts a hand each on our shoulders and none too gently pushes us to sit down on the sofa.

"That's quite enough out of you two for one night! Stay out of each other's hair," he bellows at us, clearly less inclined than Alex to keep his temper in check.

"What did they do now?" Alex asks with a heavy sigh.

He must have missed our little squabble because he went to close the door that leads from the living room to the kitchen and the other one leading back out to the hallway. I am grateful for his being so considerate because it should keep any nosy people out.

"Just trying to keep up the truce between these two," Jordan replies unamused.

"Truce, my ass," Aidan mutters under his breath. "Stupid brat."

"Wanna repeat that?" Jordan challenges him, his voice dangerously low.

I shake my head at Aidan being so stubborn. He continues to push his boundaries although he should know that he cannot win in the end. Our older brothers will always end up having the upper hand. How he has not yet figured out when to stop is beyond me.

"Loser," I hiss back at him for calling me a brat.

I am not willing to back down either. Not if it means that Aidan could believe he has won. Sometimes, I am willing to take the higher ground and let it go. Tonight is not one of these times.

His behaviour towards Finn has really upset me. But I am not upset in a shedding-tears-and-wallowing-in-distress kind of way. No, I am furious at how unfairly Aidan treated my friend. And I am determined to make him see the errors of his way.

"Lily," Jordan reprimands me, sounding just as unimpressed with me as he did with Aidan.

I glance up at him and give him an innocent look. But instead of gracing me with that small, understanding smirk that I usually get from him whenever Aidan is annoying me, Jordan narrows his eyes at me, indicating that he is definitely not on my side this time.