There was nonsense talk all throughout dinner about games and jobs, but then came the interesting part: dropping her off at Oakland Apartments. He led her up to the steps of the apartment building, his hand on her back ever so lightly. He stopped when she did, looking down at he and smiling. His heart was racing inside of his chest and his palms were clammy.
“Well, I guess this is goodbye?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest to keep from the cold. He shrugged and nodded, not wanting the night to end, but she understood that there were people he had to tend to back at home.
“I’ll see you next week? Same place same time?” He asked in reply.
“We can probably go for a movie next time,” she offered. He nodded and heard Bass yell from the car, “kiss her!”
Myles put a hand to the side of her face, leaning down and kissing her ever so gently. He felt his heart ignite and his stomach do flips when she kissed back, pulling away to enter the building.
“G’night,” he said before she shut the door. He walked back to the car with a pure grin on his face, getting in and driving off. Bass only laughed the etre way home, unable to think coherently about what to comment.
Once they arrived home, however, Divide and Lust were all over them. They were like children, running to the door in pajamas and socks with shocked looks on their faces. Especially Divide, with the grossest look on his face, absolutely sickened.
“You kissed her!” he yelled. “You actually planted your lips upon hers! And you don’t even have an upper lip!”
“Blame my dad for that one,” Myles said, stripping of his coat. Divide scoffed and Lust squealed.
“You actually went for it!” she shrieked, jumping up and down with excitement.
“And I had to feel it,” Divide scowled.
“Get used to it,” Bass said. Divide and Lust stopped their chatter and watched Bass follow Myles into his room, shutting the door. He huffed, sitting on the bed and ridding himself of his shoes. Myles joined him and followed his example, tossing his Converse to the wall and flopping down onto the bed.
“You did pretty well,” Bass said, taking off his beanie and socks. “I mean that by the way you both handled me and her at the same time.”
“You were quiet after Cat said she wanted to meet the others.”
“I was watching her, making sure she was the right kind of girl for you.” Myles looked to the back of Bass and raised an eyebrow, pushing up his glasses.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I don’t want there to be any heartbreak between you two, especially at the reunion. It’s coming up in three weeks and you have until then to… To rid of us and to have a decent bond with her.”
“I kissed her, that’s it.”
“And you like her, Myles. A lot. I can see it! Divide can feel it, we should remember. I’m sure he can feel the way you stop breathing when you hear her bubbly laugh, or the way she quotes anything and everything Paul Rudd and the way her eyes twinkle that makes your stomach turn.”
Bass looked back to Myles and grinned. “And I’m sure he can feel his cheeks burning as badly as yours are right now.” Myles laughed and shook his head. “You love her. Admit it.”
“I never said I wasn't,” Myles said. He looked the the ceiling fan and unbuttoned his shirt, Bass getting off the foot of the bed and retreating to the living room, joining Lust and Divide on the sofa.
A red, leather couch with a couple of cracks in it, and a blanket over the back. Usually a brown fleece blanket, but this time a white wool blanket draped over Lust’s legs. She cuddled up with it on the rather very comfortable couch. Bass sat at her feet, Divide sprawled on the floor watching the television.
“What’s on?” Bass asked.
“Myles left Sports Center on for us,” Lust replied, not too interested in it, but unable to watch anything else, really.
“It was my turn to choose and he went for my favor,” Divide said with a grin. He itched at his bare abdomen and Bass let out a sigh.
“I wish we could mess with things like he can,” he said, Lust looking up at him. “I just want to change channels and drink water like Myles can.”
“But that’s boring human stuff,” Divide said, stretching out on the floor. Now that Bass looked down at him, he wasn’t wearing any pants, just underwear. What a strange being Divide was. “We can do whatever.”
“Not whatever, Divvy,” Lust corrected, “We can’t touch people and talk to them like Myles can.”
“Or give people advice without Myles mucking it up with his stupid ways of saying things,” Bass added. “He does like to stutter a lot, too, when in pressured situations. Luckily he didn’t during dinner.”
“There was a part, though, where he was about to,” Divvy said. “I could feel it in my mouth and it was weird…”
“The fact that you just said that,” Lust started, pausing to play with her hair, “is gross and we don’t need to hear you say that ever again. Sorry not sorry.” She pulled her blanket over her chest and snuggled deeper into the couch, watching the argument over the play-by-play best pauses go on.
“Not a problem,” Divide sighed, slowly shutting his eyes and drifting off to sleep. Bass slowly got off the couch and grabbed a pen from his pocket, marking all over his face and snickering as he sat back down.
“You are a child,” Lust giggled. She covered her mouth and looked down at the crudely drawn mustaches on Divide’s face. Family tradition of the others: draw on faces in sleep. When one’ll wake up, the others are instantly yelled at by either the one who was drawn on Myles. This time it would be fun to see Divide freak out in the morning and wake up Myles in time for work.
“I think he deserved it,” Bass said, looking up to Myles as he walked in and sat on the floor in front of Lust. She took her hands out from under the blanket and played with his hair, massaging his temple for him. He hummed and watched Sports Center for a while before going to bed, leaving them all to the television.
-
“What,” Myles heard from the living room, “The.. Fuck?!” Divide screamed. He heard something be thrown and jolted upright, running from his room to find Divide glaring down Lust and breathing heavily. “You drew on my face? Why would you do that?”
“Divide, calm down,” Myles said. It was 7 in the morning, an hour before Myles had to get dressed for work, and he was not having it. It was cold, and it was tiring, especially to try and calm down the insane one.
“You fucking defaced me! You bitch!” he screamed, raising his arm to hit her. Myles lunged at Divide and grabbed his arms, pulling him back. Lust cried out and curled up into the couch, Bass running in from the other bedroom with Goldfish and Shaky behind him.
“What’s going on, man?” Shaky yelled as Divide and Myles wrestled in the middle of the living room.
“She drew- ah- on my face!” Divide screamed, Myles pulling him back from her. She continued to cry, Goldfish running over to her and helping her jump over the back of the couch. She grabbed onto him and he led her to the kitchen, keeping her from him.
“Stop it, Divide!” Bass yelled. “Calm down!”
Myles hurled Divide onto the floor and got on his knees, straddling the other and putting his hands on his shoulders to pin him down. Just then, in all of the chaos that was Myles’ head, Jenny walked in with keys in hand and look of awe on her face. Her younger brother was squatting on his knees on the floor, holding an invisible being down and yelling across the apartment.
“Goldfish, get her to my room, somewhere that isn’t in here!” he yelled. Bass waved the hooded one into the other bedroom, looking at Jenny and clearing his throat.
“Sister’s here!” he said over Divide’s snarling and hissing. Shaky just stood and fumble with his hands, unsure of what to say or do. Either did Jenny, standing there in the hallway, wearing her black tights, brown boots, blood red skirt that went to the knees, large black sweater, and white headband to hold her rambunctious curls back.
Myles looked back to her and then to Divide, stuck. Bass ran over to him, pushing him off of Divide to take his place, sitting there until Divide gave up. Myles stood, bare chested and pajama pantsed.
“Hey, weirdo,” he said, running his fingers through his hair and sniffling. She nodded, pressing her red lips together.
“And I to you,” she said, setting her purse down and walking past him and sitting on the couch. “Sit,” she said, patting the seat beside her. “We need to talk.”
Many years she’s said that to him so it was no surprise for that to come out of her mouth. Her pretty face was stern, faking a smile in her beautiful green eyes. She placed her hands in her lap and Myles sat at the end of the couch, facing her.
“Myles,” she said, trying to contain herself, “What I just saw was… something.” She looked to the floor and then back at him, shaking her head. “And I never want anyone to ever see that again.”
“Divide was going to hurt Lust. I had to do something.” He sounded like a scared child, making Jenny frown. He looked to his hands, not wanting to make eye contact with his disapproving sister. He felt like falling back asleep, but his heart was still running laps around his lungs and he couldn’t think of a reason to not sit there.
“No, you didn’t,” she said softly. “They can’t be actually hurt. Remember? We can but they can’t.”
“Yes,” Myles said, “they can. I’ve seen it.” He looked over to Bass, sitting on Divide’s chest, and sighed. “Get off of him; you’ll crush him.”
“Don’t talk to them anymore, Myles,” Jenny said with a bit more tone in her voice. “The more you pay attention to them the more they’ll be there!”
“I’ve tried that!” Myles yelled. “I’ve tried and I can’t rid myself of them! Not for you, not for Eli and Jake, not for mom, and not for Catalina!”
Jenny was taken aback by his outburst. Every time before he’d been so contempt, so quiet, shaking his head and walking away, but this time he yelled back at her. Even going so far as to stand and look down at her, fire in his eyes.
“I’m sick of you telling me the same shit that I can’t do! The drugs won’t work, the anger is coming back, and I’m sick and tired of it!”
“Calm yourself,” Jenny said, crossing her legs. “You are acting-
“Like a little shit, yeah, I know,” he said, turning around and starting towards his room. Bass held a hand out and grabbed his wrist.
“Myles,” he sighed, “please calm down.”
“Go away,” he said simply, pulling his wrist away. Jenny scoffed and stood, grabbing her purse after him.
“Oh, and Myles, just to remind you, we have a week to decide if we’re going to pull Mom’s life support. Two more after that is the reunion and you better have a girl with you.”
“I will!” he shouted from his room. “I have one now!”
“Is she just as messed up in the head as you?” Myles emerged from his room in a work shirt and his apron in hand, snarling at her.
“Don’t you dare talk about Catalina that way. She cares about my others. She wants to get to know them and for your information,” he stopped inches in front of his elder sister, seeing the redness in her cheeks and the burning orange of her long hair, “I don’t want to pull Mom’s life support, actually. They way you put it made it seem you did.”
“It would be better for her.”
“You mean for you,” he said and poked her hard in the shoulder. She growled and walked out, slamming his door as she left. Myles dropped his head and screamed, throwing his apron down onto the floor. He looked over at Bass, still sitting on Divide, and screamed again.
“Don’t fucking draw on Divvy’s face!” he screamed. He tore back into his room and slammed the door, letting out a couple good yodels before walking back out. He was met with Bass crying on the couch and Divide hugging Lust in the kitchen, apologizing as best he could. Shaky and Goldfish were no where to be found, though, which was a good thing.
“Going to work. No one is coming with me,” Myles announced. “That goes for Shaky and Goldy, too,” he said, leaving them in the place alone to their own chaos.