1 day to go.
A/N: There is a bit of feels in this chapter, just letting you all know ahead of time. There's going to be mixes between disgust, hatred, and pure sadness.
It took longer than I thought for me and Vic to actually set up for the party. Vic had wanted to go to school, but he didn't want to face Mike, so he stayed to help. Mike did in fact call Vic several times, but he ignored each time, not wanting Mike to know that they were back in the states. Vic continued asking what type of theme the party would have, and I actually didn't know, I've never really planned a party before. I just told him that it was going to be my going away party, and that's what it was going to be. When everything was supposedly together, it still looked wrong, and I hated that I even had this idea. I was going to just say forget about it, but it was on my list of things to do.
"Can't we just get your brother and his friends to help?" I asked Vic, his eyes grew at the words and shook his head.
"No." He kept shaking his head and repeating it.
"Why not? They were going to throw a party today anyways." I pointed out and he just shook his head. "Look, why if we make a deal with him?" I asked. He looked at me cautiously and then sighed, nodding his head and giving in. He took out his phone and scrolled through the contacts until he got to Mike's number. He called it and put the phone on speaker, laying it on the table.
"Hello?" A very agitated Mike answered.
"Mike?" Vic questioned and it started Mike up, fueling him with anger.
"Who do you think you are to leave without my permission?" He asked, barking into the phone.
"I'm sorry, but..." Vic didn't get to finish.
"Listen, you better be lucky I can't get to you right now or else I would," I interrupted this time, seeing as Vic was about to break.
"No, you listen. I'm having a party at my house and we need your help planning it. You can use my dad's credit card he gave me to get anything you want. I just need your help. And if you do help, you can claim it as your party, as long as you don't hurt me an Vic." I told him quickly, and waited patiently for an answer. I looked at Vic and saw his eyes were watering and I smiled at him and mouthed 'it's okay.' to him, making him calm down some.
"Fine. I won't. Where do you live?" He asked and I was about to say it through the phone, but he might not remember.
"I'll text it to you." I told him.
"Okay." And with that, he hung up. I went to Vic's messages, sending Mike my address and handed him back his phone.
"Thank you." I told him, knowing that he would rather have a sucky party instead of being near Mike.
-
When Mike arrived, me and Vic were sitting on the couch waiting, watching t.v. Mike came in, moving me from beside Vic and taking the credit card that I held out to him. He didn't stay long, just popped a few balloons we had hanging up and then left. It seemed to take forever but he soon came back with Tony, the one I recognized from the bathroom that day. Tony apologized for that day before they started to complete tear down all decorations me and Vic had put up. They said that it was all too childish and that we were high schoolers, so we had to act like it.
We stood by, watching them throw all kinds of water like material on the walls, and painting the walls with silly string. They went into the kitchen, setting up a table half full of alcohol and food, while they say a cooler of beers near the table. Around 5 was when people started to arrive, and the music began to play loudly. I was kind of happy that I lived in the type of neighbor hood that the cops never got called. My neighbor hood was one to not care, they were filled with money and could care less about what the neighbors next door were doing.
Around 8 was when the real party began, everyone barging in from the open door, girls and guys dancing on each other. Stumbling around on the floor, drunk out of their minds, even some people lounging around on the front lawn. Me and Vic stayed put, standing against a wall and watching Mike dance on some girl. We hadn't really been very sociable people, so this was all new to us. We were practically nailed against the wall, with drinks in our hands and just looking around.
"Can I ask you a question?" I asked Vic, catching his attention.
"Uh, sure." He said, turning towards me.
"What's up with you and Mike?" I pointed towards him on the dance floor.
"Uh, nothing." He excused it.
"No, it has to be something." I said, looking at Mike and then at Vic who looked like he was ready to pounce on him. He sighed and took a few gulps of his drink and then looked back at me.
"He hits me." He said and then elaborated. "Ever since Mike got taller he had been bullying me. I know it sounds stupid, but I can't fight him back or anything. When I'd tell my parents they'd laugh and tell me it's only going to make me get stronger." His voice trailed off and he looked down at his feet.
"Is that all? Why don't you try and fight back or just leave?" I asked.
"Because I can't. My parents said as long as I was still alive then it wasn't a big deal. Mike began to get more abusive, and he'd do things to me, and get away with every single one." He seethed through his teeth. "He became more abusive and one time nearly killed me, and that's why I just surrender to him now. I don't want to be on his bad side, it's best to just go with what he does." He finished off, taking a big gulp of his drink and going to get more before returning back to the wall.
We stood there in silence again, watching Mike dance with some girl named Alysha and have Tony behind him dancing with some other girl. I was utterly disgusted by Mike, and I wanted to punch him for what he had ever done to Vic. I wondered if he had any bruises or anything on him, or even if Mike felt guilty about what he had done. Siblings are supposed to take care of each other, not bully one another. Vic soon pushed himself from the wall and looked at me before taking my arm into his hand.
"What happened?" He asked. I blew out a gust of air and looked at the others dancing.
"I tried to kill myself." I blurted out. "My parents don't care about me, just their image, so they don't really like me or anything. I had been bullied most of my life and neglected by my parents, after what your brother did, I couldn't have cared less. I wanted to die." I finished.
"Why would you want to do that?" Vic asked, looking intensely into my eyes.
"Because I had no reason to live, I have no reason to live." I shrugged, looking away.
"You have every reason to live. Life is something you should cherish because once it's gone, that's something you can never get back. Life is about falling down and getting right back up, whether you like it or not you have to get through it. Life never gives you more than you can handle. You just can't solve it by killing yourself. That's a permanent solution to a temporary problem." He told me, looking from my arm to my eyes.
"I guess." I said, shrugging. After that, nothing else was said.
For the next couple of hours, me and Vic began to get a little woozy, becoming more and more intoxicated as the night progressed. I hadn't even thought about anything, and this was why. It all worked better than any liquor I've ever used and I was greatly appreciated for it. I did however start to get dizzy, and it was the worst thing to stand up straight, or even try to hold a serious conversation with Vic good. He was just as bad, stumbling on me and laughing at every single movement we each made. He ended up falling against the wall, unable to get up by himself. I had to help him up myself, nearly falling down in the process and having problems getting back up.
We finally decided to go into my room, bringing something to drink with us. When I opened my door, I had to scare a few people off my bed, before closing the door and sitting down. I laid back against my headboard and watched Vic sit at the foot of my bed and take a sip of his drink. We started to talk though, recognizing things and realizing things we might never had questioned while we were sober.
"So, if a rooster crows at the morning sun, if you put it in a dark closet with no sunlight or anything, will it still crow?" Vic asked, scratching his head.
"I don't know. Why do they crow though? Is it because they hate the sun or something? Or is it just like why dogs howl at the moon?" Our conversations alternating and digressing from one subject to another. I took out my vape pen and began to do a little drag before blowing out the smoke.
"Can I tell you a secret?" Vic asked me and moved closer.
"Sure." I said and saw him take another drink and sit down the drink.
"Mike abuses me." He said and I nodded.
"Yeah, you told me this." I said, recognizing what he was talking about.
"No, I mean, sexually abuses me." He said and I dropped my vape pen and could hardly speak. "One time when my parents weren't home, Mike began to tease me about being short. He made me come sit down beside him on our couch, and he started to play with my hair." His words coming out slow and steady. "He smelled it and said he loved that it smelt like strawberries and started to whisper in my ear. Soon, he began to kiss my neck, and it creeped me out all together and I didn't know what to do.
"He pushed me down on the couch and started to kiss and suck on my neck, grinding his hips against mine, and I couldn't do anything. Tears fell from my eyes as he did what he wanted with me, handling me roughly and hurting me. He's done it to me, so many times, and he just gets so mad if I don't do what he says that that would be my punishment." He cringed at his own words and began to cry tears.
I took him into my arms and held him there, letting him cry as much as he wanted or needed to. Right now, I understood why he would avoid making Vic mad, avoid Mike. Who would want to be around a monster like that? That was the most despicable thing that a human being could do to another one. Especially if you do it to your own flesh and blood, it's so disgusting and evil. The crying Vic stayed there in my arms for a while and I just held him. I was scared to rub his back, thinking he might mistake me for Mike and I don't want that.
When he finally finished crying all the tears he could, he sat up, getting his cup and taking a large drink from it. He laid back on my bed and we just sat there in silence. The awkward silence that filled the room after he had told me that. I wondered what had come over him to tell me that, possibly the alcohol, studying from our intake, we were both heavily intoxicated. I picked up my pen and began to vape some more, wanting to get more relaxed and all. All of a sudden, there was a bang by the door and we both stood up, looking at the door and waiting for the door to open, but it never did.
The silence engulfing us, until I pulled out my phone and began to play music. I hated to be in silence, so I had to do something, and I wanted to lighten the mood. I handed my vape pen to Vic which he gradually accepted and began to puff some of the vapor from it. I watched him blow it into the air but in return cough a little. We both laughed a little at his inability to really smoke from the pen. That's what we did for most of the time being, passing around the pen and taking drags and drinking, relaxing our bodies. Vic began to get better at the pen and soon became a pro when he started to blow circles.
We soon began to laugh and play around, being happy and giddy about nothing really. We would sing along to the songs that my phone played while occasionally dancing to them. Vic seemed to be having the most fun, doing random stunts that he taught himself at SkyZone. He started telling me all these funny stories and opening up and it seemed like he was having the most fun he has ever had in years and I was so happy for him. He started telling funny jokes and doing all these funny faces and I couldn't help but to laugh.
"Hey, Kellin." He said out of breath, sitting down next to me.
"Yes Vic?" I asked, giggling at how tired he was from doing various things.
"Do you ever think that life really gets better?" He asked and I didn't know what to say. I shrugged and looked at him and smiled hopefully.
"I hope it does." I told him, seeing a genuine smile spread across his lips and I smiled genuinely back. Before I knew it, he leaned in and kissed me and I was stunned. I was unable to move and I didn't know what to do, I never knew. I gently pushed him away and moved away some. "I'm sorry." I told him.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I just thought." He stopped and stood up, beginning to hit his head. "I'm so dumb. I shouldn't have tried that, I just thought you were, and I don't know." He hit his head again and I stood up, stopping him and holding on to his hands.
"I'm sorry Vic, I shouldn't have lead you on. That was my fault. I'm sorry. I-" he stopped me and pulled away.
"I'm just going to go." He said, heading towards the door, but I stopped him.
"Vic, don't go." I told him, but he shook his head.
"I'm sorry." He said and left, leaving me standing next to the door.
I went back to the bed, laying down and staring at the roof, becoming infuriated with myself. I don't know why what happened, how could things go from being so good to disastrous. This was something that I never thought would happen, I thought he might be interested in girls since he didn't like what his brother was doing to him. After me and him had all those conversations and traveled, I thought that maybe he could be the only friend I'd ever have and I'd be happy for that. It was actually kind of nice having him around, even though I told myself to not get attached to someone. I just wanted to make sure that no one missed me and I'd miss no one, but with everything that has happened, I can't handle this.
I called Vic's phone several times and there was no answer, which disappointed me, maybe I angered him so much that he didn't want to answer. Or he was probably upset with me and embarrassed and just wanted to be alone, and I could deal with that. I might have to deal with that. The music still blared loudly through the walls and I could hear all the commotion that was going on and it was actually giving me a headache. I had to go in there and find Mike, telling him that the party had to end. He didn't want to, but I told him that my parents were coming home and that my dad was an assassin in the military. That sparked enough for him, making him yell out to his friends that the party was moving to the beach. After they all cleared out, I gave it another try calling Vic.
"Hello?" Vic said, picking up after the second ring.
"Hey." I said, going back to my room from the massacre that happened in the front rooms. Vic didn't say anything else, so I did. "What are you up to?" I asked quietly and I heard his breathing.
"Um, I went for a walk." He said, his faint steps being picked up by the phone.
"Oh, do you want to hang out here for a while and watch some movies or something?" I asked, picking at the covers on my bed.
"Uh, I'm actually just walking home. I'm going to go to school in the morning." He said.
"Oh, um okay." I sat up and got on the bed good. "Do you think we can hang out Friday night?" I asked next.
"I can't, I have to work, but what about Saturday?" He asked and I smiled. That would be a day after everything was supposed to end, but here I was.
"Sure." I agreed, feeling my smile get bigger.
"Great." I could hear the smile in his voice and I sighed a little.
"Do you need a ride home or something?" I asked, not wanting him to walk the streets alone, and then at that it was a little breezy. Plus, it was 12 in the morning and who knows what kinds of psychos are out there and why they're capable of.
"No, I'm okay. Thank you." He spoke softly, sniffling. I could tell that he was cold.
"Oh, okay. Well, how far are you away from home?" I asked him. For some reason I continued to ask questions, I just wanted to keep talking to him.
"Uh, a couple minutes. Can I text you when I get home?" He asked and I nodded even though he couldn't hear me.
"Of course, yeah." I said, moving around on the bed.
"Okay. Well I'll talk to you later." He told me.
"Okay." I said, my voice hushed before he hung up.
-10 minutes later-
(Vic , Kellin)
'Hey'
'Hey, did you just get home?'
'Yeah, what are you up to?'
'Vaping, what are you up to?'
'Laying down.'
'Oh.'
'Yeah.'
'Hey, I'm sorry about what I did. I shouldn't have done that.'
'Don't worry about it, it's not your fault. I didn't mind it.'
'Okay. It's getting kind of late, I think I'm going to go to bed.'
'Yeah, wouldn't want you to be sleeping in school.'
'Yeah. But I was thinking we go to the beach and build sand castles or I could teach you some more tricks at work.'
'Either works, they both sound fun. Do you want me to come to your job tomorrow?'
'No, this is Saturday. Mike picks me up and drops me off at work, he might mess with you again.'
'Right. Well, I'm looking forward to Saturday.'
'Me too.'
'Goodnight Kellin.'
'Goodnight Vic.'
-
A/N: Only one more chapter left.