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DAISY
PRESENT
My foot tapped incessantly in the foyer of my brother’s inner-city Los Angeles apartment, waiting for him to answer the door. I may have arrived a day earlier than expected, but I couldn’t face another minute in our family home—alone. Ethan hadn’t returned since our fight two weeks ago, and as much as I despised his presence, I craved it too.
It was just us in that house now, and although we rarely saw each other, I took comfort in the little things. His mess, the stolen cookies, even the notes left on the refrigerator from ‘Smudge’, our cat—our safest means of communication.
You see, Ethan and I have never gotten along. From the moment the state placed him with our family when he was sixteen, he took one look at my fifteen-year-old face and hated me instantly.
He wasn’t the first foster kid to live with our family, so I knew it took time for them to adjust, but his disdain was enduring. Every time I attempted to connect with him, he only grew surlier, until I gave up completely.
My parents told me not to take it personally because he’d experienced a lot of trauma, but I did. He had no issues opening up to my parents or becoming best friends with my older brother, but he could barely stand being in the same room as me.
Actions soon replaced our unspoken words. Tapered gazes, ‘accidental’ bumps, ridiculous pranks—everything I’d expect from a brother, except Flynn was nothing like this. Perhaps being a bully gave Ethan more control over his life. Whatever it was, I had no intention of taking it, so I gave as hard as I got.
I banged on the door again.
“Alright, alright!” my brother yelled as he threw open the door. “Daisy, hey! I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow.”
I gave him an affectionate nudge as I stepped inside and dumped my suitcase inside the door. “Yeah, well, I’ve only got a couple weeks off work, and I figured you’d want her shit out of here sooner rather than later.” I gazed around at the apartment that was a complete contradiction to my brother. No wonder he was selling it.
“Hey, I’m not complaining,” he said, following me into the massive open-plan living area that looked over the city. “I need all the help I can get. Ethan’s barely lifted a finger.”
I froze. “Ethan’s here?”
“Yeah. A couple weeks now. Where did you think he was?”
“In a different girl’s bed every night,” I mumbled as I placed a container of freshly baked cookies on the kitchen counter.
Flynn sniggered on his way into the kitchen. “Nope. He’s been here the whole time.”
Ethan’s voice floated down the hallway. “Hey, have you got any beers? I don’t want to be sober before we head out tonight.” His step faltered when his eyes struck mine. “What are you doing here?”
Flynn opened the fridge and reached inside. “I asked Daisy to sort through Susan’s shit.” He pulled out two beers. “And it’s only fair she comes to the cabin one last time.”
My teeth gnashed as I glared at Ethan. “You’ve been here the whole time?”
He broke our locked gaze with a shrug. “Yeah. What of it?”
Flynn held a beer out to Ethan, seemingly oblivious to the tension between us…or used to it.
“Are you ever coming home?”
“Why?” Ethan smirked as he cracked it open. “Do you miss me?”
Flynn plonked himself onto the kitchen stool with a sigh. “Jesus, what are you guys fighting about now?”
My throat closed as my eyes met Ethan’s. His were unreadable.
“Little Miss Control Freak here didn’t get my weekly itinerary, that’s all,” he said, pouring half the bottle down his throat.
Rage surged through my veins. “You have responsibilities, Ethan.” I folded my arms as I latched onto the first annoyance I could think of. “You missed Smudge’s check-up.”
“Oh.” His chest deflated. “How did it go?”
“He’s fine,” I muttered, turning away from his softening gaze. “They adjusted his meds, and he has to go on a diet.”
“I told you, you feed him too much.”
