AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Just as I flop down on the soft mattress, Mac’s frame fills the doorway. His shoulders are slumped, his eyes are red and puffy, and his whole demeanor is fucking off.
I don’t like this.
My phone finally pings in my pocket, but I don’t take my eyes off of my brother.
Mac quietly shuts the door closed behind him but doesn’t sit. Instead, he leans back against the panel and plucks the roach from his lips, his head falling back with a thunk I feel in my own skull.
“I fucked up, bro.” His words are aimed at the ceiling that rains down on me like anvils from the sky.
To anyone else, he looks normal. Mac’s signature bandana is wrapped around his forehead, yellow today, his much shorter than mine sandy curls falling out of the top, but into his eyes. A muscle shirt covers most of his chest, black shorts hanging from his waist.
What I see, though, is the downturn of his normally grinning face. I see the weight pushing his shoulders down and making him seem shorter. His chest, normally proud and full, sunk into his body like it would much rather spend time with his spine than out in the open.
“What happened.” It’s a demand more than a question as I rub my palm across my own breastbone in order to ease the ache burrowing its way into my organs.
Mac just shakes his head, plucks the joint from his mouth, and slides down the door to sink onto the floor of the bus. Knees to his chest, he wraps his arms around himself, his eyes refusing to open and fucking look at me.
“Macaroni.” I try. “Talk to me.”
The heels of his palms dig into his eyes and rub, the roach dangerously close to burning the fingers it’s pinched between or setting his fucking hair on fire.
I sit for a moment. Allow my brother the space to feel without judgment and watch closely as the ember burns down enough that I’m certain it’s heating up his skin.
Licking my fingers, I steal the thing from him and put it out with spit. I roll it to make sure it’s not burning anymore then flick it onto the floor that I know someone will clean up later.
That’s when my twin’s chest collapses and tight sobs squeeze out from his thinly pressed lips.
“I fucking fucked way the hell up, Rex,” Mac tells me through a tear-streaked face that he finally meets me with. I squeeze onto the floor beside him, the small room not leaving much space down here, and wrap up my level-headed brother.
The calm one. TheI won’t let the water around me in to sink meone.
The one who doesn’t panic when crowds rush us or when security slips.
He sobs quietly into my chest, his body shaking, his hands fisting my shirt.
“I’m sure it’s not that bad, Mac.” I try to soothe him, but the shaking doesn’t stop. We sit still for a while, long enough for me to lose track of time and my phone to ping again.
“You should answer her.” Mac leans back from me and sniffles, using the back of his hand to wipe at his nose.
“She’ll understand, bro.” I don’t move to get up and get the phone from the bed, so he does. Mac snatches the thing and drops it into my lap and flops back down beside me on the floor.
Looking at him, trying to gauge him, he rolls his red eyes and steals the phone back to open the message himself.
“You might not wanna do that,” I warn, but he’s already got the thing open, eyes darting back and forth as he reads the screen. “If you see a nude, it’s your own fault.”
He only scoffs at my attempt at humor and turns the screen to face me.
“She misses your cock more.” He’s monotone when he recites the message out loud and I burst into laughter.
“Told ya.” I was trying for fun when I sent it to her, something to make her blush and smile so that when I called her later, seeing her reaction would lighten my dark-as-hell mood.
It worked sooner than anticipated.
A ghost of a smile tips Mac’s lips as he brings the phone back to his face and types something to her.
“You could just text her, yourself.” I try to snatch the phone from him, but he manages to evade my grasp.
“Don’t want security in my phone.” He speaks as he types then locks the thing and throws it back onto the bed.
