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“First of all, that was entirely uncalled for–”
“Get out.”
Just like that, any hope Jonas had of getting through to an incredibly pissed off Alex had gone out the window. Although, he should have been able to guess that the moment he was greeted with a pillow to the face.
“I just want to talk,” he took another step into the room, leaving the door open just enough to allow for a quick escape, “I know you’re mad–”
“Really? That’s how you want to start this conversation off? ‘I know you’re mad?’ You’ve been gone, all week, how would you know anything ?”
Breathe in, and out. Count to ten. We’re working on our anger management. Flipping out only ever makes these things worse.
“If you would let me finish my sentences, that’d be great. I’m not the one you’re mad at, so if you could drop the whole, ‘Let’s take our rage out on poor innocent Jonas,’ thing, I’d like that.”
In the short week that he’d been gone, Alex’s room had gone through a drastic change. Shelves that had once been neat and tidy collections of photographs and nick-nacks had become full of cups and random crap, the carefully curated display of posters now peeling off the walls, not to mention the lack of sheets on an unmade bed, and a growing pile of clothes in front of the closet. Clearly, there was more than just a disagreement fueling this fire.
Alex, herself, hadn’t even bothered to come out from underneath her cocoon of blankets and pillows to greet Jonas. She’d only peeked out long enough to pelt him with one of her pillows.
An uncomfortable silence had filled the air, as Jonas looked over the room like a crime scene, trying to pick out any hints to clue him in on what possibly could have happened, as Alex processed his words, figuring out what she could say to give her the best chance of her brother leaving her the Hell alone. Of course, said brother wouldn’t let her have the time to figure it out. With a sigh, he cut through the silence.
“So, can we talk, or are you just going to throw another pillow at me and tell me to fuck off?” There was a clear frustration to his tone.
“...We can talk,” Alex replied as she moved out from underneath the safety of her nest, scooting to the corner of her bed.
One more step into the room. Allow the door to shut fully. Wait just a beat. And finally, move to sit on the edge of the bed.
Considering she hadn’t jumped to strangle him yet, Jonas figured he had done a great job with initiating the conversation. No sudden movements, or whatever.
“Okay. I’m listening. What’s going on?”
“Just. My– Our– Mom. It’s Mom. We’ve been fighting all week, it was one thing after another. And because you were gone all week, and your dad was never around, there was no one to back me up. It was just me against her, and that never ends in a way that benefits either of us.
“It started with me playing music too loud, and then she got on me about wearing a jacket inside, and then it was like– like she was just trying to find things to start a fight about! She was acting like I couldn’t even breathe right, Jonas. And I didn’t know what on Earth would appease her wrath, so I just started staying in here, and it got like this, and she got mad at me for the mess, and I just– God,” she cut herself off, tears beginning to well up, “I don’t know.”
At least the mess was explained, then. He made a mental note that he’d have to offer to help her clean up once this was all settled.
“Jesus, I’m sorry, Alex. You should’ve called, or texted, or something.”
“It’s not your fault, I just didn’t think I needed you coming to save me every time I got into an argument that I couldn’t handle.”
“And that’s great, but if we’re going to do the siblings thing, I need you to tell me when something like this happens.”
Another beat of silence. The light layer of dust on just about every surface was not helping to create a space that allowed for comfortable silence.
“...Can you talk to her? For me? And just, tell her that I’m sorry?” A stray few tears began to fall down her cheeks.
“Yeah, no. You can be the one to have that conversation, but I’ll be there to back you up, and if things go south, we can go for a drive?”
“That.. Sounds okay. I’m okay with that.”
“Great, but we have to clean this room first.”