Welcome to the Family

31

I hate this chapter, but hope you like it!
It contains mentions of past abuse.

***

"Ashton, if you don't come out and face me, I'm going to flush your phone," I sang, clutching his phone in my hand. I had chased him into the house, out of breath. I really needed to workout more.

I checked in the kitchen and living room, pausing when I noticed Chance and Milo, watching tv. They were cuddling, Milo resting his head on my stepbrother's chest. They were cute together, even if I didn't know them well.

Chance peeked over his shoulder. "Hey, Maisie. What's up?"

"Have you seen Ash?" I asked, glancing around.

He shook his head. "Nope, haven't seen him," he said, ducking his head to hide his growing smile. Milo lifted his head and pointed to the closet at the end of the hall.

I tiptoed towards the small closet, wondering how he could possibly fit in the first place. I gripped the knob -

- the door burst open and Ashton tumbled out, his high pitch scream rupturing my eardrums. "What the hell, Ash!"

"Spider," he cried, shoving me aside. He sprinted across the carpet, eyes bulging as he patted down his hair and upper body. "Oh my God, oh my god, there's a fucking tarantula."

I scoffed. "You're such a big baby," I claimed, aware Milo and Chance were watching his dramatic outburst from the couch, giggling like school girls. I ignored them and stared at my brother. "You're scared of a itty bitty spider?"

My twin narrowed his eyes, taking a panicked breath. "I am not," he hissed. "And it's not itty bitty. It's huge and hairy, like, like, like something out of a nightmare ... Oh my God, I can't, I can't."

"This is not going to stop me from kicking your -" I trailed off, choking up in pure terror. "Holy shit." On the side of my brothers arm, a tarantula crawled up his sleeve. He caught my gaze, glancing down and shrieked. Ashton picked up the thing from hell with two fingers and flung it.

"Fuck," Chance yelled, both he and Milo scrambling to dodge the tarantula. It landed on the cushion beside Milo, who seemed quite unfazed, other than the amusement that shined in his eyes.

"See? I told you, I fucking told you it was a tarantula," Ashton said, taking a few steps closer to me.

I groaned. "Can you stop saying tarantula?" I grumbled, a shiver running down my spine each time. "It's a thing from hell."

"Agreed," my brother said, before his eyes travelled to Milo. We watched as he leaned down and scooped the thing from hell up into his hand. "W-what ... what the fuck are you doing, Milo," he asked, bewildered.

Chance laughed, holding his phone up, likely taking a video to show everyone. I grinned. "Can you send that to me?"

He glanced up, smirking. "This is hilarious."

Milo stepped towards Ashton, cuddling the eight-legged demon. "So that's where you've been," he muttered, sighing. He glanced up at my twin, holding the hellish thing out. "Do you wanna pet him? His name is Zeke."