The Stripper And The Anxiety-riddled Dork

Blank Honey Browns

Chapter 26

Nel kept her head in her hands as someone sat down to the left of her, another person sitting down to the right. She lifted her hands to now rest against her forehead, her eyes looking at the red carpet-covered floor of the Hotel's hallway.

"I ain't in the mood to be called a knob right now." Nel sighed.

"Zen promised not to. At least not right now." Parks offered, his elbows resting against his knees while Zen had her chin held in her left hand. The youngest Roberts said nothing as her gaze rested on the wall in front of them.

The three siblings sat in the same hallway they had been in this morning in silence, Nel's hands finally moved away from her face and she leaned her head back to rest against the wall behind them. Parks copied his elder sister's position while Zen slouched forward a bit more.

"I suck, huh?"

"Oh, big time."

"Massively."

Parks and Zen answered at the same time. Nel gave a lackluster chuckle at the answers as her hands fingered the inner seam of her pants leg.

"What the hell am I gonna do?"

"Apologize." Zen offered.

"You say that like it's easy."

"It is, Nel. Apologize. If they accept it, then good. If they don't, then at least you tried."

"What do I do after that then?" Nel asked, Zen laying her legs out against the carpet.

"Move on. And leave Codi and Lucas alone."
< >
"Guess you and Dalia really are related, huh?" Win finally spoke aloud. She and the rest of the Edwards Family had moved into Dallas and Dax's room, the white-haired woman and Iris sitting on a loveseat that was the farthest from the other three.

"Come off it, Winnington."

"Like fuck I will! Every single one of you know what Dalia did to me! That bastard beat me into a bloody Coma and yet you still had the Audacity to lay your hands on Codi?!" Win declared as she rose from the couch. Iris moved to lightly grip her eldest grandchild's wrist only for Win to shake it off.

"And your shitty son isn't any better! Who the hell sleeps with their little sister's girlfriend?! A bloody wanker that's who!"

Win growled as she glared to Lucas for a moment before setting her eyes back on Dallas. The young man had turned his head to look out the room's window as his linked hands clenched tightly against each other.

"Do not speak ill of my son, Winnington! How could he have even known that they were together?"

"Even if they weren't dating, Nel was still Codi's best-friend! Her only friend! And Lucas went ahead and fucked her without a care in the world!"

"You would let your son get away with fucking murder before you would ever accept Codi being with a woman!"

Dallas stayed silent after Win's outburst, Win's chest heaving slightly before she tsked and looked away from the three.

"What really fucking urks me is that you never even cared about her. Never bothered to know what her favorite color was, bet you don't even know what she does for a living. Never cared about her and you still believe you have the right to judge her life."

"To be honest, I'm surprised she didn't cut you all out of her life sooner." She huffed before heading out the room, slamming the door behind her.

The remaining Edwards were silent in the tension-soaked room before Iris rose up from her spot as well.

"Moth-"

"I don't know where Frederick and I went wrong with you and Dalia." Iris finally spoke, her daughter's mouth closing quickly at the mention of her father.

"He wasn't always the warmest. I think he knew that. That's why he was much more kinder to his grandkids, I believe. Not the warmest, but he made sure you and your sister knew that he loved you." Iris sighed.

"Never laid a hand on you. Not once. He was flawed. As am I. But I realized my flaws and fixed them, I still am."

"It's time you three figure out your flaws and fix them as well." She finished before leaving the room as well. The door closing softly behind her.

Dallas's gaze stayed on the cherry-wood door until she felt a still weight from the right of her rise off the bed and made her look towards her husband. Dax was his usual silent self as he too walked towards the room's door. She reached out for her husband's hand only for him to snatch it away as if she had burned him.

He turned his head to look at her. He didn't glare. He didn't glower. He didn't scowl. He simply looked.

His eyes weren't his usual soft honey brown. They didn't have their usual calm and ease. They were simply....Blank.

"Dax..." She murmured, Lucas turning to look to his father as well.

The man looked at his wife. The one that laid her hands on their daughter. Then to his son. The one that also laid his hands on his sister. He blinked at them before looking down to his own left hand.

The one that while they never rose against his daughter...they never rose to defend her either. They simply stayed by his sides.

Limp.