Lies My Parents Told Me

Chapter Fourteen

Victor

Today was not my day. I woke up to find Nathan passed out against me on the beanbag, my arm being crushed by his leg. Gabe standing over us phone in hand. I heard the ping of the group text notification and knew that he had taken a photo of us curled up together. When I finally detangled myself from that mess, I went into our ensuite to find that Gabriel had 'fixed' my black jacket, he had cut the elbows out and the lapels were shredded. I swore up a blue storm in the bathroom but by the time I had come out, Gabriel was gone, hiding as usual. For the last eight months the rooms on the other side of us had been empty, it was Gabe's usual hiding space.

"Gabriel, what the hell did you do? When I find you so help me god!" I flung open the door to the closed room and saw the rumpled lumpy bed. God he was predictable. I jumped onto the bed trying to work out which bits were part of him, and which were sheet, pillows, and blankets. He started to move so I pressed all my weight into him, pinning him to the bed.

"No Gabe I'm not getting off you until you apologise, you ruined that jacket, absolutely ruined it, you knew I wanted to wear it tonight" I started pressing on the lump trying to find and pin his hands before he could punch me. He made a funny noise and then I encountered a part I was sure Gabe didn't have. "What the hell?" I heard the wardrobe door slide open and Gabe's voice snapped me out of the daze I was in.

"Vic what the fuck are you doing?" I looked at Gabe my mouth couldn't form any words I kept opening and closing it, trying to remember how to speak. I pulled back, and then a tiny female voice begged me to stop. I threw back the covers unable to believe what I was hearing. She was so small. Her tangled blonde hair was like a cloak around her, she was in a pair of ridiculously oversized green scrubs and a loose blue tee. Her bright green eyes were wide with fright. As I looked down her body, I saw the bright pink cast covering her foot.

"Jesus Christ Victor get off her, it's a girl and she's in a gods damned cast." Suddenly the horror that I had just manhandled a girl hit me. I sprang away from her looking down at my hands I thought about the fact I had just touched her, without her permission after pinning her to the bed. God I felt sick. She was clutching the collar of her shirt in her hand.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't hurt you did I? I thought you were Gabriel." Gabe moved out of the wardrobe, and she flinched away so quickly. She was pressing herself into the mattress, her hands both now at the collar of her shirt, holding herself. God, I had hurt her. Her first day in a new home and I had hurt her Jesus. She had pulled herself up the bed, legs pulled to her chest, her cast causing one to stick out more, her body a small target, I recognised that position as one I used curl into when my father came into my room yelling.

"Of course you fucking hurt her, she's tiny." Gabe's loud swearing caused her to flinch. Of all people he should know what raised voices can do. "Gabe you're scaring her." He threw his hands in the air. "I'm scaring her? You're the one who attacked her in bed." I saw red. "I wouldn't have attacked her if you hadn't run in here. What the hell were you doing hiding in her room?" I took a step towards him. "She wasn't in the bed when I came in or I wouldn't have hidden in her closet." A familiar voice rang out from behind me.

"What do you two think you're yelling about? What is going on?" Sean. He would fix this.

The girl shot out of bed and limped over to him curling against his side. Standing I was struck by how tiny she was. She couldn't have been more than five foot tall. She was dwarfed by Sean's 6 foot 2 frame. I started explaining what had happened, "So, I thought Gabe was hiding under the bed covers and I kind of jumped on him, and I was trying to pin his wrists so he couldn't get away. When I felt something that were not wrists." I was talking so fast I would be surprised if Sean could actually understand my rambling. When he accused me of copping a feel, I wanted nothing more than to take a swing at him. My hand curling into a fist. Gabe adding snide comment, caused it to dissolve once again into a yelling match between us. My temper was out of control. I was embarrassed at my behaviour and pissed at Gabe that he was the reason I behaved that way in the first place. I saw Nates red hair in my peripheral. He was peeking into the room but seeing Sean he backed away hands raised. We would have to fill him in later. I was surprised that everyone hadn't come upstairs.