The Cole Brothers

The Charger

POV Dylan

    It's hot as fuck outside today. I literally don't even want to try to take a step outside away from the comfort of our A/C. Not to mention the fact that I am hungover as fuck from the water park yesterday. We spent the night, but when we got back to our room, all of our friends that stayed the night at the hotel hung out on our patio and we drank even more which was the opposite of a good idea. We left the waterpark early this morning and I was supposed to drive, but I was a little too preoccupied with sticking my head out of the window and puking my guts out. I know that Travis is gonna give me shit for that later, but I don't care. I swear he can out drink a fucking fish.

    I've been in my bed ever since we got home, hoping that I can somehow sleep this hangover away. It's been radio silent ever since we got back, though. I guess everyone is worn out from yesterday. Although, now that I think about it Brad was being suspiciously nice yesterday. After everything that happened, I didn't see him mess with Alex even once. That doesn't mean that it didn't happen, it just means we didn't catch it. Which is more likely especially since I know that Brad was probably upset after we made him cry. I mean he's 16 and crying about going on a slide, what a bitch. If that was me at 16? Travis would have shoved me down that slide backwards, through tears and all. It makes my stomach turn just thinking about being in that situation with a 19-year-old Travis. That was right after our parents died and I've mentioned before that Travis became a lot nicer when he was appointed our guardian, but it wasn't an overnight thing. At the beginning, he wanted to establish his role as authoritarian of the household. He was super strict, even more so than he is now.

    I roll over to the other side of my bed once I realize that my phone is halfway charged. It's not really enough, but at least I can move over to the more comfortable side of my bed. I'm already getting texts from friends wanting to go to the local bars tonight. I don't know if I'll be able to push through and rally tonight. The thought of any kind of alcohol is already making my head spin. 

    I start to hear the cling of pots and pans down in the kitchen and I feel a rise of irritation through my body. I take a deep breath in and out, trying to steady the wave of nausea that is brought on by the increasingly loud sounds coming from the kitchen. I'm not sure why, but lately my temper has been especially short. Almost on par with Travis'. I now hear the TV turn on downstairs. Somebody thought it would be a good idea to watch Jursassic Park. The combination of the noises downstairs and the banging in my head does little to calm my nerves. I wish the residents of this house would learn to keep it the fuck down for just one day. Especially knowing that everyone is low energy. Who the fuck is up and cooking anyway? I do my best to ignore it, tapping on TikTok, turning up the volume, and scrolling through my feed. I try to focus in on a video about last week's game highlights when all of a sudden I hear a loud crash. "That's it." I mumble to myself, using my adrenaline to jump out of bed and march downstairs to unleash on the culprit.

    I bang my feet against the hard wood as I almost sprint down the stairs. I want whoever is down there to know that I'm angry. "Okay, who the fuck is making all that fucking noise?!" I yell as I'm descending the stairs. "I swear to fucking God, I'm gonna-" I'm stopped short as I come around the bannister and see a shirtless Travis bent over picking up a a few pots and pans off the floor. He looks up at me curiously, then shoves most of them back into the cabinet carelessly. "Oh, it's you." I say grimly. 

    "Please finish that sentence." He says with a smirk as he stands holding one of the pots in his hand and reaching over to the faucet to fill it with water. I'm not in the mood to fight or argue with him, so I just keep my mouth shut, but roll my eyes at him. "What's got your panties in a twist?" He chuckles while moving from the sink to the stove and turning on the burner, I'm assuming to boil the water.