Brotherly love

Guilt Trip

Alex's pov age 15

I've been abandoned. Well, not actually. Ollie and I had come home for a visit while I had a long weekend off from school, and he and Ryley had decided they needed some "bro" time.

So they ditched me to go catch a movie and left me at Mama's.

I'm not mad at them for wanting to spend time together. And I am grateful for the opportunity to catch up with mom... but well, my feelings are a little hurt. Maybe I wanted to spend time with Ryley, too. Maybe I wanted to go see a movie.

So now I'm more than a little grumpy.

"Love you, be good." Ollie mumbles, kissing my head on his way out. "Yeah. You too." I grumbled, not bothering to return the affection.

Ryley shot me a stern glare, and I ignored the flash of hurt in Ollie's eyes.

"We'll have a great time here, boys. Don't let us keep you." Mama chuckled. Ryley didn't seem convinced, but Ollie ushered him out the door before he could change his mind.

'Didn't even tell me bye.' I thought bitterly, putting me in a worse mood.

"Oh, don't look so happy to be here." Mom teased, patting the spot next to her on the couch for me to sit.

I slunk over and sat down heavily. "Aren't you just a pleasure today?" She smiled. I rolled my eyes.

"I know you'd rather be with them, but you need to get a hold of that attitude before you get yourself in trouble." She scolded the disrespectful action. "Sorry." I mumbled, sitting a little straighter.

Maybe I could put a little more effort into behaving, it's not her I'm mad at after all.

She nodded and turned her attention back to the TV, effectively ignoring me. I felt the bubbles of guilt well up in my belly and scooted closer to her, leaning my head on her shoulder in a silent apology.

She ran her fingers through my hair and kissed my forehead. "I'm not angry, sweetheart." She tells me gently.

"I'm sorry, Mom." I apologized again, just in case. "Forgiven." She smiled.

•••

"What would you like to eat, Alex?" Mama asked, popping her head into the living room. I shrugged, Ollie and Ryley were going out to dinner.

"Are you going to pout the whole time they're gone?" She asked, teasing.

"Probably." I shrugged.

"Too cool to hang out with old mom, huh?" She sighed.

"I didn't want to come here in the first place." I pouted.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, honey. I missed you, I thought it'd be nice to spend the evening together." She said, sounding hurt.

"Yeah, well, if you actually wanted to see me, you'd put in more effort than what, once a month?" I scoffed.

She went silent.

Then there was a painful pinch on my ear, and I was being tugged onto my feet. 

"Ow! Ow!" I whined, trying to pull away without hurting myself further.

"How dare you act like such a brat?" She scolds angrily.

My words finally sunk in, and she's right. I was pouting, being a brat. I wanted to make her as miserable as I felt.

"I- I'm sorry." I gasped.

"You haven't even begun to feel sorry." Mama said darkly.

She dragged me to a corner and finally let go of my ear, ordering me to stand there.