branch angst

family meeting

i was back home before any of my brothers woke up. which is perfect, because i didn't want anybody to be interrogating me this early in the morning. i didn't feel like talking at all today, which really sucks because only a few hours later john dory called everyone in for a family meeting in the living room.

we all sat silently waiting for john dory to begin.

"ahem. i think you all know why i brought you here.." his eyes darted to me.

floyd and clay nodded their heads. i couldn't help but slump down in my seat. i didn't want to talk about it. i'm fine. i don't understand why this was becoming such a big deal.

since nobody else did, john dory spoke up again. "i've decided to set some rules. at least until i know that branch won't be doing this again." he was serious right now. which is crazy, because he is never serious.

i rolled my eyes. "i thought i made it pretty clear yesterday that i'm not a baby."

"yeah, well, you should start acting like one." clay chimed in while crossing his arms.

ouch.

john dory sighed. "we're not here to tell you what to do, branch. we just want to keep you safe."

"really? because i'm pretty sure what your doing right now is telling me exactly what to do."

"if you don't listen and follow these rules we'll tell poppy what happened." floyd finally spoke up.

my eyes widened. "alright, whatever. what are the rules?"

john dory gave floyd a weak smile before turning back to me. "rule one: you have to tell someone before you go to your bedroom or the bathroom."

i nodded my head slowly, not wanting to complain right now.

"rule two: if you wake up before anyone else you have to go back to bed or wake someone else up. no exceptions."

"i.." i began before getting cut off.

"and finally, rule three: no locking doors." john dory finished.

"what about my privacy?" i groaned.

"you lost that privilege the moment you started cutting yourself." john dory said sharply.

i thought of complaining, or refusing these rules. but then i looked at my brothers faces and i just couldn't bring myself to do it. they all looked hurt, and i had nobody to blame but myself. i deserved this punishment. i deserved worse than this punishment.

"i'm sorry.." i mumbled under my breath.

my brothers immediately wrapped me in a group hug.

"don't scare me like that ever again." floyd whispered into my ear.

"never."

"you promise?"

"i promise."

man. i have a bad habit of making promises i can't keep.

3 hours later

within the past 3 hours each one my brothers has checked up on me at least 6 times. i hadn't broken any rules.

yet.

but, for the time being i did find a loophole. i wasn't ready to disobey my brother's trust just yet so i'd just have to leave the bunker altogether if i were to do anything they wouldn't like.

my mind kept going back to those blue ring pops i bought last night. they were sat in the bottom drawer of my side table, basically begging me to have one! the last time i had one of those was before i met poppy. poppy. wait, poppy! i haven't texted her in so long. she must think i'm ignoring her!!

i swiftly moved to grab my phone. i'm not even joking when i say there were thousands of text messages sent by poppy. i'll read you a few of them:

"good early morning branchy! ⛅️"

"good morning branch! ☀️🌈"

"😨. are you sick??"

"why won't you reply branchifer?? 😭😭"

if you couldn't tell, she has a habit of putting emojis in every one of her sentences. it's adorable, really. i was blushing just looking at her texts. after reading every single one i made sure to text her:

"hey poppy. sorry i haven't been texting you!! i lost my phone. love you!"

'i lost my phone.' i rolled my eyes. lamest excuse ever. but that would just have to do. i clicked send. it only took a few seconds for her to reply back:

"that's okay! 😊 let's hang out some time! 😆 i love you too! 🌈💞"

i held the message and hearted it.

"sure poppy. let's go to the beach tomorrow? i'll invite my brothers."

"yes, yes, YES!! 😆😆 sounds fun branchifer!"

i hearted that message too before putting my phone away.

it would be good for me to get out the house. and maybe, if my brothers realized i was doing better, they would ease up on the rules. so, without any hesitation i jumped out of bed and ran to the living room where they were all laughing and drinking. i kinda felt a bit sad seeing them have fun without me but i let it go. i should feel happy that their getting along.

i was about to start asking if they could go to the beach with me tomorrow before clay offered me a drink.

"come here-" hiccup. "little bro. you should have one." clay pat the seat next to him and pulled out a whole bottle of vodka, handing it to me.

floyd, who was probably the most sober, shook his head at me. "you don't have to have one.."

i cut him off. "no, i'm an adult. remember?" and without any hesitation i started chugging the bottle down.

john dory and clay cheered me on: "chug, chug, chug!"

i finished it all off, wiping my mouth clean and throwing my hands up as john dory and clay patted me on the back as if i'd just won an award. i felt like i'd won an award alright. the award for the biggest douche bag ever!! the look on floyd's face said it all. he was disappointed in me. but i'm an adult now. i can drink whatever i want!

well at least that's what i told myself before blacking out. oops.

that's the end of this chapter!! feedback is appreciated. 🤞💞