strangers. mileven au.

sixteen.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
A DATE.

"can you PLEASE just talk to me like a normal person!?"

eleanor caught the door to their small house before will could slam it in her face, each of the siblings rushing get inside. she got no actual response from her brother, only the faint sound of him mumbling underneath his breath.

the two were completely fine from the minute they left the school building all the way up until eleanor noticed that her brother had gotten a text from brandon. she barley even got to mentioning it to him before he got defensive and completely blew up in her face.

luckily the two were completely alone inside the home. it was friday night and their parents were both gone to her father's work dinner party on the other side of town.

"will..." eleanor started again but was quickly interrupted by him continuing to scream at her.

"NO! i don't want to talk about it!" he exclaimed as he flung his hands around sporadically. "can you FOR ONCE worry about your own life instead of mine and just... LEAVE. ME. ALONE!" he pronounced each word individually, swinging his hands up once more before hitting the small dinning table with so much force it knocked over the decorative flower vase that sat perched in the center. the glass shattered at the sudden impact... completely soiling the few papers that accompanied the piece on the dark wood.

eleanor stood quietly at the door... completely shaken up. she had never seen her step brother act in such way... she had never been yelled at like that since...

"i'm... i'm so sorry.... i... i didn't mean to..." will spoke carefully towards her, noticing how stiff she had gotten in the doorway. she didn't acknowledge him, however she tried to focus on the huge mess he had just created... but somehow that didn't make matters any better.

she slowly walked over to the table that was now dripping in old plant water. not only did she immediately notice the amount of glass that scattered itself across the wood but also the papers that were now ruined... her papers that were now ruined.

her brother watched as she picked up the wet stack of her outline for her english essay, something that the two had been working on together for the past three days to make sure all her ideas were perfectly thought out.... to make sure she had a head start so she wouldn't feel too overwhelmed.

again, no words were said, she only walked far around her brother before tossing her papers into the trash can.

"i'll redo it for you, i promise. you... you don't have to worry about it. i'll do it tonight!" he quickly explained as she carefully started to collect and dispose of the glass, "el..."

"i... don't understand why you literally screamed at me for a good solid fifteen minutes, broke a vase and ruined all my work... over a boy..." she mumbled while taking a towel across the table.

"i didn't mean it to... i'm just... confused and... scared and i took it all out on you..." he trailed off, his eyes becoming glassy.

eleanor studied him. of course there was a part of her that wanted to make him feel better, but she was still upset over how he just tore into her. so she didn't show much emotion when she quietly asked, "... of what?"

he plopped down on the small couch that didn't sit far from where the dining table was. taking a deep breath he admitted, "... brandon asked me out on a date this morning..."

she gave him a confused look, trying to hold back the anger that was creeping up from inside her. he screamed at her because of... that?

"i know i should be excited about that because i really like him but... i've never done this before. like... what if he's already done this before and i'm not good enough cause i haven't? i haven't even come out to mom or dad yet. what do i tell them? i don't want to hide him from them." he took a deep breath, twiddling with his thumbs.

eleanor moved closer to her brother with caution, taking a seat in the chair next to him. she tried to stay guarded to remind him that she was still hurt, however she spoke gently.

"i understand, it's terrifying to take the first step with anyone regardless of who are attracted to... but that doesn't mean you shouldn't at least try. you're a great person will, he'd be stupid not to realize that." she looked at him, making sure he was taking in each word she was saying, "i know mom and dad are going to love you no matter what. i know talking about it might be a little weird... trust me taking about my love life with dad is so awkward, but i really do think as long as you're happy... that's all that really matters to us."

tears welled up at the rims of will's eyes, leaning over to hug his sister. she quickly returned the embrace, "i'm so sorry for acting like such an asshole."

she giggled a bit on how ridiculous the situation was starting to become. this would definitely be something they could laugh about one day. they sat there for a while, until all the tears were completely done rolling down his face.

will was the first one to slowly pull away, bringing his hands to his cheeks to wipe away any leftover dampness. eleanor sighed before asking, "so... when's the date?"

will giggled at her, shaking his head before informing her, "um... he wants to go out tomorrow night..."

she smiled at him, patiently waiting for him to continue. he gave her an eye roll, "i'll probably talk to mom and dad tonight or in the morning... you're right i shouldn't be so worried about coming out to them. then maybe tomorrow night they can meet him ya know, before we go out." eleanor could notice his sudden mood change from complete fear to pure excitement.

"i think they'll really like him." she said gently, "i mean... i do."

"thanks..." he smiled at her, taking in his final sniffle.

she stood up before casually walking over to pick up her things that still sat close to the doorway, "you're telling mom you broke the vase though."

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a/n: thanks for reading!!