House of Hellions

3

Braxton's P.O.V.

"He said I was just like his mom.", I said softly. Max shook his head,

"You're not. He'll understand that later in life baby. He's just really scared right now." I nodded a little as footsteps stopped in the doorway. Zach glanced from me to Max to Jared, but stopped on Zander.

"You okay kid?", Zander asked. He shrugged, going over to sit with him. After a few minutes of tense silence. I sighed,

"I'm sorry Zach. I can't tell you you won't have to do that again because you will for the rest of your life, but I can tell you you'll never have to do it alone. I don't care if you want me there or not, I'll be there. Every time." He stayed quiet for a minute,

"Everytime she did it, she'd apologize. She'd say how sorry she was that I had to do it. That it was to keep me safe. That it was all worth it." He paused, looking up at me tearfully, "H-How am I supposed to trust you when you sound like her?" I paused,

I'm sorry. I-I don't know kid. That's something we just have to work past together. I really think you should start therapy."

"Me too."

Nikki's P.O.V.

"But I know I can't date him.", Lindsey finished.

"Why not? He sounds great and clearly you like him a lot." She glanced at me worriedly,

"It-It's Micah."

□□□□

"Okay what the fuck is your problem today Nikki?", Micah snapped as him and Tyler stood in the doorway of my bedroom.

"Fine.", I snapped, "Lindsey likes you."

"Like your best friend Lindsey?" I nodded. "Oh." He smiled a little but shrugged, "That kinda sucks. It's not like we could date."

"Why not?", Tyler asked.

"First off, girl code, but more importantly, sibling code. You're my sister, I'm not gonna date your best friend."

"Really?", I asked. He nodded,

"Yeah. That's a dick move."

"Thanks bubba."

□□□□

"Nikkita enough!", dad snapped. I took a few steps back from him,

"I'm sorry.", I whispered, my anger disappearing into fear.

"Yeah, of course you fucking are. I am so goddamn tired of-"

"Of me. I know. I'm sorry." He crouched down, holding my upper arms in his hands,

"No my love. Of your fucking attitude.", he said softly, "I never get tired of you but I absolutely get tired of you lashing out and shutting me out until you get yourself in trouble.", he said standing and sitting in the couch, "Like now. Come here."

"Nooo. I'm sorry!", I cried.

"You have three fucking seconds young lady. One. T-" I whined a little but went over to him. He reached up and held my chin in his hand, "This is what I'm talking about Nikki. The whining, the backtalk, the attitude- it's not normal for you. I've asked you repeatedly what's going on and you won't talk to me- which is also out of the ordinary. Please talk to me princess." I sniffled a little,

"It's embarrassing."

"And? You tell me embarrassing stuff all the time kid. I'm your dad. You can tell me anything."

"It's not just one thing." He gently sat me down next to him,

"Okay."

"My meds make me act weird and I'm on my period and I-I think 'cause it's my first normal one and I'm not just in pain, my hormones are balancing."

"And I wish I could fix all that for you, but we gotta find you some other outlets than yelling and being a brat."

"There's one more thing."

"Okay, what is it?"

"I'm not like- I-" I sighed, "You said me acting like a brat is like... out of the ordinary. It's out of your ordinary."

"What'd you mean?", he asked softly, rubbing circles on the back of my hand. He always did that to me and Harper, as if to remind us he was listening.

"I always like... held back my personality... because of mom. And now she's gone so I'm kinda like... acting myself. I always backed out of serious situations and just shut down if someone was upset but I didn't want to. Now I know you won't hurt me like she did so I don't have to be small and shrink more when something's going on. I just haven't figured out how to like... express myself respectfully. I'm sorry." He nodded a little, seeming to take in the information,

"Okay, then we'll work on that. Now that I know that information and what's going on, I can stop you when you get disrespectful and help you voice your opinion in a better manner. I didn't understand why you were being that way so I continued to punish you for it and I'm sure that was confusing to you too. Now we're on the same page, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I'm gonna let it slide one more time. After this, we'll work on you being honest respectfully and if you still choose not to be, you'll be in trouble."

"Okay. Thanks daddy." He hugged me tightly,

"I love you babygirl."

"I love you too."

Grayson's P.O.V.

Tyler walked into my room and flopped onto the bed next to me, letting out a shaky breath. I ran my hand threw his dark hair,

"Long day?" He nodded. "Take a nap. Homework can wait kid."

"Thanks Gray.", he whispered, curling up under the blanket.

□□□□

Tyler woke up about an hour later, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Feel better?", I asked softly. He nodded, his head on my shoulder. "Wanna talk about it?"

"I thought joining football would be good for me. And Braxton was really happy about it too. But-But they all hate me. They push me around and tell me the wrong thing so coach gets mad and I-I don't know what to do."

"Doesn't Jaxx help out?"

"No. He helps them. They're his team."

"You're his brother.", I said firmly, "Fuck the team. He's supposed to protect you.", I said going to get out of bed.

"No, no, no Grayson please just leave it.", Tyler said grabbing my arm.

"No. I'm gonna go talk to him Ty." I got up and went downstairs to the living room, "Jaxxson!"

"Grayson stop.", Tyler said, still following me. Jaxxson looked up from the couch,

"What?"

"Tyler is our brother. It's your job to stand up to your shitty friends and defend him."

"He has to learn that shit on his own Grayson."

"Yeah but it's still your job to watch out for him not let him get his ass kicked."

"He's fucking fine. You're overreacting."

"Fine. I'll handle it then."