Asterisk*

Capitulate and Camaraderie*

*In resentments towards your parents' other kid

Draped on top of your soul,

There is a blanket of demeanor,

Every changing and shifting,

Eventually lifting.

Fuzzy comfort gone,

Lift the blanket off.

Marcus

Fuck cloud nine, I'm on cloud ten.

The entire time I've been home, I've been trying to avoid Dash. My parents knew something was up, but they didn't bother to mention it, which I was thankful about. Dinner last night was awkward. Dash tried to cook something, but he burnt everything while he was on the phone with someone, so I had to remake dinner so he could slap his name on it for my parents. They were out for the day getting groceries due to Dash's surprise visit, which ended up stringing me along. They knew he didn't cook it and kept trying to ask him for the recipe to toy with him. Normally, we would all joke about it, but Dash got up and left the table without taking a bite. He didn't come back and started packing a day early. I kind of wanted to ask him what was up, but I felt like I should just respect the silence right now.

But all of that was forgotten when I rose to the clouds. I was really hesitant to call Apollo. I've done it before, but I guess the reason for it was different now. When he didn't pick up, I freaked out and threw my phone on my bed. Not in an angry way, but just me needing this electronic device out of my hand because I didn't want to self-destruct. He texted me back a few minutes later saying he would call me at a later time, which calmed me down. I tried to think of all the things I would say, which I knew I would end up forgetting on the phone anyways.

Dash came into my room before Apollo called me back, telling me he was leaving. We ended up fighting again, which going back, could have been completely avoidable. He wouldn't leave when I picked up Apollo's phone call, so I had to push him out of the room and shut the door behind him. It was just a matter of common respect. It wouldn't be that hard to just listen to me for a second.

I was nervous that Apollo had to listen to all this, but I just let myself forget that for once and let his voice just ring into my ears. I said I would never tell him anything, but here I was, telling him I missed him. Then a second later, agreeing to go out with him. Then a smile plastered on my face, seeming permanent until I opened my door again, seeing Dash sitting down, leaning against it.

"You got a date, huh?" he smiled, even though he looked distressed.

"Yeah," I responded, too happy to argue. "Why are you listening to my conversations though?"

"The walls are thin here," he told me, barging past me into my room and sitting down on my bed. "Look, we need to talk, otherwise we're going to start a feud between our families like the stupid Romeo and Juliet shit."

"Okay, fine. Start talking."

"Look, I'm sorry for all the half assed parenting course type speeches I gave you, okay?" Dash started, turning to face me. "But you gotta at least let me explain."

"Okay."

"Look, when you're little, all you want is power. Not necessarily wanting to grow up and be an adult, but just being able to make your own decisions. Or at least that was how I felt. You get what I mean?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows a little.

"When we stayed home alone, I honestly felt like your parent. You treated me like one too. Not saying that it's your fault because it's not, but I guess the whole thing just fueled my ego. At first, it was just fun to act like that. Then I stopped wanting to, but I wasn't really sure how. You can't really just go back to being the stereotypical brothers or something. Then I became... whatever that was. And it was shitty. I'm sorry."