He says it as he leads Sky back to the couch and collapses in between his sisters, and he’s clearly joking, but that doesn’t stop Maddi from tensing again. There’s an unspoken fear that maybe he means it, I think, and the mood in the room sours a little further.
“You okay, squirt?” Cade asks Maddi in a softer voice. Sky is already snuggling down into the crook of his arm, but he still leans over to kiss her on the top of the head, as well.
“How was it?” she asks, not acknowledging his question.
“The trailer?” There’s a flash of emotion in Cade’s eyes before he shoves it back down again, and I worry more than before. He’s too cheerful, it’s too forced. “It was fine. Normal. They’re gonna do whatever the fuck they’re gonna do, and we are all going to hang out here and have nothing to do with it until he leaves. Cool?”
She sighs. “I need my school stuff. So does Sky.”
“We can get it in the morning. My shift doesn’t start until later. I’ll drive you both to school, and we can swing by the trailer on the way. You can stay in the car while I grab your stuff. Does that work?”
“You’re just going to fight with him and get hurt if you do that.”
Maddi won’t look at him, but she does glance at me for a second. Probably because she knows I’m thinking the same thing.
“Can you go instead?” she asks me.
“I can—” I start, before Cade immediately cuts me off.
“You start work at 6 a.m., dude. You’d have to do all this driving to get there and back and still get to work on time, it doesn’t make sense.”
“I can ask Ford to be late, it’s not a big deal.”
Cade rolls his eyes at me, which I find way more annoying than I should.
“Dude, it’s fine. Don’t miss work over it. I will go. Dad will be passed out on the couch, if he’s home at all, and I will just slip in and grab their stuff. It’s no big deal.”
“Yeah but you shouldn’t have to—”
“I said no!” He doesn’t quite shout when he cuts me off for a second time, but he’s getting there. Anger is roiling underneath the surface, trying it’s best to peek out, and I can see this getting worse the more I push. “I don’t want you in there alone with him. It’s not worth it.”
It’s not safe, is the unspoken implication here.
I can’t stop that a little warmth spreads through me, knowing how much he cares about me. But the rest of me is settling into annoyance.
“I’m bigger than both of you, and I’m the only one who isn’t going to start a fight for no reason.”
“Silas,” he says, tilting his head and looking at me with wide eyes and a down-turned mouth. “Please. Just don’t.”
Sky is silent, still clinging to her brother’s side but looking increasingly upset. Maddi is frozen, trapped between Cade and I as we talk and doing her best impression of a statue. I want to blow all this intensity out of the room, for all of our sakes, but I don’t know how. The TV has kept playing along inthe background, all that wholesome earnestness seeming like a ridiculous contrast to our shitty fucking lives.
I blow out a long, slow breath and work my fingers over the material of my jeans, trying to ground myself.
“Fine. Okay. How about you guys go to your room, though? Cade needs to shower and eat.”
Sky shakes her head sharply, fisting his jacket like a toddler. Maddi looks at me disparagingly.
“But the show!” she says, pointing.
“Yeah, the show!” Cade joins in, raising his eyebrows at me. “I’m fine. I’m not going anywhere, we can chill.”
I turn back to look at the screen, not saying anything.
“You can also chill,” he tells me. Not in a mean way, though. Like he means it. “Come here, though. I didn’t get the chance to say hello before I got tackled by the monster that lives under my bed.”
“Hey!” Sky protests, but she’s trying not to laugh.
He sticks his tongue out at her, and it makes me laugh a little as well.
