“It’sPhillip,” the Brit said, sniffing disdainfully. “Not the crotchety satyr fromHercules. Not a grandma. Not a city in Pennsylvania. And definitely not... Actually, I’m not sure where you got Pip from.”
“Pip’s the protagonist ofGreat Expectations,” Jake offered, because of course he’d know that.
“Nerd,” Leon chimed in with fondness in his tone.
“Actually,” Aspen interrupted, “I was thinking of the singing chipmunk fromEnchanted.”
“You gave me a nickname based off acartoon rodent?” Phillip gasped, pointing an accusatory finger at Aspen. “All right, that’s—”
“Come on, guys,” Jake sighed. “It’s been less than five minutes.”
“US means friendship,” Leon reminded them. “US meansfamily.”
The first part of what he said came from a slogan the bandused at one of their concerts once, but I was pretty sure the second part came from...
“You watchLilo and Stitchon the plane again?” Aspen asked.
“No, no, come on, Leon has a point,” Jake acknowledged. “We’re family. We should be able to get along without fighting.”
“Sorry.” Phillip rolled his eyes. “Kind of unexpected coming from you, though, since last I checked— Wait.” Phillip paused, leaning back in his seat to inspect Aspen. “Is that my Armani jacket? You told me you were sending it back to me and instead youpartiedin it? If you spilled—”
“I didn’t! I promise!”
“Hey!” Jake shouted, interfering again before Phillip could reply. “I know we fought the last time we were all together, but we get along most of the time, okay? Can we just remember that and move past whatever this is? I don’t even know what you two started bickering about when I walked out, anyway.”
Phillip frowned and blinked a bit, appearing not to remember either. Not letting that little fact bother him, he glared at Jake and asked, “Who put you in charge?”
“I should be in charge,” Aspen asserted. “I’m the oldest.”
Phillip rolled his eyes. “I think you meanwe’rethe oldest. You were only born six months before me.”
“Six months can be a lifetime.”
“For what?” Phillip argued. “A mosquito?”
“Actually, male mosquitos only live for about a week,” Leon piped up from his corner, where he’d been sitting in silence. “Female mosquitos live about six weeks. Fleas and bedbugs are the insects that have a six-month lifespan.” He shrugged at my questioning expression. “Mom has me doing trivia flashcardsevery week because she’s afraid I’ll be too distracted to study much on our tour.”
“Thank you, Leon,” Phillip said politely before turning back to Aspen. “Flea boy.”
“I should’ve just kept not talking to you, everything would’ve been better that way,” Aspen ground out. “You’re the worst brother ever. Maybe I should just forget about this and go home.”
“Yeah, maybe you should.”
Excuse me?
“Guys,” Jake growled. It sounded like he was gritting his teeth.
“Don’t start,” Phillip admonished him. Aspen echoed a littleyeahin agreement. Oh,nowthose two were on the same page? “You can’t act like being together is important when you’ve been the one constantly late to our group activities—if you even show up at all.”
“I was busy writing.”
“We know,” Aspen said. “Whenever you start working on one of your songs, there’s less time for us. Between that and the solo rumors, we can’t help but wonder if the band doesn’t matter as much to you anymore.”
“Of course it matters,” Jake burst out. “It matters the most!”
“Then why don’t you act like it?”
“Why don’tyouunderstand?”
