Love me like you loathe me

Chapter7

I was just about to call Mike. Hearing the knock on the front door, my body stiffened, and my mind blanked. I was looking for the nearest way I could escape. Was it him? Did he finally find me?? I was panting, staring to move towards the door, like I was just as stupid and useless as he told me.

"It's me, open!" I exhaled, hearing my brother's loud voice, almost running towards the door and unlocking it when Mike gave me a frown, seeing my scared face; why didn't he just come inside? I knew he had the spare keys since I had to make a copy because he didn't want to give up his!

"Hey…" I smiled when he sighed, coming inside, closing the door, and walking towards the kitchen, where I followed. I saw him open both fridges simultaneously, frowning even more when he looked back at me, staring at him wild-eyed; what?

"Really? I gave you money… come, Steph…. "What the f**k is this?" I shrugged. He showed me the empty fridge, so I hadn't gone shopping; I had just gotten here, and he wanted me to act like I wasn't living alone and didn't need a full fridge like he did!

"I never got to it..." I wasn't lying. I had been rearranging my bedroom yesterday after returning from an awful reunion with his best friend, and today, I have been cleaning the living room.

"Alright… we're going out then..." Mike closed the doors with a bang, making me flinch; whatever he was upset over wasn't my empty fridges. More than that, he had heard me fighting with Lewis and just leaving the barbecue, not even coming over and saying hi to his kids or him.

I nodded, walking behind him. Striding was more the word for being annoyed at me for breathing right now. Mom said that since I could walk, I had followed Mike around, not wanting him to leave me behind, even if he always did as soon as that arrogant bastard Lewis entered our lives.

"Just push it back…" Mike nodded at me to get into the seat with toys scattered when I smiled. I was happy being around him. He was still my brother, no matter if we had different lives. He had his family, and I had…. I stopped smiling. Nothing. I had nothing.

"So, Lee told me you got a meltdown on him…" I sighed. Yeah, it seemed like it… I turned on the radio when he turned it down again, giving me a look to spill about yesterday. So, he wanted to know what was happening between me and Lewis. We argued, and he was being insanely stupid, just like always!

"He said that you still hate him…" I sighed and shrugged, still fiddling with the radio, trying not to make eye contact since Mike hadn't even turned on the engine. Was he really taking me shopping, or was he here to force me to say that I was sorry for telling Lewis that I hated him? Because I did, and nothing he said or did would change that.

“I do… hate him…” I said back gently, not wanting to upset Mike. He was always taking Lewis's side anyway, so it wasn't a surprise that he was frowning over me telling him that I hated his best friend and brother he never got, I bet he wished that Lewis and I could have switched places, so he didn't need to worry about me all the time.