Fighting Ourselves.

Ellie’s POV

“Shit…” muttered Brian as he got up from his sitting position on the floor.

“Well, that was to be expected…” said Matt, rubbing his neck nervously.

Brian grabbed his jacket, car keys and hurried to the hall.

“I wouldn’t go after her if I were you, she’s gonna beat your ass!” said Zacky. As an answer, Brian flipped him off and slammed the door shut behind him.

I sighed and rubbed my forehead tiredly.
“Okay kids, let’s go clean you up a bit…” I said as I realized that the twins were covered in red lipsticks, red eye shadows and glitters. Hailie had a rose drawn on her forehead, and Damien had the drawing of Mickey on his cheek.

I took their hands in mine and headed upstairs to the bathroom.

“Does a bath sound good to you?” I asked, as I starred at them, wondering if I was going to be able to clean their faces or if they were going to stay red and glittering for the rest of their lives.

“I’ll be right back, stay here!” I said as I walked back downstairs, I was ready to yell at them as I tripped on a toy in the stairs but I was surprised when I entered the living room and saw the guys picking up the clothes and toys from the floor.

“Good.” Was all I said when Matt looked at me before I ran back upstairs and into the spare room where we had put all our bags and stuff. I grabbed my vanity and then went back in the bathroom only to see that the kids had already started to run the bath.

“Okay, let’s try to wipe that lipstick off your face…” I said as I opened the vanity and took some cotton and some lotion on it. I gave them a cotton each.

“Now try to wipe as much as you can and I’ll do the rest…” I said before checking the bath. When I turned around, instead of wiping their own faces, they were wiping each others’. I smiled and went back in the spare room, taking my camera and walked back in the bathroom, I took a picture of their cuteness and then put it on the side of the sink before knelling down next to them.

“Okay, let me help you…” I offered, taking a cotton and wiping Hailie’s face the best I could.

“Okay, in the bath you go…” I said. She took off her T-shirt and shorts, her socks and underwears before she hoped in the bath, waving at her brother and giggling.

I shook my head, smiling and turned to wipe Damien’s face.

**

Adeline’s POV

“Adeline, stop! Listen to me!”

I ignored him, something I was getting quite good at, and kept on walking.

“Adeline, stop! For fuck sake! Get in the car!”

I kept on ignoring him and accelerated my pace. I thought he finally had given up until I heard a door slam shut and next thing I know, he had a hold of my wrist.

“I swear Brian, if you don’t let go of my wrist this instant, I’m going to hurt you really bad…” I threatened, not even turning to look at him.

“I’ll let go of your wrist once you’re in the car.” He said.

People were looking at us, ready to interfere. I sighed, drop my head and followed him to the car. I got in the passenger seat, and slammed the door. I turned on the radio, as loud as it was needed to prevent me from hearing his voice.

“What did I do?”

I kept my mouth shut and looked outside, hoping he would start driving soon so that the roaring of the motor would drown his voice.

“Listen Adeline, just tell me why you ran off like that?” he asked, “or else I won’t move this car.”

I rolled my eyes, crossed my arms over my chest but kept my mouth tight shut.

“Fuck it, you’re wearing me out with your constant mood swings, and your ridiculous outburst, just tell me what the fuck is wrong with you!” he yelled, griping the steering wheel, making his knuckles turn white.

Thank God for having twins, they taught me how to be patient and control myself… Well, kinda… but maybe I’m stubborn too, so that might help a little…

He kept starring at me, without blinking, and I kept looking out of the window, ignoring him.
We kept this charade going on for a few minutes, before he gave up.

“Fuck, fuck, FUCK!” he yelled, slamming his fist on the board. “You’re just fucking annoying! And just ARGH! I swear, you’ll be the death of me!” he added, pinching the bridge of his nose.

I couldn’t help the smile that crept on my face, he was too damn amusing.

“That’s the plan…” I said, without any emotions.

“Oh God…” he groaned, starting the engine and slamming his foot on the gas pedal. We stayed silent during the drive.
Brian parked the car in Matt’s driveway.

“You know Brian, you really need to get laid, your frustration is getting out of control…” I said as I jumped off the car and walked back inside, only to see Ellie and Matt, sitting in the living room, while the kids were watching Sponge Bob sitting on Jimmy and Zacky’s back. Jimmy and Zacky were lying on the floor, and the twins had taken residence on their backs.

A pure Kodak moment.

“Where’s Nate?” I asked, which makes Ellie sat up straight on the couch as she was maybe sitting closer to Matt.

“He called earlier, saying that he would meet up with us at the beach.” Explained Ellie, rubbing her neck nervously.

“The beach?” I asked, surprised.

“Yeap, the beach baby… We are going to have a party there, just the 7 of us!” said Jimmy.

“And the kids?” I asked, my arms crossed over my chest.

“They’ll be staying with my father and Suzy tonight…” said Brian, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. I took a step forward, making his arm drop to his side as I turned to glare at him.

“Papa Gates, huh?” I asked.

“Yeah! Mummy! We went to see Papa Gates and Suzy this afternoon!” explained Hailie, bouncing on Jimmy’s back, making him winced in pain.

“Hailie baby, I know you love uncle Jimmy, so stop jumping on his back, he’s not a bed and he’s skinny, you might break his back and then he’ll never be able to give you piggy ride ever again.” I explained. She stopped and wrapped her small arms around Jimmy’s neck.

“Sorry Jimmy, I love you!” she said. I smiled, sometimes she’s just too cute!

“Mummy, can I jump on Zacky? He’s fat!” said Damien, which made everyone laughed. I chuckled.

“No you can’t Damien, and Zack ain’t fat, he’s just chubby. That’s different.” I said.

“Okay Mummy. And sorry uncle Zacky.” Apologized Damien, patting Zacky’s head. I shook my head, laughing.

“Well, I’m gonna take a shower. And thank you Ellie for cleaning their faces…” I said, smiling at my sister before brushing past Brian and heading to the spare room to grab my stuff.

I grabbed my bag and headed to the bathroom only to be stop mid-way by Brian.

“Okay… Let me get this straight…” I said slowly. “Get the fuck out of my way!!!” I yelled, walking past him and slamming the door in his face, locking it straight away.

“I will stay here until you talk to me…” he said through the door.

“Whatever you want!” I muttered, taking off my clothes and then stepping under the shower.

**

I put on my T-shirt and then leaned against the door, to see if he was still behind it or not.

“Daddy? What are you doing behind the door?” asked Damien.

“I’m waiting for your mother to come out…” he explained and I sighed. I sat on the edge of the bath and tried to think of a way to get out of the bathroom without having to deal with Brian.

I smiled.

I walked up to the window and opened it. Thanks God it was big enough to get out through it. I took a deep breath and passed one leg through the window, then the other and I sat on the edge.

“Oh damn…” It was higher than I thought it was. Maybe that wasn’t a really good idea. I was about to turn around and got back inside when I slipped, letting out a high pitch scream.

“Fuck!” I breathed out as my feet touched the grass. I quickly got up and hurried towards the front door and opened it as quickly as possible. Only to hear Brian pounding at the door upstairs.

“Adeline, are you alright?” he yelled, knocking at the door. I stifled a laugh but Ellie saw me as she walked out of the kitchen. She rolled her eyes.

“Brian! She’s downstairs, stop breaking the door!” she yelled, before shooting a nasty glare in my direction and walking back in the living room.

“What happened?” asked Matt, looking at me worriedly.

“Brian was blocking the way, so I had to find another way to get out and this other way was to jump off the window…” I explained, running a hand through my still damp hair.

“What did you do?” asked Brian, running down the stairs.

“I jumped off the window, do you want me to spell it for you?” I snapped.

“Okay, break it off you too, you sound like an old married couple.” Said Jimmy, chuckling. My head snapped in his direction and I killed him right on the spot with a murderous glare.

“Forget what I said!” he mumbled, walking past me and into the hall. “I need a drink…” he mumbled, heading to the kitchen.

“We should probably go soon… We need to stop by the grocery store and we need to drop the kids off at Papa Gates’ house.” Said Johnny, getting up from the couch.

“I’m going in Matt’s car, I call shotgun.” I quickly said before anyone else could speak.

It was Brian’s turn to glare at me. I just winked at him.