Break Apart Her Heart

“I really should go.”

He jutted out his bottom lip and crossed his arms. Gerard and Khorie were sitting on the couch in the living room, a bowl of popcorn perched on the space where their legs touched, and a movie playing on the television. Neither of them really knew what it was that was playing. They had spent the last two hours throwing popcorn at each other and talking.

“But I don’t want you to leave,” he protested, grabbing her wrist and yanking her towards him, upsetting the bowl of popcorn onto the floor.

Khorie let out a squeal as she was pulled onto his lap. She curled up into his chest, taking in his familiar scent. She would’ve loved to have stayed there for the rest of the evening, but she had seen her mother pull into the driveway about an hour ago. She had a good feeling, from the emotions radiating from her sister, something bad was happening.

“Gee, I don’t want to leave either, but I really should. I’ll come back tomorrow, okay? We still have some drawing to do, you know,” she reassured him, pressing her lips to his pale cheek.

He sighed heavily and put his nose on her cheek. “Alright. Fine. But you so owe me an entire movie,” he told her, wagging a finger in her face.

She laughed, shaking her head. “It wasn’t like we watched this one anyways,” she replied, quirking an eyebrow.

Gerard pouted again. “Your point?”

Khorie smiled, patting him on the head. “Nothing darls. I’m going to go now,” she said, standing up and grabbing the hoodie that she had discarded earlier. She wrapped it around her shoulders, all the while keeping her eyes on Gerard. He stood and made his way towards her, holding his arms out. Khorie folded herself into him, once more snuggling into his chest. She stayed there for a few minutes, then reached up and kissed him lightly on the lips. Before she could pull away, one of Gerard’s hands went to her hair as he deepened the kiss. Khorie smiled as she allowed him access for a few seconds.

“I have to go,” she murmured, pulling away.

For the third time, Gerard pouted. “Alright, alright. If you must.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she repeated before turning and leaving him standing in the living room.

She made her way across the street, pulling the jacket closer around her. The night air was a little chilly, and goose bumps rose on her pale flesh. She wiped her feet on the mat in front of the door, then opened it and walked inside. The warm air hit her, making a shiver run down her spine from the sudden change in temperature. Khorie peeled off her jacket and hung it up. It was then that the sound of yelling reached her ears. It seemed to be coming from her sister’s bedroom. Furrowing her brow, she made her way up the stairs. The yelling got louder, and was soon joined by another set of lungs.

“Danielle Stuart, I do not care how old you are! I will not have that in my house!”

“We weren’t doing anything! We were wrestling! What is so wrong with that!?”

“That sure as hell didn’t look like wrestling!”

“Well it was! It’s not my fault that you’re blind!”

Khorie arched an eyebrow. Ooh, Dani was going to get it now. Shouldn’t have gone there. Their mother, for the most part, was an easy-going woman, and usually listened to reason. That is, until you go and insult her. She reached out and pushed her sister’s bedroom door open. Inside, she found Dani standing beside her bed, red-faced with her fists on her hips, feet shoulder width apart, hair flying. Her mother’s back was to her, but she was in the almost exact same stance, though it was hard to put your feet at that stance in a skirt.

“Excuse me? Dani, do not test my patience. I am not pleased with you right now. For that, you are grounded for the next two weeks. And I do not want you seeing that boy ever again. He’s bad news anyways,” their mother said, trying to reign in her anger.

Dani’s jaw dropped. “What?! Mom! That’s so unfair! I can handle the grounding, but to take him completely away from me!?”

“You put yourself in this position, Dani. I’m not going to say anything else on the subject. I want you to come straight home from school for the rest of this week. And do not go against me. I will hear about it.”

With those words, Ms. Stuart turned and brushed past Khorie, stopping only to brush her lips against her daughter’s cheek.

She cast her eyes down to the floor once her mother left. She knew that her sister was upset. It was radiating off of her in waves. It was really killing Khorie. It hurt right down to the core of her heart, an intense dull pain that wouldn’t go away. She couldn’t seem to bring herself to look her sister in the eyes. They had all worked so hard to make this work, and when it finally did, it was ripped out of her hands.

“I can’t believe her.”

Khorie looked up and saw the tears cascading down her sister’s face. In an instant, she made her way over to her and wrapped her in a hug. Dani’s shoulders shook with sobs as she held onto her. It didn’t take long for her shirt to get completely soaked, but Khorie didn’t mind at all.

“After all of this, she’s going to keep Frank from me! Doesn’t she realize that this is the worst possible thing to do?” Dani cried, sniffling loudly.

She sat her sister down on the bed and went to her desk to grab some tissues. With a small smile, she handed them to her before sitting next to her. Together, they laid back on their backs, staring up at the ceiling like they always did when one of them just needed to talk.

“I’m sorry Dani. What happened?” Khorie asked quietly.

“Frank and I had been wrestling when Mom walked in. We were in an awkward position on the floor, and it looked bad, but it was completely innocent! We weren’t doing anything!” Dani exclaimed, blowing her nose into the white tissue. “I finally realize my feelings, and we finally work things out, and he’s taken from me. How fucked up is that? Seriously?”

Khorie shook her head. She had to agree with her sister on this one. She didn’t think she deserved to have Frank taken completely from her. It was ridiculous, even for their mother’s standards.

“We’ll figure out something, Dani. I assure you, we will,” Khorie promised, taking her sister’s hands in her own.

===

The tension in the kitchen could be cut with a knife. Her mother and sister sat at opposites sides of the table, eating breakfast in silence. Khorie was standing at the counter, waiting for her toast to come out of the toaster, a butter knife in one hand, the other gripping at the counter. She was having a real hard time being stuck in between the two of them. All morning, they wouldn’t talk to one another. If something wanted to be said to the other, they said it through Khorie. It was so irritating and immature.

Her toast popped out and she grabbed them, putting them on a napkin before buttering them. Deciding that she’d rather stay right where she was then join the others at the table, she ate her toast, every now and then pausing to look over her shoulder with a roll of her eyes. Of course, she agreed with Dani about the situation, but she didn’t think that it was necessary to be thrown directly into the middle of things, and made to deal with their idiocy.

Once she was done, she tossed her napkin into the trash. “I’m going to Gerard and Mikey’s,” she muttered, leaving the kitchen. Her mother merely nodded, but her sister, with wide eyes, followed her into the main hallway and hovered while Khorie put on her shoes.

“I thought we were supposed to figure something out,” Dani hissed.

“We will. Don’t worry, we’ll have time. Besides, I’m sure that Gee and Mikey might have some things to say on the matter,” Khorie told her with a roll of her eyes as she hopped around on one foot, trying to put her Converse on.

“The vampire doesn’t even know what’s going on!” her sister protested.

She glowered. “The vampire’s name is Gerard, and yes he does.”

Dani arched a brow. “Oh, already filling him on the family troubles? Planning on getting married next and having little vampire babies?”

Khorie narrowed her eyes as she placed her foot down with a heavy thud. She took two steps forward and put herself close to Dani’s body, trying to be menacing. “I have no idea what the hell your problem is, but you better keep it in check, Dani. I like Gerard, and I will not have you fucking shit up for me. Appreciate the fact that I’m going to help you, instead of being a bitch,” she muttered, curling her upper lip before turning on her heel and leaving the house, slamming the door behind her.