Take One Last Breath

..::Austin’s P.O.V::..

I didn’t want to leave my bed when I woke up the next morning. Kori and I had already been strongly against Bam and his friends, and we hadn’t even been in the house for more than ten minutes, leading me to believe that this wouldn’t be the most pleasant of visits. I was honestly hoping that I’d get along with my family here, after all, we were direct cousins, but I guess that’s just too much to ask. I sighed heavily as I got up, knowing that I couldn’t lay in bed all day. I grabbed a few articles of clothing before I walked into the bathroom that connected mine and Kori’s. When I walked in, I lay the clothing on the counter before opening the door to Kori’s room. She looked at me from her bed, she had been doing the same thing as I was.

“I really don’t want to get up,” she moaned as I peeked my head in the door.

“Great,” I replied, “that means I can take a longer shower, which I was coming in to warn you about, by the way,” I said, and she nodded, closing her eyes again. I thought about it before I’d be naked and out in the open. I grabbed the two desk chairs from mine and Kori’s room, and after locking the two doors, I put the doors under the knobs, knowing nobody would come in to pull any practical jokes on me. That would be an awesome way to start off the morning for me.

I finally stripped off my clothing once I was confident enough, and I entered the walk-in shower, turning on the faucet. The cold water hit me like knives, causing me to squeal and jump back. I noticed the water wasn’t warming up, and I knew that somebody, being Bam, most likely turned off the hot water for the occasion. Me having grew up in Maine, and going to beaches with freezing cold water, I was used to it, so I slowly bathed in the freezing water, not being phased. Bam wouldn’t win this. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction he wanted by fucking with me. I turned the faucet off once I was done, and grabbed a towel, drying myself off. I pulled on the clothes I had set out, a pair of tight and washed out denim jeans and a black Cradle of Filth shirt, one of my favorite bands.

I tried out my dark brown hair, which was naturally wavy from the dark roots to the bleached out ends. I only applied a small amount of liquid eyeliner to my top lid, creating a cat eye effect on the ends, and a small amount of mascara. I never liked applying makeup. It took out too much time of the morning, and it made me break out badly. Though I was almost twenty, I had the skin of a pre-teen. Once I was done, I placed the two chairs back in their original places, and threw my dirty clothes in the laundry hamper. I opened the door, the smell of bacon punching me in the face. I put on a pair of my old combat boots before walking on the floors of this house, not aware of what somebody, again being Bam, could have placed on the floor. I didn’t tighten up the laces, only tucking them on the inside of the tongue, and then very cautiously walked down the hall, and to the bottom of the stairs, being careful as I turned every corner.

This had been almost worse than the suspenseful part of the worst horror film. I was pretty confident by the time that I got to the kitchen door that I wouldn’t run into Bam. It was when I walked into the room that I had the breathe knocked out of me, and I was on my back. I heard Bam’s laughter, along with a bunch of other guys, and my eyes fluttered open, and I saw a giant red hand in the door way, obviously being what hit me.

“What are you guys doing,” April’s sharp voice actually sounded like an angels at this moment.

“Ape, I had to get her back from yesterday,” Bam said, still laughing.

“She didn’t do anything to you,” she said, and I wasn’t enjoying the fact that they were talking about me as if I weren’t right here.

“Yeah, but she was supposed to be the one we attacked yesterday, not the friend with the stick up her ass,” he said, and my eyes fluttered open, seeing a bunch of guys around, none of them being familiar to me.

“Hey look, we didn’t knock her unconscious,” a guy with a long ponytail said, and he walked over to me, sticking his hand out to help me up, which I carefully took, and he hoisted me up, “I’m Chris,” he gave me a quick smile and let go of my hand. I was dragged right into the middle of a bunch of chaos, and I didn’t even have Kori down here to help me.

“It’s okay, Ape,” I said in a small voice, “he’ll have to do better than that to get me mad,” I looked up at Bam to see him glaring at me. I don’t know what I had done to him, but it was as if he hated me. I shot him a small smile, and he rolled his eyes.

“Well if you’re okay,” she said to me, and then turned to Bam, “and you, seriously, leave her alone,” she scorned him one last time before she walked away.

“Bam, you said she was ugly,” a tall guy with short brown hair said as he examined me.

“I lied, Knoxville. You guys wouldn’t have pranked her if I told you she was pretty,” he said, laughing again as he remembered the prank they pulled on me, “and Austin, since you’ll be here for a few months, I should probably introduce you to my crew. This is Knoxville, Steve-O, Hanna, Ryan, Raab, Chris, and Rake. If you could stay away from them, that would be great,” he said, and I shrugged before walking into the kitchen, moving the hand out of my way and slipping past it. I didn’t know it was possible to get on a family member’s bad side so quickly, but I hadn’t seen Bam since I was a kid, so I guess he’s just changed a lot.

“Hey, Ape,” Missy said as she walked into the kitchen and spotted me, flashing me a smile, “Hey Austin. How are you liking it here so far,” she asked, sitting down next to me.

“I hate your husband, and his friends,” I exclaimed, and her smile dropped.

“I guess that’s why the hand’s there, then,” she looked back at the door way, giving the red hand a dissatisfied look, “Knoxville did that to Bam once, except he added flour,” she told me, and a smile landed on my face, but I quickly made it go away.

“I just don’t understand why he hates me so much,” I said, and Bam came in, his friends following behind him, laughing.

“He’s just an asshole,” she told me.

“Who’s an asshole,” Bam came up to her, giving her a tender kiss on the lips.

“You are, baby. Why are you so mean to your cousin,” she asked, and a smile played on his lips.

“I’m giving her a full welcome. I even have the welcoming committee with me,” she explained to her.

“Well could you calm it down, she doesn’t feel welcomed,” she protested insincerely.

“Well,” I cut in, “If I’m going to be talked about like I’m not here, then I minds as well actually leave,” I told them, standing up, and leaving the kitchen. I ran up the stairs, and walked quickly back to my room. I heard Kori in the shower as I got out my huge suitcase, and starting grabbing my things from the drawers when Bam came in.

“What are you doing,” he asked, his eyebrows furrowing as he looked down at my bag. I stopped throwing things in there and looked at him.

“I’m leaving, it’s what you want. I’ll take Kori with me, you having nothing to worry about. Just leave me alone while I pack,” I said, and walked back to my dresser as I started grabbing more clothes, and turned around to see him taking things out of my luggage and putting them back in the drawer, causing me to scoff, “Now what are you doing,” I asked, crossing my arms as I gave him an icy stare.

“I don’t want you to leave. I don’t hate you, either. I just play around a lot, and you have to understand that aside from getting mad at me all the time,” he explained, not softening up my face at all.

“Pranks are meant to be funny, Bam. You’re just an ass,” I said, sitting down on my bed.

“A total jackass. I know,” he grinned, and I rolled my eyes playfully, “I don’t actually think you’re that bad, and I’ll try to ease up a little on you and your friend, but I can’t guarantee an end to it. Even Missy gets a lot of it,” he told me, and I nodded.

“Well if I have to put up with it, I guess I will,” I said, “and I guess I’m sorry for being a little bitchy about all of this.”

“Okay, well that’s as close of an apology that you’re getting from me, so put away your shit, and come hang out downstairs with the me and the guys,” he instructed, “bring your friend, too.”

“Her name is Kori,” I said, already starting on unpacking my stuff.

“Okay, well, hide all of your nice panties and stuff because Novak will be coming over soon,” he said before walking out, leaving me confused. Why did I have to hide my underwear, and…who was Novak? Once I was finished putting my stuff away, I walked into the bathroom, where Kori was putting on her makeup.

“Bam said he’ll ease up on us a bit, which I think was an apology,” I told her, and she looked at me with a smile.

“That’s good, I was thinking of ways to get away with murder,” she said before going back to her makeup.

“He also has a bunch of friends downstairs, two of them were from yesterday,” I told her, and she smiled widely.

“Hanna and Ryan,” she stated, “they’re nice, I like them.”

“Says the one who got hit by a bunch of paintballs from said nice guys,” I joked, hoisting myself up on the counter.

“On the contrary, they did think it was you,” she retorted, and I thought about this.

“Okay, fair enough,” I said, jumping off of the counter, “well, I’ll be downstairs in the kitchen with Bam and the rest of the guys. I’m starved, so I need to eat,” I told her, and she nodded.

“I’ll be right down,” she assured me, and I walked out of the bathroom, and out of my room. I ran back down the stairs and into the kitchen, met by everybody around the kitchen, already eating.

“Here you go, sweetie,” April said as she laid a plate full of eggs, bacon, grits, and sausage in front of me, and then a glass of orange juice, “Bam says you guys have got a full day ahead of you, so I’d suggest fueling up.”

“About that,” Missy said, looking at Bam, “I don’t think I’m going to go. I’m not feeling up to it, today.”

“I didn’t think you were going to come in the first place,” Bam said, kissing her on the cheek. I was tapped on the shoulder from behind, causing me to jump, and look to see Kori sitting in the seat next to me.

“Calm down, tiger, it’s only me,” she said, and April laid another plate in front of her, “thanks,” she smiled up at her.

“No problem,” April returned the smile

“So tell me,” Bam said, looking at us, “are you two afraid of heights?”

©Shannon.