Give 'Em Hell, Kid

Alexia planned to stay over that night, giving Jonathan, her minder for all intents and purposes, a quick text to let him know where she was. The rest of the evening was awkward. We knew something had changed and yet we were trying to act as though nothing had happened. If it wasn’t for the fact Alexia was still blushing I would have sworn it was a dream when she said yes. Perhaps if Mikey hadn’t been a pest who insisted on joining us when Alexia finished her Geometry homework we would have talked about it. Or maybe I would have tried to kiss her, who knows. Not me that was for sure anyway as I shot Mikey my most evil threatening glare possible. By the grin he returned I knew the fucker was deliberately interfering, my stomach curled with embarrassment as I realised he had probably heard everything.

​​​We watched some shit ass boring TV, not bothering to change out of our uniforms. We were teenagers which means by nature we are lazy, apathetic and too busy being bored to change.

​​​‘God, why are we watching this crap? Mikey give me the remote.’ Alexi demanded.

​​​‘Bitch remember whose house you’re in.’

​​​She turned on Mikey like a viper, her eyes narrowed and I could tell Mikey regretted his words as his face dropped. I actually felt sorry for him, knowing that Alexia’s wrath was scary when you were on the receiving on. It was also funny as hell to watch so being the good brother I was I didn’t interfere. It would teach the fucker.

​​​‘Excuse me? This may be your house but I own your ass. Or maybe I should just tell Gerard, Ray and Frankie about that time I caught you-‘

​​​‘NO!’ he shouted quickly, sitting up from his slouched position with sped I didn’t know was humanly possible.

​​​‘Apologise then.’

​​​‘I’m sorry.’

​​​‘No Mikey, apologise.’

​​​I held in my snigger. She wanted him to beg.

​​​‘Alexia c’mon, you can’t be serious, I’m not a kid anymore you can’t just-‘

​​​‘Gerard, remember that time-‘

​​​‘ALRIGHT!’ he shouted, his face losing all colour as he gulped. In that moment my brotherly instincts kicked in, and as much as I wanted to see Mikey humiliate himself I wouldn’t let anyone else but I do it.

​​​‘Alexia’ I warned.

​​​‘What?’ she asked sweetly, looking at me as though she was an innocent who had never wronged in her life. I melted a little bit, forgetting for a split second about my brotherly duty as I took that sight of her in.

​​​‘Leave him alone. You can’t fuck around with him anymore. He’s not a child.’

​​​‘But Gerard’ She whined like a child, her foot twitching as she tried to stop herself from stomping her foot. It was her habit as a child when she was pulling a tantrum. She would stomp her foot, not stopping until you gave into her out of fear she would break her foot with the force she would use.
​
​​​​​‘I don’t care. He apologised. Get over it. Mikey give me the remote.’

​​​Mikey stuck his tongue out at Alexia before giving me the remote. Neither of us saw it coming when Alexia pounced on me, knocking us both off the couch with her speed. My back hit the floor as Alexia made to grab the remote that was clutched tightly in my hand.

​​​We wrestled for a minute, Alexia trying to get the remote out of my hand as she straddled my wait, stopping me from sitting up. I wasn’t trying very hard; I was too busy enjoying the feel of Alexia being on top of me. I heard a brief ‘whatever’ from Mikey as he exited the living room, getting bored of watching Alexia and I fighting.

​​​‘Give it to me’ she whined as she struggled to wretch it from me hand.

​​​‘If you want it, just take it!.’

​​​‘What on earth is going on?’

​​​The words were spoken by my Mother, who stood in the doorway with a shocked expression on her face. She looked angry, her lips pressed into a thin line which resembled my own.
Alexia stood up quickly, fixing her skirt as I sat up. I realised how it must have looked to my mother. We didn’t look like kids anymore who could get away with messing. Now we were fully fledged teenagers with hormones. The air was thick with sexual tension and I knew my Mother wouldn’t fail to recognise that. Judging by the angry expression on her face it was the first time my mother was faced with the fact that we could possibly be more than friends. She didn’t seem to like that.

​​​‘Alexia, I think maybe you should go home tonight.’

​​​The words were spoken quietly, not necessarily in anger but she was far from happy.

​​​‘Okay.’

​​​The look was Alexia’s face made my heart break. She had always been welcome to stay whenever she wanted, even sharing my bed on more than a few occasions during the winter months when my house got freezing cold. My mother asking her to leave was like a master kicking his puppy.

​​​‘Mom,what the hell?’ I asked in anger as Alexia went to retrieve her school bag, her head bowed down as she tried not to get upset.

​​​‘Don’t start Gerard. You and I are going to have a little talk after you drop Alexia off.’

​​​I wanted to yell at her but I knew it wouldn’t be any use. She had her mind made up so I begrudgingly picked up my keys that I left on the table and muttered a ‘C’mon’ to Alexia.
She followed me silently out the door, the silence continued as we pulled away from the drive way.

​​​‘Lexi she’s not mad at you, okay? I think she was just…surprised is all. ‘

​​​She nodded, still not speaking to me as she tried not to give away just how upset she was.

​​​‘I mean, if your Dad had walked in on that I’d be murdered.’

​​​My pathetic attempt to make her cheer up worked as I saw a ghost of a smile on her face.

​​​‘Nah, he just would have castrated you I think. He likes you too much to murder you.’

​​​I laughed.

​​​‘I’d rather be murdered.’

​​​‘Why?’

​​​‘I dunno. Life would be pointless if I didn’t have…you know.’

​​​‘Little Gerard’ she giggled.

​​​‘Hey, there’s nothing little about him.’ I muttered, turning red.

​​​The tension seemed to come back again, both of us staying quiet before we made things more awkward.

​​​When I reached her house I parked in her driveway.

​​​‘Alexia, don’t be upset okay? I’ll talk to her and it will all blow over.’

​​​‘Okay.’ She whispered.

​​​Her eyes were cast down, refusing to look at me. She was biting her lower lip. In that moment all I wanted to do was kiss her. I placed my hand under her chin, forcing her to look at me. We held each other’s gaze as I tried to convince myself it would be okay to kiss her. If she freaked out I could just say it was an impulse, or I was just trying to comfort her.

​​​I began to lean in, closing the space between our lips when a sudden noise made us jump.
Alexia’s phone was ringing. Déjà vu hit me as I felt another urge to grab her phone and throw it away. I officially hated her phone. I saw DAD flash up on the screen as she pulled it out of her bag.

​​​‘Hi Daddy’ she answered, her face flushed as she tried to control her breathing. ‘Oh, I thought you wouldn’t be home ‘till next week…I’m in the driveway now Daddy. I’ll see you in a minute.’

​​​I listened to the conversation, my hands clasped tightly as I cursed her stupid phone. I almost kissed her. I almost kissed her and she didn’t pull away. A felt a flutter of hope and smiled when I thought about it. She didn’t pull away.

​​​‘Gerard?’ She brought me out of my thoughts, her phone clutched in her hand and her schoolbag on her lap.

​​​I barely had time to focus on her when I suddenly felt her lips on mine. I didn’t respond at first, surprise making me immobile. They were soft, smooth and hot as my lips began to return the pressure she applied. As quickly as she had done it she pulled away, opening her door and racing out of the car before my brain would take in what had happened.

​​​We kissed. After all these years, after everything we had been through we finally kissed. A wide grin spread across my face, showing my teeth as the single sentence ran through my brain.

​​​She kissed me.

​​​I was giddier than a schoolgirl as I reversed my car out of her driveway, forgetting about the wrath I would face when I got home.
​​