I'll Bow for Your King When He Shows Himself

*Later that night*

I had just gotten home and it was about five at night. This was the earliest I had come home in months, and all I wanted to do was watch Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and drink a huge cup of green tea with my brother by my side.

Instead of this, though, a blanket was thrown at me when I walked through the door, and Andy was pushing me out into the hallway again.

"Andy, what are you doing?" I asked, out of breath from being nearly suffocated by a blanket.

My brother smiled and said, "Walter's playing Jennifer's Body tonight." His smile never left his face, and I found myself smiling, too.

Walter's was an old drive-in down the road from our apartments where they play older movies for about 2 pounds every Saturday night. Andy used to take me every weekend when I was younger, until he got diagnosed. We hadn't been in years, and I secretly missed it. It basically made up my childhood.

I rolled my eyes, handing him the blankets back to him. "Let me go change really quickly." I walked back into the apartment and set my bag down, before escaping in my room. I changed into a thick pair of pajama pants and my Kooks shirt. I pulled my hair back into a rubber band to top it off, and walked back out into the living room. Andrew stood there in his pajamas too, with three pillows and two blankets. He had a backpack tied to his back with what I assumed was food.

I took almost everything he was holding, leaving him with just a pillow, and wheeled his oxygen tank along behind him.

This was something I was used to. Andrew was so weak, he could barely walk down a flight of stairs without becoming winded. But he pretended to be strong, taking the harder way down, instead of an elevator. That was my brother for you. My hero.

He insisted on driving to the drive-in, saying, "Can't I take my sister out on a date without making it seem like I have a terminal cancer?"

I just rolled my eyes and let him take over.

We arrived an hour and a half earlier before the movie started. Andy pulled into the front row of the drive-in, and put it in park. I got out and helped him set up our blankets and pillows on the top of my car. Once everything was situated, we climbed up and got comfortable.

"We haven't done this in years," I said, a wide smile on his face.

He shrugged. "I feel like it was something that needed to be done. We don't spend that much time with each other anymore, even if we do live together." He cracked open and thermos and handed me the warm container. I took a sip and moaned. Green tea. He knew me way too well. He pulled out his own, placing it in his lap. Next, he took out a carton of pad thai with tofu and handed it to me. He obviously went to the Chinese restaurant before I got home. He ordered orange chicken for himself, his favorite.

We sat in silence for awhile, eating our food and drinking our tea. Andy broke through the barrier first. "So. Is there anything you want to talk about?" he asked, not looking at me.

I pretended to think. "Um...nope. I don't think so."

"How's work going?" he pried on.

I just nodded, pretending that actually meant it was okay, even though it wasn't.

"How's Derek?"

I smiled. "Still fabulously gay."

Andrew took a drink and continued. "You aren't going to talk to me, are you?"

I set down my food and cracked my knuckles. "Andy, we're having fun. Why do you have to ruin a moment like that?" I asked, growing angry.

"I'm just worried about my little sister, Carrion," he snapped back. I pushed my glasses up onto my nose.

"I had a few beers. That doesn't mean it's getting bad again. Am I drinking right now? No."

"That doesn't mean anything. You haven't picked up a bottle in two years. I thought you were done," he said, trying to make it look like he wasn't growing weak.

I stuffed a piece of tofu in my mouth. "And I am. I can handle my alcohol now. That's what we've learned from it."

Andy dropped the subject after that. Silence over took us again, and we didn't talk again until fifteen minutes before the movie was supposed to start.

"I'm just so tired all of the time," I told him, truthfully. "I'm working triple shifts a day just to pay for the rent. Sometimes I wish Mom and Dad were back."

Andy looked at me then, knowing that I was breaking again. I never looked to Mom and Dad for help.

The previews began playing, and I finished eating, throwing my trash back into the back pack. Andy pulled me into his arms and I cuddled into his side. He kissed the top of my head before the movie started.