Page 108 of Break the Rule
“Oh no,” Theo and Andrew groan at the same time.
“A la verga,” Alec shouts seconds before he grabs a clean spatula, throwing it at Charlie. When that misses, he grabs a banana out of the fruit bowl and throws that too.
“I have eggs in the fridge if you need something else to throw,” Charlie tells him.
“Don’t fucking tempt me,” Alec seethes.
“Seriously, Ally.”
“No. Don’t call me that.”
“Ally, please.”
“I said, don’t call me that right now. I am so fucking mad at you.”
Against all reason, Theo walks across the kitchen and directly to Alec, who doesn’t throw anything or rage at him but instead collapses against Theo’s chest, making a sound that very much sounds like he’s crying. Charlie didn’t think he could feel worse.
Charlie was fucking wrong.
“I think you should go outside,” Andrew says, fingers curling around Charlie’s wrist.
“No, I need to clean this up. I need to say sorry. I need him to forgive me.”
“No, you need to leave him alone, Charlie.” Andrew’s tone is gentle but firm as he pulls Charlie out of the kitchen, his last sight of Theo hunched around Alec as if he can use his much larger body to shield him from the world—from Charlie.
When Alec was little, there’d been no one who could calm him like Charlie. With such a large age gap, he’d sometimes felt a bit more like a parent than a big brother, and he’d loved itbecause Alec was a great fucking kid. He liked being his brother's hero. He sure as shit isn’t one now.
“It’s not like I did it on purpose,” Charlie says, shuffling after Andrew into the living room. Agnes purrs loudly, following Charlie onto the sofa and plastering herself in his lap. He strokes her fur, wishing people were as easy as animals. Birdie is sound asleep in the corner, clearly so used to the normal chaos of Charlie’s house not even that fight could wake her.
“He’s not even mad about the age gap, you know,” Andrew says.
“Uh, I think he very clearly is, or did you miss the part where there was a projectile casserole?”
“Okay yeah, he’s pissed about that, but Alec has big feelings. He always has. But did you see his face, Charlie?”
“Of course I saw his fucking face,” Charlie snaps. “Are you trying to make me feel worse?”
“No, I want you to think about from his side. He didn’t even seem to care that you kept Eden a secret, he’d forgive you for anything. Except that. You could’ve confided in him. He knows exactly what it’s like to love someone who you don’t think you’re supposed to.”
“Who said anything about love?” Charlie gripes.
“I have eyes, Charlie. I’ve seen the way you look at Eden, even if you refuse to acknowledge it. That’s not the point. The point is, you broke his heart by not confiding in him.”
“None of this is making me feel any better,” Charlie points out.
“I’m not trying to make you feel better, I’m trying to help you fix this.” Andrew squeezes the bridge of his nose, sighing so heavily Charlie feels it in his gut. “You hurt him. He trusted you to be honest with him after what you put him through.”
“I didn’t put him through that much,” Charlie protests.
“Bullshit.”
“Fuck,” Charlie groans, dropping his head against the back of the couch. Maybe he had been a little harsh on Alec and Theo, but at the time so much had happened with Alec’s college burnout and his accident. It was Charlie’s job as his big brother to look out for him, to protect him, wasn’t it? In hindsight maybe Charlie had been harsher than he’d needed to be, but that was only because he wanted to protect Alec. Because Alec deserved the best and Charlie hadn’t been sure if that was Theo.
“How do I fix it?” Charlie asks Andrew.
“You stop being a selfish ass when you don’t wanna deal with shit for one.”
“Harsh, but okay.”
