Phoenix Simpson

Chapter 2

"Why the long face?" Landon flashed me a grin.

"Don't you ever get tired of chatting up girls?" I glanced at him dryly.

"Did you even look at her, Phoenix?" Landon chuckled as he put the shopping down. "She's too young for me. It wasn't like that at all."

"So that's not the girl who keyed my car?"

"They look nothing alike!" Landon cried in disbelief.

I looked to Coral for confirmation.

"Yeah, they really don't," she agreed with Landon. "That was Maisie we were just talking to. You should really learn some names."

"No need," I muttered. What would I need to retain that information for?

"Well, I'll remind you anyway," Landon decided. "Maisie lives next door, Number 24. Izzy lives on the other side. Izzy was the one who keyed your car and she's our age, twenty-two. Maisie is only seventeen. She's from the North. She doesn't look or sound anything like Izzy."

I had zoned out from the moment he started telling me their names, not that Landon paid much attention to that. He chatted on about another handful of neighbours, at which point I'd started opening the bags and taking out their contents.

"How was your day?" I asked Coral, who was also unpacking the shopping.

"Really?" Landon shook his head at me as I cut him off.

Coral chuckled, "I had a day off actually. Slept most of the day then went to run a couple of errands."

"And Walter's at boxing?" I pushed the cans of baked beans aside to make more room on the counter.

"Walter's asleep, I'm pretty sure," she answered.

"He's home?" I arched a brow.

"Mhm," she nodded. "He's been training a lot at this new club, so when he gets the chance to rest, I make sure he does."

"Make him rest?" Landon smirked, playing with his lip ring. "Wonder how you achieve that..."

"Stop it, Landon," she rolled her eyes, her cheeks warm.

"Yeah, stop that," I sent him a look before moving away.

"How was your day?" Coral asked me.

I sighed, not liking the reminder.

"Still searching," I mumbled.

"Ah," she nodded. "I'm guessing no luck?"

"No."

"Well," Landon interjected. "There are lots of jobs around, like delivery driving, things like that. He just doesn't fancy any of them."

"Most of them require qualifications I don't have," I snapped.

Leaving school so young didn't do me any favours when it came to finding a job. I couldn't have done it any other way though. The triplets weren't even ten years old yet when I had to take on the role of being their guardian, legally or not. There was no way I could have continued with school and taken care of everyone and everything at the same time.

Coral sensed the need for a topic change, and I was grateful when she did just that.

"So," she leaned against the counter. "I got a lot of general stuff we were low on, but I wasn't sure what we should have for dinner tonight. The choice is between roast chicken and pasta bake."

"Winner winner, chicken dinner," Landon gave her a thumbs up.

"Sure," I answered when Coral looked to me.

"Let's get started then," she slapped her hands together.

"Dinner won't be in another two hours," Landon took a seat.

"Yeah, and roast chicken for a family that eats like you and your brothers do, would mean two chickens," Coral countered with a playful smile. "That takes time to cook. Not to mention all the potatoes."

"I hope you bought the frozen ones because I don't fancy peeling a hundred tatties," Landon chuckled back.

"Tatties?" Coral laughed.

"Maisie's been rubbing off on me," Landon shrugged.

"She's not even Scottish, she's from Yorkshire."

"It's North enough."

"I don't think she calls potatoes tatties, but okay."

"I'm pretty sure she does – "

Coral silenced Landon by dumping a large sack of uncooked potatoes on the table in front of him. Even I had to hide a smile when Landon's jaw dropped.

"Are you serious?" he gaped at her.

"Let's get peeling," she grinned.

"No, no, no," Landon shook his head, a smile breaking across his own face. "Walter and Eli can't sleep their way out of this."

"That's true," Coral agreed. "Walter has slept long enough, and Eli needs to get out of his room."

"Yeah, I don't think he's asleep," Landon said.

We all knew Eli wasn't sleeping. He just spent nearly every minute in his room these days, and had been doing so since the move. I thought over a month would be enough time to get over his breakup with Hayley, but if anything, Eli had gotten worse.

"He doesn't listen to me," Landon sighed, lowering his gaze.

"He doesn't listen to anyone," I pointed out. "But that doesn't mean he's going to get to carry on doing things his way. It's...self-destructive."

And all over a girl.

I turned to leave the kitchen, only pausing when Landon called out to me.

"Just...just be easy on him, okay?" Landon caught my eyes.

I didn't need to respond. I knew how to deal with my brother.

Taking the stairs, I crossed the landing to Eli's room. I knocked on the door as my other hand turned the handle, giving sufficient notice that I was coming in. I'd learned years ago that entering my brothers' rooms without knocking risked me walking in on things I did not want to see.

Eli's curtains were drawn shut, cloaking his room in a continuous gloom. For someone who normally kept his room relatively tidy, Eli's room was a mess. That was the new normal now. Clothes were strewn all over the floor and hanging off the back of his desk chair. There was no way to tell which items were dirty and which were clean. Eli wasn't eating much, but the wrappers of what he did manage lay littered over his carpet. I didn't have to turn on the light to know that the carpet needed a good hoover. Eli, by default, had the smallest bedroom since he shared with no one else. His bed was only a single, not that he'd ever complained about it.

Eli himself was laying in his bed, glaring right at me. He was on his back, sheets drawn halfway up his chest. His dark blond hair was scruffy, and he needed a haircut.

"It's stuffy, open the window," I said.

"It is open."

"Open it wider."

"No," his glare deepened. "I'm cold."

It wasn't cold at all. It was the middle of August, and for once the weather this summer was baking hot.

"Eli," I sighed heavily.

"Save it."

"Listen to me," I hardened my jaw, my eyes blazing into his.

The intensity of my look clearly met its match with the way Eli was scowling back at me. I just knew that whatever I'd wanted to say would fall on deaf ears. It was frustrating, to say the least. Crossing the room instead, I pulled the curtains open and flooded the small room with light. Eli swore at me and sunk deeper under his covers, grumbling hatefully under his breath.

I stood over his bed for a moment, frowning unhappily at the mound under the sheets. I contemplated how to punch through the brick wall Eli was projecting. Easier said than done.

"Here," I picked up a hoodie I suspected was clean from the floor. "You said you were cold."

Eli pulled the sheets down enough to see what I was offering.

"Come downstairs, we're cooking dinner," I held the hoodie towards him.

"Not hungry," he mumbled.

I sat down on the edge of his bed and the ferocity of the next glare I received almost made me smile. Arching a brow back at Eli, I dared him to kick me off like I knew he wished he could.

"We miss you," I dropped my gaze to the hoodie I was clenching in my lap.

It seemed Eli didn't know what to say to that, as he kept quiet. My foot was in the door then. Time to try and get the door open before he shut me out again.

"I miss you," my voice lowered as I spoke earnestly. "It's not the same without you around...even if all you do is pick fights. The boys love you for it really. Especially Walter."

"And you?" Eli's green eyes were watching mine.

"Of course, I do," I said firmly.

Eli looked away and I held my breath.

"What's for dinner?" he eventually asked.

I pulled the corners of my lips down to fight a smile of victory before he saw it and changed his mind.

"Roast chicken."

Another pause, then, "Fine."

I smiled then and stood up, dropping the hoodie on the bed.

"Don't take too long, or I'll just come back," I said to him, to which I earned an eye-roll and a huff.

Shutting Eli's door behind me, I went down to the kitchen to see that Walter was up now. He had probably been in the shower because his hair was still wet. Walter was wearing black boxing shorts with white stripes down the sides and a plain black t-shirt. He wasn't exactly helping Landon and Coral peel the potatoes, but rather he had Coral perched on his lap whilst he cuddled her around her waist. I could only take in so much affection before having to avert my eyes, but it was clear that Walter and Coral were so comfortable now.

It was hard to believe Walter had almost lost his life after taking a bullet for Ario Santiago a few months back. Having to see him in a coma day in and day out had almost drained me completely. But here he was, alive and well. And Coral had played a part in that too. She was maybe the person Walter had the most reason to live for now, and it was like Coral had been a part of the family for much longer than she had. If anyone had asked me if I'd let any of my brothers' girlfriends join my household before, I would have said a firm no. I had said a firm no. But here she was, the scars on her little finger marking her as one of us. And the strangest part now was that I honestly didn't mind it.

"Is he coming down?" Landon looked to me, a bowl of naked potatoes next to him, their shavings in a pile in the middle of the table.

"Yeah," I nodded.

"How did you manage that?" Coral arched her brows.

I shrugged, "Some days are easier than others, I suppose."

We all paused in thought, and it was just then that Eli came down and joined us. He'd fixed his messy hair, but it was still hanging low over his forehead, signifying its need to be cut.

"Why is there silence?" he narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"What's wrong with silence?" Landon was already grinning back, glad to see his brother.

"You were probably talking about me, that's what," Eli returned.

"And so what if we were?" Walter butted in before anyone. "We can talk about you whenever and however we want."

"Excuse me?" Eli frowned at him.

"Yeah," Walter lifted his chin. "And what are you gonna do about it?"

"Walter," Coral shushed him with a smile.

Eli drifted his gaze to her, his face softening slightly.

"Good to see you out of your room, Eli," Coral beamed at him. "Do you want to help peel these?"

"I don't see Walter helping," Eli said.

Walter grinned, shaking his head to himself, "She asked about you, not me."

"Well, I'm talking about you."

"What do you do all day?" Walter scoffed, his lips itching to form a smirk. "Lay in the dark and stare at the ceiling?"

Eli folded his arms, "Better than spending time with you."

"I don't think you mean that," Walter chuckled darkly. "Being in constant darkness has affected the way you think."

"Shut the hell up, Walter," Eli sent him a half-hearted scowl.

Walter did no such thing, instead he went at Eli verbally until Eli gave him just as much in return. It was clear that Walter was showing just how much he'd missed Eli being around, and if Eli didn't believe me before, I was sure he did now.