On the Other Side

Chapter 4


His father stood in the doorway, hair in disarray, glasses askew, a grumpy scowl on his face. Both boys were frozen, staring in shock at the unexpected interruption.

“You two are up and about terribly early this morning.”

The words broke William from his stupor and he quickly moved to hide the photos under his pillow, praying that the groggy man wouldn’t notice. He had no such luck.

Giles approached the bed. “What do you have there, William?”

William cringed. “N-nothing.” A stutter. That didn’t sound guilty at all.

As his father moved closer, William leaned backward until he was pressed against the wall. He could feel the frame pressing into his thigh, a time bomb set to explode at any moment. He flinched as the older man reached for him, relaxing only marginally when the hand moved past him and burrowed under the pillow. William panicked, grabbing the hand before it could grasp the photos. He could barely contain his trembling; it was the first time he’d voluntarily touched the man in over six months.

“Dad, uh…you really don’t want to see what’s under there.”

Giles’ eyes narrowed in on William, who shrank into himself even more and loosened his grip. Taking advantage of William’s terror, Giles quickly plucked the hidden items from under the pillow.

“Dad…”

The older man sat down hard, looking at one picture, then the other. Color drained from his face. In the corner of his eye, William saw Xander move towards the stunned man. He made a grab for the boy, pulling him against his chest.

“Will! Lemme go!”

William watched in horror as one of Xander’s flailing arms crashed into his father’s elbow, sending the photographs to the floor. The glass from Jenny’s picture shattered, scattering over the rug. Startled, Giles leapt from the bed and fled from the room, ignoring the blood dripping from his feet. Xander wrenched himself free of William’s arms, following the older man into the hall. William was about to give chase when he sliced his foot open on a shard of glass. Wincing, he pried the offending object from the ball of his foot and limped out of the bedroom just in time to see Xander smack into the bathroom doorframe, and the study door slam shut.

Hobbling, William made his way to the boy, whose face was frozen in shock. At the first touch, big brown eyes glazed over and Xander jerked himself from William’s hand. The face that was turned to him was full of so much anger that William took a step backward.

“Look at what you did!” The younger boy climbed to his feet, glaring daggers at William. William was too shocked to reply. “He was all better, and now he’s in there again!” The younger boy gestured towards the study door. William tried to approach his sibling again, but Xander interrupted, “I hate you!” Tears spilled onto rounded cheeks and the sobbing boy turned away and ran into his own room, slamming that door as well.

William’s knees gave out and he crumpled into a heap on the floor. Xander hated him. His father was back in the study, and thime ime Xander hated him. And it was all his fault. Their tentative start on a normal life had crumbled in on itself and it was. All. His. Fault. Energy drained from his body and he became lightheaded. He slumped weakly, head lolling against the wall as the hand resting on his thigh slipped to the ground.

A splash woke him from his dark musings. His foot had bled a puddle onto the hardwood floor. William lifted his hand, equally fascinated and revolted at the blood painting his fingers. Blinking drowsily, he struggled to his feet and limped into the bathroom. After rinsing the blood from his hand, he methodically cleaned and bandaged his foot, much more effectively than any 14-year-old should know how to do. He had a lot of experience; Xander was accident prone, and it wasn’t as if there was anyone else to fix the younger boy’s bumps and bruises. T was was just William. And now Xander hated him.

Shaking the maudlin thoughts from his head, William felt more than a bit dizzy. He needed to eat. Making his way to the kitchen, he poured himself a large glass of orange juice and selected a breakfast pastry from the box on the counter. He sat, sipping his OJ and picking at the dry pastry, as his vision blurred. Trapped in his thoughts, he could see the future stretching out for miles, one dismal disappointment after another. It wasn’t going to get any better. He had ruined the one time that they’d truly been a family, and he had to fix it.

*********************************************************************
*********************************************************************

I'm not getting much in the way of reviews, and I'm not sure if I should continue to post this here if noone's reading. I know it's not everyone's taste, but if you read, drop me a lil' line and let me know. It doesn't have to be much, I'd just like to know that someone's reading it.

(Druffine and Tri, don't worry, I'll get you parts if I stop posting here :o)