Laugh with me

Later that afternoon as we are sitting down for dinner at the kitchen table we hear the back door open and close and a minute later Frank comes into the room, looking at us sheepishly as he makes his way over to the bench to make his own plate of food from the leftovers left for him before joining us at the table, sitting opposite me next to Anthony. He starts to eat in silence before Anthony sits his knife and fork down and says "Don't you have something to say?" Frank freezes, fork in midair on it's way to his mouth before his eyes dart from Anthony to me and back again. He shrugs, still not speaking and Anthony gets visibly angrier. "You owe your brother an apology, I don't ever want to see you lay your hands on anyone ever again, especially not your family. We didn't raise you like that and your mother and I sure as hell won't put up with it." "He's not my...." "Gerard is just as much a part of this family as the rest of us, don't you dare say he's not your brother." Linda reaches across the table and gently rests her hand on the back of Anthony's in an attempt to calm him down but it does nothing. Frank remains silent and I drop my gaze down to my plate, hating that they're fighting because of me. Anthony keeps talking but I don't really pay attention to what he's saying until someone's foot nudges mine under the table and I look up to see Frank staring at me. "Sorry" he says half heartedly and I nod in acceptance, not sure what to say and Anthony drops it, figuring that's the best he's going to get out of him.

After dinner I help Linda with the dishes before going up to my room and when I get there I find a freshly showered Frank sitting on my bed, leaning back against the headboard with his legs crossed, one of my pillows hugged to his chest. I falter in my steps, stopping just inside the door and he looks up at me and says "She was so mad at me that day." I stare at him confused until he says "I just loved that shade of red though, it made my lips pop" and I realise he's talking about the day Linda found him in her dress and heels and spanked him. I let out a small chuckle as I say "Yeah but it didn't exactly go with the pink pumps." Frank lets out his own laugh before taking one hand off the pillow and gently patting the bed beside himself and I slowly cross the room and climb on next to him. I sit uneasily until he reaches out and takes my hand in his, holding it just like he always used to when we were kids and I relax a little. "I'm sorry I did that to you before" he says softly and i know this apology is sincere. "I don't know what to say because it's not ok so I can't say that" I tell him and he glances over at me and nods slowly, looking upset again. We fall into silence, just sitting on my bed holding hands until Frank reaches out with his other hand and grabs the remote for my tv, turning it on and we find something to watch before he drops the remote again and we make ourselves comfortable, Franks hand still in mine until my phone rings and I see it's Matt calling.

Notes