I frowned at the letter,
glancing around as if expecting to find someone watching me from a bush or something. I don't know how they found out where I lived, but they did, the nosy little shits, and now they wanted to come meet the little family I carved out for myself. I didn't want them to come over. I didn't want to see them again.
I cut them out of my life for a reason.
But then again, nothing ever goes right in my life, so what I wanted didn't matter.
A day or so before they showed up at our doorstep unannounced, I told Ferrow about it, and she responded just like how I expected her to.
“O-oh! You're- you're siblings are coming over? I didn't know you had any.” Her voice was light, eyes wide with shock and some disgusting growing excitement. I swear, she could get excited just from watching paint dry.
“They're not important.” I shrugged, knocking that stupid smile off of her face. “Just annoying little pests who constantly annoyed me when we were kids, now back to annoy me again.” I scoffed, folding my arms over my chest.
Ferrow looked up at me dumbly, ready to protest for some reason, before she shut her mouth. The only child in her was probably annoyed that I was soo ungrateful for having siblings. Pathetic.
“Stop looking at me like that, you look stupid.” I huffed, rolling my eyes at her. She quickly fixed her face, apologising rapidly as if I was about to smite her if she didn't. I sneered at her, earning a flinch before I stormed off.
I left her to clean the house, brief the kids, and prepare for when they inevitably came. Meanwhile, I had to will myself not to drink myself stupid. I hadn't seen those two idiots since I was 18 years old.
*They* had seen me at my weakest, when I was nothing. They know too much about me.
I think I'd lose it if they tell Ferrow anything, anything about my past.
Thankfully, I only had a few glasses of wine before I heard a car pull up, which snapped me alert as if I was suddenly drenched with ice water. I shot up, beelining to the door before Ferrow could even think of opening it first. I didn't want them to poison her mind of me.
I pulled the door open, my hand shaking slightly despite my best effort to remain calm. They stood there like two idiots, looking up at me with wide eyes.
Jealousy, she looked like she could burst into tears. Her eyes were filled with so much love that it made me step back a bit. Jeez, one second after letting these fools back into my life, and she was already overbearing.
Temptation. He stood slightly behind Jealousy, as if he still needed a shield from me. His eyes held some warmth, though it was hidden by anxiety and anger. I scoffed at him, of course, he'd still act like I was some big scary monster.
“Envy!” Jealousy beamed, her eyes welling up with tears as she suddenly pulled me into her arms. I stilled for a second before I reluctantly wrapped my arms around her, noticing idly that she still had the same smell.
“Envy, we missed you!” She pulled away just enough to look me in the eyes, “Why'd you just leave? I-We.. I..” she trailed off at the end, looking down at the ground as if she wanted it to swallow her up.
I pulled myself away from her, disgusted at the closeness, the affection, she was showing me. Before anyone could utter anything else, Ferrow peeked her head out from behind me, smiling widely at them as if they were royalty.
“Hi! I'm Ferrow, Envy's wife. You two must be his siblings.” She beamed, stepping up to them and offering a hand. Jealousy quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her into a hug instead of a handshake.
“Oh, you're so cute!” She squeezed Ferrow as if she were a toy before pulling away, damn near just as fast as she grabbed her. “Yes, we are his siblings! I'm Jealousy, and this is Temptation.” She pointed to herself before pointing to Temptation.
At his mention, he tried to smile at Ferrow, only for it to come out more like a wince. “..Hello..” He nodded at her instead, his voice whispery.
Ferrow smiled at him, as if he deserved her smile. I couldn't help but stare at the back of her head, wishing that she'd smile at me like that. “L-let's all go inside,” she held the door open, taking charge of them as i wasn't here. As if I were a ghost.
I sneered at her, earning a rightful flinch, before I shouldered past her, going towards the couch and plopping myself down on it. Jealousy and Temptation looked around dumbly, as if they hadn't seen a house before. Jealousy's eyes stopped on a toy, one that the brats forgot to put up. I hated how wide her eyes got, how excited she got from merely seeing a stupid toy out of place.
“Y-you.. You have a kid!” She all but beamed, looking at me with an almost manic grin. I scoffed, rolling my eyes and looking away.
“Y-yes, we have two,” Ferrow said, smiling again at them. “Mobious, our eldest, is 6 while Remody is 2.” She explained, causing me to clench my jaw and look fully at the wall as if it were a masterpiece.
“Remody?” Jealousy parroted like an idiot, I could hear the mirth in her stupid voice. “Oh, Envy! No fair, I told you I wanted to name one of my kids that when I had them,” she nudged me, laughing away as if this was all something big joke.
“Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled, chancing a glance over at her, only to find her looking at me with dumb watery eyes. “It's a stupid name for a stupid kid, now leave me alone.” At that, I pulled my arm away from her, earning a gasp.
“E-Envy..” Ferrow weakly protested, her voice lacking any bite.
“Envy!” God, everyone just had to say my damn name. Jealousy stormed in front of me, her arms folded across her chest, and her brows furrowed. Looking up at her made me uncomfortable; she looked so much like me that it was like looking into a mirror, especially so on the rare occasions she was ever mad. “Do not speak about your kid that way! Kids are a blessing!” Her voice was loud and stern, something I did not miss one fucking bit.
Ferrow, the spineless bitch, came up to Jealousy, gentle hand on her shoulder as if to calm her down. “J-Jealousy, it's fine.. He just-” God, it was like I was watching one of our interactions from the outside. Seeing the way she tried to placate her, especially with Jealousy looking so much like me, made my stomach flip.
“No, Ferrow, this is not something you just ignore. God, if he's been as insufferable as this, I should've come by sooner.” Ferrow looked at Jealousy as if she had grown a second head, stepping back as if her words burned her.
I scoffed, hating them speaking at me as if I were not there. “You should've never come at all,” I said, drawing their attention to me. “You should've forgotten about me, like I told you to. Jeez, you two are so fucking stupid.” I rolled my eyes, avoiding looking at the hurt look on Ferrow’s face.
Why did she look like that? I wasn't even directing my anger at her. God, she's so fucking weak it's not even funny.
Jealousy looked at me, just looked at me. I could see the gears turning in her head, thinking of something she shouldn't be. “Envy, why are you acting like this?” Her voice was light but heavy, just enough to freeze me still.
Ferrow looked over at her, dumb eyes wide and taking everything in.
“You know it's ok, right? We.. I mean.. I forgive you, for everything. I always will.” Her words were pure, gentle. It felt like she had doused me in water.
I didn't need her forgiveness. I didn't need anyone's forgiveness. I was a man.
“I'm not acting, you stupid bitch,” I snarled, ignoring how Ferrow practically hid behind Jealousy, as if she'd protect her. Despite being so stupid as to stand up to me, Jealousy was a doormat if I pushed hard enough. She was a useless shield. “You fools were out of my life for 11 years, that's enough time for people to change.”
I stood to my feet, hating the fact that I couldn't tower over her. She was only a few inches shorter than me, enough so that she could look me in the eyes without looking up. “You're pathetic, clinging onto who I used to be. That me is dead, I killed him with my bare hands, get over it.” I said, shoving her back.
Jealousy looked up at me, again just looking into my eyes. I wanted to look away. It felt like she was reading my mind. As if she could just know my every move at one glance. “No, Envy.” She simply said, shaking her head, “Me and you both know you didn't kill the old you.” She sighed, as if reliving memories of the moment.
I don't get why she was acting like this; it was *me* who went through it, not her.
“Oh yeah, then enlighten me, dear sister?” I held out a hand, leaning forward like a showman.
“Mom did..” a voice said from in the kitchen, still barely over a whisper. I looked over at him sharply, glaring at him as if I could set him alight with just my eyes.