Twisted Tuesday: When the ex shows up looking for his brother (Gemini's Rogue)

 

Thunder accompanied the sound of the door being kicked open, the thud of it crashing against the wall jarred them from sleep. Fester woofed and let out a growl as the heavy tread of boots echoed off the kitchen floor. Gemini stood, only to have their arm grabbed and held firm by Rogue. Without the candles, they couldn’t see his face, until a flash of lightning showed him reaching for his bag as the footsteps got closer. The press of metal into their palm alerted Gemini to the fact they’d been handed a knife, and they closed their fist tight around the handle as he stood, silent and moving past them toward the noise.

Lightning illuminated a large figure in the doorway, and Gemini gasped.

“You might want to back out of here nice and slow,” Rogue advised, his voice having gone low and deadly. “I’m armed, and you’re trespassing.”

“I figured I’d find you here.”

That voice, Gemini tensed even more than they already had and fumbled around for the lighter Rogue had laid on the coffee table, fingers shaking as they attempted to light the candles. The first tiny flicker of flame in the darkness blinded them for a moment, and they blinked several times to clear their vision.

They almost wished they hadn’t, when they turned their gaze toward the voice. Randy stood in the doorway, as large and imposing as the last time they’d seen him. Fury rose up in them, warring with anxiety.

“What the hell are you doing in my house?”

All of Randy’s attention was on his brother, his expression hard, bordering on aggression. “Looking for this son of a bitch.”

“You ever hear of knocking! Who do you think you are? You can’t just kick the door in like some fuckin’ psycho.”

“I’m not the crazy one here.”

Gemini looked between the two, noting the way Rogue still held the knife like he intended to use it. Stepping between them, Gemini hoped to diffuse things before they got out of hand.

“What do you want, Randy?” they asked, taking a step toward him, hoping to herd him back toward the kitchen. Of course he was too stubborn to go.

“Isaac told me Rogue was headed this way. Saw his truck in the barn, thought maybe you were in trouble.”

“And why would I be in trouble if he was here? Why not just knock and ask nicely?”

“Like I said, I was worried. What with the way the trucks were hidden I wasn’t sure what all he was up to,” Randy said. “Besides, I didn’t need him hearing me at the front door and running out the back.”

“That’s funny, you being worried about me. Quit your bullshit and tell the truth. What in the hell is going on? And for your information, the trucks were in the barn because it was supposed to hail and the last thing we wanted to deal with was one of the windshields getting cracked.”

“And whose idea was that, yours or his?”

Gemini sputtered at that, eyeing him up and down and trying to figure out what the hell was going on. It bothered them that Rogue still hadn’t said anything, that he was just standing there with that wicked looking knife and a murderous look on his face, eyes trained on his brother.

“His I’m guessing,” Randy continued on. “Look, I’m sorry about the door. But I’m glad you’re okay. Rogue, come on, it’s time to go home. Dad’s pissed, Mom’s worried and Uncle Cairan’s been pulling his hair out trying to figure out what to do with you. You shouldn’t have checked yourself out of the hospital without telling anyone.”

“Hospital?” Gemini asked.

“No one asked my opinion when checking me in, so I didn’t see any reason to ask theirs when getting myself out.”

“You needed help and you were being stubborn about getting it. Someone had to step in before you hurt someone else.”

Hands on their hips, Gemini felt themselves shaking. “Exactly what kind of hospital are we talking about and who did he hurt?”

“One that deals with mental health issues and breaks with reality,” Randy remarked, never taking his eyes off his brother. “He nearly sent our father to the emergency room.”

A shiver ran up Gemini’s spine, leaving them feeling cold and tense. “I…see.”

“No, you don’t,” Rogue remarked, turning to look at them fully. “It was bullshit. There was an issue, but it wasn’t with me. I kept trying to tell them that and no one would listen.”

“You threw Dad through a pair of sliding plate glass doors! You’re lucky he didn’t press charges.”

“He’s the one that came at me, all I did was shove him away and try to leave.”

“Not to hear him tell it.”

“And that’s exactly the problem. The only side you’re willing to hear is his. I didn’t go there looking for trouble. I had a question for Mom. I tried asking over the phone, but she wouldn’t tell me, so I went over there to talk to her face to face. She wasn’t home, your dad was. Shit was said and he lost his temper. Nothing new there.”

“And what was so damned important?”

“That’s between me and Mom.”

Randy shook his head. “So you run to my ex. For what, exactly?”

“A friend. A place to stay? Someone who might, maybe give a shit about me and listen to my side of the story.”

“Only you never got around to telling the story, did you?”

“No. I didn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Not exactly the easiest topic to bring up. I wasn’t sure how it would go over. I couldn’t just say good morning, I made breakfast, oh by the way, one of the reasons I came out here was ‘cause my family is trying to lock me in the nuthouse!”

“Better than lying,” Gemini said softly, moving closer to Randy.

“I never lied,” Rogue insisted, reaching out for them, but Gemini stepped further out of the way and dropped the knife, the sound of it hitting the floor like a gunshot in the room.

“Lying by omission is still a lie,” Randy pointed out. “Let’s go. I’m pretty sure Gemini’s about had it with both of us in their space.”

“Gemini…” Rogue began.

“Just go, Rogue, go. I don’t need this shit. You asshole, I can’t believe I actually listened when you said you came here for me.”

“I did come here for you!” Rogue snapped. “And I told you right from the get go I was running. Told you there were no cops after me, and there aren’t. I never lied. I told you’d I’d talk to you. I just wasn’t ready yet.”

“And exactly when were you going to be ready?”

“I don’t know, okay. It wasn’t exactly easy to talk about. I didn’t go over there to start a fight, that was all him. I just wanted some answers from Mom, about my real dad and some… stuff from when I was little.”

Randy shook his head and took a step toward his brother, backing off only when Rogue tightened his grip on the knife. Gemini eyed the movement with concern, wondering if there was still the potential for bloodshed right there in their freshly cleaned living room.

“You need to let that shit go.”

Rogue was shaking, it was minute, but Gemini noticed the way his whole body had started to quake. “Easy for you to say.”

“You hate Dad, we get it. You’ve made that clear to everyone in the family. It’s not his fault Mom fucked around, and it’s not his fault your old man didn’t want you, so get over it! At least he made sure you had food in your stomach, clothes on your back and a roof over your head until you turned into such a difficult little brat that Uncle Cairan had no choice but to take you in.”

“Believe what you want, you always have,” Rogue said, gaze shifting away from his brother and onto Gemini. “Please give me a chance to tell my side.”

His eyes and the devastation in his voice gave Gemini pause, and they studied him intently.

“Gemini please. I swear I planned to tell you everything, I just, I wanted…”

“To what, fuck them before you were honest with them?” Randy cut in.

“No.”

“But that’s where we were headed,” Gemini said softly. 

Gemini's Rogue can be found here on Amazon!

Growing up with a strictly religious father in a house with little joy, or love, left Grady Stoltz eager to get out. At the first opportunity that presented itself, they left home with a young man who swept them off their feet, used their preferred pronouns, and accepted that they were gender fluid and wished to shed the name Grady and all of the constraints of their former life. Dubbed Gemini, they never expected to return to that farm or the rural community they’d been raised in, but life took some unexpected turns, and they found themselves returning four years later. A little older, a little wiser, and the new owner of a house full of memories and regrets.

Cleaning the place up is only the first step towards deciding if they wish to sell it, or if they wish to stay and try and make a life for themselves in a place they’ve never felt as if they belonged. Haunted by the memories of the father who could never accept them, the mother they lost at a young age, and their own shortcomings and failures, they are in a very dark place when Rogue arrives.

Charismatic when performing in front of an audience, yet shy and vulnerable when faced with the prospect of being alone in a crowd, Rogue seeks shelter with Gemini on their middle-of-nowhere farm, hoping for a new beginning and a chance to see if the tiny spark that had flared between them once before, can be kindled into a roaring flame.

Two battered souls, one tattered farmhouse, an old dog, a cranky chicken, several misspoken words, and one crazed ex-husband combine in an explosive combination of truth, lust, dreams, and vengeance. Will the force of it tear Gemini and Rogue apart, or will it leave them closer than they ever dared to hope?