Loving Siblings: Aidan & Dionne by Catharina Shields

mind, he recalled
how absolutely embarrassed he felt.
    He also recalled his reaction.
    “ Damn it Dionne! I didn’t know you’d
be home this early!”
    Yeah. It was a stupid reaction.
    Well, at least he had the decency to
look ashamed! Not that he had any choice there, nor that it
mattered because Dionne was so intensely pissed off she was literally seeing red. He was
certain she really couldn’t give a shit what he said or did because
at that moment visuals spoke louder than words.
    “ Get the HELL out of my room!” he
recalled her scream. “ GET
OUT!! ”
    “ Shit! Okay! All right! Calm down,
Dionne. You’re liable to crack your voice box! Sheesh!” he recalled
saying as he gave her his best disgruntled look.
    Without thinking, he quickly got up. BAD
idea. Maybe having Sharon under him shoving up at him to get off
her had a lot to do with that stupid move, but whatever it was, it
was a BAD one.
    The throw slipped off his tall, naked body
and shocked the bejeezus out of his sister! With a cry, Dionne had
snapped around, presenting her back, with cheeks redder than a
boiled lobster.
    And she was enraged .
    She suddenly flew into a tirade, shouting
profanities over her shoulder he never could’ve guessed she knew,
and went ballistic on them as both he and Sharon quickly got
dressed.
    Dionne’s furious shouting and cursing
literally reverberated throughout the entire house and,
unfortunately, attracted attention he really didn’t need at that
moment.
    In no time flat, Mom and their siblings came
rushing up the attic stairs.
    Luckily, by then, both he and Sharon were
decently covered, and he was already busy ushering her out of
Dionne’s room as his sister stood against the door. He should’ve
known better than to try an apology right after what she’d seen,
but he was totally embarrassed, and he just wanted to make amends
as quickly as possible.
    Another BAD move.
    So, instead of just leaving and guiding
Sharon to the car, he paused as he came to stand beside Dionne’s
tense frame. His hand shook when he ran it back through his tousled
hair, feeling so self-conscious. She looked so distraught, and he
hoped she would just look at him so she could see how sorry he
was.
    “ Jeezus . . . I’m real sorry, Dionne.
I—” he tried to apologize, and then he made yet another bad move:
he stepped closer to her.
    “ Just get OUT. Get out of my sight, and stay the HELL out of my room! Don’t you EVER
bring your goddamn—” Dionne stopped short of saying the “S” word.
He was surprised she’d say the “G” word, but at least she didn’t
finish the “S” word. Not because she didn’t want to, but because
she’d noticed the pain in the embarrassed girl’s face. Dionne
swallowed, and with a trembling but soft voice, said, “Just-Just .
. . stay out of my room.”
    Dionne had calmed down. She was still
shaking, but she was calmer. Or so he thought. Her voice was softer
without that shrill, piercing anger, and because of that, he
mistakenly believed he could make amends with her then and
there.
    “ Dionne . . .”
    That’s when he made his all-time biggest
mistake.
    In an attempt to reconcile with her, he
gently took her arm, but the moment she felt it, she went stiff as
a board. And before he could blink, she made a furious cry not
unlike a cat’s, and dealt him a slap so hard that it made his head
snap off to the side.
    It was so loud it seemed to echo throughout
the house! It was so vicious, it made Mom and Sharon both gasp in
horror, but at that moment he was the one least affected by it.
Sure, he felt the sting burn his cheek and he knew it had left a
mark, but he welcomed Dionne’s physical punishment because it
dampened the pain he felt inside seeing how he’d distressed
her.
    It was the first physical contact she’d ever
made in rage, and it would be her last.
    “ Don’t TOUCH ME,” she growled as she
blasted him with snapping eyes.
    Silence followed. Everyone was in shock.
With her nostrils