Rule(8)

Something flashed in those eyes that were so much like his brother’s that it sometimes hurt to look into them.  Rome wasn’t anyone’s fool and it wouldn’t surprise me if he knew more about all the things I kept locked down than he let on.

“I just don’t want you being the target of Rule being Rule.  Mom needs to get over her shit and so does he.  Everyone is grown now and life is too short for you to be constantly playing the peacemaker between those two.”

I sighed and lowered my voice as we got to the entrance to room.  The table was already set and everyone was already in their regular seats.  Dale was at the head of the table, Margot on his right with an open spot for me.  His left side was left open for Rome and Rule had taken the seat at the opposite end of the table as far away from both of his parents as he could get.  “They need to move past the fact that he’s never going to be Remy, and he has to stop intentionally cramming that fact down their throats.  Until one side gives and learns how to forgive it’s always going to be this way.”

He pressed a super light kiss to my temple and gave me a little squeeze back.  “I don’t think any of them realize how lucky they are to have you little girl.”

I let him go and went to take my seat between Margot and Rule.  I tried not to wince when Rule sent a narrow eyed look in my direction, knowing Rome and I had more than likely been whispering about him.  I slid into my spot and flashed Dale a smile as he started passing the typically lavish brunch around.  I was about to ask Rome what he planned to do with his time off when Margot had me snapping my head around in shock.

“Would it be too much of a stretch to expect you to come to brunch in a shirt that buttons and in a pair of pants that don’t look like they came from the thrift store?  I mean your brother has several broken bones and was in a horrific accident and he still manages to look more put together than you, Rule.”

I had to bite my tongue to stop from snapping at her to lay off of him.  Mostly because family gatherings were supposed to be informal and fun and I knew good and well if I had showed up in jeans and a t-shirt she wouldn’t even have blinked, but because it was him she viewed it as a direct attack on her.

He picked a couple pieces of bacon off the platter I handed to him and didn’t even bother to respond to her.  Instead he turned to Rome and asked what his plans were while he was home.  He wanted him to come to the city for a week and spend time with him and Nash.  I saw Margot’s mouth tighten at the dismissal and Dale’s eyebrows pull down in a frown.  I saw varying degrees of the same look every Sunday we were here.  It hurt my chest because even in a rumpled shirt and torn jeans Rule was the kind of guy that owned whatever look he was wearing.  It was the same thing with the mass amounts of tattoos that covered him from head to toe and the array of metal that dotted his face here and there.  There was no denying Rule was a good looking guy, probably too good looking to be honest, but he was complicated and the beauty he possessed was buried and camouflaged under things it was easy to look past.  Of all the brothers he had the clearest, most arctic blue eyes, his hair even when it was decorated with purple or green or blue was still the thickest and the shiniest and even with every color under sun dancing across his skin, of the three of them Rule had always been the one the girls gravitated to.  Just like the brunette at Starbucks this afternoon.  Her name was Amy Rodgers and I had spent all four years of high school being tormented by her and her cheerleader cronies.  She dated jocks and boys that bleed blue, not guys that rocked mohawks and had their eyebrows and lips pierced, but even she couldn’t resist all that was Rule Archer in his magnetic glory.

“And what’s going on with your hair son?  A color actually found in nature might be a nice change of pace especially since the whole family is together and we’re all lucky to have your brother home in one piece.”

I groaned inwardly and silently took the bowl of fruit Margot handed me.  Now that they had teamed up on him there was no way he was going to stay quiet.  Normally he ignored his mom and shot sarcastic one liners at Dale, but being interrupted and attacked from both sides while he was trying to catch up with Rome wasn’t going to fly.  Rule had a short fuse on a good day but corner him when he was hung over and being reluctantly civil at best and the fur was no doubt going to fly.  I shot Rome a panicked look across the table but before he could interject Rule’s voice snapped out like a verbal back hand across the face.

“Well pops purple is found all throughout nature so I don’t know what you’re talking about and as far as my clothes are concerned I figure we’re all lucky I bothered to even put pants on considering the condition Shaw found me in this morning.  Now if you’re both done criticizing every move I make can I continue my conversation with the brother I haven’t seen in over a year that nearly got blow up by a roadside bomb?”

Margot gasped and Dale shoved his chair back from the table.  I let my head fall forward and rubbed between my eyes where a headache was starting to throb.

“One afternoon Rule, one freaking afternoon is all we ask of you.”  Dale stormed out of the room and Margot wasted no time in bursting into tears.  She buried her face in her napkin and I reached over to awkwardly pat her shoulder.  I cut a look at Rule but he had climbed to his feet as well and was headed toward the front door.  I shot a look at Rome who just shook his head and lumbered to his feet.  Margot lifted her head and looked at her oldest with pleading eyes.