Nate couldn't believe it. There was no way his shrimpy little brother was growing that fast. Well, he did grow, but no way that was natural!
Nate perked up as Chris tried to sneak away from his party; tried being the word to use. The kid was not used to his size; Nate winced as Christ tried to slouch closer to his old height, bumped into half his friends - a few of them even falling over from it - and tried to scamper up the porch steps only to yelp as he wacked his toes, voice cracking awkwardly.
No, maybe the kid was gangly and awkward but Nate would not be distracted! Slowly, Nate casually walked off toward the house, acting like he was just off to do some normal thing. Chris's friends scrambled out of his way as he made his way inside.
As he crossed the porch he couldn't help looking down and comparing his stride to his brother's wet footprints. He was taking longer steps, but he could tell his brother's wet prints took up more space. Inside the back door to one side were a pair of Chris's old sandals, set out for pool time but left forgotten. Nate picked them up to toss them, and stared a bit at the faded number 4 on the bottoms.
Nobody grew nine shoe sizes in a month unless there were aliens or witches or something.
Nate slowed as he heard rustling in the kitchen; Chris wasn't eating again, right?!
No. As Nate peered around a corner, he saw his brother holding a bottle of pills, tossing a pair in his mouth and taking big gulps of water. Chris absently scratched his chest and burped as he stomped off further into the house. As quiet as he could, Nate snuck forward and grabbed the pill bottle, and...
Tylenol.
"What are you doing?" Nate jumped, startled by his brother's cracking voice, and spun around with a bottle of Tylenol in one hand and a pair of small sandals in the other. Chris was standing in the kitchen again, looking up at Nate with a quirked eyebrow. Quickly, he tossed everything on the counter beside him, wincing a little as one of the sandals fell to the floor with a small plop.
"Uh," Nate watched as Chris came over and picked up his old sandal. Chris laughed as he stared at it in his hand, and then slipped his hand into it; his hand almost filled it up!
"I can't believe I fit in these a month ago." Chris tossed the sandal onto the counter and turned back to Nate.
Nate shuffled for a second, but quickly stopped himself with a scowl. He didn't need to sneak around; this was his kid brother, and freaky growth spurt or not Nate was still twice his size!
"What are you doing?" Nate asked back, pitching his voice low and stern as he looked down almost a foot at his brother, looming for all he was worth.
Chris stepped back, looking a bit nervous, but then he also stopped and glared back up, puffing his chest a bit.
"Nobody grows that fast, Chris." Nate gestured up and down at his brother and tried for a little bit of growl. "What's going on? Are you taking something?"
"Wha-" Chris sputtered, then broke down and laughed. "No! What are you talking about? Mom and dad took me to a doctor and everything; they'd have caught that, right? I just... I'm not taking anything, just some pain pills and I guess skin cream? The doctor said I should use it so I don't get scars from growing so fast. And my bones kinda hurt sometimes."
Nate frowned, and started to reach out toward Chris, he didn't want him to hurt! But Chris still looked nervous from being glared at and stepped back again, bumping into a chair and sitting down. Now that Nate was looking, he saw his brother absently rub his shin and forearm as he sat, maybe he was just achy.
"Um.. sorry, Chris." Nate rubbed his neck awkwardly. "I was just worried. And, I mean, this is kind of a lot, you know?"
Chris's lips twitched, and in a few seconds he grinned. nodding.
"I know!" Now he looked excited. "It's crazy! I mean, I was always so small, but now I'm taller than some of my friends, and a lot stronger."
Nate smirked, and sat down at the table across from his brother.
"Oh yeah?" Nate quirked a challenging eyebrow. "Bet you're not that strong."
Chris grinned even bigger and propped up his arm at the challenge. It looked like Nate was forgiven!
Nate reached over and grabbed Chris's weirdly big hand, and couldn't help staring at how the short kid across from him could wrap his fingers all the way around his own, and started pushing. Chris grit his teeth and pushed back, and he was for sure a lot stronger, but Nate barely broke a sweat as he slowly pushed the kid's arm down onto the table.
Chris groaned playfully as he shook his hand out. Nate smiled; there was his little bro.
"You won't be able to beat me so easy when I get bigger than you!"
Nate sat alone for a few minutes when Chris offered that challenge again and ran out to play with his friends. Huffing a laugh, he headed toward his room. Chris was a lot bigger since last month, enough that it was kinda freaky. But he was still just a kid. Same grin, same games, same dumb contests. Nate had definitely over-reacted. Everything was fine.
As Nate passed the living room he paused, seeing a pencil on the floor next to the door frame. His parents were kinda cheesy, so they'd decided a long time ago to measure the kids' heights on the door. Nate raised an eyebrow at his own mark, from when he turned 16 a few months ago; it actually looked kinda low. Maybe he'd grown a bit.
But the real crazy thing was Chris. Normally they marked heights once a year on their birthdays, but Chris must have gone a bit nuts over the last month. There were five new lines on Chris's side of the frame, about a week apart, each one almost three whole inches higher than the last. It looked kind of like what Nate did when he was fourteen, but he'd done his every few months, not every week!
Nate picked up the pencil, and glanced at the top line on Chris's side. His brother must have left the kitchen to make a new mark on the door. And it was a good inch, maybe two, above the last mark.
The last mark was from two days ago.
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