All my friends are heathens.

The house is buzzing. All of our friends are here. It was the plan from the start. I wanted to show Aliza the house, and then I wanted everyone who was a part of it to celebrate with us.

 Aliza adores Sam, and she even hugged him the moment I introduced them to each other. He teased me relentlessly, telling her stories about how I either jammed my finger into something or how I ended up getting a hole in my hand.

That's what he's still doing now. "I swear." He laughs, tears streaming down his face from laughter. I groan loudly, my hand is covering my face. He's very detailed in his stories. 

"He even struck a pose, telling me he's just hanging around. Little shit." His voice is gruff, from years of use, but it's soothing like an old bottle of scotch. 

She whips to me. "Oh God, Harry, I would pay to see that." She laughs. I place my empty beer bottle on the counter. " I'm going to get a beer. Don't speak; you'll be the death of me, the two of you." I point my finger at them with narrowed eyes. 

They have similar expressions, nodding in unison. They're going to talk about me when I turn the corner I know it. 

I stalk off towards one of the coolers that are lining the wall. I grab a cold beer, and when I stand up, Elijah is in front of me, a happy clam cause his shoulder is flung around Amy.

"The fuck is this?" I ask, bewildered. Amy looks at me in annoyance. "It's none of your business." She says. I look at Elijah. He doesn't budge. 

I bite my cheek—still nothing. Okay, you little shit head. I fold my arms over my chest. I can see the sweat on his top lip. He wants to look away right now. I have to force a smile down.

I raise one eyebrow, and he breaks. "We've been dating for two weeks." He spews. The eyebrow always got him. The art of intimidating a seven-year-old is the same as a twenty-year-old. Amy gasps and hits him in the chest, making him winch and rub the spot. 

"No fair Harry, you know the eyebrow always got me." I laugh, unfolding my arms. " So you're together?" I make sure. "Yea, we are." He says more confidently now. I turn my attention to Amy. "He treating you good?" I raise an eyebrow again. " Yes, he is." She says, and I believe her.

"Okay." I turn around with a shrug of my shoulders to rejoin Sam and Aliza. Mitch intercepts me, he calls my name, and my head snaps sideways. 

I walk to where he's leaning against the wall. "You've come a far way, Harry." Is his greeting to me. "Look at you, man, you're fucking shining." He gushes; his arms are around me before I can make sense of anything. I stand still for two seconds before my arms wound around his shoulders.

He pulls away with a pat on my back. "What's all this for?" I ask, a little stunned. " You don't see it do you?" He asks. I shake my head; what is this guy on about.

 "You take over a room, Harry; you always have. I can't describe it. You unknowingly command it; you don't force it. It just happens. There's one thing though, one thing that commands you." He jerks his head to his left, in the general direction of Aliza.

"It's amazing to see. It's like your this unstoppable presence, and everyone looks at you in awe, but you don't notice... Until you feel her close, then you get the same expression as anyone else." He explains. I understand what he's saying. I do look at her in awe all the time.

He's not finished, though. "She dances a few inches in the air, and you ground her; it's a perfect balance." He's smiling, happy with his conclusion. She's always told me that I was the reason for that, that I was the one who gave her wings. 

God, we use to listen to that song over and over, and as a teenager, I was over-romantic and sappy. You are now too. She uses to sing it to me. " She used to sing 'wind beneath my wings' all the time." I blush from memory and sharing it with Mitch.

"It's perfect, so true, Harry." He's laughing softly, more in wonder. "I'm just really proud of you." He says. "Mitch." I'm not good at sharing with anyone else but Aliza. I swallow hard. "You're a big part of it. Maybe even the biggest. You've been by my side all this time. Through everything." I grab the back of my neck.

"I was a wall, but you never gave up so. Thank you. You showed me how to care." I add. He stares me down, different emotions going through his eyes like little flickers. "It wasn't a pleasure." He cracks, and I let out a short laugh. "It was worth it, though." He claims.

"Come on, let's go get drunk or high, whichever comes first." I clap him on the back. " One more thing." He stops walking. "You were the biggest part."

***

I find myself crouched down around a corner; I'm hiding. Sam and Casey left a few hours ago, along with Augustine. So it's only the younger people left. I say younger because they're acting like children. It started when Aliza slid on the wooden floor, the coat of the sealer slippery from being new.

With a devilish gleam in her eyes, she ran to Mitch, and they stormed off after a short conversation. They returned fifteen minutes later with dishwashing liquid. Yes, they build a giant indoor water slide. 

I should mention that this was all before the weed broke out. So now I'm sitting here soaking in dirty water, hiding from Aliza. She's a little high devil right now. She and Mitch shared a joint as they squeezed the dishwashing liquid over the floor.

For some reason, she's targeting me. She says it's love, but I think she's a bully. I light a cigarette because, well, we're not living here yet, and I'm hiding. It's fantastic to see her this happy. It's like being high just from her. Mitch was right earlier; she is the force I move around.

Small but fierce and soft but so snarky she'll kill you with a smile. "Gotcha!" She yells. I make a very high sound, which I will never repeat, and the cigarette falls from my mouth where it was dangling from my lips. 

I choke on the breath of smoke I was inhaling before she scared me. "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!" I burst out. 

She's laughing like a little maniac. The weed must have been laced. She's holding the dish wash bottle in her hand that's now full of murky soap water. She made her water gun. "Sunshine." I sing out. 

She holds her position, aiming the gun at me as if she's some kind of FBI agent. "Tiny-" A splash of soap water falls over my face. I cover my eyes just in time but some land in my mouth.

I spit, wiping at my face with my shirt. It doesn't help cause it's also wet. "Woman!" I roar and launch for her. She evades my grip, and I fall flat on my face. Jesus that hurts. Tears spring to my eyes from the knock my nose got.

"Oh shit, Harry." She's crouched next to me. I turn on my back with a groan, holding my nose. I take my one hand away. "Is it bleeding?" I ask her, dazed. "No, it's not." She says. " It should; it hurts." I play. Her face looks miserable. 

"I'm so sorry!" She almost wails. I grab her around the waist and flip her onto the hard floor. The bottle flies out of her hand. Tit for tat, my dear. "Owe!" She yells. "Playing with the big dogs, love," I warn her. "Is it bleeding?" She mocks me. I growl at her and pin her to the floor as I tickle everywhere I can reach.

The two hands that I'm clasping in one of mine shoots straight to try and push me off. She's strong, and our arms are trembling from the strain. I tickle her side, and she curves her back, meaning her arm pushes forward, also meaning right into my fucking nose.

I stumble back, once again holding my nose as I lay on the floor. There's silence for a second before she's pulling my hands away. She puffs her cheeks out. "It's bleeding." She deadpans, falling next to me on the floor.

I sit up and wipe my nose with my shirt. I turn to her. "You gave me a black eye." I accuse her. She narrows her eyes and pulls her lips together. 

"I did not! You don't even have a black eye." She fights me. "I can feel it, this one." I point to my left eye. The words are muffled cause I'm still holding the shirt over my nose.

"Na-ha is not." See, little kid. I pull my shirt away and fluff under my nose; it comes out clean. "Well, you in for it now," I say with zero emotion. Her eyes snap to mine. "Run, Tiny Dancer," I smirk at her, and she's up within five seconds, running as fast as she can. 

I get up and run after her, around the corner, and right into a bunch of people right after Aliza. "Ow." 

"Good God."

"Ow, stop shocking me." That one was Aliza. I find her under Sarah and pluck her from the group. I put her down on her feet, and she's standing next to me like a scolded child. 

"My savior." She murmurs, weaving herself under my arm. Now she's shocking me. My head falls backward; I'm going to pray for guidance right now. I close my eyes and everything, ready to start when I'm tackled from the side. Unexpected, falling like a sack of potatoes. 

"Payback for the toothbrush outings and putting me on the spot about Amy." Of course, it's Elijah. I give up then, laying on the floor and making foam angels. I have a big smile on my face, one that will stick for a while cause it's a fucking zoo all around me, but that's okay because it's my zoo. 

***

Past

Oh, for fuck sake. "Elijah!" I yell down the corridor. He's hiding from me again, running as fast as his legs can carry him. What is it with this kid and brushing his teeth? "All your teeth are going to rot!" I round the corner, and he's looking at me with a terrified expression.

"Really?" He asks concerned, his fingers go up to his mouth as he feels around his gums. I laugh at the picture in front of me. "Yes, now come on, we need to brush the germs away." I almost plead; he's getting on my last nerve. 

He walks to me, defeated. I crouch down so he can jump onto my back. He's getting big. "When?" He asks. "When what?" I ask him as we walk to the bathroom. "When they gonna start rotting?" He asks. "Only if we don't get rid of the bacteria," I assure him.

"The backeti. The back-and-terry?" He asks again. I laugh as he tries to pronounce the difficult word. "Sure, kid, let's go get rid of Back & Terry." He puts his head on my chin with a soft 'okay.'

I finally manage to get him into the bathroom and lean with my back against the counter, watching him as he brushes his teeth. I escort him to his room, knowing he'll run off if I let him go alone. 

"You're the best big brother Harry." He says as he yawns into his pillow. His eyes are closed, and I just stare at the blond boy. Is this what family feels like? Is it about wanting to strangle them one second, and the next your heart wants to fall off a cliff from all the love it's holding?

"Sweet dreams, little man," I whisper into the room, but he's already fast asleep. I turn the light off and close the door. Wonder what Aliza is doing.

Quote: "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!" - Dr. Strangelove, 1964

Mkay Bye!