Hello everyone, here is today's update. A continuation from yesterday's chapter so it is still the same day. I hope you enjoy, please let me know your thoughts. I've been having some issues with my page recently and I've been told that the notifications for when I post a new chapter aren't coming through for those who are following of have favourited, could you please let me know if this is the case for you? It would help out a lot, thank you, enjoy your read, Kayxxx :)


I'd rather be a Knight – Chapter four

"You punched someone?!" His mother spat out angrily as she took his hand and hurried him out of the school doors.

Caleb shrugged.

"Who did you punch?" She asked.

He shrugged yet again.

"Why did you punch them Caleb?" She urged.

Shrug.

"Right that's it Caleb Hardy! We're not leaving this spot until you tell me everything, I've had enough of this attitude, you're 7 years old for god sake, not 17, act like it!" She shouted as she halted in the playground.

Caleb looked up at her in shock "...you shouted at me" he mumbled, "you never shout at me, only dad does..." He continued warily.

"I try and try to stay on your side Caleb but when you pull stunts like this it's hard" she replied firmly.

"I punched a boy in Ethan's class" he started.

"You punched a five year old boy?" She asked in disappointment.

"Actually he's just turned six" he replied sarcastically.

"I hit him because he was being horrible to Ethan, he was making jokes about how he talks and everyone was laughing at him and it made him cry so I hit the boy to shut him up. Only I'm allowed be horrible to Ethan, that's my job" he explained.

"Oh Caleb, it's nice that you're looking out for your brother but hitting someone is wrong" she sighed, "you need to leave him to fend for himself sometimes" she explained.

"Fend for himself? Mum he doesn't talk the second he leaves the house! And when he really really has to i-it-it sou-sound-s-s l-l-l-like, th-th-thi-s-this" Caleb explained mimicking his younger brother's stutter.

"I know" his mother sighed sadly.

"Your father is looking into getting him to see a speech therapist" she stated.

"Please don't tell dad about me being sent home from school mum" Caleb pleaded.

"I'm afraid he already knows Caleb, the school called him" she explained.

"Oh he's going to kill me" he sighed as he kicked a rock on the floor.

"I'll tell him you were sticking up for Ethan, it'll be fine" she forced out a smile.

"No it won't be fine, it's dad." He replied, "And I've missed PE!" He sulked


"You got sent home from school?!" His father shouted.

Caleb looked to his mother for help but she held her head down, he looked back to his father and nodded sheepishly, "...for sticking up for Ethan though" he added in hopes it would lighten his father's mood.

"I don't care. Your education is the most important thing in your life Caleb I don't want you screwing it up." He protested.

"It's okay, I gave him a tissue to hold to his nose that was bleeding, I told him to tilt his head forward, you know, me being Doctor Hardy and all" he replied sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.

"Don't start with your attitude Caleb" his father warned.

"But I-" Caleb was cut off.

"Don't "but I" me, hitting someone is wrong regardless of why you hit them, I don't want to bring up a bully" he shouted.

"You wouldn't bring up a bully because you're never here to bring me up anyway! You're always working! And when you're not all you do is send me to my room" Caleb shouted back.

"That is not true!" He protested.

"What, so I'm not getting sent to my room then?" Caleb looked up at him knowingly.

His father hesitated for a moment before he spoke out, "yes you are. You have behaved badly and so you need to learn from the consequences"

Caleb turned toward the door but stopped just before it, he turned around to face his father and looked up at him "I hate you" he spoke through gritted teeth.

"Caleb! You don't mean that" his mother spoke in shock.

"Yes I do, I hate you" he said it once more before he turned and head slowly up the stairs.

"Caleb! Get back down here right this instant, how dare you!" His father roared up the stairs after him.

Caleb stopped mid-way up and spun around "one minute you're sending me to my room, the next you're calling me back down, how about no?! You're the one that needs testing, not me!" He roared angrily as tears built in his eyes. He darted up the stairs and slammed his bedroom door before either of his parents could say another word. He pulled his bedside table in front of his door as a barricade, slid down to the floor and allowed his tears to fall. He'd never told his father that he hated him before, though it wasn't so apparent until now. He thought once he said it he would instantly regret it but he actually felt some relief, he was a terrible father, to him at least...


Many hours passed and he still sat in that same spot on the floor. He heard small footsteps making their way up the stairs and stop before his door, the handle moved but the door didn't open because of the barricade he had created. There was then a gentle knock on the door, Caleb stayed put and listened, he knew it was Ethan but he just didn't want to see anyone right now.

He could hear his younger brother struggling to get out his words through the door, taking in deep gasps of air repeatedly. The type Caleb would take if he were about to scream, however, for his brother, this was his protocol just to speak due to his severe stutter, "um" he managed to mumble before he started his deep breathing again, "C-C-aleb?" He managed to call eventually.

Caleb sighed, he knew how hard it was for his younger brother to just say his name, he would usually just stop at "C-Cal". He pushed his bedside table back to its original place and opened the door for his brother who looked up at him sheepishly.

Caleb rolled his eyes and went to lie on his bed facing away from Ethan but he felt his younger brother sit down on the bottom of his bed.

He looked over his shoulder "what?" He snapped, "leave me alone Ethan I don't want to talk to you" he huffed and faced away once more.

He heard Ethan take in a deep breath "l-l,l let, m-me, t-talk, t-then" his younger brother spoke out slowly. Caleb sat up and looked at him stunned, "did you just talk? Like just say a full sentence?" He asked in shock.

Ethan nodded and took in another deep breath. Caleb watched his brother struggling, his facial expression turned to a grimace as it twitched and his eyes closed tightly in concentration, it completely amazed him. "Um-" he swallowed hard, "I-I've, b-been, um, practi-practicing" he smiled as finished though left breathless from his struggles.

"That's amazing Eth! I'm really proud of you" Caleb praised as he nudged him, "does mum and dad know?" He asked excitedly.

Ethan shook his head "I wanted, y-yyou, to, to, know first" he replied, "we'll k-keep, it our, s-secret for now" he added causing Caleb to smile.

"T-thank y-y-you for-" he paused as he couldn't get the rest of his sentence out.

"Ethan take your time okay? You don't have to rush with me" Caleb spoke softly.

Ethan smiled and took a deep breath, "...for sticking up f-f-for m-me, today"

"I'll always look out for you Eth, you know that right?" Cal asked. Ethan nodded in reply.

He stood up and pulled his duvet off his top bunk onto the floor and then pulled his older brother's one on top of it, he raised his eyebrows as he looked at Caleb.

"Fine" he sighed, "dad's already annoyed at me it can't get much worse right?" He giggled.

Both boys hurried to the top bunk and took it in turns to throw themselves off onto the safety of the duvets below. This was a game they'd play a lot though their fun was soon cut short when their father would come up and yell at Caleb for all the banging, this time however, they got the chance to play for as long as they liked, maybe now their father had finally given up on treating Caleb like crap.

Hours passed. He lay there, listening to his younger brother snore so loudly; wondering if he would ever get to see sleep again. The sound of Ethan's snoring echoed around his head, even when he placed a pillow over it in attempt to drown out the awful noise. He knew his little brother couldn't help his snoring due to his sleep apnea and his majorly oversized tonsils but he felt so tired he could cry. He tossed over and saw his younger brother's arm drooping from the top bunk where he slumbered so deeply. He sat up in his bed and flicked young Ethan's hand, causing him to stir slightly though he kept on with his dreadful snoring. A mischievous smile grew across Caleb's face instantly. He threw his duvet onto the floor beside their bunk beds and took hold of Ethan's hand. He counted to three in his head and tugged on his brother's hand hard causing him to fall from his top bunk with a scream. Ethan held out his arms in attempt to break his five foot high fall onto his brother's duvet on the ground, which seemed to help, though there was a loud crunching sound which he couldn't figure out where it had came from. Caleb had jumped back into his bed and pretended to be asleep. Ethan let out a slight smile; it admittedly was quite funny though he wasn't going to let that show...

"C-Caleb, y-you idiot!" Ethan roared as he jumped onto his brother's bed and began wrestling with him instantly.

"You fell!" Caleb chuckled as he grabbed his brother's arms, stopping him from hitting him.

"N-no I n-never!" Ethan shouted as he continued to fight his brother's grasp.

"Well maybe if you didn't snore so loud!" Caleb spat out as he pushed his younger brother causing him to fall backwards off his bed and hit the floor once more.

Tears welled up in the small boy's eyes as he sat up and held his right arm with his left.

"Ethan don't cry!" Caleb whispered in realisation as he shot up out of bed and at his brother's side, "it was meant to be a joke".

"I-it r-r-really hurts" Ethan whimpered as tears poured from his eyes.

"Shh, Ethan shut up dad will kill me! Stop crying okay I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Look, if you stop crying I'll teach you how to do keepy-ups and I'll even wash the dishes when it's your turn for the next week- the next two weeks! Ethan please just be quiet!" Caleb begged.

Ethan's quiet crying had stopped, but only because he had taken in a deep breath in shock of the pain he was experiencing shooting up and down his arm.

"Nibbles?" Caleb asked confused as to why his brother wasn't breathing and his face was turning a beetroot red colour, "Ethan breathe!" He shouted worryingly as he shook him.

Ethan let out his breath along with an extremely loud scream of pain which seemed to echo around the street, never mind just the house.

"Jesus Ethan!" Caleb called in shock as he covered his ears, protecting them from the eardrum piercing cry his young brother had let out. The sound of two feet hitting the ground hard was also another sound that echoed its way around the house.

"Oh no" Caleb mumbled and jumped back up to lay in his bed.

"What's going on in here?!" Their father demanded as the bedroom door swung open and the light shot on.

"He fell" Caleb spat out quickly as he sat up, squinting due to the brightness of the light.

"No, I n-never" Ethan whimpered through his cry as his father picked him up.

"Yes you did!" Caleb protested.

"Tell the truth Ethan what's happened? Try to speak this is really important son" His father spoke softly.

"C-Caleb pulled me, I fell, m-my, my arm, it's h-h-hurting a l-l-lot" He sobbed into his father's shoulder.

"Can you wiggle your fingers for me?" He asked.

Ethan tried; "No" he discovered and threw his head back down onto his father's shoulder.

"Right okay, we're going to have to get you to the hospital" his father sighed as he handed the sobbing boy over into his mother's arms.

"I'll get my coat" Caleb spoke as he jumped up.

"No you won't, you'll stay here. You're not going anywhere near him, do you not understand how stupid and dangerous what you did was Caleb?! You're lucky he's only broke his arm and not his neck you idiot!" His father roared at him.

"Am I staying here alone?" He whimpered.

"I'll call Nanny and Grandad and one of them can sit with you, I'm going to have to sort out your behaviour Caleb this has gotten too far now" he shook his head in anger.

"I'm sorry" Caleb whispered.

"Ugh I can't even look at you" he scoffed and stormed out of the room.

"Mum?" Caleb called out the door; his mother appeared in to door way with his younger brother who still cried painfully in her arms. She had placed the small boy's parker over his shoulders in attempt to protect him from the coldness of the night outside.

"What Caleb?" She sighed in disappointment.

"I didn't mean to hurt him mum, I'm sorry, I really am" he whimpered.

"I know" she replied understandingly.

"Do you hate me?" He asked in dread.

"Of course not" she replied with a slight smile.

"I-I do" Ethan mumbled, muffled by his mother's embrace.

"I'm so sorry Ethan" he called sadly.

"He'll be okay" she smiled and left the room.

Caleb sat on his bed, haunted by what had just happened, he didn't mean for any of this to happen...he couldn't even think of a viable reason why he did it, out of his small family Ethan was the one he liked the most and Ethan too felt mutually. He would never purposely cause his little brother any harm, thought he knew his father would think otherwise...he listened until his younger brother's cry had disappeared into the distance as his parents hurried him into the car and drove away.