Chapter 13: Hurt My Feelings

(Flashback)

Seventeen year old Brandy had thrown a glass cup against the wall with tears drown her face. "Brandy!" Mort shouted in anger. "How could you! How could you replace mum!" Brandy shouted in anger. "I am not replacing your mum! You know Dawn is just a friend," Mort said with a stern tone. "Then why was she here with you, alone, when we were at school?!" Brandy shouted back. She glared at her father. "You still have lipstick on your cheek." Brandy said, looking at his neck. "Brandyâ" Mort said trying to calm. "No dad! How could you!" Brandy said before running to her room in tears.

Chilli looked at her father, still sitting at the table. "Dad, are you in love with Dawn?" "Chilli Iâ she's just a friend sweetheart," Mort said embarrassed. "I think she's really nice," Chilli added. "You do?" He asked, surprised. "Yeah! And she's very pretty," Chilli added as she wagged her tail. "Is Brandy going to be okay dad?" Chilli asked worried about her sister. "I'm going to talk to her." Mort sighed as he looked down the hall toward where she'd stormed off. Mort then walked to his oldest daughter's room and knocked on the door.

"Stay out!" Brandy yelled.

"Brandy please talk to me," Mort said through the door.

"Why? So you can just replace me like you have mum?" Brandy said with tears.

Mort lowered his ears and just opened the door to his daughter's room. "Brandyâ please let me talk to you," Mort said as he walked towards her. She looked over her shoulder at him. "Fine." Mort then placed his hand on his daughters shoulder. "So, what? You plan on telling me about Dawn, or just going to deny it?" Brandy asked. "Brandy, I loved your mother very very much, no one would ever replace her," Mort explained.

"But?" She asked

"We should move on, your mum would want that;" Mort explained. "Yeah, and I guess she'd be thrilled to know it only took two years for you to find someone to replace her." Brandy added. "Honey," Mort said as he hugged her. "Honey, nothing." Brandy tried to wriggle away. Mort kept her close him until she gave up and hugged him back. "I just miss her so much," Brandy said crying."I know you do, I do too." Mort replied as he held her. "We all do." He added. Chili was in the doorway listening as she looked down to the ground she then walked away and went to her room.

(End of flashback)

Brandy was sitting in her car in the middle of traffic trying to get home. She wiped her tears thinking about she had with her sister at last nights dinner and how it hurt. "Come on mate!" Brandy shouted as she beeped the horn. The other driver lifted a hand and flipped her off without so much as turning around.

"Oh, real mature!" She shouted.

She groaned as the light turned green and she was able to go home. She meandered down the street and eventually pulled into her driveway. She got out and looked at the familiar scenery, it was a pleasant view, but she couldn't really enjoy it. She shook her head and walked to the door, before unlocking it and heading inside.

Meanwhile Chilli was out on the veranda drinking some coffee. She mulled over the cup and sighed. She didn't know what to think. She was frustrated, that much she was sure of. "Mom, are you okay?" Thomas asked coming out to sit with her. "I'm not sure." Chilli sighed. Thomas sat with her. "Is it because of what happened at dinner?" Thomas guessed. Chilli nodded with a hurtful sigh. "Want to talk about it?" Thomas asked. Chilli teared up "I yelled at her," Chilli said crying.

"Yes, that's true. But she did start the yelling." Thomas pointed out. "I know, I just wanted us to have a nice family dinner," Chili said, wiping her tears. "I know mom." He sighed. Thomas then hugged her. "Why does it always turn out like this? Why can't we just get along?" Chilli said, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "Maybe you're both hurting?" Thomas said. "I suppose, but there must be a better way for us to handle it." Chilli said, looking down. "Why is she so mad at you mom?" Thomas asked, wanting to know more about his aunt.

"A few reasons spring to mind. One being that she feels jealous." Chilli glanced at Thomas. "She can't have children of her own and always wanted them, and here I am with the girls and you. Then of course there's the fact that my dad and I have stayed in touch, which she resents. And to top it off she's always been disapproving of your father." Chili explained.

"Because of Ethan?" Thomas asked.

"I think so." Chili said, still not sure.

"What was Ethan like?" Thomas asked which made Chili turn to him shocked that he asked about her past relationship before his father.

"He was a red heeler and one of my childhood friendsâ" Chilli said as she started to tell the story of her friend.

(Flashback)

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" All the kids on the school yard were cheering while Ethan Red and Benji Boxer were fighting on the playground.

"That all you got?" Ethan asked with a smug grin as Benji wiped his blood from his mouth. Benji growled and then jumped at Ethan and that started pounding him. "Stop! Stop!" Chilli said as she ran up to the pair to separate them. "I said stop!" Chili shouted as she grabbed Benji Boxer from his ears and pulled him off Ethan. "Ow!" Benji whimpered as he was pulled away from the eleven year red Heeler. "You're lucky, she came along!" Ethan said as he spat out a tooth before getting up to his feet and brushing the dirt off of him.

Benji growled and then walked away. As the crowd cleared Chilli looked to Ethan. "Are you okay Ethan?" Chill asked. Ethan chuckled as he brushed some dust off of his arm. He turned to Chilli with a smile, showing a spot where he was now missing a tooth.

"Ethan your bleeding," Chilli said as she looked at his arm. She then got into her backpack and took out a band aid for him. "Oh, thanks Chilli." Ethan replied as Chilli applied the band-aid to his arm. "You know for a Boxer, Benji sucks at fighting." He said with a chuckle. "You could have gotten hurt!" Chilli said with worry in her tone.

Ethan's smug demeanor softened before he hugged Chilli, her head resting against his chest. "I'm sorry, Chilli..." he said softly. "Come on I'll walk you home," Chilli said as she picked her backpack. Ethan nodded his head, picking up his backpack that he had thrown on the ground before him and Chilli walked down the sidewalk away from the school. "What was the fight about?" Chilli asked. "Oh, that bloke was running his gob about that he could beat anyone in a fight, so I challenged him to one." Ethan explained as they turned a corner, walking towards a bus stop.

"Boys," Chilli said as she rolled her eyes.

Later on, the bus dropped off Ethan and Chilli in front of her house. "So... see you tomorrow?" He asked, turning to his friend. "Yes and stay out of trouble Ethan Red," Chilli said strictly as she gathered her things. "Hey, come on." Ethan replied as he patted her on the shoulder, "I don't go looking for trouble. Trouble comes looking for me." He said with a wink. Chilli giggled and shook her head with a smile as she then got off the bus and went home.

(Present day)

Thomas shut his locker and then looked at his phone seeing a text from his dad asking him what he wanted for dinner.

(Texting)

Dad: Hey mate! What would you like for dinner since it's just us tonight?

Thomas...

Thomas: stir fry?

Dad...

Dad: sounds great mate!

(End texting)

Thomas then placed his phone in his pocket and then went to lunch. The girls and Chilli had went to see Grandad Mort, Thomas and Bandit had work and school to worry about at the time of meeting with their grandfather and father in law. Thomas was with his friends at the lunch table. While eating his sandwich he was also drawing. "Whatcha drawing?" Jake asked as he looked at Thomas's paper. "Justâ random stuff," Thomas said, keeping his head down on his paper. "You okay mate?" Liam asked. "Just got some stuff on my mind," Thomas said as closed his binder and stood up from the table. Thomas's friends then watched him leave before going back to their lunch.

After school was over Thomas got into his car and started driving away from his school. Thomas kept driving for a bit while listening to his music. Thomas sighed then pulled into a parking lot and parked his car then pulled out his phone and called his dad. "Hey mate! I'm just at the store grabbing things for dinner, is there-" Bandit said before being cut off by his son. "Dad, what's Brandy's address?" Thomas asked quickly. "W-what?" Bandit asked confused on the phone. "Just trust me okay? What's her address," Thomas said in a serious tone. "Okay? It's-" Bandit explained the address. "Thanks dad I'll be home soon," Thomas said before hanging up the phone. Bandit hung up from his son and felt very worried for what his son was about to do.

Bandit then quickly called his wife and explained the situation. "WHAT?!" Chilli shouted in the phone. "I don't know what he's doing, should I go over there too and see what's going on?" Bandit asked nervously while in line at the grocery store. "No, I-i think this could be a good thing, or a bad thing," Chilli said as she rubbed the back of her neck. "What should we do?" Bandit asked as he started to pay for his things. "I-I I'll come back into town, I'm sure my dad would love to have the girls for the night and I can see what's going on," Chilli explained as she looked out the window and saw her father playing with the girls. "Okay babe, but if you need back up justâ call me okay?" Bandit said while rushing to his car. "Okay, I will I promise," Chilli said softly. "I love you," Bandit said he started to put things in the back of his car. "I love you too sweetheart," Chilli said before hanging up. Chilli sighed and then grabbed her keys and then went to tell her father the situation.

(Meanwhile)

Thomas sighed as he stepped onto his aunt's porch. Storm clouds started to form with a light rain falling down. Thomas then knocked on the door. Brandy then went to her door and opened it. "Thomas?" Brandy asked, confused seeing her nephew at her doorstep. "I'm sorry aunt Brandy, I'm very very sorry," Thomas said with tears forming in his eyes. A sudden shift changed in Brandy's heart. "Oh honey," Brandy said as she hugged her nephew. Thomas hugged her back just as the rain started pouring. "Let's talk, for real this time," Brandy said as she then let her nephew inside her house.

Brandy had made tea as she and her nephew sat down in the sun room. "I shouldn't have pushed the way I did, and I'm sorry honey," Brandy said look down away from her nephew. "I know you were hurting and probably still hurting," Thomas said before taking a drink of his tea. "There was a lot to unpack since Chilli had lost Ethan and then her baby the same day, I just didn't want her to get hurt again," Brandy explained. "Did she tell you her and my dad were going to have another baby?" Thomas asked, remembering when his parents announced they were pregnant again. "Yeah, she called me and told me about it," Brandy asked looking at Thomas.

"I was definitely jealous of her, I wanted Kids so bad and for her to already three wonderful children and was about to have a third with your dadâ it hurt my feelings, selfish I know butâ I wanted to be a mum more than anything," Brandy explained. Thomas then placed his hand on his aunts hand. "You would be a fantastic mother Aunt Brandy, whether they will or will not be biologically yours," Thomas said with a warm smile. Brandy teared up before she hugged her nephew once more.

...

Chilli pulled up to her sisters house with the rain still pouring down hard. Chilli got out of her can and ran to her sisters porch. Chill hadn't noticed that her son's car wasn't there anymore as she knocked on the door. Chilli was not anxious about being at her sisters house and anxious that Thomas and Brandy had maybe gotten into a fight. "Please,"Chilli said as she knocked on the door. Brandy then opened the door and to her surprise was to see her younger sister. "Chilli?" Brandy asked, confused. "Brandy, is Thomas here?" Chilli asked.

(Meanwhile)

Thomas walked into the house and shook himself off from the rain. "Thomas? Mate is that you?" Bandit asked coming into the living room. "Hey dad, it's me," Thomas replied as he closed the front door behind him. "Did your mum catch up to you at Brandy's?" Bandit asked as he walked over to his son. "No? Was she supposed to?" Thomas asked, confused. "Wellâ she was worried something might be said or another fight would happen," Bandit explained while rubbing the back of his neck. Thomas then took in a deep breath. "Actually, aunt Brandy worked everything out this time," Thomas said as he started to slowly wag his tail. Bandit smiled at that as he too wagged his tail.

(Chilli and Brandy)

"Brandy, is Thomas here?" Chilli asked while looking her sister in the eye. "You actually just missed him not too long ago," Brandy answered. "Oh, umm then I should probably go," Chilli said as she lowered her ears and took a step back almost heading off the porch. "Chilli," Brandy said stopping her sister. Chilli then turned and looked at her sister. "Can we talk? I have some apologizing to do," Brandy explained with a soft smile. Chilli smiled softly and nodded before walking into her sisters house.

Kodiwolf321 A/N: hello everyone sorry for the longer wait on this. I wanted to wait until after "The Sign" and been busy with work anyways but here we are for the next chapter! We have one chapter left featuring Brandy's small trilogy of chapters and next one will be called "Chapter 14: Want That Too" and then we'll get into some new chapters and Changes to come! See you soon mates!

Loyalguard600 A/N: Hey, everyone! I hope you enjoyed reading the latest chapter of Sad Faces! Sorry for the hiatus, but don't worry. There will be more adventures with Thomas, his family, and everyone in Sad Faces! Also, stay tuned for more chapters from other stories by me, Kodi, and The_Suburban_Guy!