You curl up in a little ball and let yourself cry. Now that no one's around, the tears come out faster, and you sob quietly to yourself, wishing you just would've told Kyle no. You were trying to be a good big brother, and instead he's turned into a monster. Now, as a helpless little kid, there's nothing you can do about it.
After a few minutes, you hear a gentle knock on the door. You're still crying, and you've got enough pride that you don't want your kid brother to see that.
"Go away!" you say, your voice cracking. The noise only makes you cry harder. You sound so pathetic.
"Can... can I please come in?" Kyle asks. "Please?"
You don't answer. You don't want to hear your own voice again, and you hope that if you just ignore him, he'll go away.
Instead, Kyle creaks the door open. You bury your head in your knees and close your eyes, not wanting to see how much bigger than you he is now.
You hear Kyle step closer to you, and then there'a little thud on the floor in front of you. You peek your eyes open, and see your machine sitting there.
"Uhm..." Kyle hesitates. "Do.... do you want to turn yourself back now? Or... or maybe you're hungry? Or..."
You abruptly realize he has no idea why you're crying. But seeing the expression on his face, you can tell he feels awful. He's never seen you cry before.
You manage to calm down a little bit, and you hesitantly look up at him. "You don't get it, do you?" you ask. "You hurt me, Kyle."
He frowns. "When I picked you up? But--"
"Look!" You pull up your shirt, revealing dark, blotchy bruises where he squeezed your skin.
Kyle recoils. "I... I didn't..." He looks sick.
"Do you have any idea how that felt?!" You sniff, and your eyes fill up with tears again. "I know I'm not the best brother, okay? But I was just trying to do something nice for you, and... and you were so mean," You choke on your breath.
"I..." Kyle reaches for you again, and you shy away. Your chest is still stinging from the last time he touched you.
Kyle sniffs, and he starts crying too. "I'm so sorry!" he says. "I... I didn't mean to hurt you, I promise. I just... I... I've never been the big brother before, and I..."
"Do you know how it feels to have someone lift you up like that?" you ask, shivering. "To fight them, and beg them to stop, because it hurts, but they won't?"
"No," Kyle says. He wipes his face, but new tears replace his old ones. "You... you never did that to me."
Kyle sniffs. "Just zap us with the robot already. I suck as the big brother."
You manage to give Kyle a small smile. It was a nice gesture for him to bring in the machine, though he has no way of knowing it won't work without the key. You can tell he feels really awful.
"I said not takebacks, remember?" you say.
"But... but I--"
"You're the big brother for the rest of the weekend. You'll just have to deal with it."
Kyle smiles. "Thanks," he says.
You nod. "Just... please, be nice, okay?"
"I will! I promise, Brandon! I'll be the best big brother ever!"
Kyle throws his arms around you, and you grunt. "Gentle, Kyle," you say through gritted teeth. Your ribs are still sore, and he's got a nasty grip.
"Oops! Sorry." He loosens up, and you return the hug, feeling warm inside. Despite how it started, you feel a lot closer to your little brother, now that you're literally walking in each other's shoes.
While you're hugging, the phone rings. "I'll get it," you say, and then frown. Anyone talking to you on the phone would think you were Kyle, but you figure that's safer than having Kyle talk, and people thinking it's you.
You run to the phone, but you're not quite tall enough to reach it.
"Wow you're short!" Kyle says. "Even I can reach the phone!"
And touching, brotherly moment gone, you think, sighing.
Kyle pauses. "Wait. That was mean. I--"
"It's fine, just push the blue button to put it on speaker," you say.
Kyle does what you told him to.
"Hello?" a voice says. It's...
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