A little progress

(Greyson) I watched Jaxon leave Christian's room and head toward the kitchen. He'd spent nearly twenty minutes in there, and I wanted to know what they were discussing. Christian had barely spoken to me since coming back from Omegaville. All because I'd asked about some boy named Eli. "Jaxon, come here." My brother stopped and looked at me. He had a bottle of water in his hand and seemed perfectly happy ignoring me. I wasn't in the mood for his nonsense. "What do you want?" I walked over and stopped in front of him. He took a drink of water while waiting for me to speak. Sometimes I wondered how we could be identical when we were nothing alike. "What were you doing in Christian's room?" "Talking to Christian." I stared at him, waiting for a better explanation. Jaxon took another drink and started walking away. I followed him into the kitchen, where Mason was helping himself to some leftover chicken. Cory was standing near the counter, preparing vegetables for dinner. "About what?" Jaxon placed his bottle on the counter and looked at me. Mason turned around with a plate of chicken in his hand. Cory glanced at us before returning to his work. "His drawings." I frowned because I didn't believe that was all they'd discussed. Christian had been excited about showing his drawings to Eli. I didn't like how quickly he'd become interested in spending time with someone he barely knew. "Did he mention Eli?" Mason started laughing before Jaxon could answer. I turned toward him, wondering what was so funny. He placed his plate on the counter and reached for a fork. "Are you seriously still talking about Eli?" "He's some random boy Christian met today." Jaxon leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. He looked at me like I was the one behaving strangely. I didn't understand why neither of my brothers seemed concerned. "And Christian wants to be his friend." "What if Eli has other intentions?" Mason put his fork down and looked at me. I could tell he was getting annoyed with the conversation. He'd been more understanding outside, but apparently that had changed. "Then Christian can decide whether he wants to keep talking to him." I shook my head because they weren't understanding my point. Christian didn't know anything about this boy. For all we knew, Eli could be trying to take advantage of his connection to our family. "You're both being careless." Jaxon laughed and picked up his water. I wanted to throw the bottle across the kitchen. Instead, I waited for him to finish laughing. "No, Greyson, you're being jealous." I opened my mouth to argue, but someone spoke from the doorway. Dad stood there with an empty bowl in his hand. He looked between us before walking toward Cory. "Jealous of who?" I groaned because I knew Jaxon wouldn't keep his mouth shut. Dad had already heard about Eli from Christian. I didn't need him joining the conversation. "Greyson's jealous of Christian's new friend." Dad stopped and turned toward me. He looked amused, which made everything worse. Cory took the bowl from him and placed it near the sink. "Didn't we already discuss this outside?" "I just want to know who Christian is spending time with." Dad folded his arms and looked at me. I knew that expression because father used it whenever we were about to receive a lecture. Mason suddenly became very interested in eating his chicken. "Christian is eighteen, Greyson." "I know how old he is." Dad raised an eyebrow at me. Jaxon was grinning like an i***t beside the counter. Even Cory seemed to be trying not to laugh. "Then start treating him like it." I looked away because I didn't have an answer. I knew Christian hated being treated like a child. He'd complained about it plenty of times, especially when our relatives started fussing over him. "I don't want anything happening to him." Dad came closer and placed a hand on my arm. He wasn't laughing anymore, and I could tell he wanted me to listen. I looked at him instead of my brothers. "Neither do I, but protecting someone doesn't mean making every decision for them." I thought about what he'd said while he returned to Cory. Dad had spent years dealing with father being possessive, so he probably understood Christian better than I did. That didn't make it easier to imagine Christian getting close to another boy. "Fine, I'll leave it alone." Jaxon looked surprised when I said it. Mason stopped eating and stared at me. I didn't appreciate either reaction. "Did you hear that, Mason?" Mason nodded and pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. I grabbed a napkin from the counter and threw it at him. He laughed when it landed on his plate. "Our brother is growing up." "Both of you are idiots." Dad laughed as I walked out of the kitchen. I headed toward the back of the pack house, hoping to find somewhere without my brothers. Unfortunately, I ran into Micah near the hallway. "Greyson, perfect timing." I stopped because he looked far too happy to see me. Micah had a small shopping bag in his hand and was searching through it. I wondered what he'd been buying. "What is it, Micah?" He pulled out a packet of colored pencils and handed it to me. I looked at the packet before looking back at him. They were the expensive ones Christian had been asking about. "Give those to Christian for me." "Why don't you give them to him?" Micah smiled and adjusted the bag in his hand. I knew he was planning something because he had the same expression Christian wore before playing a prank. I wasn't sure I wanted to be involved. "Because I'm going to surprise Landon with something." I looked at him suspiciously. The last time Micah surprised Landon, he'd replaced his shampoo with something that turned his hair green. Landon hadn't spoken to him until Micah fixed it. "What did you do?" "Nothing yet." I decided I didn't want to know anything else. I took the pencils and headed toward Christian's room. At least I had a reason to see him without starting another argument. I knocked and waited until he told me to enter. Christian was sitting at his desk with several drawings spread across it. He looked surprised when he saw me. "What do you want, Greyson?" I held up the colored pencils. His expression changed immediately, and he got out of his chair. I couldn't help smiling when he came toward me. "Micah asked me to give you these." Christian took the packet and examined it. I remembered him complaining about running out of his favorite colors. He looked genuinely happy, and I was glad I'd brought them. "I've been wanting these." He placed the pencils on his desk before turning toward me. I wanted to ask whether he'd forgiven me for earlier, but I knew he'd probably tell me to stop being dramatic. "Thanks for bringing them." I nodded and glanced at his drawings. One showed the three of us sitting beneath a tree when we were younger. I remembered the occasion because Christian had insisted we spend the entire afternoon outside. "That's a good drawing." Christian looked at the picture and smiled. He picked it up before showing me another one. This one was of the four of us playing in the river. "I found some old ones." I smiled as I remembered how much fun we'd had growing up. Christian had always been part of our lives, and I couldn't imagine that changing. But I was beginning to understand that being part of his life didn't mean controlling it. "Can I stay and look at them?" Christian studied me before pulling another chair beside his desk. He pointed toward it, and I sat down without asking anything else. I wasn't going to mention Eli again. At least not while Christian was enjoying himself.