As soon as the door shut, all the anger that was built up inside of me spilled over. I clenched my fists and glared at my older brother, wishing years of pain and torture on him. The years of pain and torture that I endured when he wasn’t here.

“You don’t get to boss her around when you weren’t even there for most of her life!” I shouted. Michael closed his eyes and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. That made me even more infuriated but I didn’t say anything. What a prick.

“Goddamn, Casey, are you ever going to let that go?” He said tiredly, taking a step towards the desk. I felt the fire lick my veins. How was he so calm right now? Oh right. Because he had the option to walk out on us and he took it. And he didn’t regret it. Why would he? He didn’t have to struggle for years because of it.

“Why should I let that go?” I yelled, trying desperately not to punch him. “I’M the one who had to raise her! I had to raise them all! BECAUSE YOU LEFT!”

Michael slammed his palm on the table, making me jump in surprise. “I’m sorry! What do you want me to say? I was eighteen, Casey, I was still-“

“Don’t you dare!” I jabbed a finger in his face. “Don’t you DARE say you were just a kid. I was thirteen fucking years old. I was thirteen. Allison was only ten, Mallory was six, and Nathan was barely one. I raised them! I raised them and raised the twins as well! I WAS JUST A CHILD!”

“Listen, Casey, I had no idea about the twins-“

“Of course you didn’t because you weren’t there! But I was, Michael! I never walked out like you did! I stayed! I stayed and I paid for it!”

There it was. The voice crack. The hurt. The pain, slowly blossoming out of my chest, consuming me from the inside out, tearing me apart. The tears pricked my eyes as Michael just looked at me, pity in his eyes. God, why was he looking at me like that?

“Casey…” he said quietly. “Casey, where did they hurt you?”

“Fuck off,” I spat, taking a step back. “You don’t get to care anymore. About any of us. I’m happy you’ve let us stay here, but we don’t need you. We haven’t needed you for a long time, Michael.”

“Casey, you can’t leave.”

“Actually, I could.” I shoved my hands in my pockets so he couldn’t see them trembling. “I’m eighteen and I could walk out and never look back. I won’t, though, because they need me. You walked out on them. I won’t do that. I refuse to be like you.”

Michael’s voice was filled with pain. “Casey-“

I opened the door. “Fuck off, Michael. Quit acting like our older brother. You lost the right to that the second you stepped foot out of our front door five years ago.”

I slammed the door shut behind me and crumpled to the ground, years of weight crashing onto my shoulders as I just sobbed. I don’t know how long I just laid there and sobbed, but I did.

Then I wiped my tears and stood back up. My siblings had lost one older brother, and I would be damned if they lost another one.