When her company arrived, Maddie glanced up from looking over the poem for what felt like the thousandth time. The melody she'd recorded on her keyboard wasn't the greatest project she'd ever done, but she really hoped he appreciated the effort for what it was. She wanted to understand him again; wanted to rebuild that closeness they had when they were younger. The apocalypse either made or broke a family. The Johnsons were already half broken – she didn't want it to completely collapse.
She was actually sort of nervous, too. Which was stupid. This was her brother. They'd both seen worse sides of each other before. The difference this time was that she would be letting him see the deeper side of her. The side that wasn't all jokes and mean comments. In all honesty, it had been a good long while since that part of her had been let out. At least when it came to anyone who wasn't Caitie.
Part of the reason she'd invited him to hang out in her room was so that she'd have more options if she chickened out and needed to deflect. It was hard having serious chats, even with family. Maybe she'd open with asking him about dying his hair. An ice-breaker of sorts. Something to gauge their moods before she attempted anything serious that could potentially lead to hurt feelings.
“Nope! Nobody's here except the duck, the chick and the cats. Haven't seen any Maddies in here,” she replied, raising her voice so that she could hear him through the door.
She got up and crossed over to the door to unbolt the lock – too many creeps around to leave it unlocked while she was alone.
“You can sit anywhere,” she told him as she closed the door and flicked the lock back in place. “As long as it's not on something living.” Three of the cats were curled up in a sleeping pile on Caitie's bed. The duck was snoozing in his box. The chicken was clucking quietly in its box. And the fourth cat was winding its way around DJ's legs.