Closed Uncanny Similarities

[Eric Holland]

While Minnie was at work, Eric had decided to be helpful and pack up some more of their things. They were in the process of moving out of his mother's house, which was great, since Connor now also lived here. Eric loved his brother, but it was getting kind of crowded. Connor had also been in a bad mood, which was usually Eric's job. It was a little disconcerting to be the cheerful one of the two. Eric walked into the living room, where Connor was sitting on the couch. "This your shirt or mine?" He asked, holding one up. Before Connor could answer, the doorbell rang. Eric sighed, tossing the shirt at him. "Yours now." He said, before walking up to the door and opening it. He wasn't sure what to expect, but his dad wasn't it. His expression hardened. "Mum's not home." He said, starting to close the door.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor hadn't ever felt so useless in his life as he had the last few months. Graduation had been an outright trainwreck, and with Freya gone and Kas dealing with his trial and moving in with the Summers for some reason, it felt like he didn't really have anyone left. He had barely left the house for anything other than work, and the night classes he had begrudgingly picked up at his mum's nudging. When he had talked about becoming a florist with Freya it had all been a big joke, but now Connor hardly saw any better options out there. So he had started studying to become a florist in between shifts at Vibez, and long sessions of lying on his bed doing nothing and feeling awful.

He had managed to progress from feeling awful in bed to feeling awful on the sofa when Eric reminded him why his room was the best place to feel awful - there were way too many people in this house. "Whatever." Connor grumbled as he caught the shirt, giving it a quick once-over. The sleeves were a bit stretched... his, then. Working out had been a bit of a comfort - something mindless to do to take his thoughts off everything, and it was good managing to keep up his Quidditch physique now that he wasn't playing anymore. He was distracted by the voices at the door, perking up a little at the sound of his dad outside. Connor had been trying to make some proper time to catch up with his dad and actually get to know him, but between his half-siblings and Eric's dislike for their father it had proved impossible so far. He abandoned the shirt on the floor and got up, hoping he could defuse the situation before Eric chased the Marshalls off, maybe get some time with his dad.

 

[Ryan Marshall]

Ryan had never expected to see Melanie or his older kids again, but with Heather gone and noone to look after Penny or Holden but him, it had turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Holden had been a handful since losing his mother, and he had only gotten worse without Penny around. He had wound up dropping his son off with Melanie a few more times, while he was working or just to get a few hours break. Today was firmly the latter, but he had plenty of work-related excuses ready to go as he knocked on the door. Ryan tried not to wince as Eric opened the door, catching it quickly before his oldest could lock him out. "Eric, please." He said softly, hoping to appeal to any fondness Eric may have for him lingering below the surface. "I just need someone to watch Holden for a bit." Ryan remembered all too well that Eric had similar behavioural problems, the memory of a punch bringing an idea quickly to mind. He leaned closer, speaking in an undertone. "Holden's been having problems lately. Getting into fights." He whispered. "I was... hoping you could help him. I know... Mels said you've had troubles too, and he could really use.... a positive role model..."

 

[Holden Marshall]

Holden was getting beyond sick of this. Dragging him off to random strangers for the afternoon, as if dad having other kids with some woman made them family. As if a couple of grumpy 20 year olds could ever feel like family. As far as Holden was concerned, his family had died with his mum, and his dad wasn't even trying to pretend he wanted him around. Just the thought had Holden's fists twitching, eager to punch something. But he was here at Melanie's house again, and there was nothing to do but grit his teeth and silently seethe at his dad. He stayed silent as the door opened, relieved that it was the least obnoxious of his older "brothers". Eric didn't treat him like an unwanted mistake the way Connor did, even if they were the real unwanted ones. He stayed silent as Dad talked to Eric, rolling his eyes at the old man's terrible job of whispering. "I can hear you." Holden snapped, folding his arms and glaring at his father.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric glared at his dad as he caught the door, making it more difficult to close it in his face. "Look, I know you barely care about your kids, but dumping your youngest with us without mum being around when you barely know us is really a new low." He said, not bothering to lower his voice. He stared at his dad, unimpressed as he tried to appeal to Eric's... what, conscience? He glanced from his dad to his ... half-brother, then back. "He can hear you." He repeated. "And being talked about like you're some sort of problem is a sh*tty thing to experience." He raised his eyebrows. "You thinking I might be a positive role model truly proves you don't know sh*t about us. The answer is no." He said. "Get yourself a paid babysitter."

 

[Connor Holland]

Hearing his dad and Eric together was a situation Connor knew all too well could easily get volitile, so he didn't waste time getting up and heading to the door. He arrived in time to catch the end of what Eric was saying, reaching behind his older brother to grab the door and make sure he couldn't close it. "No, we'll babysit!" Connor said quickly as he peeked over Eric's shoulder, hopeful to catch his dad's eye. Connor really didn't like the whole younger siblings thing, especially the boy with an attitude, but making a good impression on his dad was about the only thing he was actually excited for these days. He could put up with a grumpy mini-Eric for a bit, and then hopefully his dad would want to hang out and spend some time with him when he got back. "Come on in, mate. We'll take good care of him, dad." Connor added with a blinding smile to his dad, completely ignoring the kid.

 

[Ryan Marshall]

Ryan didn't know where Eric had gotten his ability to get under people's skin, but he was good at it, and it made him a nightmare to talk with. He was struggling to find a way to argue back when Connor thankfully interrupted, and he shot the younger man the most grateful smile he could. "Thanks, champ." He said sincerely, choosing to just ignore Eric entirely. "Alright kiddo, be nice to your brothers." He said, patting Holden on the back heartily. "See you in a bit." He grinned at Connor once more before quickly apparating away, leaving no room for Eric to protest.

 

[Holden Marshall]

As much as he disliked this whole brothers thing, Holden couldn't help kind of liking Eric. Connor was a complete suck up one minute and a total d*ck the next, but Eric was at least honest, and he wasn't afraid to tell their dad all the ways he sucked. He even stood up for Holden, despite having made it clear how little he thought of the Marshalls as a whole. If he was gonna have to put up with unwanted surprise brothers, at least one of them was cool. Holden's happiness evaporated quickly when Connor burst in and Dad apparated away before taking any responsibilities. Well. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Holden looked up at Eric grumpily. "Gonna let me in then?"

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric whirled on Connor, giving him a death glare as he said they would babysit. "Connor what the f*ck." He hissed at him, though he knew where this was coming from. Connor just wanted to impress their dad, but Eric also knew he had no actual interest in their younger siblings. He had a sinking feeling he knew exactly who would end up babysitting. He glared at their dad as he completely ignored Eric and only talked to Connor, glancing at Holden for a moment. There was an eery similarity between how they were both being ignored, and Eric felt his stomach twist as he looked between his brother and his father, not liking the similarities he saw there. Connor wasn't like his dad, was he? Eric scowled as their dad apparated away. "Coward!" He yelled, before taking a deep breath and counting to ten so he wouldn't kick a hole in the door. He managed to stay in control and nodded at Holden, stepping aside. "Come in, I'll be right there." He said, glaring daggers at Connor. "Just need to talk to my brother."

 

[Connor Holland]

Any elation Connor felt at being called champ by his father disappeared with the man himself, and Connor was left alone with his brother and his "brother", neither of whom looked happy with this situation. Connor tried to ignore the gloominess, thinking quietly that all he had to do was get through this and hopefully his dad would want to hang out for a bit. He winced when Eric shouted after him, elbowing him hard where Holden couldn't see. "Don't be an arsehole!" Connor snapped, before giving Holden the sweetest smile he could muster. "We'll just be a minute, buddy. Why don't you go get something from the kitchen?"

 

[Holden Marshall]

Holden couldn't help a small snort of laughter at Eric's reaction, finding that he liked his oldest brother better and better, as much as he didn't want to. Side-eyeing the scuffle between the older boys he wordlessly stepped into the house, wishing it wasn't this familiar. "Whatever." He scowled at Connor before heading to the kitchen, hoping there were more of the dinette cupcakes Connor had gotten mad at him for eating on his last visit.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric sighed as he saw the disappointment on Connor's face as their dad left, though he had little sympathy for him. "You know he doesn't actually care, he won't like you more just because you go along with his crappy ideas. And mum will be pissed." He said, glancing at the kitchen door and lowering his voice. "You're the one being an arsehole, you don't even like Holden and it's not like you bother hiding it. I should honestly just f*cking leave you with him since you agreed to watch him." He said, glaring. "But I already know it's going to be me who has to look after him, right? You won't." He said, rolling his eyes.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor scowled at Eric's protests, glaring at his brother. "People like people who help them out, you should try it some time." He snapped. "And we're adults, we can look after a kid without her. Stop making such a big deal." He rolled his eyes when Eric mentioned looking after Holden, not bothering to deny that he didn't like the kid. "He's like nine, he doesn't actually need looking after. He just needs a place to be for a bit where he's not alone. Stop making such a big deal about this." He snapped.

 

[Holden Marshall]

Holden was pleased to quickly find the cupcakes, helping himself to one while he listened to his "brothers" bickering in the other room as if he couldn't hear them. He wasn't surprised by any of it - Eric had already proven himself to be the only one of the Hollands worth his time, and Connor not denying he didn't like Holden was more reassuring than when the older boy pretended that he did in front of their dad. Quietly wishing the worst for Connor, Holden helped himself to another cupcake.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric rolled his eyes at Connor. "Dads not going to come back and play catch with you because you looked after his kid once." He snapped. Eric scoffed at his next words. "So in other words, you intend to ignore him until dad comes back." He said, looking at Connor in disappointment.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor flinched at Eric's words, scowling at his brother. "And being rude to him is gonna make things better?!" He snapped. He snorted when Eric talked about the kid. "He's nine." Connor repeated. "Nine year olds don't want a ton of looking after - what do you want me to do, read him a picture book?"

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric shrugged. "It might make him leave us alone again, which would be an improvement." He said, challenging Connor to argue that point. He scoffed. "Fine, but they also don't enjoy being shoved into a room and ignored until you can score points with our absentee dad again by being a good brother in front of him." He snapped. "Or was that not what you were planning to do?"

 

[Connor Holland]

"Shut up!" Connor snapped, shoving Eric in the shoulder with one hand. "He's our dad, this is the first chance we've gotten to have a dad! Even if you don't care don't ruin this for me!" He scowled at Eric's accusation, glaring at him. "He's too old to have someone watching him the whole time, don't act like you know stuff about kids!"

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric´s eyes flashed angrily as Connor shoved him and he held up a hand, counting to ten again, this time in a low voice. He had been really trying to keep it together, but Connor was testing him. When he was done, he took a deep breath. "Fine, you can go and beg for scraps of attention if you want, but I don't want anything to do with that loser." He finally gritted out. "But I'm not letting that kid sit alone in a room for hours because you don't want anything to do with him. I know he doesn't need constant watching, but how would you feel being left at some stranger's house?" He asked, frowning. "I thought you were supposed to be the nice one."

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor's anger boiled up even higher at Eric's last comment. "Oh, f*ck you!" He snapped. "Am I not allowed to be pissed off about things now? Because I'm "nice"?!" He yelled, with exaggerated quote marks. "I'm sick of being the nice one! You think he needs babying so f*cking badly, you do it!" Connor snapped, throwing his hands up and storming upstairs away from his brother.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric sighed. “That’s not what I was saying, but you’re pissed at the wrong person!” He yelled back. “That kid isn’t the one who put us in this position!” He wanted to stay calm and rational, but it was impossible with someone yelling at him. He snorted as Connor walked off. “Big surprise, you’re running away!” He scoffed at him.

 

[Holden Marshall]

There was nothing worse than listening to people argue about you, as if they didn't know you could hear them. If it was possible to have a lower opinion of his second oldest brother, Holden didn't want to know how. Eric, at least, wasn't a complete jerk. He rolled his eyes at the sound of Connor storming away upstairs, picking up another cupcake before he ambled into the room Eric was in, glancing towards the direction Connor had gone. "He's kind of a d*ckhead, huh?"

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric wanted to rush after Connor and shake him. He also wanted to shove him back downstairs to go hang out with Holden and do the work he wanted the credit for so badly. But… he knew it wouldn’t be any fun for Holden, who was probably already uncomfortable being dropped with people he barely knew. And in this equation, the ten-year-old probably should be considered first. Eric looked up as he approached, realizing immediately he had heard all of that. “Not usually.” Eric said with a sigh. “But I can see why you’d think that.” He remembered often thinking Connor was so much better than him, wondering why he couldn’t be like that. Now… he was sure he was in the right, it felt nice, despite everything. He glanced at the cupcake the boy was eating. “You hungry?” He asked. “What do you wanna do?” He then added, not sure how to entertain a ten-year-old boy.

 

[Holden Marshall]

As Holden peeled the wrapper from his cupcake, he thought quietly about how much more comfortable he felt with just Eric around. He still wasn't keen on this whole brothers idea, but at least one of them was tolerable. He shrugged at the question, taking a bite of the cupcake. "Dunno." He said through a mouthful of cake. "Whatever."

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric was glad Holden didn’t seem upset or anything. He was glad the girl wasn’t here with him, she seemed like the type to cry. Though it hit Eric for the first time that that girl was his sister. He’d never had a sister before. It was a strange thought. He decided to dwell on that later. “Okay, what do you normally do?” Eric asked with a slight frown. He wanted to be a good brother or whatever, but the kid had to help him a bit.