The Bush (NZ)

“Do it yourself, Miss Independent,” he snapped back.

"Fine," Liss snapped, buckling on her boots before storming out of the room, not even taking a weapon in her fury

Gray then sat up and got changed himself. He grabbed a couple weapons and went after her.

Alex caught his arm as he stormed out. "Hey, where you going?" he asked. "I brought breakfast."

“Liss left without a weapon,” Gray said and kept walking.

Alex sighed, trying to pull him to a stop. "And she'll be fine, Gray, come on. Neither of you are going to be civil while you're hungry."

“What about ‘she’s carrying my goddamn child’ do you not understand?” Gray shouted, turning to his brother. “My going after her is not just about her, it’s about my kid.” He couldn’t understand why he felt so angr. It was uncontrollable.

Alex kept a firm grip on his brother. "Hey. Calm down. Liss is still Liss. Did you doubt how well she could look after herself before you knew she was pregnant?"

“She left without a weapon! She never leaves without a weapon!” Gray said.

Alex shook his head. "Answer my question."

Gray sighed. “No,” he muttered relunctantly.

"Then you can't treat her any different just because she's now worth something to you," Alex shook his head. "Now-" he pushed a bag into his brother's chest. "Eat, and I'll go find her."

“She’s always been worth something to me!” Gray said, offended. “Forget this.” He said and shoved the food back at Alex before storming off.

"But you haven't damn shown it!" Alex replied in frustration, jogging after him and grabbing his shoulder.

“Haven’t shown it?” Gray demanded and rounded on him. “Do you think I ever had the chance? She was always pushing me away, you were pulling me away. A few weeks ago was the first time I had seen her in months and it wasn’t even my fault.” He glanced around. “She’s always been something to me,” he said. “And now she’s carrying my baby and she hates me even more.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “You just... you don’t get it,” he said and turned around to leave.

Alex sighed and set the bag on the hood of the nearest car, gripping his brother by both shoulders, resisting the urge to shake him slightly. "Gray, she doesn't hate you. She's just- she's struggling to adapt. Her body's changing, her hormones are changing, she's responsible for another life that can't look after itself, not like you or me. She's struggling and she wants to be herself. She will come to understand her limits, you just need to give her space. It's not hatred, it's a need to be free. You're running after her and it makes her want to run further away. You have to wait for her to come to you but at the same time make sure she knows she can come to you, without being confrontational." He ran a hand through his hair, looking down on his brother. "I don't get it? I remember the phase you went through of not wanting anything to do with me. That hurt, it felt like you hated me. And I wanted to protect you, so much, I wanted to protect you. But I knew you needed your independence, so I stepped back. I was the safety net in case you fell. And sometimes you did fall, and I was there to catch you. That's all you need to be for Liss right now. Too much, and she'll run away. Too little, and she'll fall. It's all about the balance." He looked his brother earnestly in the eyes and smiled a little. "C'mon. Let's go find her together. You can eat on the way."

“I’m not hungry,” he said. “But let’s go.”

Alex rolled his eyes. "Did you even listen to anything I just said? Eat, I paid for you."

Gray grabbed the bag, took out some food, took a bite and tossed the food back in. “Happy?” He said with a full mouth.

Alex sighed but didn't say anything.

Rolling his eyes, he took the food back out and kept eating.

Alex smiled to himself, pulling out his own portion as they walked.

Gray finished eating and tossed the garbage back in the bag. “Where could she be anyway?” he said.

"If she was in trouble, we'd know it," Alex murmured reassuringly. "But go ahead, use your powers and track her."

“And risk getting my head torn off? No thank you,” he said even though he secretly wanted to.