This is an extrapolation of a roleplay I am currently engaged in with /u/pewpew52. Credit is due to him for the opening back-and-forth!
Story continued in comments.
Having to put with Alex’s presence in the house was killing me. He was my step-brother, two years my junior, and to say that we didn’t get on would be an understatement. For years we had lived only to frustrate and torment each other, and though we had both moved out of home we still found it difficult to get along with one another. He’d made my life hell for a couple of years in particular, and I wasn’t of the mind to forgive him. So why, I hear you ask, was I enduring his presence once more? I shall tell you.
For the preceding eight months Alex’s father, Andrew, and my mother had been travelling around Europe, and we had both taken time off of work to greet them upon their return. We were to spend the week in their house, catch up, and hear all about their travels. Well… that was the plan. Typical of my mercurial mother, though, she and Andrew extended their stay by a week, which now left myself and Alex alone in the house together, and meant that I wouldn’t get to catch up with my mother for anything more than a weekend.