"Yeah... I guess I can understand that." Ryder didn't quite knew what to make of Erik's apology. But he did know Erik wasn't the only one who had screwed up. "It pissed me off that everyone was treating me like a kid, but I shouldn't have let my temper get the better of me. So... you know... I'm sorry, too."
"Does this mean we're cool?" Erik asked, hopefully.
Ryder rolled his eyes. "That depends. Are you going to stop treating me like a kid?"
Erik's expression changed to mock earnestness. "I promise I'll stop treating you like a kid from your next birthday forward."
Ryder sighed. "You're such an asshole."
"Come on, Ryder. Peace?"
Ryder stayed silent for a long moment, before relenting. "I guess..."
After a few more uncomfortable moments of silence while they both processed what just happened, Ryder faced his brother again. "Hey, do you want to come swimming with me? I heard the hotel has an indoor pool."
"Why not?" Erik said with a casual shrug. "Lead the way!"
"Ready to jump in?" Ryder asked excitedly, before turning and jumping into the pool.
Erik followed him in and immediately splashed water at Ryder's face.
Ryder wasn't amused. "You really can't help yourself, can you!? You always have to get on my nerves!"
Erik just laughed. "Come on, it's just a little water!"
"Yeah? So is this!!!"
After some more goofing around in the water, they finally had to stop and rest. Ryder was glad their old camaraderie was back, but still felt guilty about pranking Eric's girlfriend. He really should come clean about that, but wasn't sure if now was the right moment to bring it up. They'd just patched things up, he'd hate to ruin everything again.
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