Expensive Mistakes

Kill Me Twice

A/N Y'all probably don't know this, but today is the one year anniversary of this book! You guys have been so supportive and wonderful and I probably would not be on my, what, seventeenth chapter? So I'd like to thank all of you so much for sticking with this book. I really appreciate everything you guys have done for me and I hope to publish more things in the future.

Tobi stood in his bathroom, fixing his hair in the mirror. He and Emilio had a date in an hour. Tobi was thankful that things between the two of them had smoothed over.

Emilio was excited to go to the church and the mood was slightly contagious. It would still take a little bit for Tobi to feel comfortable completely opening up, but assuming all went well with the visit, he would tell Emilio everything. He deserved to know.

The loud ringing of Tobi's phone startled him from his thoughts. Emilio was calling.

"Hello?"

"Tobi. So my parents decided to go out tonight and they're leaving Vanessa with me. I'm really sorry. You're welcome to still come over if you'd like."

Tobi smiled. "I'll be over. It will be nice to see Vanessa again. And otherwise I would have gotten ready for nothing. I'll see you soon."

"Okay," Emilio said cheerfully before hanging up.

Tobi stepped back from the mirror. I suppose I no longer need to worry about my outfit as much, he thought to himself.

As Tobi finished getting ready, a thought crossed his mind: did Vanessa know about the fight? What if she disliked him now? Would things be awkward?

Tobi had promised himself that he wouldn't get stressed over the fight anymore. He paced around the living room of his apartment as the date drew nearer, worrying about how the one small disagreement would affect things.

He considered texting Emilio and asking if Vanessa knew, but decided it was best not to bring it up for fear of starting things again.

A small voice in the back of his mind told him that relationships were high maintenance and this was exactly why he didn't do them. He tried his best to ignore it.

It's no good going and second guessing yourself right before a date.

He would find out if Vanessa knew eventually. She was a kid. Kids mentioned things like that.

After calming down, he wasted a bit of time on his phone before driving to Emilio's.

"Tobi's coming over, right?" Vanessa asked.

"For the fourth time, yes, he'll be here," Emilio replied, an amused smile on his face.

"Are we going to watch a movie or are you guys just going to kiss and be gross the whole time?"

Emilio blushed lightly and Vanessa giggled.

"We should go somewhere fun again," she continued after a moment. "A haunted house."

Emilio raised an eyebrow. "A haunted house? You won't have nightmares?"

"Nuh-uh," Vanessa said confidently. "But you can hold Tobi's hand if you get scared."

"Vanessa, there are no haunted houses in the middle of March."

"A ghost tour, then."

"I don't know..."

"Come on, Emilio! I thought you were supposed to be the fun brother!"

Emilio frowned. "I'm your only brother." He tried his best to ignore Vanessa's puppy dog eyes, but eventually he sighed and said, "I'll talk to Tobi about it."