Another Lifetime

Chapter Thirteen:

Cesar's POV:
Odessa chases me out and I stop walking. "I fucked up but I don't wanna-" she stops. "Wait, did you say you cheated first?" Odessa asks. "Yeah." I nod. "Doesn't matter, we both cheated. I don't wanna break up." Her eyes are watering and I roll mine. "Come here." I hug her and wipe her eyes. "Be honest with me, would we be cheating on each other if we were still in love?" I ask. "I don't know... I do know I'm not ready to be over." She says and I hold her hand. "We can't be together if we're just gonna be hurting each other." I catch myself feeling emotional and I try to push it down. "It wasn't supposed to end like this." She looks down at her feet. "I know. Honestly for a while I didn't think we were ever gonna end." I admit. "When did it change for you?" Odessa asks. "I met this girl at one of Jamal's parties and it was like I knew her before we even talked. I remember how you talked about Pope after she left, I didn't get it until I met her." I explain and Odessa shakes her head. "Yeah and I felt it the second we started dating." She says.
**** About a year ago ****
"Are you ok?" Odessa's crying alone in their living room. "Yeah." She wipes her eyes. "I heard about Pope." I admit. "Right." Odessa looks away and I just stand their, awkwardly. "Jamal's not gonna be back for like an hour, if you need something you know where everything is... you don't have to ask." She tells me before she goes outside. "Odessa-" she cuts me off. "Wow he even remembers my name." She laughs, sarcastically. "You make it so hard to be nice to you. I wasn't asking 'cause I wanted something, I actually wanna know." I tell her. "I kinda just wanted to be alone out here." She takes off her big t-shirt and gets her pool. I sit on the edge with my feet in the water. "Is it that hard to believe I still care?" I ask and she swims up next to me and rests her elbows on the edge. "Yeah, you barely talk to me after we broke up." She says. "You're right, I don't care. You're a really ugly crier and I didn't need to see that." I laugh and she splashes me. "I'm good, Pope... Pope made me feel like my soul was outside of my body but in a good way and losing that feeling wasn't easy. It's been a while since she ran away but she's not even talking to me anymore so it sucks." She explains. "So what now?" I ask. "I go to parties and make out with random guys because at this point I think girls exist to rip out my heart." She laughs. "Just at parties?" I tilt my head and she smiles. "No." She pulls me down by my shirt and kisses me. "But you're my brother's best friend and you cheated, this'll never happen." Odessa tells me and I smirk.
**** Present ****
"Look at me." I tell her. "Honestly, do I make you feel the same way Pope makes you feel?" I ask and she doesn't respond. "We gotta at least go on a break and figure out what we want. I'm always gonna love you but it's not the kinda love we wanted." I tell her and she nods. "I know." Odessa says. "I just have one question, do I know her?" She asks. "No." I lie. "Ok."She walks back to the restaurant and I meet Monse at my house. "Everything ok?" She asks and I kiss her. "What are you doing?" Monse puts her hand on my chest. "Odessa cheated on me." I tell her and she looks confused. "We talked and now me and we decided to take a break. There's nothing stopping us." I tell her. "Wait, you just broke up with the girl you loved and this is the first thing you thought about?" She asks. I can't really tell a girl I just met that I think I'm falling in love with her so I say, "Pretty much." "Is she ok?" Monse looks worried and that's when I remember they're sisters. "Did she ever tell you about Pope?" I ask and she shakes her head. "Pope was Odessa's dealer, they started dating and she was basically completely in love with her. When I started talking to Odessa they just broke up. Odessa cheated on me with Pope. If anything she's better now than she ever was with me." I explain. "Ok, does she know about us?" Monse asks. "Yeah... kind of. I didn't tell her it was you." I admit. "And we should keep it like that." I'm surprised she says that. "Really?" Is all I can say. "Yeah, the less people who know the better. You know, like my boyfriend." And now it makes more sense. "So are we gonna try this?" I ask and she doesn't respond. "I have feelings for you, like crazy feelings, but if you're not ready or cool with this-" she kisses me and I put my hands on her hips. "Let's do this." She says against my lips and I smile. "Finally." I kiss her again and we go to my room. I try to pull off my shirt but I can't raise my arm above my head. "Aww poor baby." She mocks me. "Is it even safe to have sex less than a day after getting shot?" She asks. "Who said we were having sex?" I tilt my head and she rolls her eyes. "Come on, you can't seriously say you haven't thought about it?" She kisses me slowly and then pulls away. "Hmm?" Monse smiles. "Shut up." I shake my head. "Maybe I have but you're right, I gotta wait a until I'm feeling better." I tell her and she nods. "It's cool, after this" she lifts her shirt just under her sports bra "I could barely breathe. You're handling it pretty good." Monse says. "Wait, what happened?" I put my hands on her hips and lead her to my bed. I sit down and she stands between my legs. "I was stabbed when I was 14. You remember when everything was really bad between Prophets and Santos?" She asks and I nod. "A Santo caught me alone and she decided to be a total dick." Monse laughs but I can tell she's upset. "Whoever did this, I'll kill her." I promise. "It's fine, I don't even remember who did it." She kisses me.