We are not friends and you know it.

Chapter Two

I sprung as fast as I could away from Branden's body and searched agitatedly for my clothes.

"This what you are looking for?" Marie asked through her broken voice while throwing my girly pajamas at me.

"Hey! it's not the end of the world, sis," Branden grumbled sounding slightly apathetic, I peeked at him while slipping my clothing back on hurriedly and I couldn't fathom how he had been able to be completely dressed in such a small amount of time.

"Don't you dare sis me, asshole." She blurted out, holding back tears, and left the room.

I watched their exchange feeling speechless and hopeless from the corner of the room. It was true that I had buried my love for her brother in the most guarded depths of myself, but had I been so convincing at hiding my true feelings for Branden that she really didn't have the faintest of clues?

"We've made a huge mistake." I regained the ability to speak after a long pause. Branden combed his hair in front of her dresser mirror.

"Let me handle it, you know she tends to be a drama queen." He said, as cool as a cucumber.

"How can you be so... indifferent? She's right to react that way!" I yelled at him. "I need to check on her...there's nothing for you to handle" I started to walk towards the door but Branden encircled my arm with his hand, pulling me roughly to him.

"So this is it, then?" He glared at me straight-faced, his jaw tight. "You're just going to back away from this?"

"Let go of me!" I shook my arm from his grip, my heart disintegrating into a million pieces as my skin no longer felt the contact of his hand.

"And I'm supposed to be the asshole..." I heard him say under his breath as I left him behind.

Marie was sunken on her living room couch, her long legs crossed. She quickly wiped a tear from her eye as I approached her.

Branden stormed out of the apartment a second later, slamming the door on his way out.

"He's going to pay for the goddamn damages he inflicts on my door." She spoke bitterly, her face turned away from me.

I sat slowly on the opposite edge of the couch. A knot formed in my throat.

"Did something happen to your trip? I asked her, my voice a mere whisper after struggling to find the right thing to say for several minutes

"The flight got delayed until tomorrow." She replied, dryly.

"I should've told you Marie...you are like a sister to me..." I started to explain, but she didn't let me finish.

"How long Tatiana?" She asked trembling. I took a deep breath, attempting to fill myself with some courage

"I've loved him since we were kids...." I said and she snapped her face towards me, looking at me as if looking at a complete stranger. "I couldn't have possibly imagined that he would see me as anything other than his sister's best friend, but today..."

"I saw. No need to elaborate." She lashed out, shaking her hand as if trying to push the mental picture out of her head. "We always made fun of the poor fools that constantly fell into Branden's "charms"... those poor girls he uses and discards..." I hung my head in shame as she spoke.

"I'm not about to become one of them, Marie." I snapped back, the truthfulness of her words felt like daggers. "He wants me to be his girlfriend."

"He's going to end up hurting you, it's in his nature... and when he does, I could never speak to him again... I would loathe him for the rest of my life," she assured. As well as I knew her, I was convinced she was telling me the truth.