Only, Always, and Forever You

20 - Andrés

Cole's POV:

By instinct, I pull her behind me to shield her, and I cautiously push open her apartment door. I'm still on guard and ready to jump at the man standing in her living room when I hear her speak up from behind me.

"Andrés?"

Who the fuck is Andrés, and why is he here?

"Marsie, who is this?" Andrés asks while glaring at me, trying to be intimidating but failing miserably.

"Yeah, Marsie, who is this?" I say, mimicking his words and using the same nickname he did.

I don't like it that someone else has a cute nickname for her. I hate it, actually.

I feel my body start to heat up the more I look at the stranger in her apartment, but all rage dissipates the second I feel her small, soft hand on my arm.

"Andrés, this is Cole, someone from school," she says, gesturing to me, "Cole, this is Andrés, my older brother."

Oh. Well, this just got awkward.

I still don't give in, even now that I know it's her brother. I stand tall, even though I'm already much taller than him anyway, and I don't let my expression falter.

He wants to be intimidating? I'll show him how to be intimidating.

And just as I expected, his glare breaks under my stare. He couldn't even keep eye contact with me and he's trying to be intimidating? Nice try.

"What are you doing here?" Amara asks him, and I can sense hurt in her voice.

"Annie and I are back in town for tomorrow, and we were wondering if you wanted to grab dinner with us," he replies, keeping his gaze off of me at all costs.

"Oh, I thought you wouldn't show. I mean, I barely ever see you anymore and you didn't come last year so..."

I sense even more hurt in her voice, but now I can somewhat understand why. She misses her brother. She misses him and something else. Why do they keep talking about 'tomorrow'? What's so special about tomorrow?

I'm about to ask her about it when she looks away from her brother and turns to me, looking up at me with those beautiful amber eyes.

"You should probably go. I'll walk you out," she says solemnly.

I nod and we start to head out.

Amara's POV:

I walk him to the door and step outside with him for a second. I didn't think my brother would be home at all, let alone this early. Him and his girlfriend, Annie, must be staying in town for a day or two. I'm surprised he even remembered about tomorrow.

I close the apartment door so that Cole and I are alone in the hallway, and I look up to him, meeting his rich, green eyes.

"I'm sorry about Andrés, I didn't know he'd be home," I apologize, looking down at my feet.

His finger comes up to my jaw and lifts my head so that our eyes can meet, "It doesn't matter to me, but are you okay?"

I melt from his sincerity. He could tell something was wrong, and I know he knows I'm not okay, but he doesn't ask about it directly and I'm thankful for that. I don't know if I'm ready to talk about it.

"I will be," I assure him, but I still see the hesitance in his expression, "I promise, Cole, I'll be alright."

I offer a small smile and I see him relax a little, not fully, but a little.

"Thank you," I say after a few seconds of silence, "Thank you for everything. Today, last night, everything."

A smile plays on his lips and I almost pass out at the sight of his dimples, "My pleasure, princess."

I instinctively lean into him and wrap my arms around his firm torso, catching him off guard with a hug. After he processes what I'm doing, he's quick to hug me back, resting his head on top of mine.

When I pull back, I give him a small peck on his cheek, and I see him blush and tense up. For once, I'm not the one blushing. I like it on him though, he's cute when he blushes. I guess I'll just have to do that more often...

He clears his throat and stands up, "I'll pick you up tomorrow for school."

"Thank you, Cole, but I'm not going to school tomorrow," I explain apologetically, watching his smile drop and his brows furrow.

"Why not?" he asks, and I can't help but feel the disappointment radiating off of him.

"Family stuff," I say truthfully, deciding not to explain everything right now, "But what about Thursday?"

A smile returns to his face, and he nods briefly before turning around and walking towards the elevator. He looks back at me — more than once — and I can't help but blush and get all awkward.

Once the elevator door closes, I go back into the apartment. Andrés was sitting down on the couch with furrowed brows and his arms crossed in front of him.

"Why did a boy bring you home?" Andrés asks, practically scolding me.

"Look who cares all of a sudden," I drawl and roll my eyes.

He scoffs, "Don't say that. You know I care about you, Marsie."

"I'm not 10 anymore, Andrés! Stop bossing me around, stop controlling who I talk to, and, for the love of God, please, stop calling me Marsie!" I blurt.

I'm done with him acting like my parent. I never see him anymore and the only times I do, he's yelling at me or scolding me for something. He does what I do all the time, and am I scolding him? NO.

"I just want to make sure you're safe. Sorry for being a good big brother," he says passive aggressively, holding his hands up in a false surrender.

"Don't do that. If you wanted to make sure I was safe, or if you wanted to be a good big brother, you would visit to do more than just boss me around," I say truthfully, trying to hold back the tears that are welling in my eyes.

"All I wanted was for you to come out for dinner. That's it, Marsie. Sorry I stopped you from being a slut. Please, continue. I was leaving anyway," he huffs as he walks by me, not even bothering to avoid shoulder checking me.

All I can do is scoff, and when I hear the door slam shut, I let the tears fall.

I miss my brother, and even though he's being a douche bag, I know it's just because it's that time of the year. It's hard for all of us, but it's even harder that we have to go through it alone.

I just want my family back together, but I know that's not happening any time soon.