Superficial (DE)

Twenty-nine.

"Lorenzo don't do that!"

"Oh shut up Brandon, it's just a snail. Don't be a wuss,"

A young Brandon stood with his fists clenched, watching his half brother stomp on snails, enjoying the way the fragile shells crunched under his feet and their slimy bodies splattered against the grey pavement.

"I said stop!" Brandon shouted, shoving Lorenzo. "You're killing them— those are alive!"

Lorenzo stumbled, tripping over the untied laces of his shoe. He snarled before shoving Brandon back harder, making him fall backwards and skin the palms of his small hands.

Brandon shot out of his sleep, sitting up right in his empty bed, a cold sweat blanketing his body. His chest heaved up and down as he surveyed his dark, quiet room before looking down at the sweaty palms of his hands seeing the scar he'd obtained from falling onto a rock when he was younger— from being pushed by Lorenzo.

Cerise hadn't come back with Brandon that night. She refused to go anywhere— anywhere with Brandon to be exact. Cerise knew there was something Brandon wasn't telling her, and for Lorenzo to so graciously stop by and extend a friendly warning only days after Brandon's random proposal to move in for the duration of the trial only proved to Cerise that she were right— there's was something he wasn't telling her.

Cerise looked at Brandon like a stranger last night, as if he could no longer be trusted. She felt like she didn't know who to trust anymore.

The teary, fearful look in Cerise's eyes had been keeping Brandon up all night and when he finally did fall asleep, the skeletons in his closet woke him right back up.

Clenching his jaw tightly, he kicked the covers off and swung his feet over the edge of the bed— he had somewhere to go and someone to see.

LORENZO!" Brandon shouted angrily, pushing through the massive double front doors of Lorenzo's estate. His baritone voice echoed throughout the foyer as the doors slammed back closed behind him, his voice bouncing off the marble pillars that lined the entry way. Brandon came to a stop, waiting for Lorenzo to appear and reveal himself.

"I was expecting you," Lorenzo's voice said, entering the room before his physical body did.

Brandon clenched his jaw tightly seeing Lorenzo's tall and lanky silhouette appear before him, much like Brandon's own. He wore a suit and a smug smirk with his greased black hair slicked over to one side. "I didn't shake her up too bad— did I?" Lorenzo asked with a teasing smirk.

"What the fuck was that— huh?" Brandon gritted, snatching Lorenzo up by the breast plates of his suit just as soon as he came within reach. "What did you tell her?" He snarled.

Lorenzo's olive green eye twitched as he stared back at Brandon. "Let me go," He sad calmly through clenched teeth, plucking the toothpick from his mouth.

Brandon's grip tightened on the expensive suit as his dark orbs pierced fiercely into Lorenzo's before giving him a small shove as he let go.

"Thank you," Lorenzo replied smartly, smoothing over his suit. "I didn't mean for Tommy to be so aggressive—,"

"What did you tell her!" Brandon's shouted again, cutting the small talk short.

"Relax brother, I didn't tell her anything,"

"Don't call me that," Brandon warned.

A devious smile spread on Lorenzo's face seeing he'd struck a nerve within Brandon. "But you are my brother— we share the same blood,"