Deception: No More Pain (Urban)

You Can't Love Me

Marisol

I can't believe this. I gave him my whole life. He hit me and treated me like I was nothing. This wasn't the first time he did me like that, but it doesn't stop the hurt.

Once I finally go in the house, I notice my mom and stepdad didn't come home yet. My stepbrother, Brandon, is still here though. Damn! I try to run upstairs to my room as fast as I can, but he stops me.

"Marisol."

"Shit!" I whisper. "Uhm, yes Brandon?" I continue sweetly.

"Come here real quick."

I put my hood up, so that it covers both sides of my face. I wipe all of my tears.

"What the hell's wrong witchu?!"

"Nothing. Brandon, I really don't feel good, do you need something?" I reply, annoyed.

"Mhm. Why do you have your hood up? You're in the fuckin house!"

"I told you, I'M NOT FEELING GOOD."

He comes and rips my hood down.

"What the fuck, Brandon?!" I yell, quickly putting it back up.

"What happened?"

"Look, what happens to me does not concern you, okay?"

"Actually...it does."

"And what makes you so sure about that? I wanna hear this...what makes you SO entitled to my life?" I say, sarcastically.

"It's because...I love you." he mumbles.

"What?"

"I said, I FUCKIN' LOVE YOU." He says, loud and clear this time.

I pause for a second, deciding to play dumb, I reply with, "Yeah, you're supposed to love me, we're basically brother and sister. I love you, too."

He senses what I'm doing, "Don't play dumb with me. You know how I feel about you. I'm in love with you."

"I'm sorry, Brandon." I say, shaking my head, I continue with, " I didn't know you felt so strongly about me."

"Well you know now. So tell me what happened." He demands.

"Can we go upstairs and do this?"

"Yeah. Let's go." He grabs my hand and leads me up to his room. We get there and I start to explain what happened with Mike.

"Well I was dating this 21-year-old guy named Mike Santos...."

"Hold on, Mike Santos..." He begins to think, whispering Mike's name.

"You know him?"

He pauses. "No...no I don't"

"Are you sure?" I ask him, not convinced.

"Yeah I'm sure, just keep going."

"Okay, so I was dating him secretly for six months. And then tonight, he wanted to talk, and he broke it off. He told me it wasn't that big of a deal, he was bored with me, and that he has another girl." I stopped for a second, choking on the words, fighting the tears.

"Can I ask you somethin?" He asks.

"Sure..."

"Are you still a virgin?"

My silence gave away the answer.

"Mari, you can tell me."

I shake my head no, still not making a sound.

"With him?" He asked.

I nodded.

"Damn. Okay, continue."

"So then, after he tells me that since we were a secret, it shouldn't matter whether we're together or not. I pushed him. Hard. Then...." I stop, pain all over my face, tears in my eyes.

"Then?"

I don't answer. I look up, hoping that somehow the tears will go away, I take a deep breath.

"Then?!?!" He says, impatiently.

"Then he....he slapped me." He turns red, I can tell Brandon is furious. "He got in the car, rolled the window up, started blasting the radio and drove off, while I stood there, in the street, begging him to stay." My voice fades, as I say the last part.

He puts his hand on my face, gently stroking the now bruised area with his thumb. I kiss his hand. He looks me in my eyes, a look that makes me feel safe. Then we kiss deeply. I pull away, biting my lip nervously. He is such a good kisser, his lips are so soft I don't know what to do. We are supposed to be like brother and sister. He can't love me. "Uhm. Brandon, I should go." I get up to leave. He grabs my arm and pulls me back down onto his lap and into a kiss. Once we break, I get up and rush out. In the doorway, I turn around, and in a voice a little louder than a whisper, shaking my head, "You can't love me."

He says, firmly. " I can, I will, and I do."

Thanks, Brandon. Just complicate my life even more.