enemies | rc

quarante

charlotte's point of view

seeing my parents after being over a year in hiding should've been exciting, emotional, happy. it was none of the above. i stared at them knowing they had been lying to me ever since i was born. christopher hadn't even walked into the room, his feet were glued to the floor on my doorway. his quickly moved from my parents, to me, then back to my parents.

if my legs worked, i would've ran away already. this is not how i wanted to see them again. i didn't want them to see me so vulnerable.

my dad was the first one to slowly walk toward me. he was cautious, as if i would bite his head off if he made a wrong move. i couldn't help the tears that formed at the corners of my eyes.

"charlotte..." he pressed his lips together before grinning. "daughter, i—"

"i'm not your daughter." i muttered.

it was like time stopped. my dad's eyes slowly widened as he reached for my hands. i crossed my arms over my chest so he couldn't hold them.

"what are you talking about?" he added an uncomfortable laugh that only confirmed me that he was lying. "of course you are, lottie."

i sobbed. "you're not my dad. you lied to me. do you even know who my actual dad is?"

i felt christopher's presence beside me. he wrapped an arm around me and rubbed small circles on my arm with his thumb. i immediately felt better knowing he was with me.

"watch your words, charlotte." mom spoke this time.

"being called a whore offends you? then you shouldn't have acted like one." i taunted her. "tell me who my father is."

"charlotte!" dad scolded me.

it was mom's turn to start sobbing. i scoffed. "if you don't tell me—"

"you've been seeing richard camacho, haven't you?" my dad spoke slowly.

i blinked. "how did you know that?"

he smiled. "you seriously didn't think we wouldn't put a bodyguard on you?"

i stared at them. "i'm going to pretend like you guys just absolutely offended me by putting me a bodyguard and then proceed to ask... what the fuck does that have to do with my dad?"

"it's his dad." my uncle interjected. "richard is your brother."

i stared at mom, who was still sobbing in dad's arms. my eyes fluttered shut. if i wasn't sitting already, my knees would've betrayed me and i'd be on the floor. christopher was holding both my hands now and whispering to me, but i shut him out.

"he... he can't be." i mumbled. i wanted to lay on my bed and hide away from everyone and everything. i shoved christopher's hands away from me and i tried to stand up on my own.

i saw his lips moving, but i only heard my screams. i pushed at his chest, tried to make my legs work. i couldn't get away from it.

my mother's eyes were full of tears when they looked into mine. my father was holding her, whispering at her. they mirrored christopher and i, except that they were much calmer than i was.

i managed to stand up. christopher realized i wouldn't give up, so he held onto my arms and practically dragged me out of my room. by the time we reached his room, i had stopped yelling.

"charlotte? lottie, talk to me."

i closed my eyes. "richard would've told me. there's absolutely no fucking way."

my phone started buzzing in my pocket. i took it out, richard was calling me. i took a deep breath and answered it.

"h-hello?"

"princess, how are you? i thought you were gonna call when you got home."

i opened my mouth to respond, but i closed it again. how was i, really? oh, i'm just fucking peachy. i found out you're my brother. crazy, right? it's a small world. makes sense why your (our?) dad wants to kill my parents. if we had a kid and you married someone else, i'd probably kill you and your wife too.

"i'm fine, richard." i sighed and dropped myself on christopher's bed. "can i call you tomorrow? i-i'm feeling kinda tired."

i heard him chuckle. "goodnight, baby. i love you."

"goodnight." i said quickly before hanging up.

a single second of silence passed before i started crying again.

"holy shit." i murmured. "i'm in love with my brother. i fucked my brother."

christopher winced. "yeah, i didn't need to know– oh god, it's in my mind now. thanks a lot."

"my mom fucked richard's dad, who is also my actual dad, not my dad who isn't actually my dad, he's my dad dad."

"aaaand now i have that in my mind too." he nodded and dropped himself on his bed face first.

"does richard know?" i thought out loud. "is that why he wanted me to talk to my mom so bad?"

"if richard knew," he said loudly enough for me to understand him. "he would've broken up with you, he would've said something. and that's assuming my dad'd telling the truth."

"of course he is." i scoffed. "my parents didn't even attempt to correct him. it's—"

i cut myself off. i had a weird feeling in my throat. it took me a moment to realize what it was.

"christopher." i began to stand on my own, but i couldn't walk by myself. "bathroom, now."

he stood up, taking all the time he wanted, then let me hold onto him to walk towards the bathroom. i held a hand over my mouth as i tried to walk quickly.

i dropped on my knees in front of the toilet. christopher immediately realized what was happening and held onto my hair. he grabbed my hair tie from my wrist and attempted to put my hair up in a bun. it was messy as hell, but at least it kept my hair out of my face.

"i'm no doctor, but throwing up multiple times in a couple of days can't be good." christopher shrugged.

i washed my mouth and hands after making sure my clothes had remained clean. he helped me walk back to the bed, despite his insistence to carry me.

"do you wanna stay here tonight? i doubt they're still in your room, but i also doubt you want to be alone." he pressed his lips together. "dumb question, but... uh, are you okay, lottie?"

i smiled and nodded. he was probably the only one i let read me like a book. despite that, i lie straight to his face.

"i'm fine, chris."