Regiphobia

The Sister

Goda and Juan had slept together that night as well. This time, however, Juan had to work until after dinner, which sucked. They kissed their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Goda didn't have anything planned. At least, not until he was approached by Gabe's sister, Camille.

"Hey Goda!" she said. She resembled her brother a lot, with long, curly blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a thin but muscular frame.

"Oh, h-hey," he said, a bit surprised she'd actually be talking to him. He didn't speak with his fiancé's siblings much since it made the other a bit annoyed for some reason.

"I don't have much to do today, and I thought you might not either since Gabe's gone, so I was wondering if you'd like to join Peter, Ben, and I for a while?" she said. Goda hesitated but nodded.

"OK, where to?" he asked her.

"They're waiting in Gabe's sitting room, Peter stole the key," Camille said with a playful smile. Goda smiled back, and the two made their way to the room in question. It wasn't a very long walk, thankfully.

Camille held the door for Goda. He could already hear the brothers chatting.

"C'mon, dude, it's not like I'd get caught! There's not even a camera in his room! Plus, he's our brother, what's he gonna do?" Peter said, a grin on his lips.

"Yes, but he's also the king, and you know how he can get," Benjamin sighed, his foot lightly tapping on the floor. He turned his head, lighting up when he saw Goda and Camille, "Oh thank god, can you two tell Peter how dangerous stealing Gabriel's key was?"

"Oh, c'mon, Ben, it's really not that big a deal," Camille teased.

"It's Benjamin, not Ben," he huffed, but then turned his gaze to Goda, "Come on, you're going to marry him, you have to be able to prove these two wrong!"

"Goda's vote counts as two, since, y'know, marriage," Peter chimed in.

"Agreed," Camille nodded. All six eyes were on him. Anxiety rose in his chest. He could either tell the truth or try and upset the least amount of people in the room. Just as the panic started to set in, he remembered who he was with. None of them hated him. He was pretty sure they liked him since he at least did something to help with Gabe's anger issues.

"...It was a st-tupid thing to do," Goda admitted with a small shrug, "He can get..."

"I will give you one more chance, got it? Tell me the truth."
"I promise-!"
He felt the stinging on his cheek. It hurt. Why? Why? Why why why why why why why why why whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhyw-

"...pretty mad about small th-things." He spoke as if it was something to be joked over, and the others seemed to brush over it.

"Dammit!" Peter sighed, still smiling.

"See? I told you it was stupid," he cast a non-serious glare at Peter, then looked at Goda with a smile, "Thank you, my good sir."

Goda smiled back, giving a small nod. Camille walked over, taking a seat around the table with her brothers. Goda only hesitated for a few moments before joining them. He leaned his crutches against the table beside him. His eyes scanned over the other three. They were very obviously siblings. Even though Peter had hazel eyes and Benjamin had absolutely no muscle on him, their resemblance was still incredible. Goda was a clear odd man out, with his dark eyes and red hair. He didn't mind anymore, though. He was just happy to have something resembling a family after everything with his father. He was glad he could say he'd soon have a sister and two brothers-in-law.

He tuned back into the conversation as Peter snickered, "You really gotta get that pole outta your ass, Benny boy."

"It's Benjamin!" the other boy whined, "And what if something happens and I end up being king? I mean, Gabriel and Camille are only two people, and we can all see how incompetent of a ruler you are."

"Come on, Ben, if anything were to happen to Gabe, no one would take their eyes off me," Camille rolled her eyes.

"You say that as if they don't already," Peter reminded.

"Ugh, don't remind me," she sighed, "Did I tell you guys I got proposed to again last Friday?"

"Did you at least kn-know them this time?" Goda asked, a tiny smile on his lips.

"Nope! Just a random dude who had, as he said," Camille cleared her throat, putting on a silly impression of a nobleman, "'Seen me from afar and couldn't help but fall for my beauty and grace.'"

"Ewwww, no one should even think that about my sister," Peter said, exaggerating a shiver.

"Peter, we all know the girls Camille won't stop inviting to the palace constantly gush over you," Ben sighed, "It's genuinely horrifying, honestly."

"Have none of you not-ticed that servant girl that constantly stares at B-Benjamin?" Goda asked, "She went beet red one t-time when he thanked her for bringing his meal ov-ver."

"Seriously?" Ben looked genuinely surprised. As did the other two, to a lesser degree.

"You noticed something like that?" Peter questioned, looking at Goda. The latter shrank down in his seat at the sudden mass of attention on him.

"Uh- Y-Yeah, she just- Sorry, I won't say anything next t-time-" Goda stuttered out, lowering his head slightly.

Camille then jumped in, "Why would you have to do that? There's no need to apologize, it was just a question. Usually, people don't notice the servants and guards, is all."

Goda said nothing for a moment, fearing that they would get upset or something.

I've certainly noticed a guard...

"Still," he mumbled, "Sorry."

"Seriously, dude, I've noticed that, why are you always apologizing?" Peter asked, "What's it for? You're hardly ever doing something wrong. You do it a lot around Gabe, too. Something wrong?"

"N-No, not at all!" he answered quickly, looking up again, "J-Just a bad habit, I guess, from before this all- It was..."

"You're fucking late again, pigshit."
"I'm sorry, I d-didn't mean-"
"Bullshit!"
His hand wrapped around the collar of his shirt, his vision was fading, his memory of the night cutting out as his dad pulled him back to slam him against the wall.

"...k-kinda a long story."

"Alright then..." Camille said, but she didn't look like she totally believed him. They eased back into normal conversation, but Goda couldn't focus. Not with the all too vivid memory of that night echoing in his head. He couldn't remember anything past that moment until when he woke up three days later. He had been six. That was the first time his memory started cutting out.

He took a few breaths, but he couldn't focus. When the conversation went quiet for a moment, he said something quickly about having something he needed to do before standing, grabbing his crutches, and leaving the room. He heard three goodbyes as he exited.

He made his way across the floor to his room, where he went in and sat on the edge of his bed. He shut his eyes, taking in a few deep breaths to calm down a bit. He couldn't focus, still. It was like he wasn't fully in the room with himself. It felt... wrong. He laid back, staring at the ceiling. He could just take some time to rest until Juan came back.

Time. That was all he needed. Just more time. Time to rest, time to heal, time to build his courage, time to decide.