The Secret

Ch. 17 | No left turn

Fabian

Travis held onto the left side of his face hiding the shiner and his busted lip as he followed me into the diner. I slid into the booth and Travis slid in across from me. I gave him a cold stare before words could even form out of my mouth. "How could you fucking do this to me, man?"

I replayed a memory in my head of a drunken night in college when Travis poured his fucking heart out in our dorm room.He laid on his bed with his legs rested on the wall, "Yeah I'm a man whore but I'm gonna marry Brianne one day." He went on and on about kindergarten all the way to fucking last week, when he kicked the living shits out of Brianne's guy at the frat party. I listened to everything that slurred out of his drunken mouth. Do I believe this fucker can change his ways that's he's been accustomed to since pretty much middle school? Absolutely fucking not. Okay, maybe that's a bit dramatic, but I do think he would do what it takes to win her heart, if he wasn't such a selfish player. When he was done ranting, I made him promise never to tell Bri and never show it. I told him to stay the fuck away from my sister in that way, as long as he lives. I'm pretty sure he was sobered up by then and it registered crystal clear.

Finally, more words were able to come out of my mouth that weren't curse slurs followed by my fist, "Did you?..." Travis knows the exact question I'm trying to say as I try to fight the bile rising in my throat. Travis was quiet, but he was honest as he didn't look me in the eyes and slowly nodded shamefully. The fact it was him that took my sister's virginity had my blood boiling lividly.
"But I haven't had sex with anyone else, Fabian. Bri is it for me. I-" Is he fucking kidding me? "You fucking piece of shit, Travis! I don't want to hear it. It happened and you went against my one fucking request as my best friend not to ever touch my sister. And you did. You fucking did it!" He lied to me. They both did."Fabian, I love Brianne. You have to have already known this. I don't know what else that I can tell you that isn't a lie." How ever long this has been going on has been a lie."I said, I don't want to fucking hear it." I was scared to ask, but I did anyway, "Does.. she love you? Like that? Did you make her?"
"I thought you said you don't want to hear it?" I don't.
"Just don't fucking lie to me, Shinoda!"
"I'm not."
"Then tell me, did you make my sister fall in love with you?" Travis stared at me for a long moment, "No. Yes. I don't know."
"What the fuck do you fucking mean you don't fucking know?"
"I don't know, Fabian. I've been giving her, and only her nothing but my entire heart and my attention for months. And I've changed. Not just for her, but for myself, for Sophia." I looked up at Travis on course of the subject, "What's going on with that?" He shifted his bloodshot green eyes at me. I raised my eyebrows in a flash in question waiting for him to answer. I'm not a dick, I still give a shit about his fostering situation.The waiter set down two sodas in front of us and he pulled his beverage closer to him. He shrugged staring into the liquid. "She's coming to live with me soon. I've had more than enough time and visits to make that happen and_" He paused and his voice broke a little. "And what?" I asked."Bani was coming with me to every visit." Oh, shit! Of course she was.
"What?"
"She's been going with me to_"
"No I heard you, bro. It's just that what are you gonna do when she lives with you? She's going to be expecting to see Brianne around and_"
"And what? Brianne is a part of her life too. There's no pulling Sophia away from her at this point."
"So what? You're just trying to wife my sister just so you can foster Sophia?"
"No. It's not like that."
"It looks like it. So you're just lying to Bri as much you're lying to Sophia? Giving her temporary hope of a family that will never be?"
"Fabian, no one is lying to anyone."
"You lied to me. You both did. Why?" He huffed an angry laugh and pointed at his bottom lip that I busted an hour ago. I stood up from the table and slapped a ten dollar bill on the table. "I'm leaving." I was pissed all over again."I gotta get my car."
"Where is it?" I asked. He stared at me scared to speak the next word, "Bani's."

I drove him back to Bri's apartment. When we pulled up to the front of the complex, I turned off the car and I got out and lit a stoge.
"I shouldn't be asking this, but are you planning on leaving right away?" That was really a stupid question, but considering the blackout mode I turned on while annihilating my best friend, I would think the answer would have been, Yes. He was scared to even move but he slowly shook his head. I nodded slowly and took a dead drag from my stoge. I blew out my smoke, "Good. After tonight, that's it, Travis. Stay the fuck away from her." He didn't say anything. He took a few steps backwards from me before he turned around and entered the glass doors to the complex building.