Brother After Dark

Chapter Forty-Nine

Blaire.

I didn’t know how much time flew by. All I knew was that my beautiful dirty secret has finally spilled out in the open. I couldn’t pull away from the visibly upset Zach, who held me close to his chest as I buried my face in his chest, too embarrassed to continue the staring competition with our friends. But the strong demeanor he wore to make me feel better did little to alleviate my apprehension.

Marie was the first to break the silence.

“Bee! What the fuck do you think you are doing?” she screamed, tears peering through her eyes. She covered her face with her palms as she sobbed into them.

Kenzo didn’t say anything. He just stood there coolly with his hands inside his pockets. His attitude since I and Zach bumped into him earlier that evening showed that he already knew what was going on with us.

Trepidation consumed Jessie. She lost words to describe the obscenity playing right before her eyes. Her eyes blinked in disbelief for several seconds but her open mouth didn’t produce words.

I pulled myself away from Zach’s warm embrace, ready to face my demons. These people deserved at least my boldness to look at them straight in the eyes and own up to my mess. I should have known that a make-out session in the corridor with Zach would ignite doom. I slowly turned to them, moving closer with my heart out in my mouth.

“Gu-guys, it’s no-not what you th-think,” I stuttered.

“Sonofabitch!” Damien swore and took menacing steps toward us, his eyes shooting daggers. I saw the outlines of his veins popping from his neck, and his fists clenched.

Zach reacted on impulse and pulled me back gently, afraid that Damien was coming to harm me. He ignored my slight protest and stood in front of me, standing between me and Damien.

Damien pushed Zach with such violent force that the latter almost lost his balance.

“Stay away from her, you bastard,” Damien cursed.

“Damien! Stop!” I screamed in fear. But Zach stood firm. I tried to step between them, but Zach held me back.

“It’s okay, Blaire, I’ll take care of this,” he assured me in his usual cool voice.

“Guys, enough!” Kenzo interjected and came toward them.

“If you dare touch my cousin again, I swear, you are dead!” Damien snarled, his eyes fiery.

“You can't understand, Damien! Leave him alone!” I yelled, struggling against Zach so that I could block Damien off him, but his grip was too strong for me.

“What the fuck are you doing with my cousin? You asshole!” asked Damien, advancing toward Zach as if he was ready for a fight.

Zach kept mute, not uttering a word. The two men locked eyes in a daring contest of masculine confidence, each scheming his own thoughts. I saw monstrosity in Damien, and bravery in Zach. These were men in my life that I called family, poised to brawl because of me, each trying to protect me in his own way.

I was relieved when Kenzo reached behind Damien, but it was cut short when Damien suddenly lashed out at Zach with his right fist. I gasped in horror as his hard rock knuckles connected to Zach’s left cheek. I heard a cracking sound from the effect that sent shivers down my spine.

“Damien! Stop it!” My voice was high-pitched than I’d intended. Marie and Jessie who stood afar exclaimed in shock at the assault, but they didn’t move.

“Whoa! Calm down, dude!” Kenzo chided and tried to grab Damien’s arms, but my cousin’s determination to draw blood was too strong. He wrestled himself free from Kenzo’s grasp and hit Zach again on the neck. His knuckles colored.

He made an attempt to strike again but Kenzo got him this time, cuffing his arms behind him strongly with his own two powerful arms.

“Keep your filthy hands off Blaire from now on, you hear me?” Damien continued to curse.

“Hey, Dame, get a hold on yourself!” Kenzo warned.

Zach stood like a statue, the spots where he was hit were turning red. He didn’t fight back. He didn’t even try to dodge the blows nor reacted to the attack. His reaction melted my heart. It’s a known fact that one-on-one, three Damiens wouldn’t stand a chance against one Zach, thanks to his black belts in karate. Yet, he chose to stand down tonight because of me – because of our family!

Tears streamed down my eyes. This was not happening. But it was happening! And it was all my fault.

Damien finally cooled off when Kenzo scolded him. “This is not the way to settle matters like these,” said Kenzo.

Damien nodded. “A’ight,” he said and turned his back against me and Zach, panting hard to stop himself from trembling with anger.

Kenzo put hand on my shoulder. Tears keep strolling down my cheeks.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Y-yeah.” I lied amidst sobs, shivering.

“Damien was just shocked. He’ll get over it.”

I can never be fine again after tonight! I said in my mind but on the outside, I could only reply by nodding, too choked with tears to say a word.

“Go back to your room with the girls. You ladies have a lot of talking to do,” Kenzo suggested. I could see sympathy written all over his face. “I’ll help Z fix this, okay?” he added, sounding like a big brother.

I nodded again and whispered a faint “thanks”.

All this while, Jessie and Marie stared at us like a cinema on TV, looking clueless on how to intervene.

Kenzo walked over to Zach. He patted Zach’s shoulders. “You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, thanks,” I heard Zach’s low voice, expressionless.

“Let’s go. You, me and Damien. We need to have a serious talk.” Then he turned to Damien and snapped his fingers. “Come on, Dame, let’s go.”

Still enraged, Damien didn’t move. “I’m not going anywhere with that perv,” he snapped, his dreary eyes fixed on Zach.

“Hey, grow up, man!” Kenzo urged him. “This perv here can only be dealt with when he’s spoken to, man-to-man. So, stop being a pussy and come along.”

Those motivational words did the magic. Damien hesitated for some seconds, then he walked up to the two guys. Kenzo stood between them, putting one arm each on each guy’s shoulders. None of them spoke a word as he dragged them away through the exit door.

The hour has come for me to face my friends. I didn’t know how to do it, but I had to try. Marie’s sobs refused to cease as she went back inside. Jessie eyed me scornfully and followed her. I forced my weak legs to convey me to our room to face the grand jury.

Once inside the room, we were silent for some minutes, except for Marie who kept sniffing, trying to stop her whining.

All of a sudden, she lashed out like a viper. “How could you!?”

I stared at her, speechless. What would I say? They would never understand how I fell in love with my brother anyway. I doubt anyone would understand what I felt right now.

“Bee, you are disgusting,” Jessie supported her. “I am so disappointed in you! And your brother should have known better than seduce you!”

Despite my state of misery, I wouldn’t sit here and let her insult Zach. “Don’t you dare say that about him! You can say whatever you want about me but leave him out of this!” I said, my voice full of warning.

“Don’t turn this around! You know what you did was despicable!” Marie spat out.

“You guys can’t understand how I feel. Stop judging us without knowing the truth,” I defended, frustrated that they don’t even see this from my point of view.

“Truth?” Marie asked and smirked. “The only truth here is that Zach is your brother!”

I wanted to reply but Jessie cut me off.

“Bee, you adored your brother even when he wasn’t with you! You never forgot him. You are the one who’s treated him like family! So, fucking him really does feel like incest!” Jessie said, shaking her head in disgust.

I placed my hands on my forehead. I needed to calm my nerves before I explode.

“What will your mysterious boyfriend say if he finds out about this?” Marie asked.

My tears’ floodgate finally broke, and I let it flow. I sobbed into my palms for some time. They didn’t bother to console me, and I was grateful for that.

“There is no boyfriend, I lied,” I said after I found my voice.

“Bu-but...” Marie stuttered. She sounded more confused than before.

“Zach is the boyfriend. We both agreed to keep our affairs a secret from everyone until we are ready to let it out,” I said, sniffing.

I didn’t hold back. What’s the point? They already saw everything.

“It—it all started at the concert. I fell in love with Zach that night. Even the realization that he’s my brother didn’t stop my feelings for him,” I sobbed.

They didn’t interrupt me. I was just hoping that maybe the truth would make them come to terms with my situation.

“Zach was adopted by my called parents even before I was born. We were not blood-related,” I continued. “Then his adoption was nullified by the court many years ago. He left our house immediately after the verdict was passed, and I grew up without him.

“The locket was the only memory of him that I had with me,” I said. By now, I’ve stopped crying and I had a firm grip of myself. “After we returned home and lived together as brother and sister again, we tried to fight what we feel for each other. We knew that nobody would approve of our relationship. But we never saw each other as brother and sister. Since Red Fest… Zach to me was… Zach. The first guy I fell in love with.”

They remained quiet, absorbing every word I just said.

I sniffed and looked at them straight in the eyes. “I love Zach like my own life! I can’t change that, neither can anyone change that! And he loves me too!” I was speaking louder than necessary but I was upset, emotional, and hurt. Now, more than ever, nothing else matters but Zach.

Fresh tears welled in my eyes as I braced myself for more hurtful words that my friends would say to me. But they didn’t do that. Instead, Marie came to sit beside me and rubbed my back soothingly.

“I’m sorry, Bee, for judging you,” she said. There are no more traces of anger in her voice. I nodded but didn’t raise my head to look at her.

Jessie sat beside me, too. Her soft palm landed on my hair, and she stroked my hair gently.

“I’m sorry too,” she said. “I was only looking out for you. But you’re right. You and Zach are just victims of the situation. You can’t choose who to fall in love with. Maybe this is just fate playing a game with you.”

I summoned the courage to look at them. I managed to smile as I spread my arms for them to hug me. We sobbed together. Relief rushed through me. At least my best friends had forgiven me, and they understood that this is beyond mine or Zach’s control.

“I guess everything is going to be fine,” Marie said in a quiet voice. “You and Zach will figure this out.”

“This is going to get rough. You need to prepare yourself for the storm ahead,” Jessie said carefully, her voice full of weary. “You may not be able to handle the problems you will face soon if your family should know about this. Remember you told us that your parents love Zach than they love you.”

“I’m ready for whatever,” I said stubbornly.

“It’s easier said than done, Bee,” came Marie’s voice. “Now that my loudmouthed boyfriend, Damien, has seen what’s happening between you and Zach, he might tell your parents or all your relatives. You will be viewed as the villain who seduced your brother. They will never accept your relationship because they still see Zach as their son. But you? I don’t think they would think twice about disowning you.”

The truth was bitter, but it must be told regardless. My friends were right, and my initial confidence to fight for love waned. I wasn’t sure of myself anymore.

The beeping sound on my phone interrupted my train of thoughts. I’ve almost forgotten that I have a phone. The sound came from inside my purse at the head of the bed, close to my pillow.

I checked my phone and a message icon from a strange number popped in my face. I clicked on it in anxiety, wondering who it could be.

My breath caught up in my throat when I read the content. A text accompanied by a photo that I’ve never seen before appeared on the screen.

I know your dirty little secret.

My heartbeat quickened as I looked at the picture. Marie and Jessie peered over my shoulder and saw the picture, too.

“What the fuck?!” we all screamed in unison.

I froze, blood draining from my body. This night could only get worse for me and Zach.

The photo that the stranger sent is of me and Zach standing outside the bar, with his arms around my waist, as he was nuzzling my neck.