“Here,” Alyssa said softly, handing me some of Tony’s old clothes since I had neglected to grab some of my own from the apartment.

“Thanks,” I murmured. Before changing, though, I backed up against the wall and sunk to the floor with a heavy sigh.

“Are you okay?” she asked in a small voice.

“I don’t know what to do,” I mumbled. Alyssa didn’t answer. “I mean, about Bree being back. I don’t know what to do with her. I didn’t mean it in the sense that I don’t know what to do between you guys,” I clarified quickly.

“I know,” she said gently. She slid down the wall next to me to be at my level. “I know you’re probably really confused right now,” she whispered sadly, caressing my cheek. I nodded with a sigh and closed my eyes, turning my head into her hand.

“I don’t regret just leaving her there to go to you, but now what do we do with her? Tony and Drew are supposed to go back there, but is Bree staying for good?” I asked, almost rhetorically because I knew that we both didn’t know the answer.

“Maybe you should call her,” she suggested.

“Alyssa…”

“No, I’m serious, Vic. I know you still care about her. You’d be a dick if you didn’t,” she said, and I cracked a small smile. “I know that you wouldn’t abandon her just because she abandoned you,” she said, kissing my cheek. I nodded, snaking my arms around her waist and pulling her into me.

“I wish I could just forget about all of this shit,” I muttered into her shoulder. She curled her legs around so she sat comfortably on my lap. I closed my eyes and rested my forehead on her shoulder. “I can’t keep up with all of this,” I sighed. I felt her nod.

“Unfortunately life moves fast, and we have to deal with it,” she said, lifting her head and kissing the side of mine. I sighed again.

“I should probably call Tony first to tell him before things get really awkward,” I reasoned, and she nodded in agreement. I picked her up and dropped her onto her bed with a sly smile. She grinned, sitting up and crossing her legs. I grabbed my phone and dialed Tony’s number, sinking into the mattress next to her.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Hey, uh, sorry to bother you, but I wanted to tell you something real quick,” I said.

“That’s okay. What’s up?” he asked.

I took a deep breath. “Um, when Lissy said you guys were coming back to the apartment, she went back to the car and I went inside to grab some spare clothes, right, but when I walked inside, I, uh,” I sighed. “Bree’s back,” I finished lowly.

“Fuck,” he said plainly. “What… what did you do?” he asked. It wasn’t accusing, but it did sound like he was gritting his teeth, as if he was worried for his sister.

I squeezed Alyssa’s hand. “It wasn’t that hard of a decision, Tony,” I said.

“Is Alyssa okay?” he sounded very angry.

“Alyssa? She’s great. I’m with her right now,” I said, not fully registering that he probably assumed I had chosen Bree over her.

“Oh?”

“Shit, yeah, man. Sorry, yeah, I didn’t take Bree back. Of course I didn’t. I like your sister, dude,” I said, like it was obvious. This time, Lissy squeezed my hand.

“Oh, wow,” he said, sounding surprised.

“But I’m calling you because I don’t know what to do with Bree,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“Er, I kind of just left her there, Tony. I don’t know if she’s still there or where she’s going or what’s going to happen next,” I said.

“Oh, well we are almost there,” Tony said.

“Oh,” I sighed. I rubbed my face in stress.

“Here, why don’t you just give her a call, and call me back once you talk to her, okay? I don’t know what to tell you,” he sighed.

“Yeah, I’ll talk to her quickly. Sorry Tony.”

“Why are you apologizing? It’s okay. Just call me back.”

“Alright,” I said, quickly hanging up. I looked at Alyssa. “I have to call her. I don’t know what to say or do,” I sighed.

“Well, hopefully she’ll know what to say. Maybe you won’t have to do anything at all,” she said.

I nodded and dialed Bree’s number. “Vic?” she answered.

“Hi, Bree,” I said. “Um—”

“Don’t worry. I left,” she said.

“Oh? To where?”

“Vic,” she sighed. “If you want me to be honest, I never intended to live there,” she said. “The apartment is yours and Tony’s. My name isn’t even on the real estate agreement at all,” she admitted.

I gritted my teeth, biting my tongue from snapping at her for having this all planned from the beginning. “Oh,” I said curtly. “Well, I wasn’t just calling about that. I don’t really give a fuck about the apartment. I was calling to make sure you are okay since I just left you standing there, and I wanted to make sure you knew what you were going to do... er... next,” I said, my tone a little harsher than intended. Alyssa squeezed my hand, and I looked at her apologetically.

“Thanks Vic. I’m fine. I’m going back to my parent’s house for a little while,” she said.

“What were you expecting when you came back, Bree?” I asked, genuinely interested.

“I don’t know. I just wanted to see you. I wasn’t expecting you to come back to me, if that’s what you think. I just wanted you to know that I’m okay,” she said.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Bree,” I said honestly. “I’m not glad that you…” I trailed off and sighed. “Never mind. I don't want to fight with you over this,” I rubbed my face with my hand in stress again. “What’s done is done.”

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.

Sorry meant nothing to me, but for the sake of everyone’s sanity, I accepted her apology. “It’s fine. Just, uh, don't drop off the face of the earth again, alright?”

“I won’t,” she laughed shortly. “Bye, Vic,” she said softly.

“Bye, Bree,” I said, and then I hung up. I immediately redialed Tony’s number, and he answered quickly.

“Yeah?”

“She left again. The place is ours; it has been for the entire time. She never even put her name down as a co-owner. But that’s besides the point. It’s all clear,” I said with a grumble. I was a little pissed that Bree would do that and not even tell us.

“Oh, fuck, okay. Thanks, Vic. Are you okay?”

“I’m good, thanks,” I said. I was okay, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t a little angry at her still.

“Okay. I’m going to go, then. See ya later,” he said.

“Bye Tony. Tell Drew I say hi and I hope she feels better,” I said.

“Thanks, man, will do. Please don’t fuck my sister,” he snickered, and I snorted.

“Bye Tony,” I shook my head with a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” she asked after I hung up.

“Nothing,” I said with a light sigh, collapsing into her. I laid my head in her lap and curled against her, and she played with my hair.

“You okay?” she asked softly. I closed my eyes contently when she leaned forward to kiss my forehead.

“I am, really,” I said, turning and wrapping my arms around her tiny little waist.

“What do you want to do tonight?” I asked, tightening my arms around her.

“I don’t know,” she whispered, leaning back. I slid up, too, resting my chin on her shoulder.

“We can just cuddle all night,” I suggested, burying my face into her neck.

She chuckled. “You sound like a thirteen year old,” she laughed. “Except I like that idea,” she giggled, rolling over a little so she was facing me.

I grinned and kissed her on the lips. Despite the events of today, I still felt happy. A little angry, but mostly happy.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“For what?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I laughed. “For being you,” I said softly.

“Well, you’re welcome, I guess,” she laughed, kissing me again. “Since we’re being all sentimental, now, I suppose I should be thanking you, too,” she said.

I ran my fingers up and down her side that was facing up. “For what?” I asked.

“For making me happy,” she said quietly. At her words, she leaned forward and buried her face into my neck.

“Aw, you’re embarrassed,” I tickled her.

She squealed. “Am not!” she retorted.

“Lissy,” I said seriously.

She looked up with expecting eyes. “Are you happy?” I asked. I sat up and took her hand in mine, and she followed suite. My fingers danced up and down her forearm softly, tracing the scratches that I didn’t even think were going to scar. I was beyond happy that I got to her before her self-harm escalated.

“You make me happy, Vic,” she said quietly, leaning forward and connecting our lips once again.

“You make me happy, too,” I smiled, and then I planted small kisses all over her face. She giggled, falling backwards as I continued to attack her with kisses.

I sighed, staring at her happily. She stared back at me, and I ran my fingers through her hair. “God, I love you,” I said easily.

The words just slipped from my mouth subconsciously. I didn’t even think too hard about them, I didn’t question them or over think them because they just came out as naturally as the air that came out of my lungs—and who would question the process of breathing? She looked at me carefully, almost a little shocked that I said those words, but by the small smile lifting on her face I knew it was okay.

I wasn’t worried that I might have said the words too soon; I wasn’t even worried that I might have said the words before she felt the same way. It was how I felt, so they just flowed naturally off of my tongue. For once in my life I wasn’t obsessively running several different scenarios in my head. For once in my life I felt genuinely okay, despite everything that had happened hours prior to this moment. If anything, those bad things made me feel like this even more.

I stared at her for a few minutes, taking in every feature. Her long lashes brushed her cheeks as she slowly blinked, her big brown eyes stared up at me magnificently, her luscious brown hair fanned out around her head, her lips turned up in a small but significant smile, and her cheeks flushed a light pink.

I didn’t even wait for her to say anything back. I wasn’t anxious and dying for a response; she could say it when she was ready. Instead, I ducked my head and placed my lips firmly on hers, right where they belonged.

Notes

Sorry, it's short! But it's also sweet! So, yay for that! Yay fillers!