“M-Mike,” I breathed. My lungs turned to stone and my throat tightened. My legs wobbled.

“Shit, Mike, I told you we should have done this differently,” I heard Jaime mutter. I backed away from the door, my entire body shaking. I walked backwards into the room, the apartment door swinging open vulnerably. My eyes were wide and burning because I had yet to blink.

“Vic?” Jaime said softly, taking a timid step into the apartment. I hadn’t realized that I had backed up completely against the far wall until I looked around and saw that I had nowhere else to go.

“You’re fucking with me,” I accused. “This is a cruel joke, you bastard,” my voice shook. I slid down the wall hopelessly, my heart continuing to strain painfully.

“No, Vic, it’s r-really me,” Mike stepped into view, and I flinched. Seeing him made my head pound. “Shit,” I heard him breathe.

“Impossible,” I muttered.

“Vic, c’mon, let me help you stand up,” Jaime said gently. I stared up at him with almost frightened eyes. I shook my head in denial. “I know there’s no good way to go about this…” he tried.

“Y-You don’t know me,” I whispered.

“I know this is awkward,” Jaime sighed.

“I know it’s him, Himes. I can feel it,” I heard Mike mumble to Jaime. I furrowed my eyebrows at them.

“Y-You’re dead,” I whispered at that man who not only resembled my brother, but also sounded and acted just like him.

He chuckled. “No, I’m not,” he said. “This is me in the flesh,” he said.

“Then, what…” I shook my head. This didn’t make sense. I shuddered against the wall.

“Vic?” I suddenly heard Alyssa’s calming voice. I saw her walk out into the main room and then I saw her eyes widen when she saw me on the ground with two pretty large men in front of me. “Vic!” she whispered worriedly. She rushed over to me and avoided Jaime and “Mike.”

“Who are you?” Alyssa asked angrily at the two guys. She wrapped her arms around me protectively and helped me stand up. “Get the fuck out of here,” she said, giving me a squeeze.

"N-no," I breathed, shaking my head.

"You know them?" She asked. I nodded and then shook my head in utter disorientation. I suddenly felt very sick; I needed to sit down. I backed away from everyone again until my back hit the wall. I couldn't breathe.

"Vic," she said softly. She walked carefully to me and placed a hand over my pounding heart. "Breathe," she reminded me. I stared at Mike. I tried to regulate my breaths, but I kept faltering. This wasn’t real. This was impossible. Alyssa stepped in front of me, placing both of her hands on either side of my face. I continued to stare at Mike, even as she stood in front of me.

He looked like Mike. He acted like Mike. Something was different about him—maybe in the way he looked at me—but it was definitely Mike.

"Vic, talk to me," Alyssa said softly, ignoring the two men behind her. They stared at us warily, and I finally shifted my eye contact to hers. Immediately after doing so, it all hit me at once. Tears welled in my eyes and my breath continued to hitch in my throat. I slid down the wall and buried my face into my hands, sobbing.

"Vic...Why are you crying?"

I took a few ragged breaths. “Lissy…” I said quietly. “That’s…” I couldn’t get the words out. She would think I was crazy. She would think that I was having an episode, even though I knew I wasn’t. I knew I was just as sane as her. But how could I explain his presence?

“Can you let us explain?” Jaime spoke up.

I finally looked up, wiping my eyes of my tears. “Please do. Because I am really fucking confused right now,” I gritted my teeth.

I rubbed my face with my hands in stress. My mind was in overdrive.

Jaime opened his mouth to speak, but I stopped him. I had this new energy spread through me—anger.

“No,” I snapped. “Let him explain. You have a lot of fucking explaining to do,” I growled. Their eyes widened. “Explain to me exactly how the fuck you are alive right now,” I demanded. I knew I was being irrational—I should be happy, not angry. But anger was the only thing rushing through my veins in this moment. How could he do this to me?

“I don’t remember the fall, but when I woke up in the hospital Jaime was there, saying that he found me washed up on the river bank,” his voice shook as he spoke.

“The fall didn’t kill you?” I whispered. I saw him fall. I saw the red. I saw him being tossed around in the current. But he shook his head.

“Obviously not,” he said with a slight smile.

“What makes you think this is funny?” I glared, which immediately caused him to stop smiling. “Fuck you!” I yelled.

“Huh?”

“I said fuck you! You fucking ass hole! How long had it been? Almost a year? And you were alive the entire time!” I screamed. My body shook with rage and confusion. A knot was in my throat, but I didn’t try to choke it down. Instead, I let it all out in the form of loud sobs. I covered my face with my hand as I cried.

“Vic, I—”

“No, M-Mike. You have no idea what I’ve been through. And to think it could have all been avoided if I had known you were alive!”

“I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t—”

“What? You didn’t mean to?” I finished his sentence for him. Angrily, I pulled back my right fist. I wanted to punch him in his face so bad, and then I wanted to hug him. Because he really was my brother. I didn’t understand how this was possible, and betrayal soared through my veins, but it was definitely him.

As I lurched my fist forward, someone grabbed my wrist, halting the motion and causing me to stumble forward a bit.

“What the fuck!” I yelled. I looked to my right—it was Jaime. “Let go of my wrist,” I demanded, my fist still clenched. My knuckles were turning white.

“Not until you calm down,” he said.

“I don’t even fucking know you! Don’t tell me to calm down! You have no fucking idea—”

My sentence was cut short when I felt a stinging pain in my jaw. I stumbled back, but I didn’t fall because Jaime was still holding his death-grip on my wrist. I stared at him in confusion. “Did you just punch me?” I asked.

“Yes. You’re fine. Now shut the fuck up and listen to your brother’s explanation,” he said, his eyes darkening.

“Fine,” I hissed, ripping my hand away from his. He let it go, allowing my arm to slop.

“What I was going to say,” he began, “was that I didn’t know. I didn’t know, okay?” his voice broke in several places.

“You didn’t know?”

“I didn’t fucking know! I-I didn’t remember anything, Vic. Do you know how terrifying that is? Only a few months ago my memory started to come back, after Jaime figured out where I was from he took me to San Diego and it triggered all sorts of memories. Jesus, Vic, I’m so sorry. I love you so much, I never meant to hurt you,” he started to cry. “If I had known I would have come back a lot sooner. But Jaime helped me remember. I knew you existed, and then he saw your last name on your nametag at the Vans store and knew who you were. It took so long to try and find you… I searched everywhere. Oh my God, Vic, I thought you were dead,” he whispered, crying. You can thank our parents for that, I though bitterly.

“I thought… I thought you were dead, too,” I sobbed, falling to my knees.

Nobody said anything else. I cried harder when I felt the air shift around me and two lanky arms wrap around me. I pulled my hands away from my face and extended my arms around his shoulders. “It’s really you,” I cried into him. “It’s really fucking you,” I croaked.

“I know. God damn it, I’m remembering everything right now. It’s all coming back. Thank you God,” he whispered.

He pulled away after a minute, staring me dead in the eyes. “Has it really almost been a year?” he asked quietly. I nodded, tears remaining in my eyes.

“I can’t imagine the hell you’ve been through,” he said sadly.

“It’s okay,” I whispered. “It wasn’t your fault,” I assured. “And things are better now…” I said.

“Good,” he smiled. “I’m glad,” he said, bringing me in for another much-needed hug. I sighed into his shoulder, completely overwhelmed with the events of this morning. I could hardly fathom the fact that Mike was in my life once again.

After a while of letting this all sink in, I finally pulled away. We both stood up, joining Jaime and Alyssa who had been standing a few feet to the side while we reunited.

“I don’t know what to do with myself right now,” I whispered, looking at Alyssa desperately. She walked closer to me, grabbing my hand. I immediately felt more relaxed.

“Oo, Vic,” Mike wiggled his eyebrows at me, and I wanted to smack him for being irritating already—but I wanted to smile, seeing that he was still his old, usual, normal, annoying self. It was weird. It was going to take some getting used to. But I liked it.

“Vic?” Mike said after a moment of silence.

“Yeah?”

He scratched the back of his neck. “What about mom and dad?” he asked. My blood iced over.

“You don’t want to see them,” I muttered.

“They’re still bad?” he asked.

I nodded slowly. “They’re worse,” I muttered again.

“I’m sorry…” he said.

I shook my head. “Actually, I think I want to see them,” I said.

“Why?” Mike asked.

“That’s not a good idea, Vic,” Alyssa warned.

“Because,” I sighed. I ran my fingers through my hair. “They should at least know that both of their sons are alive,” I said. Although, I had other intentions in my mind. I could feel the anger creeping back, blinding me.

“I’ll go myself,” I said, starting for the door.

“Hell, no, Vic. We’ll go with you,” Alyssa said. I knew I was going to unleash on my parents, and I didn’t want Alyssa to see me like that.

“No, Alyssa. Stay here,” I pleaded.

“Fuck no,” she said stubbornly.

“Fine,” I hissed, turning away from all of them. At this point, I was too enraged to care. My mind was already a mess—I couldn’t think straight. I should be spending my with my brother, catching him up on life and reuniting.

But, no. Instead, I was letting my anger slowly rise and rise, just so I could explode like an atomic bomb on my parents. I wanted them to know what they did… I wanted them to hurt the way I hurt. And this was a perfect excuse.

“Vic…” Alyssa’s voice was strained when she pleaded at me again. For a split second, I looked at her and thought that maybe she was right. Maybe I was being irrational. I had just gotten Mike back—why did I want to taint it by seeing my parents? But that split second ended quickly, and my anger rose again.

“No,” I said firmly. I was being too stubborn for my own good—and I knew that—but I nothing was going to stop me. I couldn’t even stop myself.

“Vic, just let it go,” Mike breathed from the passenger seat. Alyssa was in the back with Jaime.

“I can’t just let it go, Mike,” I snapped. “You have no idea what they’ve done…” I whispered painfully.

“This isn’t worth it,” he begged.

“No! I’m ending all of the bull shit today!” I yelled. That silenced him, at least. When we got to our old house, I barely parked the car before I stormed out. “Stay here,” I ordered to them all. I knew they weren’t going to listen, but I also really didn’t care. My mind was telling me to stop, but my body kept moving forward towards the house. My brain was screaming at me to turn around before I did something I was going to regret, before I ruined what could be a perfect day, but I didn’t listen. There was a part inside of me egging me on, reminding me of all of the reasons why I needed to do this.

Mike coming back made me so happy… but it also brought me so much pain…

“You lying bastards!” I screamed upon barging into the house. My mom was in the kitchen, staring at me in fear.

My dad suddenly appeared, sliding into the kitchen next to my mom in alarm.

“What—”

“You lied!” I screamed again. “They never fucking recovered Mike’s body! You probably hardly even searched for him!” I accused.

“What are you talking about?” my dad yelled back.

“You know what I am talking about!” I screamed, clenching my fists in frustration. “Mike’s body. It was a closed casket. You lied,” I said lowly.

“W-We…” my mom stammered.

“Explain yourself!” I demanded.

“We were trying to protect you from the uncertainty of it all!” she said.

“Bull shit. You didn’t care,” I growled.

“We didn’t want you to feel unresolved and hung up with the fact that we never located his body! That’s why we said it was too gruesome for you to see!” her voice was shrill as she nervously explained.

“He’s alive!” I intended to scream at them, but it came out in a painful moan, causing more tears to spill out of my eyes.

“Wh-what?” she whispered.

I was suddenly too upset to speak. “I’m alive,” I heard Mike’s voice. Of course he had followed me in here.

“Mijo!” my mother yelped. “Oh my heavens, it’s really him!” she cried.

“Fuck off,” I whispered. “You lied!”

I could see the energy running through my mother from the discovery that Mike was really alive. "We only did it to protect you!” She said. Hope glimmered in her eyes, as if she was thinking we could actually be a family again. I felt nauseated. She must have noticed the hatred written on my features, because soon hers showed the same.

“Just stop it!” I yelled again. “I hate you both for what you did! I hate you!” I screamed, gripping my hair.

“Fine! Hate us! But we thought that if you knew we never found him, you'd go crazy! We were trying to protect you!" She screamed. Then, her voice quieted to a fatal tone, a snarl, a knife in the back that was stabbed too deep to ever be recovered. "But you went crazy anyway.”

Notes

Vic's a rollercoaster of emotions right now. But can you blame him?

Shit goes down next chapter, which will be up soon because I have it pre-written. Yaayy.

Your guyses reaction from the last chapter was great :') I caught you all by surprise yay hehe
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