“Aoi wait-” I cry, stumbling over my feet.
The bedroom door slams shut behind him, leaving only a thick silence and the remains of my stupidity. Scrambling across the room, I slump against the oak, begging him to open the door.All I can hear is the sound of rustling on his side of the door mixing with the sound of my sobs.
Minutes pass but they seem like an eternity as I knock endlessly on the door, more urgently with each hit, and it finally bursts open revealing a new expression on Aoi’s face.
Betrayal.
He looks down at me, full of disdain and hurt, holding my phone, unlocked in his palm. “What is this?”
“Huh?” I blink in disarray. “I don’t-”
“You don’t what?” he interrupts. “Tell me!”
I gape at the device, confused and terrified that he might have seen the text from Bellami. I didn’t save his contact on my phone though so I should be safe.
He shoves the screen in my face, frowning in hurt.
I sniffle, pushing down the dread sizzling under my skin. “I- I don’t know.”
“You lost your ability to read? Fine. I’ll read it for you then.” He holds the phone up and starts reading out loud. “When are you telling Aoi about your brother?”
The blood drains from my face at his voice breaking on the last word.
No. No. No.
This can’t be how he finds out! I never wanted things to go so wrong. If I tell him the truth now, he’ll hate me forever. He’s already disgusted with me kissing him. Now if he doesn’t throw me out for hiding the existence of my brother, I can consider myself lucky.
I attempt to breathe but it gets stuck in my throat. What do I do? Fuck, what do I do now?
“What do you mean?” I blurt, unable to find a good explanation.
“Don’t youdarelie to me. I know, okay? Iknow. So don’t lie to me,” he chokes on a sob, holding back tears.
“You- you know…how? How did you know?” I stammer, swallowing hard.
He shakes his head continuously, shutting his eyes and taking a step back as he does. I reach for his hand, but he yanks it away as though I’m deadly. In that instant, my heart shatters into a million pieces.
Distress flashes hot and cold in my body.
“I- I can explain- I didn’t mean to hide it. I swear, Aoi. Please, please believe me!” I beg, clinging to his legs.
He doesn’t look at me as he answers with a trembling voice. “Jason warned me about you having a brother. He told me! I should have listened to him. You lied to me! How could you? I wanted to ado-” He covers his face, wiping away his tears. “I should have known. Of, course it would end this way.”
“You wanted to what?” I ask, my eyes jumping from feature to feature as he trembles. “Aoi?”
“Tell me everything,” he orders, slamming his fist against the door. “Now!”
I’ve never seen Aoi so furious and hurt and since it’s all my fault, I obey. “Last night…I snuck out to go to a party with my friends. I went out for a breath of air and there he was.” I glance at his face and feel my blood run cold. “Please don’t look at me like that…”
“Continue,” he demands, clutching his chest.
So, I do.
“The man told me he was my brother, but I didn’t believe him at first! He then showed me a DNA test and…it was impossible to doubt him. You have to understand! What else was I supposed to do? I was going to tell you, I just wanted to find the right time!”
I watch him, scanning for reactions but nothing comes. The deep blue of his eyes dulls, as does his expression. It’s as though he couldn’t care less anymore.
“Aoi-”
