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“Is that true?”
She nods solemnly.
“And I heard about what you did for Jolie,” Clement says to me. “And for me. Those clients and your gallery and the dirt you got on Steven... thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me. I’d do anything for my family.”
He meets my eyes.
“You really love my sister?”
He wants to hear the truth. He deserves it.
I open my mouth to speak, but the words don’t come. The pain has returned. The medication in my veins hits my head.
I take a moment. Jolie and Clement wait. They see the struggle.
Finally, I speak...
“Yes. I love her and I always have.”
“Okay.”
“And I love you, Clement,” I say. “And I am sorry I never told you about Jolie. I’m sorry I lied.”
“I was so scared,” Jolie adds. “I kept him from you. I’m sorry too.”
“And I am sorry for rushing in like that the other day,” Clement says. “You are my brother, Fabien. You’re our family. You always have been. For a moment, I lost sight of that.”
It’s all we both need. Two boys who had each other’s backs for their entire lives.
Nothing will ever separate us.
“Are you still going to make me choose between Fabien and you?” Jolie asks her brother. “Because I can’t do that. Because I choose both of you.”
Clement sighs.
“I was stupid to even give you that choice.”
“You weren’t just stupid,” she replies.
“No. I treated you terribly. I treated you like I could control you. I fucking threatened to kill Fabien. I started a fight. I was a complete and utter idiot.”
“Yeah,” Jolie says, “you are. But you’re my brother.”
“I should’ve realized there’s plenty of you to go around, sis.”
Jolie wraps her arms around her brother and hugs him tight.
We hold the space in silence until Jolie lets go of Clement and wipes the tears from her face with the back of her hand.
“I said you can touch anything in the Auclair house, except for my sister,” Clement tells me. “But I was wrong. That wasn’t even something I could’ve said in the first place.”
And then he gets to his feet.
“Now I’ll leave you two alone. There’s only so much of this loving crap I can take.”
He reaches for me, putting an arm on my shoulder and gently squeezing it. It’s a small act, but it means everything.
