Family Secrets 15

This is a work of fiction. All persons engaging in sexual activity are 18 or older. If sibcest, mother/daughter, father/daughter, family group sex, voyeurism, and a mention of nonconsenual acts (video recording) and anal are a problem for you, skip this one. It's got them all.

I know some authors complain about submission guidelines, but in this case, I think the rejection of the original on those grounds made this a better story in the end. Thanks, guys. Seriously.

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My name is Mitchell and what a long, strange trip this has truly been. It started approximately one month after I graduated from high school.

I woke up late. Not that it mattered, it was a Saturday, no school and I didn't have a job yet. The house was quiet, meaning my parents had already left and my sister Tammy was probably still asleep. The clock read 9:02 when I rolled over to look at it. After getting up at 6:30 for the last 13 years to go to school, I usually woke up before the alarm would go off so 9 in the morning was late for me.

Caught that 13, huh? Yeah, I had to repeat my senior year because I was expelled one month before graduation. According to the school district, physical altercations with the faculty are not encouraged. Son a bitch had it coming but that didn't matter. At any rate, I ended up repeating my senior year of high school and graduated last month. Right beside Tammy.

Last night had been her graduation/birthday party. She turned 18 yesterday. I turned 19 last month, right after graduation, but skipped the whole party thing, though. Without friends to speak of, there was no point in throwing a party. I hated parties anyway.

I got up, went through the usual morning routine of relieving myself, showering, teeth brushing and getting dressed in clothes suitable for yard work. Mowing the lawn, weeding Mom's flower beds and sweeping up was the plan for this morning. It was something to do until I got a job.

To my complete surprise, Tammy was already in the kitchen when I got downstairs about 9:45. She was sitting at the table, nursing a cup of coffee and eating some toast. Even first thing in the morning, my sister is cute. No point in lying about it. She's not too tall, not too short, maybe 5'5". No idea what she weighs, but it's very even distributed in all the right places. Her light brown hair came down over her shoulders and was tousled from sleep. In her present position at the table, I couldn't see her eyes but they are what I would call ice blue. It was the one feature everybody noticed first about her.

She had on one of my old t-shirts and I assumed she had on a pair of exercise shorts underneath, which is what she usually wore around the house.

"Where'd you go last night?" No good morning or hi, just that question. She didn't even look up.

"To bed." Debating my lack of social skills wasn't on my to-do list this morning. Her party started about 6, I came down about 8:30 when it was time for the cake and singing Happy Birthday. Then I went back upstairs, put on headphones and did my own thing until I went to bed about 1, when the party wound down enough that I could go to sleep. "Where else was I going to go?"

She looked up at me, "It was my birthday, Mitchell. You could've at least hung out with me for a little bit."

"You know I don't like parties, Tam. I don't people well." I shrugged. No lies there.

"Yeah, there's a lot of shit you don't like anymore." She went back to staring into her coffee and nibbling on her toast. I finally figured out she was not happy about something. Not really in the mood to deal with it right now.

"Sorry. It is what it is." I skipped my usual morning coffee and grabbed a couple of water bottles out of the fridge. The grass wasn't going to mow itself and I was already getting a late start. It would be hotter than hell by the time I finished.

A funny thing about me being in a bad mood is that when I have work or chores to do in said bad mood, I can really knock that shit out. Of course, I'm usually in a worse mood when I'm done because instead of just being pissed off, I'm now hot, sweaty, tired, usually hungry and totally pissed off.

When I got kicked out of school, I had to go to therapy, first to get back in and then all during my final year. One of the therapist's conclusions was that I didn't do a very good job of expressing my emotions, especially anger. It would stay bottled up until it reached the point where losing my shit was inevitable. Another of her conclusions was that I had a lot of anger. She was right, I was angry. A lot.

So by the time I was done mowing, weeding and sweeping a little after 1, I just wanted to take a cool shower, eat something and take a good, long nap. In that order. When I came in through the back door in the kitchen, Tammy was still sitting at the table but now she was dressed in a different t-shirt of mine and wearing loose gym shorts. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"That was quick." She was looking at her phone and spoke without looking up. Yeah, she was still unhappy about something, probably me cutting out from her party..

"Not interested in dying of heat stroke. Better to get it done before the hot part of the day." I dropped the now empty water bottles in the trash. I really wasn't in the mood to talk.

I guess the noise startled her because she jumped at the noise of the bottles hitting the bottom of the trashcan. She watched me cross the room, headed toward the stairs and that nice, cool shower I was so looking forward to. Just as I reached the entryway, she asked "What's with you, Mitchell?"

"Sorry?" I stopped and turned around to look at her.

"What's with you?" she repeated. She had put the phone down on the table and had her arms crossed under breasts. Her head was cocked a little to the side, like she was trying to figure out some kind of puzzle. Her voice wasn't confrontational or angry, it was pleading, like she was trying to find a way to ask what she wanted to ask without setting me off.

"Nothing." Damn, I want that shower.

"Bullshit." And I'm probably not going to get it any time soon. I knew that tone, all too well.

"Not now, Tam." It was a warning. One of the benefits of therapy was that I had learned to recognize when I was getting close to critical mass and it was time to create some distance. I was there.

We stared at each other for a few seconds. She stood up and walked over to stand in front of me. She put her right palm on my chest as she spoke, "This isn't good for you, Mitchell. It isn't good for anybody. I'm trying to help you. Please let me." Her tone was still pleading.

I understood she was trying to help. I really just didn't know where to start. Growing up, I was always the quiet kid, not at all as outgoing as Tammy or my parents. I wasn't athletic, which I felt was a major disappointment to my father, who had been very athletic when he was younger. I wasn't super intelligent, either. I did okay in school, I wasn't developmentally disabled or challenged. I just didn't excel at anything. My parents were always telling us to play to our strengths, but I didn't have any. Except being pissed off, but I don't think that's actually a strength unless you're some kind of superhero.

I was mediocre, average, basic, an NPC, whatever epithet you wanted to choose. There was absolutely nothing special about me at all. That's what made me angry. I could understand if girls didn't like me because I was ugly, but I wasn't. Not that I was good looking. Again, I was average. Average height, average weight, average everything.

I was totally mid. And I hated it. Girls paid absolutely no attention to me at all. The only girl that wasn't my mother who ever kissed me was Tammy, and that was on the cheek when we were kids. I'd never dated or had a girlfriend at 19. My self image was total shit. I felt invisible and with that, I felt lonely. All of which just made me angry.

"I know, Tam. Now's not a good time." I wanted to diffuse this before feelings got hurt. We were going to be around each other all summer. No point in making it any more miserable than it had to be. Oddly enough, her palm on my chest felt comforting. I reached up and took her hand and gave it a squeeze before letting it go. I wasn't all that pissed any more, just hot and sweaty.

"You can run but you can't hide, Mitchell. You're not going to be able to run forever, you know." Her eyes were as sad and soft as her voice. I remembered the phrase from our childhood, when we were closer. We weren't very good at keeping secrets from each other then and that was a promise that had always been kept. She was going to keep at it until she got what she wanted.

Over the course of the next two weeks, I found a part time job at the local chain hardware store, working in the lawn and garden center. Tammy found a job waitressing, mostly in the evening, so we didn't really see much of each other during the day.

I was supposed to be taking this time during the summer to decide what I wanted to do as far as going to college. I liked computers, especially programming. I got a C on my final class project in programming, meaning it got the job done but it wasn't pretty or particularly fancy. I figured I could probably make a pretty good living from that skill. The state college system had a campus not far from home and in-state tuition would be much cheaper than out-of-state. Our parents had saved quite a bit for our college so we wouldn't have to hock our souls to get student loans. I had been meaning to discuss with Tammy what her plans were, thinking if we were going to go to the same school, we might be able to afford to get an apartment off campus instead of living in the dorms. I couldn't handle living in the dorms, surrounded by people I don't know and nowhere to go to get away from them.

I guess at some point I had mentioned that to our parents in passing. One Thursday, I was off since I was scheduled to work over the weekend and I guess Tammy was off that day as well, since she was home and doing laundry. I was watching some mindless thing on TV, waiting for a baseball game to start when Tammy came in with a bunch of what looked like magazines.

She flopped down onto the cushion next to me and opened the top one. It was a college catalog for the state campus nearby.

"Look, they have a listing for recommended off campus housing. This place has two bedroom units. There's a shuttle that goes right by there, too."

"Cool. I wanted to go here but I can't handle living in the dorms, especially if even half the shit they say about living in them is true. Were you thinking about going here?" I realized I had absolutely no clue at all about what her plans were after high school. I never asked.

"Well, yeah. I'm going wherever you're going. I don't want to be off somewhere by myself." She seemed surprised I would even ask that.

"Okay. I've got a stupid question, though." I felt bad for asking but I really didn't know, "What are you going to major in?"

"Education with a minor in English literature. I want to teach." I was glad that she didn't decide to make fun of me first before answering the question. I've lived with this girl for all of our lives and I didn't know what she wanted to be when she grew up. "They have a really good program geared toward helping you get state certified after graduation."

She was now leaning against me, almost literally in my lap now. I noticed that she smelled nice. "You still sticking with Computer Science?"

"Yeah. I like coding. I think I can make that work." I knew I wouldn't be good enough for Microsoft or Google but I could get and hold a job somewhere.

"Of course you can. Mom and Dad said they could help with the rent, too, as long as we paid at least half of it ourselves. It shouldn't be too hard if we save enough before next school year." She was definitely enthusiastic about this. I was, too. If I had to live with somebody, I'd rather it be my sister than somebody I didn't know and probably wouldn't like. Most of the people I knew were the exact opposite, going on about living the whole college experience, meeting new people, yadda, yadda, yadda. I could do without that, thank you.

Next book in my lap was an apartment guide. Judging by the rents and square footage of two bedroom apartments, we were going to have to have enough money saved to cover about $500 a month for our share of the rent for a place big enough to give us some space.

Speaking of space, I wasn't getting much at this point. Weirdly, I didn't mind. She wasn't being pushy, there was just a lot of constant contact. Like her leg rubbing against mine while she talked, touching my hand with hers as she would point something out, or bumping against me when I would say something dumb.

She also had a couple of school catalogs from other schools but she tossed those aside, stating "We've already decided where we're going, so we don't need these."

I took the catalog we were keeping and the apartment guide, and set them on the coffee table in front of us. As I sat back, she leaned across me and grabbed the remote for TV. Settling in against me, she surfed until she found some sappy movie that was just starting.

I was starting to get up and she let all of her weight sink into my side. "No, watch TV with me, Mitchell. It's been a long time since we've done this."

To be honest, I hadn't been all that enthused about watching Lifetime or Hallmark or whatever it was. On the other hand, I really didn't want to go do laundry either. TV won. I could do laundry later.

"Well, since it's this or laundry, I chose," pausing for effect, aiming for dramatic and achieving comedic, "Helltime TV."

She appeared totally engrossed in the opening credits as she spoke, "I already did your laundry, anyways."

What. The. Fuck. "Uh, thanks?" It finally occurred to me that I had been set up, somehow.

"Shut up, I want to watch TV." She grabbed my arm and draped it over her shoulders so she could lean into me more comfortably. Grabbing a throw pillow, she stuck it between her head and my ribs. That's how we sat for the next two hours, until I had to take a leak. I brought back her bag of cookies from the kitchen and a couple of sodas while she found the next romantic abomination to inflict on me. She insisted I sit right back where I had been sitting before when I got back. She was right, it had been a long time. I didn't realize how much I missed it until today.

At some point during the second movie, we fell asleep. We were still in the same position when our parents came home from work. Mom was trying hard not to smile when she woke us up for dinner. During dinner, Tammy talked non-stop about where we were going to school, how we were going to work out the finances, and the apartment candidates we found. I think Dad felt sorry for me because I couldn't get a word in.

It took a few days for me to notice that I wasn't getting as upset about things as I normally would. I didn't think too much about it, though. I was starting to get more hours at work, one guy quit and it was iffy if the other guy would show up on any given day. He soon got fired and I was working 40 hours a week at that point.

Tammy wasn't goofing off, either. She would pull extra shifts, especially if the person offered to pay well. Sometimes, she would just flat out trade, usually so she could have the same days off as I had. Took me a while to catch on to that, too.

One weekend in the middle of August, I ended up with a weekend off. The Thursday before, Tammy suggested we drive up to the college and spend the weekend wandering around the campus and the town, just to familiarize ourselves. I wasn't sure about using the entire weekend for it but she did point out that it's a two and half hour drive there and back. Five hours on the road in one day doesn't leave much time for sightseeing. I reluctantly agreed.

We found a decent motel and made a reservation for the weekend. Tammy insisted on a room with double beds, since it would be cheaper than getting two separate rooms. I wasn't comfortable with that but I couldn't find fault with her logic, either.

We left early Saturday morning, stopping at her favorite coffee place on our way out of town. On the ride up, we talked about our work schedules, coworkers, things we were planning on doing later, normal brother-sister conversational stuff. We arrived in town at about 10:30. It seemed like a nice enough place as we drove through. They had all of the usual stores and restaurant chains. The campus was quiet, since it was Saturday. We drove around until we found some visitor's parking spots and parked.

As we were wandering around, Tammy's hand somehow found its way into mine. I wasn't quite sure how to react to that. She just kept looking around and talking like it was nothing. I also made no attempt to let go, either. We had been getting along really well lately. I wanted to keep it that way.

Campus security eventually found us wandering around. We explained that we were applying next year and we had just come up to see the school in its natural state, not the orientation tour version. He wished us a nice visit and pointed out a couple of places we might want to check out if we had the time. Tammy never let go of my hand the entire time.

"You know, he thought we were a couple." She seems really amused by that. I could see it, though. We don't really look alike. I laughed about it along with her.

We finally got tired of wandering around and drove to the motel to check in. The clerk found it amusing that we were getting a room with double beds, though. Tammy just stared at him, stone faced. As we were leaving the office to move the car in front of the room, I asked her "You don't find that funny, that he thought we were a couple, too?"

"It was funny, I just didn't want you to get pissed off because he was being a dick about it."

"Oh, okay." I thought he was being a dick, too, but it didn't bother me enough to get pissed off about it. It had been a good day so far and I wasn't going to ruin it over some dumb shit.

Tammy called our parents to let them know what room we were in and fill them in on our school tour. I hauled our overnight bags out of the car while she did that. I really didn't think about it, I just dropped her bag on the bed closest to the bathroom and I took the one nearest the door. While she freshened up, we decided where we wanted to go eat. She changed into a nice blouse and flat sandals from her t-shirt and walking shoes she wore during the tour. She touched up her light make up and added some dangly earrings. I was still wearing the polo shirt and jeans. I apologized for not having anything nicer but she was adamant I looked just fine as is.

The restaurant we chose wasn't far from the motel, so we walked instead of driving. It was a nice evening and I really liked walking anyway. All the hours at the store, on my feet all day, had started to tone me a little bit, I had lost some of the pudginess I had developed from inactivity.

Once again, as we walked, Tammy's hand found its way into mine. This time, our fingers intertwined. I swear I caught her looking at me out of the corner of her eye as we walked a few times. She definitely caught me doing it. I guess it should have bothered me on some level, but it didn't. She looked really cute and I really was enjoying myself.

We were seated as soon as we walked into the restaurant. It was clean, the food was good and it wasn't very expensive. We decided that this was definitely a go to place when we came up here for school. We sat side by side in the booth. Our waitress obviously thought we were a cute couple. Tammy pointed out later that the entire time she play-flirted with us. I was oblivious to it. That seemed to make her happy for some reason.