All characters are at least 18 years old.
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Sunlight trickled in from between the curtains, and I blinked sleep from my eyes. I had a face full of hair, and when I realized it was Brie, memories of the night before came rushing back. We were still in our underwear, lying together, skin to skin. I propped myself on an elbow and gazed down at her, smiling gently. Normally she looked as much of a slob as anybody while she slept, but now she lay there like an angel, absolutely flawless. Where did these rose-colored lenses come from?
"So fucking hot." I had to suppress my alarm, for fear of jerking up and waking Brie. Lexi was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, legs crossed and elegantly chewing on a fingernail.
"What the fuck are you doing in here?" I hissed, neck strained and head whipping between her and Brie.
"Enjoying the view," Lexi chuckled. "You guys are so cute together. I was wondering when she'd finally muster the courage to just go for it. Then I got tired of waiting." She winked at me, as if she were my co-conspirator.
"You need to get out of here before she wakes up," I warned.
"Oh, obviously. But first... Did you guys do it?"
"What? No! Of course not!"
"Why 'of course not'? Just a matter of time, right?" She grinned as if the idea was the most delicious thing imaginable. "Alright, take it at your pace. But don't keep me waiting too long!" With that, she slinked out of the room, giving me a little finger wave over her shoulder. Not a moment too soon, because Brie began waking up next to me. She grumbled and shaded her eyes from the light before rolling over and seeing me, yelping in surprise. After the initial shock, she pulled the covers over her face and rolled away from me.
"Good morning to you too," I said dryly.
"Oh no..." she moaned into the covers. I gave a deep sigh and stood, scooping my clothes off the ground. When I looked back, she was studying me from behind the blankets. "What do we do now?" Her voice was quiet, timid.
"Probably make sure Lexi doesn't get the wrong idea." God, that sounded so stupid. Apparently Brie thought so too, because she gave me a humorless look.
"You don't really think she doesn't know what happened," she said. "I mean, it's starting to feel like she set this whole weekend up."
"Yeah, no kidding," I muttered under my breath. I pulled my clothes on and smoothed them out. When I noticed how quiet Brie was, I looked back at her. She was sitting up now, the covers on her lap, and she was staring at her hands.
"Are we... Are we monsters, Stef?" she whispered. I went to sit by her, taking her hands in mine. She looked up at me, and I breathed deeply.
"It's my fault," I said, finding it hard to swallow. "It's like you said. I started this."
She squeezed her eyes shut before answering. "Don't act like I... like I didn't want this too, Stef," she mumbled. "You don't have to do this. No more wishes."
"One more wish," I corrected. She began to protest, but I leaned in and kissed her. Her lips were so soft that for a moment, I forgot where I was. When we parted, we were both short of breath. "No other girls. Just you, Brie."
Her blush ran all the way down her neck, and she waved me off the bed so she could get dressed. I went to the bathroom and found two toothbrushes still in the packaging, as well as a fresh tube of toothpaste. That's right, we didn't even brush our teeth last night. Blegh. After I freshened up, I found Lexi in the kitchen on her phone, a box of cereal on the table next to her. She perked up when she saw me, giving me an innocent smile.
"Good morning, Stef," she said cheerfully. "Sleep well?" I gave her a withering look and she giggled. "Hey, I wanted to ask you. After you guys moved to your new place... That place has thin walls, right?"
"Part of why we're here right now," I answered. I didn't want to get into specifics with her in case Brie hadn't divulged all the details about the situation with mom.
"Well, my place doesn't have thin walls."
I was pouring cereal into a bowl, about to tell her that didn't help the issue, when it clicked. I stopped and looked at her sternly, and she playfully sucked on a spoon with a salacious look in her eyes.
"Yeah, but our place doesn't have a pervert actively listening through said walls," I muttered, and she giggled again.
"Oh c'mon. It's a small price to pay."
I scoffed before turning serious. "Thank you, though. For giving us a place to stay. We literally had nowhere else to go."
"Don't mention it." She paused briefly, then continued, "I know what it's like to feel alone." She gave the cereal box a melancholy look before instantly brightening back up. "But now you guys have me! So is it so bad to give ol' Lex a little somethin' somethin' to keep her going?" She gave me a pouty look, and I couldn't help but laugh.
"Please don't tell me you want to partake?"
"Oh God no. No offense, but you're not really my type. Plus, I don't even wanna know what Brie'll do if she thought I actually wanted a piece of you--"
"He's my brother. I do my best to keep him from any dangerous flirts." Brie walked in and sat down beside me, looking across the table at her best friend. They stared at each other for a long while, with Lexi giving her a variety of expressions ranging from teasing to suggestive to challenging. Brie, on the other hand, had never looked so deadly in her life. She still looked collected, but there was a surfeit of meaning being passed between the two. After an uncomfortable silence, they seemed to come to an understanding, or Lexi simply stopped teasing Brie, and they both burst into laughter. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding as Lexi brought some milk out from the fridge.
"You're a lucky guy, Stefan," Lexi commented. "You don't have to worry about any bad girls digging their claws in you. Your sister is ready to cut a bitch." To my shock, Brie simply nodded in agreement. "Anyway, I was just telling Stef that you guys are welcome to stay here. Especially when you guys need a place to..." Lexi made an unintelligible and enthusiastic sound that somehow perfectly conveyed her meaning. At this, Brie bashfully looked down at her cereal, brushing a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail.
"You're such a freak, Lex," Brie muttered, and Lexi weaved her fingers before resting her chin on them.
"Be glad that I am, honey," she replied with a smirk. "So. Any plans for today?"
--
Lexi decided that she needed to fill out my wardrobe in preparation for any dates I went on in the near future. What this consisted of was Lexi helping Brie pick out what she liked in terms of men's fashion, then parading me around like a show horse in whatever Brie had chosen while my sister did her best impression of a tomato. It was the weirdest outing I've ever been on. It wasn't quite a date for me and Brie, especially not when the third wheel was taking the lead. Wait, that's a tricycle.
"Well?" Lexi prompted, pushing me forward by the shoulders. It wasn't a very complicated outfit, or even original for that matter. Black jeans and a white dress shirt that was half unbuttoned from the top, a red tie hanging unknotted around my collar, and a leather jacket thrown over my shoulder. I looked like a freaking high school delinquent from a Japanese manga.
Brie turned pink and fidgeted with her fingers in her lap while Lexi toted me around like a runway model. When, after quite a bit of teasing, Brie finally gave a small shy nod. Lexi did an actual fist pump before calling an attendant over and buying the whole outfit.
"Lexi, that's too much," I protested. "I appreciate it, but I can't--"
"Nonsense," Lexi interrupted, waving me off while pulling out a credit card from her purse. "You have me and my dad's full support!" She gave us an impish grin. I nervously looked at the attendants to gauge their reaction, wondering if they were picking up on what was happening. Brie and I, though only fraternal twins, looked similar enough that the fact we were siblings was unmistakable. Yet if the attendants were wise to anything, they didn't show it. "Now go change back into your own clothes so we can bag this up. Unless you two want to start a date right now..."
We both shook our heads no. I don't think either of us were mentally ready to be in public together like that. Going to the movies the other night hadn't been the same. There was a different atmosphere at the time, and we simply hadn't given off the sexual tension of a couple.
Wait. There it was, an exchange of glances between the two cashiers. When one of them met my eyes again, she quickly averted her gaze, and the other cashier trotted off to talk to one of their other colleagues. Fuck.
Thankfully that was our last stop as far as shopping went. We had sushi for dinner -- it felt like forever since I last had Japanese -- and then Lexi drove us home. Hopefully mom's weekend of fun was over.
"Thanks for the weekend, Lex," Brie said, hugging her best friend after we got out the car.
"Anything for my favorite couple," she replied, and I scratched my head awkwardly while Brie tried not to dig a hole for herself out of embarrassment. Lexi laughed and waved it off. "Well, keep me posted. And my door is always open if you two want some privacy..."
"Yeah, thanks," I blurted, desperate to get her to stop talking. With a wink, she got back in her car and drove off, leaving the two of us standing in silence on the curb. We held for a moment before I turned and looked at the apartment building, let out a deep breath, and headed up the stairs. Low metal clangs told me Brie was close behind when I opened the front door. Mom was sitting in the kitchen, looking over a bunch of papers, and she shot to her feet when we entered.
