Siblings with Benefits

Authors note; Well a couple of things first of I know it's been awhile between chapters but when you see the length of this thing (131 word pages, 12 lit pages, 44,000+ words) I hope you'll cut me some slack. Now first off I could have released this a couple of days sooner but waited. Why? Well normally Lit stories take 3 days to post which means if all goes well you are reading this on 5/13th. Now not only is the Friday the 13th all but a national holiday for me but it also marks one year to the date that my first story "Almost Perfect" debuted here. Now, onto this epic of a chapter. Well part of why this chapter is long is it is parts of 3 chapters and I tied them together. This chapter concludes Lex Talionis (I do owe Lex ch. 6 but that will be Marks pov and will youch on other events) it also ties up the Alex Warner story arc. Now at the end I come back to the present which probably breaks the rules of "technical" writing but I did not want to create another chapter. Another reason for the length is that this is "uncut" Most people are reading SWB for the story over the sex so keeping that in mind this is my full vision a "novelesque" version so to speak with a lot of character interaction and a side of Mark previously unseen at least in how he treats Megan. This chapter sets up the final chapters and things will go quicker. Well that's that so hopefully you have set aside some time to read this bad boy. As always thank you for reading Lovecraft68

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I opened my eyes slowly, and as I lied there squinting against the pounding in my head, I found myself staring up at the forest mural painted on the ceiling. The forest, complete with several small animals peeking out from the bushes and trees, was the imaginary place I had created in my mind back when I was 9. The forest was the place I would run to when Frank, my foster father, was having his way with me. Near the end of my time there I had gotten so good at running there that I would stay there for hours even after he was finished with me. Sometimes I would even go there when I first came home from school knowing his wife wasn't home and he would be after me right away.

I had painted the mural when I was fifteen and had been living with mom and dad for four years. In some ways it was a reminder of those painful memories yet at the time, and in times since it was a symbol of peace for me. The forest represented a good place and a refuge from pain and suffering. In the first several years I lived with mom and dad I had never needed to go there again. My life had been saved and, not only was I in a loving environment, but I was a beautiful girl who had an amazing talent for painting and a bright future ahead of me in every way. Over the last couple of year however I would give anything to be able to find that place in my head again. A place I could rest, feel safe, enjoy the company of my little animal friends. To my dismay however, I found that I could not get back there so instead sought the refuge of alcohol and drugs, an artificial peace that lasted only until I crashed and would lead to me wanting more.

I closed my eyes and took several long deep breaths as I waited for the banging in my head to subside. After a minute I opened my eyes again, and turning my head, looked over at the alarm clock. It was eight am. I sighed. I had gone to sleep at eleven o'clock and hadn't opened my eyes until just now. Nine hours of solid sleep, which was exactly what I needed considering I probably hadn't gotten much more than that combined in the last three nights. The pounding in my head however, and the guilt that that pain brought with it, reminded me of how it was that I had gotten that much needed sleep.

I turned my head, wincing at the pain it caused, and looked over at Mark. My brother was lying on his back and sleeping soundly. I felt another twinge of guilt as I looked at him. Mark needed the sleep as badly as I did, but the only reason he was sleeping like this was because I had slipped two Ambien into his coke last night. Mark and I had been staying with mom and dad since that terrible scene Thursday night at Murdock's office. Friday and Saturday night Mark and I had barely slept and for the most part just talked. It had been just like the old days; we sat on the porch for hours then went, and after locking our doors, Mark would slip into my room through the bathroom.

Of course Mark had looked for sex but I had held him off by telling him that Mom wasn't sleeping much due to the Judge's decision being on Monday, and after what had happened with Alex, I was too worried about getting caught. This was mostly the truth, but also part of it, especially on Friday, was that I was still extremely sore from Thursday night when my brother had all but torn me apart. On Saturday I had said no again, but also knew we needed to sleep, and had caved partway and we had gotten off in a sixty nine. It had felt amazing, we had cum at the same time and as I moaned and squealed, grinding my pussy in Mark's face, his cock had exploded in my mouth and I had eagerly sucked down every drop. As hard as we had both cum however we had not fallen asleep until close to dawn and had gotten up early to meet with Murdock for one more run through before this morning's hearing.

Last night we both desperately needed to sleep and dad had taken mom out to dinner and to go play cards with some friends, and Mark and I had gone at it like animals. We started at seven and at ten o'clock had collapsed sweating, and gasping onto the sheets after fucking for the fourth time in three hours. At that point even though Mark looked exhausted, I had gone downstairs to get him a soda, and had slipped the pills into it. As I had opened the capsules and poured the contents into the coke I had felt terrible, it had been my drugging Mark so I could sneak out on him and stealing his rent money that had led him to running into Max in the first place.

Of course slipping the pills to my brother did not make me feel nearly as bad as what I had done next. I had lied down cuddled up to Mark until he fell asleep then getting up, I got dressed in the bathroom, and slipping out the back door, walked the two blocks to the liquor store. I bought a pint of Captain Morgan and a liter bottle of coke then walked back home. After pouring half the soda out onto the lawn, I poured the rum in, and sitting on the porch swing, drank the entire thing. It had been the first time I had drank in a month and it hit me hard. I had all but had to crawl up the stairs to get back into my room. Once there I had no sooner stripped and slid into the bed next to Mark then everything went black and I fell into that blissful oblivion that I had denied myself for the past weeks.

The throbbing in my head settled down to a manageable ache, and propping myself up on my elbow, I watched Mark sleep. My brother's features were completely relaxed and once again I was amazed at how truly beautiful he really was. At the moment however that beauty was marred by a blackened left eye and the large lump just underneath of it. I frowned as I looked at it. The eye definitely looked better than it had but I would still, as I did for the hearing Friday morning, have to put make up on his eye to tone down the color and swelling and once again hope the judge thought this was still the bruising from Mark's fight with Max.

As I continued to watch Mark I recalled with a shudder how out of control my brother had been Thursday night. Mark had all but completely lost it and scared the shit out of me. In a way I had been more afraid then than I had that day when I had stopped him from killing Max. At least on that day I knew the reason Mark had become unhinged but Thursday had come out of nowhere. Mark had gone from acting indignant, and demanding an apology from Alex to an all out rage. At first I had thought Mark was just over reacting to keep up the ruse of being upset about Alex accusing us of, well the truth of course, that we were fucking. Then Mark had really exploded and when the fight between he and Alex had started I was too stunned at first to even react. Fortunately as always I had been able to get Mark to stop. As it was Mark had still been out of control right up until I let him take it out on me. As always that had finally settled him down but for the first time since I had been with Mark I had found myself afraid of him.

I pushed all that from my mind. In three hours the final hearing to decide if there should be a trial would commence and I was due to testify. I needed to have my head as clear as possible. Leaning over I kissed Mark gently on the cheek, and couldn't help but smile as he made a soft cooing noise in his sleep and nuzzled his face into the pillow. I reached out and lightly caressed his cheek then slowly let my hand trail down his neck and rest on his muscular chest. As much sex as we'd had last night I thought of waking him and playing, just going nice and slow and enjoying, but we didn't have to leave for two more hours and I wanted him to rest. Carefully rolling over I slipped out of the bed, and put on the pink night shirt mom had bought me when she took me shopping yesterday.

I felt a pang of sadness as I thought of that. I really had hardly anything of my own these days. I had moved so many times in the last couple of years and sometimes in such a hurry that I always left things behind. Mom had bought me quite a few things yesterday and I had kept telling her not too but she wouldn't take no for an answer. Mom had loved having Mark and I back home the last couple of days and had mentioned a dozen times how both of us could stay as long as we wanted. I would consider it if dad seemed like he wanted me to as well but, although dad was being civil, I could tell he was not thrilled with me, and really was on the fence about whether or not he should hope Mark got off or not. Not to mention the fact that if I stayed Mark would stay and we would get too close.

As it was, Cynthia had swung by yesterday, and told him that her roommate had moved out and Mark was welcome to come stay with her. Mark told her he would think about it but he wanted to stay at least a couple of weeks with 'his family'. Translation; Mark wanted to enjoy some time in his big sister's bed. Not that I would be complaining, and if the hearing went well, Mark had said he wanted to go away for a couple of days and that would be even more fun. I had however, told Mark that after a couple of weeks to go stay with her and I would give Tommy a call. Mark wanted me to try to stay with the folks but dad didn't really want me here and didn't want to disappoint mom again in case I slipped up like I had so many times over the last couple of years.

Picking up the pack of cigarettes off the nightstand I went over to sit in the old rocking chair next to the window that I had loved as little girl. Speaking of things I had loved as a child, the old beat up stuffed Scooby doo that was the first thing mom had ever bought me was sitting there. I scooped up Scooby, and after lighting the cigarette, sat back in the chair and held it against my chest like I had when I was little. I took a deep drag, and holding the smoke in my lungs for as long as I could slowly let it trickle out of my mouth. Dad would shit if he knew I was smoking up here but I'm sure not as much as if he knew what I'd had in my mouth last night. I shook my head; Thursday night had been a louder nastier version of that day at the hotel when dad had caught us in bed together.

Twice Mark and I had been caught and both times, by the end of it all, the people who had caught us, people who were close to us, had been made by us to feel as if they had done something wrong. I hated to lie and hurt the few people who were good to me, but at the end of the day, Mark and I had promised to protect each other at all costs. I took another long drag on the cigarette and pushed Thursday's disaster out of my head. In about two hours I would be taking the stand to testify on my brother's behalf and I needed to be as focused as possible. Friday was supposed to be the final hearing but the Judge was still trying to decide on whether or not this should go to trial and if so exactly who would be the plaintiff. The results of Mark's polygraph test had seemed to give him pause for thought, and in an unorthodox move, the Judge had decided to have the equivalent of a small trial for the last hearing this morning.

Normally at a hearing the only people who spoke were the attorneys and the only people who could ask questions were the prosecutor. From day one however Judge Roberts had been unclear of which attorney should be prosecuting in the first place. Murdock had stated that Mark was not interested in pressing any charges. That Max had taken enough of his life and he just wanted this to be done with. On the other hand the State Prosecutor representing Max smelled a cover up, and was also a young attorney looking to make a name for himself, and wanted to prove that Mark set Max up. So it would come down to today. According to Murdock if Roberts could not find enough in favor of Max to press charges against my brother there would be no trial. That is not to say Mark would be free and clear Murdock had mentioned anger management, counseling as well as probation for Mark, Max could end up seeing jail time if the Judge didn't buy his claim that Mark gave him the coke.

If Roberts did decide to go to trial then Mark was going to be in trouble. The trial would not have as short of a time limit as the hearing and the prosecution would have more time to dig into the evidence. Murdock said that everything would be gone through with a fine tooth comb. Further complicating things was that Mark would be going to trial with a public defender as, without Alex paying, Murdock could no longer represent Mark. Making matters worse my brother's story of not recognizing Max was weak at best, and sooner or later, the prosecution would see through the ruse.

Murdock seemed to have no doubt that the further it went the worse it would get for Mark, who if found guilty, even if he did minimal time, would lose any chance of ever becoming a lawyer. My brother's future, to go along with his childhood, would be taken from him by an animal that had no right still being alive. I put the cigarette out and told myself that it would not come to that. The Judge already seemed as if he were giving Mark every chance and the fact that in addition to myself, mom was also going to testify, as well as one of Mark's karate instructors, two of his college professors and...

I frowned, as the last person that was due to testify was Alex, and who knew if he still would. Alex was a hell of a character witness to have; a member of a wealthy family who sat on quite a few boards throughout the state of RI and whose family had an impeccable reputation. Alex's company Orion Electronics had also provided Mark's scholarship. The scholarship was private and created by Alex it was called the 'best of the best'. The scholarship, which for Mark, would not just cover PC, but if he maintained his grades take him through Suffolk law as well, was about more than just academics.

Orion only gave out one of these per year and in addition to scholastic awards was based on all around excellence. Mark had been an all state baseball player, as well as a black belt who had won over two dozen full contact tournaments. My brothers IQ tested at the gifted level and he was in peak physical condition. Alex had chosen my brother not only for all those things but because of where he had come from and how he had managed to overcome that troubled past. Alex's testimony would be critical to my brother's character and after Thursday night it was unlikely he would even show up today. It was one of life's twisted little ironies that the past which Mark had seemingly overcome, had reared its ugly head and could now take his future. In that, like so many other things Mark and I were mirror images of each other. Mom and Dad had adopted me young, loved me, turned my life around and encouraged my talent, yet here I was homeless, working a shitty part time job I had to beg to get back and couldn't go more than a few weeks without drugs or alcohol.

I sighed and once again just tried to focus on what I needed to do. The point of my testimony was to speak of how bad off Mark was from the years with Max and to mention the nightmares, the way he wouldn't speak and to stress how far he had come. I was also to relate some of the stories of Mark's past. This was a dangerous game as everything I would speak of could have a dual effect on the judge. For our cause what Murdock wanted to establish was how badly Mark had been abused which would explain the frightening level of violence Mark had used on Max. That finally recognizing Max had triggered years of pent up anger and pain causing my brother to lose control.

The potential downside was that every bit of testimony that spoke of the abuse Mark had endured at Max's hands created a motive for Mark to want to kill him as well as making it harder to believe he had somehow blocked out Max's face and voice. Murdock had spoken to Mark yesterday morning and asked him if he wanted to go through with using testimonies that could go either way for him. Mark said that he was confident that 'fate,' as he put it, would take care of him. Mark also pointed out that Max had just as much motive to go after him as, somehow in his skewed mind, Max blamed Mark for him going to jail. In the end Mark and Max had a history of violence between them and plenty of reason to want to kill each other. It would be the Judges call to decide in this particular case which one was the aggressor. As from the start the biggest advantage Mark had was his amazing success versus Max's history of drug abuse and domestic violence; the 'All American boy' versus the career criminal.

Unfortunately the All American boy was also covered with demonic tattoos and the prosecution was bringing in a couple of witnesses who had watched Mark get carried away as a bouncer. They were also bringing in a councilor from the group home Mark was last in; the same councilor who had recommended Mark go to a training school and had branded him dangerous. Murdock claimed they were going to bring up the fact that in addition to Mark's temper back then that several times he had tested strangely on psychological exams and they had recommended psychiatric help. Yet anytime a psychiatrist would come in Mark would test completely differently and they could never prove anything was wrong with him except rage issues which were more than justified.

On that note I thought about the stunt Mark had pulled on the lie detector test and found myself wondering about what really went on in my brother's head. When he would 'go away' people assumed he was day dreaming, the social workers had said it was escaping, the way I had with my forest but there was more there now, I could tell. My father had always claimed that there was something 'behind Mark's eyes' something not right. That something had been there Thursday night I could feel it even more than I had seen it. My brother was not right. Mark knew it as well, and wanted to tell me about it that's why he wanted to go away when this was over. Mark had been keeping something from me and I knew it wasn't anything good. That was if the hearing today ended it. If there was a trial who knew when we would have a chance to get away and Mark swore he wouldn't tell me until it was over. I could already feel my stomach twisting into knots at the thought of today not being the end of this nightmare.

I looked up as I heard Mark moan in his sleep. As I watched he rolled over onto his stomach, his arm reaching out. Not finding me his eyes opened part way. I stood up and walking over to the bed knelt down beside it.