Aubrey

April 17, 2023

Nova was up and at it especially early today. Breakfast was made, she was out of her pajamas, and she was reading a magazine like some old lady. It was usual, yet unusual, of her. But then again, I assume that she was still on this whole "trying to save her marriage" mission, so fair enough.

"Morning" I said cheerfully as I grabbed bacon, "someone slept good I see." Nova looked up at me.

"I did" she said with glee, "I assume you did too, Mrs 'best kept secret'." I raised an eyebrow, "huh?"

"Oh nothing!" Nova said as she went back to looking through her magazine. I didn't stop looking at her though, which she could probably sense because she looked up at me. "I almost forgot!" she said with an overwhelming amount of sarcasm, "have fun!"

"Nova" I said, "what are you talking about?"

"Rico's house! I see you didn't wanna tell me apparently, even though I thought we were done with keeping secrets. Thank God Nick did though."

I chuckled, "babe I didn't think that was a secret" I responded. "I mean, yeah it's random, but we did talk about Nick and how he felt towards Rico being his brother, right?" Nova nodded.

"I get that" she said, closing her magazine, "but I don't get why you, are going."

"Because Hailey and I caught Nick on the phone telling his mom that he was going through with it" I answered, "that's it. He's nervous and didn't wanna do it alone. I figured with Hailey going, you'd be okay with me going as well." Nova nodded, "I would've been either way."

I smiled, "okay" I said, "great. I'll be back soon babe, and I promise to tell you how it went." Nova smiled, "Hailey's at May's dorm?" she asked, "because I didn't see her here last night.

I nodded, "May needed help with some project, and you know I'm over that school shit, especially after you admitted that you were." Nova giggled.

"Bye babe" she said as I leaned in and gave her a quick peck. "You be safe."

"Yes ma'am!" I chirped.

Nick

"Nick?" Rico asked as he opened his front door, peaking his head out and looking left to right. "Why are you alone? Where are the girls?"

"They're coming, I promise" I assured Rico, "but I wanted to have a serious conversation with you before they came. I don't know how much time I have until then." Rico nodded and stepped outside.

"Okay" he said, "shoot."

"This is gonna sound crazy, far fetched I don't know, but you're...my brother." Rico didn't move a muscle. He didn't drop his jaw wide open like I had imagined, and his pupils didn't dilate.

"Welcome to the family" he said after a moment of silence, smiling ear to ear.

"W-what, you're not surprised?" I asked my half brother, and he chuckled. "Nick, I am twenty years old. Kids start getting curious about the life they're living around seven years old." I nodded, "right" I said, "so you did your own research?"

"My own research, my own calculations, my own everything. I knew who you were before you even thought of coming to FSU, Nick. And trust me, I wanted to reach out to you, I really did. But I couldn't due to the terms and conditions that your mom-...our mom, put in place."

I could feel my face getting hot, and I didn't know why. Why the hell was the moment emotional?

"Nick?" Rico asked.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew?" I hissed, with a tear tempting to fall. "Rico, you've been in my life for some months now, you could've said something in between all those times that I put my hands on you, yelled at you, threatened you! How could you sit here in my face every day, letting me act that way towards you, and not say anything?!" I shook my head in disbelief, the tears now falling free from my eye's grasp.

"Nick, like I just said, I wanted to. More than anything" Rico insisted, "but I didn't know if you knew. If I told you and you didn't know, I would've been breaking your mom's terms and conditions, and she would have grounds to sue."

"It's been twenty fucking years Rico!" I damn near yelled, "that term shit hasn't expired yet? How long is it gonna be in place for?"

"Until your mother dies" Rico let out, emotionless.

"Your feelings are valid, Nick" Rico stated, "but you need to understand that out of respect for your mother, and not wanting legal problems, I had to let you figure that out on your own. I swear I'm sorry."

"It's cool" I said, wiping my face. "I'm not upset with you, I guess I'm just angry in general and don't know where to place my anger. I grew up longing for a sibling Rico, you don't even understand."

Rico put his hand on my shoulder, "well now you have one" he said, "and your moms terms and conditions no longer matter. You know, and you found out on your own, so we can be brothers." I smiled, "man," I said, "I'd like that."

"There's so much that we have to catch up on" Rico insisted, "but let's wait for the girls. I have a sister, Julie, that I told Aubrey about. I want them to get aquatinted because Julie is..."

"Julie is..." I asked.

"Kind of a loser. She doesn't really have friends."

Luckily, Aubrey's car pulled up just as Rico had finished that sentence. "Great" he said, walking over to the car, "the whole gangs here."

***

Aubrey

"Aubrey?" a female voice asked, with a middle eastern looking girl entering the room shortly after. "You're so pretty in person, oh my gosh."

"Looks like we've got a Rosalina 2.0" Hailey groaned, to which I nudged her, "think about Nick" I quickly whispered before giving Julie my full attention.

"Hi, Julie!" I said with fake glee, "it's so nice to finally meet you. I love your outfit, it's totally something that I would've worn in high school." Julie chuckled awkwardly as she held my hand extra long, "yeah" she mumbled as I let go.

"So, Julie," Hailey began, clasping her hands together, "tell us about yourself. Hobbies, likes, dislikes, what you do in your free time." Julie smiled.

"I like painting, and dream catchers. I'm into astrology, but not crystals. I enjoy long walks on the Atlantic, and I..." Julie looked down at her toes, which had been painted a sparkly red.

"Am a lesbian."

"Shit" Hailey mumbled, and I couldn't seem to catch on to what she was thinking. I think I knew, as an idea was there, but it was a quickly fading idea that couldn't stick with me. So I was a little confused.

"By any chance Julie, could you tell us some of the things that Rico might've told you about us?" Hailey asked, which I appreciated. I kind of wanted to know, but couldn't bring myself to ask.

"Not much about you, Hailey" Julie answered, "but he told me Aubrey is a beautiful, feisty girl who always gets what she wants. She's really cool when you get to know her, though it may not seem that way upon first impression." I was stunned.

"Beautiful huh?" Hailey asked, "say, did Rico add that part, or did you Julie?"

"I mean, does it matter?" Julie asked, rocking back and forth between her heals and tippy toes for a moment. "I'm seeing Aubrey right now, as she stands before me. She is beautiful. That's a fact."

"She is married" Hailey retorted, "also a fact." I swear, I had completely zoned out at this point. What the actual hell was going on? Was this a joke?

"Oh" Julie responded, sounding kind of surprised, causing me to look back up at her. "I-I'm sorry, Rico gave me the notion that you were available."

"Rico gave you the notion that I was available?" I asked Julie, "when was this?"

"I don't know" she replied, "maybe a month back or so. He said you had divorced your wife and was possibly looking for a new beau." Anger filled me.

"Aubrey?" Hailey asked as she watched my temperament change. Nick and Rico were in Rico's bedroom looking at random shit, just trying to catch up on lost time. I didn't wanna ruin this for Nick, but I couldn't help it. Rico didn't tell me that Nova was cheating because he was bitter that Nova didn't like him, he told me that Nova was cheating because he wanted me to leave Nova for his sister!

"Rico!" I yelled as I stormed out of the room, with both Hailey and Julie closely behind, trying to talk me out of it. "Rico! Where are you?!"

"Aubrey," Julie insisted, "I swear it's not as serious as you may feel." I turned to face Julie, chest heaving and veins pulsating. "I'd be quiet if I were you" I warned her. "Real, fucking quiet."

"Julie stopped following behind me beyond that point. She stood at in the middle of the hall, where I had left her. Hailey however, continued to trail.

Nick

"There you are" Aubrey entered Rico's room without knocking. "Hi Aubrey" Rico began as Aubrey walked up to him. "What's u-"

Aubrey smacked Rico across the face. Hard.

"Aubrey!" I exclaimed, "what the hell!"

"Stay out it!" she hissed, prompting me to look at Hailey. All she gave me was a shrug.

"You told your fucking sister that I was single after you told me about Nova cheating?" Aubrey asked Rico. "What, was that whole thing with Nova an act? What were you really using it as a decoy for? For you knowing that you were related to Nick, or for a plan to ruin my marriage so that your creepy sister could finally have someone?!"

"Aubrey, I did like Nova," Rico insisted, but Aubrey just smacked him yet again. "Wanna keep lying?"

"I'm not lying!" Rico retorted, holding his face. "I liked Nova, and I did tell my sister that you were available, but the two incidents had no correlation."

"Explain" Aubrey demanded, arms folded.

"My sister is like you, doesn't take what she doesn't wanna hear for an answer. I called her that day when I approached you guys at the park to come get me because I was hiding from Nick. Turns out she was nearby, and although she didn't see all that had happened, she figured out that you were Aubrey based on my description of you and your emotions."

"Okay" Aubrey huffed, arms still folded. "Then?"

"She started asking a million questions about you. She thought you were the most beautiful woman in the world. She made the assumption that you were newly single now given what I had told her, but I told her that she shouldn't keep her hopes up when it comes to you and Nova."

"And you never told her thereafter that Nova and I were working on it?" Aubrey asked, looking ready to slap the shit out of Rico again. "I tried!"

"Many times I tried to steer her mind away from that. The thing is, my sister is worse than me. She is really vindictive when she wants something. I didn't want you guys having to face that demon given the fact that your group has already been through so much this year."

"I guess eventually," Rico continued, "I gave up on my sister. I let her mind wander and just hoped that she had enough sense to never try to hit on you. I now see that she didn't."

"Why didn't you tell me this yesterday Rico?" Aubrey questioned, and Rico shrugged. "I honestly, honestly wasn't thinking about it. It wasn't on my mind. You just unlocked that far gone memory. I swear."

Aubrey shook her head, "whatever" she said, "I don't wanna ruin you and Nick's bonding time. I'm going home. I'm not mad at you Rico, but if you care about your sister and her well-being, then you will keep her far, far, away from me." Rico nodded, "understood."

I waited for Aubrey and Hailey to walk down the hall. "I'm so sorry" I groaned, and Rico shook his head. "It doesn't affect anything between us Nick" he said, "that had absolutely nothing to do with you. You're good." I nodded.

"Can I come back tomorrow or something? I asked, "I'm gonna touch down at Nova's see where everybody's head is at." Rico smiled "mi casa es su casa" he replied, "you can come back any time, bro."

***

Nova

I just so happened to be sitting in the living room when Aubrey came bursting through the door, with Hailey following closely behind.

"Uh, hi" I said, to my noticeably pissed wife. "Rico's didn't go so well?" Aubrey shrugged, "who knows?"

Literally moments after, Nick opened the door, also looking pissed. "What the heck was that Aubrey?"

"You heard the conversation Nick!" Aubrey reamed, "you know exactly what it was. I have a right to be mad so I don't wanna hear it."

"I didn't say you couldn't be mad," Nick replied, "but slapping the dude twice, once before he could even start to explain himself? Are you serious? You know how important this is to me Aubrey. What, is this my payback for what I did to you? Was this premeditated?" Aubrey looked taken back.

"Stop making this about what you did!" she demanded, with poor Hailey looking back and forth. I was confused, but I seemed to understand that Aubrey had a right to be mad at somebody, Rico I assume, and that she slapped somebody. Once again, Rico I assume.

"It's hard not to, given the circumstances" Nick replied. Aubrey scoffed and leaned against a wall, "Nick, I found out that Rico gave his sister the notion that I was single and available. He tried breaking Nova and I up so that Julie could have me."

"What?!" I asked, standing up. "Huh?!"

"He explained the situation, and that's not at all what happened Nova" Nick said, "his sister is a loony and despite Rico's efforts to get her to forget about Aubrey, she won't. He didn't tell either of you two this before because he didn't want anybody making it a big deal. His sister is vindictive and he knows you two have gone through enough stress."

"Wait" I said, "so did he ever actually like me?"

"According to him" Aubrey replied before Nick could. "But at this point, I don't know what to fucking believe. All I know is I'm not going there any more." Nick nodded, "damn right you're not."

"I'm sorry!" Aubrey hissed at Nick. "Okay? Just leave me alone Nicholas. This whole situation from start to finish has been fucking heart wrenching. Now you have the audacity to be mad at me after I've found out new information from a situation that you caused? Go to fucking hell."

Aubrey stormed upstairs, and Nick's previously angry demeanor dissolved. "Aubrey," he groaned as he walked towards the stairs, but I stopped him.

"I'll go up there in a minute" I said, "but she'll be alright. I promise you she won't start shunning you or anything crazy. Just, try to be more understanding Nick, please." Nick sighed and hung his head for a moment before looking back at me. "I'm so sorry" he said, "I overreacted. Bad."

"It's okay" I smiled, "you two will talk later."