Tainted Perfection

¹ ⁰|𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬

“Please tell me you’ve been taking your medication.” My brother lets out a laugh and a dry cough follows causing me to wince.

“Look how the tables have turned.” He tells me, laughing once more and the sound leaves me at ease. If he could be calm and dismissive about this situation maybe I could too.

“I’m serious Diego.”

“I have, I have.” He reassures me.

“And you’ve been resting,” I ask and he lets out a dramatic sigh.

“Andrea and Abuela have made sure of that.”

“That’s good. Granny is flying in tomorrow by the way. She wanted it to be a surprise but I’ve decided to have mercy on you.” I tell him and I’m not surprised by the string of curse words that greet my ears right after. Both of my grandmothers in one house? My brother stood absolutely no chance. The thought makes me laugh. I’m just glad not to be caught in the middle of that. The last time both my grandmothers stayed in the same house was right after my parents' death. Even with the distraction of grief and burial arrangements, I fought the urge to pull my hair out every single day.

“How’s your arm?”

“Definitely still broken.” I don’t address the sarcasm in his voice and he goes on to continue. “Hurts like hell but I’ve been downing enough painkillers to numb the pain.”

“Thank God for that,” I mutter. A knock rings out from the other side of the door.

“Dinner’s ready.” Nic’s voice meets my ears, souring my mood further.

“I’ve got to go, I’ll call again to check on you tomorrow,” I tell my brother and he laughs.

“Daily calls from you? I should get in accidents more often.” I roll my eyes at his words. I toy with the idea of telling my brother about the threats and the fact that I was almost killed but I discard the thought. No good will come from that.

“Bye Diego,” I say before ending the call. “I’ll be down in a minute,” I call out and as expected the retreating sound of footsteps doesn’t meet my ears.

“Leave me alone Nicolás.” A sad sigh and the sound of him walking away fills the halls. A few minutes later a loud know reverberates on my door. “Come in.” As expected Romeo walks in with a bright smile painted on his face and I respond with a weak one.

“He is sorry, you know,” Romeo says and my lips tilt downward in a frown.

“Well, my brother’s hand is still broken. So…” I respond, the anger in my voice is thinly veiled. He lets out a smile and proceeds to sit on my bed. I can’t help the guilt that creeps up my chest when I see him massage the area around his wound.

“I understand that. But you know how Nic is, he thought he was doing the right thing.”

“Fuck that.” I nearly scream before getting a hold of myself. Releasing a shaky breath, I struggle to let go of the anger wrapped tightly around my heart. “Nic needs to get it into his head that the world doesn’t revolve around him. This isn’t the fucking Nicolas show. We were supposed to put our heads together and come up with a plan but he just took off on his own. This is the reason his cousin and best friend couldn’t possibly trust him enough to tell him about their relationship.” I laugh, empty and cold and it echoes in the silent room. “I’m sorry Romeo but I’m not ready to forgive him.”

Dinner passes by in a blur and I bolt out of my seat as soon as it isn't considered rude. The time on my phone reads 6:58. I haven't received any messages after the warning from my unknown texter and I have yet to decide if that is a good or bad thing. I grab a jacket before going downstairs. Getting to the common room I see the rest of the prefects playing board games and I give them a wave before heading for the front door.