Love Thy Brother

Charity Ball weekend: Saturday

“Liam! Liam are you awake?”
Tamryn sat up in bed. Something woke her. Someone was calling
Liam’s name. There it was again!
“Hey brother! Are you still sleeping?” It was Allan’s voice and he was in
their house.
Tamryn looked around her. She was not in her own room. And then it
sunk in. Everything that happened the previous night. She quickly
turned her head and saw Liam still fast asleep on his stomach. World
War III would not even wake him up.
“Hey Liam! Tamryn! Where are you guys? Don’t tell me you’ve slept
with the door unlocked?” Allan shouted again.
The door! Liam never got to lock up after their kiss and what happened
further. She shook Liam’s shoulder and whispered: “Liam! Allan is
here!” Liam opened his eyes and looked at her confused. She pointed
to the door.
“Hey, I’m coming up to throw you with cold water! There’s no time for
late sleepers here.” They heard him coming up the stairs.

Tamryn gave Liam one last look then she jumped out of bed and
grabbed the first thing she could find to cover her naked body: Liam’s
shirt. She was standing with her back to the door trying her best to
button the shirt but her nervous fingers failed her. She just clutched the
material around her body. Liam was now sitting up in bed with the sheet
covering the lower part of his body. There was a short knock on the
door then Allan shoved the door open without hesitation.
“Wake up you lazy......” he started to say and then he stopped mid-
sentence. His mouth was open and his head was moving from Liam to
Tamryn and back as if he was watching a tennis match. All three of
them were in utter silence. It was Tamryn who first came to life. She
turned around not looking at either one of them. Still clutching Liam’s
shirt against her body, she quickly picked up her scraps of clothing that
was lying on the floor and moved past Allan to Liam’s bathroom. She
shut the door. Let them sort it out themselves, she thought. She never
felt so embarrassed in her life! What must Allan think of her? That she
is now one of Liam’s flavours of the month? She looked at her red face
in the mirror and then turned away to open the shower taps.
Liam and Allan were staring at each other. The sound of the water in
the shower brought them back.
“What the hell is this?” Allan was asking Liam while his head was now
moving between Liam and the bathroom door.
Liam drew his hand through his hair and sighed: “It’s none of your
business, Allan.”
“None of my business?” Allan was now almost shouting
“Lower your voice” Liam warned him and pointed to the bathroom where
Tamryn was taking a shower.
“Liam!” Allan’s voice was now a angry whisper: “That’s my sister in
there! Dammit, that’s YOUR sister in there! What the hell were you
thinking?”
Liam held up one hand: “First of all: she’s not my sister. She is my
stepsister. And second: Mind your own damn business!”

This is my business. You are not going to mess around with her! Do
you hear me? Over my dead body!” Allan was almost shouting again.
“Allan please don’t be so dramatic!” Liam was now getting irritated with
him. “I’m not messing around with her. I love her. And she loves me.”
“Love?” Allan was laughing in disgust: “What do you know about love?”
“I’m going to ask you this only once” Liam was not taking this anymore
and his voice was bringing it clearly across. “Keep your mouth shut
about this. Give me and Tamryn a chance to work things out before you
go and blabber it to everyone. We will tell them when we are ready,
okay?”
Allan was not impressed. You could see on his face he wanted to
discuss this matter far more than Liam would let him. This guy better not
break his sister’s heart! He was silent for a few minutes and then he
said with a very serious voice: “Fine. I won’t say anything. But hear me
loud and very clear: If you so much as damage a hair on her head, I will
come for you and I will certainly fuck you up! Do you hear me?”
Liam just looked straight at him and said: “I will hold you to that, brother.”
Allan spun around, slammed the door shut and left Liam sitting there in
bed. Liam let his head fall in his hands and just sat there for a while.
Did he and Tamryn mess up? It’s too late now to turn back. Their
relationship will never be what it was before. Too much happened. He
got out of bed and put on his pants that was still lying on the floor. Clear
evidence of what was going on in that room the night before.
He felt sorry for Allan. This must have been a great shock to him.
Dammit he was still in shock about what happened. He turned around
and went to the bathroom door. He gave a light knock and waited for
her to answer. Then he opened the door slowly and she stood there in
front of the mirror with one of his towels wrapped around her wet body.
She was combing her hair and it fell over her shoulders. She just took
his breath away. He just stood there taking in the beautiful picture.
Their eyes found each other in the mirror.
Neither of them said a word. What happened last night was still new to
both of them and the escapade with Allan just now was too embarrassing to discuss. Tamryn put the brush down on the counter
and took one last look in the mirror to find Liam’s eyes. Then she turned
and tried to move past him in the doorway.
“Hey! Hey!” he said and took a hold of her shoulders. She just stopped
and looked to the ground. She was so ashamed. She wanted to die!
What will the rest of the family think of her now?
“Come here.” Liam said gently and took her back to the bathroom
counter. He took her middle with both his hands and lifted her
effortlessly up on it. He took his finger and lifted up her chin so that her
eyes could meet his.
“I’m going to ask you a question and I want you to be very honest with
me, okay?” he said gently. “Remember I only want the truth.”
Tamryn only shook her head up and down. She had no energy to talk.
She was emotionally drained.
“Did you mean what you said last night? Do you really love me?” She
could see the uncertainty in his eyes. “Or do you think we made a
mistake?”
“Is that what you think?” she returned his question. “Do you feel this was
a mistake?” She wanted to cry. She really loved him. What if he didn’t
feel the same as she did? What if he only said those words to her last
night in the heat of the moment?
Liam could sense that she was tensing up. “Tammy, I meant every word
I said to you. I love you. And no, I don’t think last night was a mistake.”
“You know if this doesn’t work out, there is no way back to what we once
were?” she had the same thoughts as he did.
“Do you love me?” he asked her again.
“Do you really think I would have slept with you if I didn’t?” she asked
back.
“No.” he said and smiled. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “He
is not going to say anything, Tammy. He promised.” Liam reassured her.