Crush (18+)

Chapter 19

It was quiet outside.

The cool Californian breeze blew through my hair and I closes my eyes for a second, feeling happy to be home. Rolling my suitcase behind me, I made my way to the front door of my house. As I fiddled in my bag to look for my keys, the door was already by Rafael and I was actually happy to see him.

With a big smile on his face, my brother pulled me into a hug and kisses my cheek. "Thank God you're back, my life was starting to get boring without annoying my little sister."

We were exact the same age, but I decided to let that one slide.

I wasn't important anymore, I was just glad to be home where everything was like I knew it and I didn't have to walk around with secrets. Okay, it wasn't like I was going to tell my mother and brother about Noah, but at least Brandon wasn't here.

After what happened today, I felt like I couldn't lie anymore. It was so awkward when we were on the plane. Noah and Jocelyn hadn't said a word to each other and I'd never seen Brandon this uncomfortable in his life.

He was in the middle of the fight between his parents and of course there was no way he could choose. He also kept apologizing to me for having to see his parents acting like this and how he was so embarrassed for them.

It honestly wasn't his fault. There was nothing he could do about his parents' fight. Sometimes we have to understand that our parents are only human too and that they make mistakes, fight or screw up. Even though that didn't mean it wasn't weird for us.

As far as I know, Jocelyn went straight to her mother's house after we landed at the airport and Brandon went back with his dad to their house. Brandon even asked me if I wanted to stay with him and no matter how much I wanted to be there for him, I was both physically and mentally exhausted from this trip and needed to go home.

Rafael took my suitcase from me and I followed him to the living room. As soon as she saw me, my mom stood up from the couch and also pulled me into a hug. Damn, I hadn't even been gone for a week and they acted like I had been away for five months.

Now I know my mom was just really happy I was back so she wasn't alone with Rafael anymore. Even though it's her son, she never really knew how to handle him in certain situations. That's why I helped her with that, not that I had a choice.

"So tell me," mom said after she released me and we all sat down. "How was Miami? You look pretty tanned. Were Brandon's parents nice company?"

Why did people always ask so many questions?

I shrugged. "It was okay. It was mostly just a relaxing trip so we didn't do that much expect for going to the beach and having dinner in fancy restaurants."

My mom's smile was weak, even though she tried her hardest to make it look convincing. I knew she hated how she would never be able to take Rafael and me out for dinner to places like that.

"What about you guys? Did anything happen here?" I asked, changing the subject.

Mom looked at Rafael and Rafael shrugged as she spoke up. "Yeah, so I got arrested for being in position of weed. Nothing crazy happened though, a friend of mine took the blame and it's all good now."

"A friend of you?" I frowned.

He nodded. "Yeah, Mia is the best. She had never been in trouble with the police before so I didn't see the problem. Okay, it wasn't like she exactly took the blame on her. I might have put the weed in her backpack, the point is that I'm not in trouble."

I couldn't believe my ears, or actually I did. This was typically some shit my brother would pull and I felt crazy for actually believing he would ever change. I was seriously raging right now, but I decided to keep my cool and deal with him later.

"Where is she now?" I asked him.

This whole time my mother quietly listened, knowing all too well how wrong it is what Rafael did. The thing is that she was too scared to open her mouth. Why was she so scared of him? It's like she lets him get away with anything.

"She's at home. Her parents grounded her, that must suck ass," Rafael chuckled. Without saying where I was going, I jumped up from the couch and hurried outside. Of course this wasn't the first time my brother did stuff like this, but this time he did it to my best friend and I felt responsible.

______

About ten minutes later I arrived at Mia's house and I rang the doorbell. Not much later the door was opened by her little brother and he looked at me with a big smile on his face.

"Val, long time no see!"

I nodded distractedly and walked inside. Lopez followed me in confusion until I stopped my track in the empty living room and I turned to him. "Is Mia upstairs? I really need to talk to her!"

Jordan shuffled nervously on his feet as he bit his lip. "She is in her room, but no one is allowed to see her. Mom and dad are pretty mad at her," he mumbled.

"Where are your parents now?"

"They are at work, but I pro-"

I quickly interrupted him and grabbed his hands. "Your parents aren't here right now. Please Jordan, this is really important and I promise your mom and dad will never find out about this," I almost begged the fourteen year old.

"Okay," he sighed.

I didn't let him say that twice and I run upstairs to Mia's room. I heard soft music playing as I opened the door and there she was, sitting on her bed with some old magazine in her hand.

She looked up as she heard me come in, clearly surprised to see me. I couldn't blame her, the last time we talked we got into this big fight and after that she didn't answer any of my calls or texts.

"What are you doing here?" Mia tried to ask tough, but I could hear the emotion in her voice. She must have felt so betrayed by my brother. I did warn her for him though, but that wasn't something that mattered right now.

I sat down next to her on her bed and grabbed her hand. She didn't seem to mind it, so I started explaining. "I heard what my brother did to you and I'm so sorry. I promise you I feel fix this, I sure as hell won't let him get away with this."

Tears welled up in Mia's eyes when I was done talking it honestly worried me a little bit. Sure, Mia had always been a very emotional girl but this time it seemed different. There was something wrong, I could just feel it.

"Please tell me what's wrong," I whispered.

She pulled her hand out of mine and shook her head, while the tears started to flow. I frowned and was at a loss for words at this point. I wanted her to trust me enough to tell me what's wrong, but I also couldn't force her to tell me.

"You know I'd never judge you, right?"

These words seemed to have worked to change Mia's mind, because she took a deep breath and actually started talking.

"The reason why I have been acting so strange.. It is because of someone I like," Mia sniffed. I nodded, knowing what she was talking about. "Yeah, but you know how Rafael is now. It's okay Mia, people make mistakes to learn from them."

She shook her head, making me frown once again.

"No, that's just it. I'm not talking about Rafael, I'm talking about you."

At this point my heart started beating really fast and I realized I had it all wrong. Everything I thought I knew about my best friend, suddenly changed when she said the following words.

"I'm in love with you Val."

I bet yall didn't see that one coming....... By the way, I'm busy writing a new story and I really hope everything works out the way I want it because I love the concept and the characters so much! Of course I'll keep you updated :)