Not A Hero - Cisco Ramon ✔

21. Birthday Party

--

"I really don't want to go." Cisco tells me and the doors of the elevator open. "He's your brother, Cisco." I tell him and take a sip from my drink. "Not by choice." He answers.

"Okay, how bad can a birthday party be?" I ask him while we walk to the cortex. "Um, my folks think Dante's stink don't stink. Doesn't matter how much he screws up or how many times he gets in trouble. In their eyes, he can do no wrong." Cisco explains to me. "And yet they never fail to remind me that I can do no right." He says. I suddenly got an idea.

"What if I came with you?" I ask him. "What? Seriously?" He asks me surprised. I take another sip from my drink and nod. "Absolutely. You've done so much for me, let me be there for you for a change." I tell him and smile. "And I can look at old family photo albums and see what little Cisco looks like without long hair." I tell him and then wince. "Okay, that sounded really weird." I laugh softly.

--

"I don't want to do this." Cisco says looking out of the window. We're in his car, parked in front of his parents' house. "It's gonna be okay, I'll be here with you." I tell him. "You know, I always imagined you meeting my parents as my girlfriend." He tells me, and I sight. "Let's just go, okay?" He nods, and we get out. He takes a deep breathe before opening the door.

He greets a few family members and they smile politely at me. "Wow, your parents really went all out with the cake." I tell him when I see the cake on the table. "Oh, well, it's Dante's birthday, the most important day of the year." He says sarcastically.

"Mijo was invited to play Carnegie Hall when he was just 13 years old." I her a woman say. "They invited the entire band, Mamá." A man, I guess Dante, says to her. "That doesn't make it any less worthwhile." Mrs. Ramon tells him, and they laugh. Dante looks up and sees us. "Hey, what's up, man?" He says to Cisco. "Hey." Cisco answers awkwardly. "Glad you could make it." Dante tells him. "Of course." He looks at me and smiles at me.

"Hi, I'm Dante." "This is my... friend... Kat Smoak." Cisco introduces me to him. "Hi, Kat." He shakes my hand. "Happy birthday, Dante." I tell him and smile back. "Thank you."

"Here, I got you this." Cisco says and hands the gift towards his brother. "I think you'll really like it, it's--"

"Thanks, man."

"Yeah."

"Excuse me." He walks away. Cisco turns to me. "Can we go now?" He asks me, but I shake my head. "You need to spend time with your family, Cisco. I'm sure they're happy that you're here." He sights and nods.

We watch Dante play the piano. When he's finished Mrs. Ramon says something in Spanish, I really wish I had taken Spanish classes at high school. "Here is one who was touched by God." She tells the others. Dante smiles at her and walks towards us

"I was a little rusty. I haven't played in a while." He says to us. "Well, if that was what you sounded like rusty I can't imagine what you sound like when you've practiced." I tell him. "For you, I'd practice morning, noon and night." Dante says to me and I blush a little, not used to guys flirting with me.

Cisco laughs sarcastically. "That means you'd actually have to get up in the morning." He tells his brother. There's an awkward silence. "So, mom tells me you're still working at S.T.A.R. Labs." Dante says to his little brother. "Yeah, why?" "No reason, man. Guess it was just hard to find another job." "I wasn't looking. I like working at S.T.A.R. Labs." Cisco says, getting a little angry. "And we couldn't do what we do without Cisco." I speak up.

"He's loyal. Just like a dog." I want to say something back but he's already talking to Cisco again. "Come on, why are you so serious, mija?" Cisco scoffs and walks away. I glare at Dante and follow Cisco out of the house.

"Are you alright?" I ask him ad grab his arm. "I can't believe him." Cisco sights and shakes his head. "Well, I actually can, he always does this. He always reminds me that he's better than me. In everything." Cisco ambles. "Hey. Hey." I grab his other hand. "To me, you're way better at being a good and nice person and way more other things." I tell him. "That might not make it better, but I just want you to know that." I tell him. He nods and unlocks the car. "Let's go home."