The Brotherhood and Me

Chapter 4

The trip to the clothing store for women is a quiet one. Marc walks beside me with Victor and Gabriel several steps ahead of us, discussing tonight’s dinner animatedly. I appreciate both of their forms in front of me. Both boys are the same in height and have a lean build, but there is a hidden strength I can see in both of them. I admire Gabriel for being bold enough to wear his hair longer than is typical for men, and I love the blond streaks that frame his face.

I read on the internet that men used to wear their hair however they wanted and no one thought twice about it. Since the world changed, though, most men keep their hair cut short. The ones that wear their hair long are often associated with the small sect that has sworn off women altogether and have chosen to instead have their physical needs fulfilled by other men. I doubt very seriously that Gabriel falls into the category of guys that prefer the attention of men over women, since he seems to be willing to fight for the chance to marry me. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if any of my prospective husbands have experimented with men. My own grandfathers were very open with affection for each other in our house.

We come to a stop in front of a quaint little building with a soft pink sign that read “For Her” on the window.

“How original” Victor comments wryly, offering me a wink and a smile.

I return the smile and step forward to enter the store. Once inside, I’m overwhelmed at all the options spread out in front of me. Gabriel breezes by me but pauses a few feet inside the store. He turns and runs his eyes all over my body, but not in a creepy way. More like he’s trying to figure out a puzzle. Nodding to himself, he turns back around and smiles at the man that greets us.

“Welcome to For Her. I’m Jack, what can we help you with today?” What I’m assuming is the store owner says.

“Hi” Victor steps forward to shake his hand. “Our girlfriend needs some things. My brother here will be helping her pick the clothes, but if you wouldn’t mind setting up a fitting room for us?”

I take a nervous step closer to Marc, inhaling his calming coffee scent. “What’s happening?” I murmur to him quietly.

“Gabriel dresses all of the Blackbourne guys” Marc says, in what I’m assuming was an attempt at reassurance. It failed.

“I can dress myself” I reply. “And besides, I already have my own clothes.”

“And your clothes are shit” Gabriel says to me, nonplussed at my indignant huff. “No offense, but you look like a child and I’m not a pedo.”

Instead of replying, I step even closer to Marc and grab his hand, hoping that he’ll protect me from whatever Gabriel has planned.

“Oh no you don’t” Marc says, laughing. He takes the hand I placed in his and places it in Victor’s waiting palm.

Victor doesn’t hesitate to pull me further into the store and we begin to follow Gabriel. I watch, transfixed, as Gabriel piles more and more clothing into his arms. Once Gabriel’s arms are full, he hands what he has over to Jack and starts a new stack.

“Victor” I hedge, really nervous now. “I can’t afford all those clothes. My grandfathers only sent me with a little money to get by for a week.”

“Why the fuck would we take you shopping for clothes you don’t want and then make you pay for them?” Gabriel asks.

“What my colorful brother is trying to say, Princess, is that we will handle the purchase of your new wardrobe” Victor reassures me.

I can’t argue Gabriel’s logic, though. I am perfectly happy with the dresses I currently have and see no reason to buy new things. If he and his brothers want me in something different, they should take care of paying for it. Though I do appreciate Victor’s attempt at making Gabriel’s words sound less harsh.

“Thank you for explaining” I tell them both.

“Right” Gabriel says. “That covers outerwear. Now, where do you think they hide the bras and panties?”

“I have underwear. I don’t need anything new” I try to argue.

“Just say thank you, Princess” Victor replies.

“Besides” Marc interjects. “I kinda want to see you in something with lace.”

I blush hotly at Marc’s words, but again can’t argue with his logic. My underwear, up until this point, has been strictly functional. If my potential husbands want my bras and panties to be lace, silk or something else, they will have to buy something new.

“How do you feel about thongs?” Gabriel asks, causing me to blush and the other two boys to snicker at my obvious discomfort.

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After being fitted for a new bra and letting my three suitors select the fabrics and colors they like best, we match them with several pretty, but comfortable-looking pairs of underwear. I’m happy to notice that while there are lots of different colors selected, most of the sets are in varying shades of pink.

“Now that you have a bra that fits, I’m not sure if a lot of these tops and dresses I picked are going to fit right” Gabriel muses aloud. “Fuck it. Marc, be ready to fetch different sizes. Sang, start trying things on. And I want to see each outfit, you understand?”

One look inside the fitting room and I know I’m in over my head. “Um, Gabriel? How am I supposed to know what goes with what?”

“Uh oh” Victor says quietly before taking a seat on the bench across from the curtain separating the changing room from the store.

Gabriel’s blue eyes sparkle when he smiles at me. “Do you need my help, Sang?”

“Don’t get us kicked out of here for being a perv, man” Marc whines.

I widen my eyes at Marc’s insinuation. Gabriel couldn’t mean to come into the fitting room with me, could he? And if he did, he wouldn’t expect me to DO anything with him, would he? We just met, and while I know that in the very near future I will be expected to meet my husbands physical needs, they wouldn’t expect me to begin so soon after meeting. Right?

“Stop teasing her” Victor scolds Marc and Gabriel. “You’re going to scare her away.”

“Shit, Vic, you’re no fun” Gabriel says. “Start with the dresses, Sang. Once we get those sorted and your pile is smaller, I can come in between changes and tell you what to put on next. Okay? No hanky panky need happen today.”

I smile at Gabriel to let him know his words did their job in reassuring me. Stepping into the fitting room, however, I’m once again overwhelmed at the massive amount of clothes in front of me. They must plan on seeing me in a different outfit everyday for a year with the amount of clothing hanging from every available hook and piled on every available surface. I begin with the dresses as instructed. The first one I pick up is a pretty, plain white summer dress. Once I’m changed, I step out of the curtain without bothering to check the mirror. This isn’t about what I like, this is all about what my future maybe-husbands want.

“Nope. That’s shit” Gabriel says immediately.

“I like it” Victor says.

“You would” Gabriel replies. “Don’t worry, there’s plenty of other white stuff in there. This one just doesn’t work.”

“What’s wrong with it?” I ask, genuinely curious. I’m not trying to argue, I just want to know what he’s looking for specifically so I can maybe eliminate a few of the other options and shorten this whole process.

“You still look too young” Gabriel explains. “I know that you are young. We all are. But some things just make you look like a child. Granted, a child with a very nice chest, but still a child.”

“And that’s bad” I add, hoping he’ll explain further.

“It’s not bad, Sang” Marc says. “Nothing about you is bad. Gabe here is just trying to bring out the best parts of you.”

“So we’re looking for what, exactly?” I ask.

“A little cute, but stylish. Just like you” Gabriel answers.

“If I’m stylish, why do I need new clothes?” I ask.

“Oy, just turn your cute ass around and try on something else” Gabriel laughs in reply. “And hand over all the rejects.”

I return to the selection of clothes without further argument. I’m not trying to be difficult, but this is all so daunting. I choose a lace-covered green dress with a satin slip attached. The neckline goes down almost to my bra in a v-shape. I bet they can’t say I look like a child in this one.

I step out of the curtained area and Marc sits up in his seat a little taller. “If you don’t add that to the yes pile, I’m buying it myself.”

“Well fuck me, you have cleavage” Gabriel says, smiling brightly. “Perfect. That’s a yes. Find more stuff like this in there, Sang. Marc, go find me a few more shirts that have a deep V neckline, would ya?”

“On it” Marc says, jumping up and hurrying back into the store.

“What should I do with the yes pile?” I ask Gabriel.

“How about you hand over the yes stuff to us too?” Gabriel suggests. “Can we keep them separate, Vic?”

Instead of answer, Victor just nods his head, his eyes blazing brightly in my direction. I blush at the attention, but I’m quite pleased that he likes it. Actually, I’m happy all three of them like it.

We set a pretty fast pace after my first success. There are several more negative responses, but once I figure out what I’m pretty sure Gabriel is looking for, I start skipping over the more childish-looking things. The key, I find out, is that I either need to show a lot of leg or a bit of cleavage for Gabriel to accept it. Both at the same time gets me a great reaction from all three of them, but Gabriel always says no. Too much or too little of either has the same response.

When there’s nothing left to try on, my yes pile is quite a bit smaller than the pile that was in the fitting room at the beginning, but there are still too many clothes for me to fathom. Gabriel and Victor carry everything to the register to pay and I sit down on the bench next to Marc to rest my aching feet. I tilt my head back and sigh heavily.

“You okay?” Marc asks.

“I am. It’s just a lot for one day, you know?” I tell him.

“I can imagine” he replies.

“I’ve never been shopping before” I confess. “It always looked fun when I saw stuff about it on the internet. I didn’t realize it was so much work.”

“What do you mean you’ve never been shopping?” He asks.

“Well, it’s hard to go shopping from a basement” I answer, not understanding why he’s confused about my words.

“Basement?” He asks.

“Of course. All girls spend the first years leading up to the introductions hidden away” I reply.

“I don’t think…” he begins, but cuts himself off. “We’ll talk about this more later, okay?”

“Okay” I say, suddenly unsure. Did I say something wrong? Did he not know girls are kept hidden away for their safety?

He grabs my hand and pulls me to my sore feet and I can’t help but groan in objection. He smiles at me, but lets me lean on him for support.

“You smell amazing” I tell him. “Like dark, strong coffee.”

“Thank you” he replies, a hint of a blush tinting his cheeks. “You smell like roses.”

“Really? That’s weird, I don’t wear any perfume and my body wash is coconut" I tell him.

“Maybe your natural scent is rose. I smell like coffee because I own a coffee shop” he says.

My feet stop moving and I stare at the side of his face. “Really? Can we go there sometime? I love coffee.”

He smiles back at me before answering. “Babe, I’ll take you anywhere you want to go if you keep looking at me like that.”