------She gasped, her back hitting the solid wood of the door. I caged her in, placing my hands on either side of her head, leaning in until there was nowhere left for her to run.
"You wanted the truth?" I breathed, my voice thick with all the years of denial, longing, and fear. "You have it. Now you get to feel what two years of pretending and five years of running feels like."
I didn't give her another second. I slammed my mouth down onto hers. It wasn't the tentative, gentle kiss of last night's shadow; this was a desperate, hungry, intense claiming. My lips moved roughly against hers, demanding a response, tearing down the last vestiges of our roles as 'brother' and 'sister.'
I felt her initial shock—a stiff resistance—but then, the agonizing, inevitable softening. Her hands, which had been pressed against my chest, moved up, clinging to the fabric of my shirt. She kissed me back, matching the intensity of my hunger, pouring all the years of her own suppressed longing and heartbreak into the contact.----------
⛈️ Dead of Night
Nina's POV
I was crying heavily as the storm outside got stronger. It was the dead of night when I suddenly felt someone's breath on my face. I jolted up from my bed to see who it was, but my vision was still blurry from my slumber, and the room's pitch-black darkness didn't help. Suddenly, I saw a shadow moving toward the door, trying to get outside the room. That's when I chased after it and felt its hand touch mine—and then it vanished.
I knew then that it was a person. I was not hallucinating or seeing something I shouldn't. I immediately turned on the light, but he was gone.
Every night when all of us were asleep, I would always feel someone's gaze on me, and sometimes I would feel that delicate parts of me were being touched. As I felt that touch, I would always awake in the pitch-black darkness of my room, and whenever I did, he was long gone.
I knew who he was, but I couldn't bring myself to confront him because in the daytime he would never even glance at me. He didn't talk at all when we ate together; he acted as if I didn't exist.
Caleb was my stepbrother, five years older than me. His father married my mother when I was seven. He was good to me when we were young, but he suddenly grew cold as we got older. I've always liked him more than a brother. I know it was wrong, but I couldn't stop myself from loving him.
I don't get why he would sneak in on me like that, but I couldn't get my hopes up because he already had a girlfriend. He would sometimes bring his girlfriend home and order me around the house to prepare snacks for them.
💔 The Smirk
There was a time when he asked me to bring their food into his room. I saw them kiss passionately; I almost dropped the tray I was holding as my chest tightened with indescribable pain. I stammered and told him that I would just leave their food outside his door. But he refused and said I should bring it inside.
As they kissed again, his girlfriend, Shane, looked at me with a smirk while she kissed Caleb. I immediately put their food on the table with a thud and hurried out of the room as my vision became blurry. That's when I noticed I was crying. I wiped my tears, but they kept falling out of my eyes.
As I reached my room, I curled up on my bed and clutched my chest out of pain and frustration. Shane knew I'd always wanted Caleb. She used to be my friend. I used to tell her all my secrets; I treated her like a sister. I hate her so much... so much I wanted her to die.
"Caleb, I want to tell you something. I'm now sixteen. Ever since I met you, I knew I loved you more than just a brother. I want to have a family with you. I love you, Caleb..."
I woke up from my sleep and realized it was six in the evening. I hadn't noticed I'd fallen asleep. I had dreamt about the confession I made to Caleb two years ago. I confessed to him on my sixteenth birthday, but he rejected me, and he grew even colder toward me.
Our parents were always busy with work, and they traveled often together, so usually, it was just the two of us in the house. I wanted to avoid him, but I couldn't. I hoped Shane was gone because it would be too awkward to see her again, especially since my eyes were swollen from crying. I wanted to go down to the kitchen and get some ice to lessen the swelling of my eye bags, and I didn't want to see her at all.
😠 The Dinner
When I went to the kitchen, I saw Caleb preparing for dinner. I held my head down so he couldn't see my face and walked past him. He suddenly grabbed my arm, tilted my chin up, and looked at my face. He asked what was wrong. I told him "nothing" and pushed his hand aside.
As I was going to open the fridge, he told me to eat dinner together. I answered him "yes" as if I had a choice. I washed my face and fixed my hair, then I went to the dining table and saw that he had prepared everything.
I asked nonchalantly if Shane went home, and he said Shane was busy and that she just came by to say hi. I just gave him a nod and thought to myself, "Hi her ass. She didn't just say hi, but also flaunted fucking Caleb. She's a bitch. She even had the audacity to provoke me with that disgusting smirk of hers."
I suddenly lost all appetite and told Caleb I was done. He looked at me with a blank expression and said that I barely touched my food and shouldn't waste it. Really? Was that his only concern? Is he that insensitive? Knowing how I felt about him, he would flaunt his bitch of a girlfriend in my face?
Seething with irritation, I forcefully ate the food on my plate and put the dishes in the sink without looking back at him. I heard him calling my name, but I never bothered to answer.
I'm now in my room again. I forgot to drink water, and it's because of that stupid Caleb. Why won't he understand how I feel? Maybe I should just forget about him. As I drifted off to sleep, I cursed Caleb and Shane.
I don't know what time it is, but I'm pretty sure I did not turn my lights off. I woke up as I felt something brush on my lips. I pretended to sleep as the sensation went on to my forehead. When the figure was about to stand up from sitting on my bed, I grabbed his hand. I could feel that he was shocked as he got off balance and stumbled on top of me.
I called him, "Caleb..."
