My Brother's Bestfriend

CHAPTER ONE

ROSA

“Am I really that unfuckable?” Maggie groaned with a slur before taking another shot of tequila, her face immediately scrunching at the feel of the drink burning her throat as she swallowed.

I shook my head in reply, unable to form words as my sixth shot of the night occupied my mouth, just as Hannah let out a groan of disapproval at Maggie’s choice of question.

“Come on, girl,” she started, her voice rising in octave to drown out the loud music bouncing off the walls of the club. “Don’t let this one failed attempt at having a one-night stand lower your confidence.”

“Yeah!” I nodded, giving Hannah the ad lib she needed before she continued.

“Besides, it’s the first time in a while you've agreed to come out with us,” she gave her a drunk smile as she raised another glass of tequila shot in the air. “Let’s get as f*****g hammered as possible, yeah?”

“Yeah!” I burped out, earning a swift glare from the bartender. Sober me was usually more conscious of how I presented myself to the public, but drunk me couldn’t care less. So I rolled my eyes at him and focused on Maggie, brushing her shoulder playfully in hopes of a smile at least.

Maggie was the least social of us three - an introvert to the core, with Hannah as the extrovert and me a good mix. Getting Maggie out required effort, or else she’d quickly revert to staying home until the next national holiday—if we were lucky.

And that was only if we were lucky.

Hannah and I decided to bring her out of the house for the first time in two months. For a 26-year-old whose main social outlet was work, that was enough time to allow her social life to grow cobwebs.

Maggie’s lips finally stretched into a small smile, earning a shared victorious glance between Hannah and me.

“Plus, you should know that your inability to get a man is not on you,” I paused dramatically. “It’s on the MEN.”

Hannah groaned satisfactorily at my answer, giving a standing ovation and clapping her hands together loud enough to attract distasteful glances from people near us. But Hannah, being Hannah, couldn’t care less, drunk or sober.

“That’s it!” She boomed. This earned a chuckle from Maggie, who rolled her eyes before taking another shot and speaking.

“True, but I’m kind of to blame too, you know. I literally have no game whatsoever,” She slurred. “One of the guys asked me what I liked to do for fun, and I literally said ‘playing chess’”

“Exactly my point, mi amor,” Hannah bellowed, her words beginning to slur like ours. “These men? They hate a woman with intellect. They’re always the problem,” she returned to her seat, scooping Maggie’s cheeks in her hands and leaning in until they were only a few inches apart. “If I had a woman as smart and pretty as you, I’d jump your bones.”

“Huh?” Maggie replied, her words muffled by Hannah's hands squeezing her cheeks.

I burst out laughing, unable to contain myself. “You? Jump her bones? If she were a man, yes,” I said in between laughs. “But as a woman? Hell no. You’re the straightest woman we’ve ever met.” Which was true, especially as she’d had a crush on my brother, Marcus, since we were kids. And the fun part? She really thought I had no idea.

At Hannah’s offended gasp, Maggie laughed as she squeezed out a reply. “That’s true.”

Roaring with laughter, she let go of Maggie’s face and reached for another shot. “Now that’s a f*****g lie. Didn’t you see me flirting with that gorgeous woman from before?”

“Correction, she was flirting, you were friend-zoning.” Maggie pointed out.

“She literally asked you to dinner and you literally went, ‘How about a lunch with the three of us?’”

We burst into laughter again until we were gasping for air. It wasn’t exactly a funny joke, but when you’re drunk, even a key on a shelf could be funnier than a Kevin Hart movie.

“We should try looking for your hot one-night stand again- oof,” I let out as I almost fell into a guy who was passing behind me with his friends. Luckily, Maggie reached for me in the last moment, pulling me to sit upright on the barstool. Dizziness clouded my vision, and fatigue seeped into my bones. I knew I was at my alcohol limit, and thankfully, even in their drunken state, the girls seemed to figure that out too.

“Uh oh, someone’s at their limit,” Hannah teased. “We'd better get you home before Marcus loses his shit.” Marcus, being a typical older brother, was as protective as a parent could be, maybe even more protective than a parent. For the right reasons, of course. And despite being a fully grown woman, he still watched over me like a kid. Again, for the right reasons. But sometimes, I really wish he wouldn’t,

Like today.

In all honesty, today’s girls' night out wasn’t only to get Maggie out of the house. It was also a means for me to escape the ongoing mess in my life, which was my relationship with my boyfriend.

Jaden and I started dating two years back after two dates and exactly four months and nineteen days of him trying to convince me that he was my perfect match.

And boy, he was my perfect match.

He was perfect in every way—physically, with gifts, words, and intention. Perfect until he wasn’t.

First, he made excuses when I asked to spend time together; then came one-word texts, his busy schedule, and our nonexistent s*x life.

It hurt to admit, but I could tell he was getting bored with me. I just wish he were man enough to tell it to my face so that I’d stop hopelessly clinging to that little thread of hope that we could be like we once were.

Hannah said I should confront him head-on and catch him in his lie, but a part of me was more terrified of being right than anything else, of being dumped like I didn’t matter from the start, of finding out his love for me had been an act all along.

Which is why rather than confront him, I’d have a drink - or ten -with my girls and drink all my sorrows away. If I told Marcus, he’d understand, but he’d also become twice as overprotective as he currently was,

And that was a lot of protection. My social life might become less present than Maggie’s.

Maggie rose to her feet, grabbing my left arm to aid me to my feet while Hannah reached for my right arm. After a few minutes of bumping into irritable people and counting our steps like we couldn’t rely on our legs anymore, the fresh midnight breeze finally greeted us, wrapping our bodies with a slight chill that we happily welcomed after spending hours inside the club building, where our noses were exposed to all sorts of smells and body heat.

Finding a spot beside the building, Hannah and Maggie gently lowered me on the pavement, allowing me to rest my back on the hard wall behind me. We let out a simultaneous sigh before throwing our heads back in a spontaneous fit of laughter. Why were we laughing? I had no idea, and I was sure none of them did either.

As our laughs subsided, Hannah let out a satisfied sigh, then gestured between her and Maggie. “We should probably give the ‘one-night stand hunt’ one more try before we go home.”

Maggie, who was already shaking her head after the words ‘one-night stand hunt’ left Hannah’s mouth, sighed tiredly. “I think we should call it a night-” she looked at her phone. “- or rather morning, seeing as it’s almost two a.m.”

“Oh come on, what’s the worst that could happen? We’ve already tried and failed, we could try and fail again.” Hannah argued, wheezing slightly like she was too drunk to form a decent conversation anymore. She wiggled her brows suggestively and added, “Plus, Marcus is yet to call, so we still have some time.”

I chuckled. “You’re literally wasted.”

She cupped my cheeks, leaning in close enough for me to smell the alcohol on her breath before pressing a quick kiss to my forehead and grinning. “That’s the fun part, no?”

I rolled my eyes playfully while Maggie chuckled.

“What about Rosa? Who’s gonna look after her in the meantime?”

I managed to peel Hannah’s hands off my cheeks just as she was about to attempt biting my nose off. She was the heaviest drinker among the three of us, but when she was drunk, it was always a s**t show. “Uh, no one? Seeing as I can completely take care of myself.”

That was the one problem with having chronic anxiety - people kept waiting on me like I was a patient with a disease as deadly as cancer. And I was beyond glad I had come a long way from the frequent episodes I used to have when I was younger. Only God knew how over board they would have gone taking care of me if I was still having anxiety attacks over something as small as loosing my pen or not being able to change my coffee order.

And when I said ‘frequent episodes’,

I meant frequent episodes.

A lot of things triggered my anxiety back then. It could be basic responsibilities, chores, fun time-you name it. It affected my daily socialization with people, making it a hassle to make friends.

But I didn’t really see the need for any more friends after becoming friends with Hannah in first grade. She was the only person aside from my family and Marcus’s best friend who didn’t shy away from my episodes. And when kids made mean jokes about me, Hannah was always there to shut them up, and I meant that literally. Let’s just say Hannah has always been a flame red to burn if touched in a way that made her flare. And oh, do I love the firecracker.

We met Maggie in ninth grade, and Hannah was immediately drawn to her quiet, conservative personality. I guess it was true what they said about opposites attracting.

I was a bit skeptical about Maggie at first because of my anxiety, but after speaking to Hannah about it, she met Maggie head-on and told her about it, and how we should stop being friends immediately if it was a deal breaker for her. After a short chat between the three of us, Maggie was alright with it, and from then on, the three of us were inseparable.

So when Marcus wasn’t near to keep an eye on me, the girls easily stepped in to fill that role when they needed to. But like I said before, I really wish they could all drop it just for today,

“We know you can, babe,” Hannah chipped in, her tone soft and cautious. “But we still have to be careful.”

Running my hands on my face, I sighed tiredly. “I know. But seriously, I’m fine. You guys should go without me. I need the fresh air anyway - ah fuck.”

My sudden cursing brought the whole conversation to a halt. I ran my hands on my face again, stopping at my eyes and swearing again when I realized the empty space on the bridge of my nose.

I lost my f*****g glasses.

Medicated and extremely expensive.

“f**k my life right now,” I swore tiredly, sobering up a little at the thought of the price of the glasses. I had refused to use my own hard-earned money to buy the glasses, so I used Marcus’s hard-earned money to get them for myself. He wouldn’t care if I lost them, but still, they were the best pair I had owned in a long time.

“What? What’s wrong?” Hannah asked, alarmed, her words still slurred, but I was sure she believed herself to be alert and sober,

“It’s her glasses,” Maggie answered, beating me to it. “Wait here, we’ll check for it once we’re inside again.”

I nodded and opened my mouth to utter a word of thanks when a wave of emotions hit me and I felt that familiar sting behind my eyes. Without warning, water flowed from my eyes like there was a storm hidden somewhere in there, and a sob erupted from my lips.

Maggie jumped in fear at the sudden change in emotion as he stared at me like I had all of a sudden grown two heads, while Hannah, also frightened, overcame her shock after a short, confused glance at Maggie and reached for me until I was in her arms.

“Why the f**k are you crying all of a sudden?” Maggie asked hysterically. “I almost peed my pants, Jesus.”

“I don’t know,” I sobbed. And truly, I had no clue. Maybe it was the mental exhaustion from dealing with Jaden, or the amount of love I kept receiving from everyone around me, or it was a mixture of everything at once, but my eyes determined it was the right time to let loose, and I was way too drunk to try and control it.

Hannah, with her face buried in my hair, sniffed a couple of times, but it was only when she spoke that I realized she had also begun sobbing.

“Why are you crying?!” Maggie asked hysterically, pointing at Hannah like she had grown matching legs to my newly sprouted head that she could see.

Stroking my face, Hannah sniffed deeply. “Isn’t she just so precious? She’s so cute and I love her,” she cupped my face and turned it towards her. Her face was a wet mess with her nose and mascara running. “I love you.”

“Oh my God,” Maggie sighed.

With more tears running down my cheeks from her sudden confession [I think], I cupped her cheeks with one hand and used the other to clean off some of her tears. “I love you more.”

“No, I love you more.” sob.

“No, I love you more.” sob.

“No, I -” Hannah’s words were cut short by Maggie, who managed to untangle us in one swift motion.

“Let’s go get her glasses before you guys decide to make out next or something.” She said, pulling Hannah away before she could agree or not. After shooting me a quick “we won’t be long,” they both disappeared into the club.

Now alone, I allowed my thoughts to roam freely, and the familiar mental image of brown curly hair and blue eyes made me take out my phone and call Jaden before I could think of talking myself out of it.

It buzzed for a few seconds, my heart beating to the rhythm. And just when I thought he wouldn’t pick, he answered with a click.

“Hello?” came his sleepy voice. I waited for the familiar butterflies that were always present when I heard his voice, but they never came.

I cleared my voice to erase even the smallest hint of my drunken state. I didn’t want him to think my decision to call him was influenced by my alcohol consumption, even though it partly was. He could easily play the ‘too drunk to have a conversation with you’ card. Experience is the best teacher. “Hi, babe, did I wake you?”

“Clearly,” he said bluntly. “Seeing as it’s - ” he paused and I heard some shuffling around in the background like he was looking for something. “- almost two in the morning, Rosa.”

I sighed. Of course, this was bad timing, and sober Rosa would have known that, or at least cared. “I know, I know. It’s just that we haven’t spoken for a while now and I couldn’t stop thinking about you and whether our relationship is alright and - “

He groaned irritably, cutting off my remaining sentence. “Rosa, can we not do this right now? Let’s talk tomorrow when we’re able to make decent conversation -”

“That gives you enough time to come up with another lie, right, J?” I cut in angrily before I could even stop myself. “Tell me? What’s it gonna be this time? Your non-existent cat needs to go to the vet, or your boss needs help sticking up non-existent fliers around the office, or your grandma needs to f*****g go on a walk ten times a f*****g day?!” I shuddered weakly as the feeling of tears welling up in my eyes.

“Rosa -” Jaden started, but was abruptly cut off by the voices of a group of friends who stumbled out of the club, laughing and yelling like me and the girls had done only a couple of minutes ago.

“Where are you?” He asked, his words noting a judgmental tone. I shut it down immediately.

“None of your f*****g business, actually,” I managed to bite out even though my words were beginning to break from the rush of tears threatening to fall. “And you would have actually known if you decided to reply to any of my messages or return my calls in the past week and a half.”

“I’ve been busy.”

I scoffed. “Yeah, say that again, maybe you’ll believe your lies,” I breathed out a tired sigh as the conversation began to drain me suddenly. It was in moments like this that I was grateful I had come a long way with my episodes. Sixteen-year-old Rosa would have been clutching her throat and rolling on the floor at his behaviour.

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you, Rosa,” He sighed tiredly. “I have work at eight this morning and I have to wake up early to beat that morning traffic - “

“I don’t care anymore, J,” I breathed out. He was really beginning to exhaust me. “I am not going to run after you anymore in hopes that we can be how we used to be. This isn’t love, and I’m tired of pretending it is. Goodnight.” And with a click, the call was over.

I wanted to cry. I could tell by how my lips quavered and how much my eyes stung. Still, there was a new feeling, a feeling I was yet to have the luxury of experiencing ever since our relationship went downhill,

Relief.

I meant it when I said I’d stop chasing after him, but I didn’t think I would have wanted to stand on it before I hung up the call. But I was now sure that my mind was made up. And with that resolution came peace of mind.

“Thank you, alcohol,” I chuckled.

My shoulders drooped with fatigue, so I leaned against the wall to offer it some of my weight. I closed my ears shut and allowed the chill early morning breeze to sweep around me as I allowed my mind to wander to the girls, picturing Hannah as a sobbing, drunken mess who was being assisted by Maggie, an irritated, drunken mess. This made me chuckle.

However, unknown to me in my drunk and tired state, letting your guard down at a semi-dark location beside a bar at two in the morning is not, in fact, ever advisable. This, sober Rosa would have known. But drunk Rosa was only aware when a hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder, gently but firmly, and called out her name in a deep, soft voice.

“Rosa?”

The street lights illuminating the spot I sat in were too dull to make out the stranger’s face, but the absurdity of the situation was enough to run chills down my spine, sober me up a little, and keep me frozen in fear.

He was tall, that was for sure, seeing as his figure towered over mine, and his hair was cut short. That was all I could make out. Even the colour of his clothes was lost on me. For all I knew, he could have been wearing a baby pink crop top and a clown hat. I shuddered at the thought. That would have definitely been more terrifying.

I didn’t reply.

“Rosa? Is that you?” came the stranger’s voice again.

I held my breath in fear. Then I thought to myself: I could play the mute game all day and allow him to kidnap me freely, or I could scream and try to fight back until the girls got back, or better yet, someone [hopefully sober] came out of the club and heard my screams. Though the latter option was most unlikely.

As if on cue, the music booming from the club suddenly became louder than it was a few seconds ago, and I visibly panicked. Then I breathed as quietly as I could as I tightened my knuckles to cement my resolve.

Fight and scream it is then.

Simultaneously, I roared in determination and grabbed the stranger’s hand from my shoulder. I pushed at his chest as far as my strength was willing to go and grunted in approval when he stumbled a few steps back.

“What the hell?” He mumbled in confusion.

I didn’t have any time to waste. Before he could recover again, I charged after him, lips parted to release another throaty scream. But before I could even let a shout pass from my lips, his hands clasped against my mouth to stop me, and his hands went to my waist to stop me from fighting him again.

“Rosa, hold on a f*****g minute-” His remaining sentence morphed into a groan of pain as I bit on his hand and jumped up as far as I could, under his restraint, hitting him somewhere around his chin.

“Are you that f*****g wasted?” He said, annoyed. “f**k, Rosa. It’s me, Alejandro.”

Hearing the name alone took away my will to continue fighting. I quickly turned around, searching his face in the dim light.

On cue, one of the dead street lights suddenly came to life, and I gasped in shock at the man who stared right back at me.

Dark hair, grey eyes, straight, firm nose, and soft-looking plum lips. Alejandro Jorge, my brother’s best friend, was back in town for the first time in five years.