Don't Mess with my Love

Six

MAYA felt she had gained two hundred pounds overnight. She felt heavy when she woke up that afternoon. It was raining like cats and dogs outside base on what she saw on her open window. The cold is getting in, so even when she feels heavy she still tried to get up and closed it.

She already removed her socks because it's not helping her sweat. Her mom said that she needed to sweat to get better easily. Carrying her half-filled box of tissue, she went to their kitchen and got some water, then she saw her brother facing his laptop.

"I didn't know you're already home. You didn't even bother to acknowledge your presence, kuya?"

"Yo!" He just raised his right hand still eyes on his laptop.

She just snorted and went straight to the fridge. Sometimes his brother is weird and she can't talk to him seriously.

"Mom is still at granny's place?"

"I think so." Her brother answered so she just sat at the vacant chair and suddenly sneezed. "Jeez sis!" That's the only time her brother looked at her from his computer. "I know that I took a bath once a day, so you don't have to show me that I already smell bad. It hurts my ego, you know."

"Can you stop acting like a kid kuya? It doesn't fit you right. And calling me sis makes you sound like gay." Then she sneezed again. "I really hate having a cold. My head hurts and so does my nose."

"That's okay sis, you're still pretty though."

She just stared at her brother astonished. Her invicible antenna was on for her to absorb what he just said. His brother complimented her just once in a blue moon.

"Really? You think I'm still pretty?"

"Yeah. Your nose is red, like Rudolf, and so does your chicks and lips. It looks like some makeup artist used you for a trial and error makeover. So if I were you, you should be sick every day for you to stay pretty. So that there will be no ugly in this house."

"What the…" her smile suddenly fade and frown at him. "Maybe you're looking at yourself. By the way, who owns that?" She pointed at the laptop, she doesn't recognize the gadget and she'll knew if his brother has a new one.

"None of your business. Just go back to your room and rest. Don't spread virus in our house."

She just glared and cursed at him and started walking back to her room.

"By the way sis, this is from Reeve."

She stopped midway on her tracks. Then she walked back to his brother. "Revsky meloves? Why are you holding it? You might put virus and germs on it. It might smell bad too."

"Hey, these smelly hands you were talking about will help restore this laptop." He said proudly. His brother is a computer maintenance chief, which is also why all of their neighbors brought their gadgets or computers for him to fix. "What are you still doing here? Go back to your room. If mom saw you roaming around here, she will get furious at me."

She suddenly disregarded her pain when he heard the name of their neighbor. "Bro, have you found something interesting in his laptop?"

"Yes."

"Really? What is it?"

"Why do I have to tell you?"

"Because I am your sister."

"So?"

"You should have supported me and have my back on knowing more about Reeve."

He paused for a while and shrugged. "Okay."

Just like that. They bicker, they tease each other, and sometimes they fight, but at the end of the day they are still siblings, and the best of all is when they became a team or partners in crime. Not an actual crime though, that's no-good.

Their mother lost her tag partner a few years before - their father. He died in an accident while working abroad. Since then, her mom raised them alone. Maybe that's the reason why she and her brother depend on each other while growing up. Bickering and fighting are just normal.

When her brother was about to start talking, someone came in.

"Revsky melo---." She stopped and suddenly sneezed. She immediately wiped her nose with the tissue. "Sorry."

"Yo, dude, have you got what I needed?" Her brother just asked.

Reese didn't answer but went near her brother and gave him something. Maya just watch his every move. Then finally, he turned to face her.

"Aren't you supposed to be in bed resting?"

"Yes, but I also get tired lying in bed, so I decided to just came out and bug my brother." Then she looked at his brother who is focus on doing something in the laptop, which is good. They got a time to talk. "So, that's your laptop. What's the damage?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking your brother to check it."

"Ah." She nodded.

"You should take some rest."

"Fine." She gave up.

"Sis." His brother called her not taking his eyes away from the screen. "If you're hungry, you can just cook there. Sorry. I ate the food mom left for you."

"It's okay. I'm not hungry anyway." She answered and gave a smile to Reeve. "Bye. Feel at home."

She sneezed again. Okay, that's embarrassing again in front of Reeve. So she sprinted going back to her room. Maybe she'll make it up to him when she gets better. Not now that she looks like Rudolf-the-red-nose-reindeer, just like his brother said.

She just can't help but felt happy to see the guy into their house. "He's here. We were just texting a while ago and now he's visiting me. That's new."

She even drowned herself into fantasy when she heard a soft knock on her door. Maybe that's her brother wanted some fight again, but she's not in the mood today. She's too happy to be violent at the moment but the knocking continued.