Love Factually #JustWriteIt

Prologue

"What on earth are you doing out here?" she whisper-yelled. "Dinner is about to start."

"It's three in the afternoon, it hardly qualifies as dinner." I shuffled past her and strode into the house wondering why the hell she couldn't just yell at me like a normal person instead of disguising it with a whisper.

"Nice of you to join us, Taylor," my mother said in a tone that could only mean that she was annoyed.

I took my seat at the table and thought about at least a hundred other things I'd rather be doing at that moment, instead of sitting there having dinner with my parents and their golden child. Events like this never ended well for me. Questions like, "What exactly are you doing with your life, Taylor?" flashed in my mind and I involuntarily shuddered.

"Are you okay?" my dad asked, not sounding the least bit interested in my answer.

"I'm fine," I waved his question away. "Why am I here, Katie?"

Family gatherings were something that I usually tried my best to avoid. It was bad enough having to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with them without adding bonus days to my misery. I was still kicking myself for agreeing to this stupid meal, but on the upside, Katie did promise that I could skip our birthday party in a few months. It was kind of like trading one hell for another.

"Well Mom, Dad, Tay..." she said with a bright smile.

I narrowed my eyes, immediately suspicious. That smile usually meant more trouble for me. I could already picture mom's disapproving scowl as she asks me why I can't be more like my sister.

"I'm engaged!" Katie squealed, practically shoving her hand in our faces.

Mom's face lit up like a Christmas tree and she almost spilled her drink in her haste to hug Katie. Dad joined them, his grin wide, as he too, pulled her in for a hug. Personally, I didn't see what the big deal was, people got engaged every day.

I took a sip of my water and watched the scene unfold. When the initial excitement wore off and they returned to their seats, mom fixed her stare on me and I braced myself for her attack. "Taylor, aren't you going to congratulate your sister?" she asked with a tight smile.

I fixed my smile in place and turned to Katie. "Congratulations. Who's the lucky guy?"

She glanced at mom before speaking. "This is the part you'll hate."

"I'm not too thrilled about the rest of it either," I assured her.

"You know that I love you with all my heart, don't you?"

I nodded, apprehensive about the rest of her declaration. It wasn't like Katie to throw around the L word when it came to me. "It's Brian."

For a moment my heart stopped. My Brian?

"Are you sure that's what you meant to say?" I shakily asked, still reeling from what felt like a kick to the gut.

"Tay," mom said, reaching for my hand.

I jerked it away. "Did you know?" I looked between her and dad. When they didn't answer, I stood.

"Taylor, I'm so sorry," Katie said, tears already running down her cheeks. "We fell in love, I swear it wasn't something we planned."

"No, no, no, no, no," I said softly, feeling my knees buckle. "This isn't happening to me." I turned to Katie, "You don't get to fall in love with him! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Dad placed his hands on my shoulders, guiding me away from her. "You two were broken up, we didn't think that you'd care this much."

"You don't get to choose who you fall in love with, Taylor," mom added.

I choked out a bitter laugh that was clogged with tears. Of course they were on Katie's side. If she had stabbed me— and it sure as hell felt like she did— they'd probably say that it was my fault for running into her knife.

"You guys are unbelievable," I said. "If our roles were reversed you would still be taking her side. Just once, I'd like you to be on mine."

"We're not taking anyone's side," dad interjected. "We would never do that."

I looked between the three of them, feeling every painful thud of my heart and the tears that obscured my vision as I stared at my sister, did nothing to stop the images of her and Brian from assaulting my mind. I felt like someone had plunged a rusty knife into my heart and with every image that flashed across, it went deeper until it physically hurt.

Clutching my stomach, I sank to the floor as new images flooded my head. The memories that I'd pushed to the furthest corner of my mind came pouring out. Brian asking me on our first date and how nerve wracking it was to actually be wanted by someone so pure; the first time he kissed me, the way his eyes kind of glossed over before he closed it and I'd smiled through it because I was that happy; all the way to the fight that had ended my fairytale romance.

"I thought about telling you a thousand times," Katie said in her softest voice. She was so good at making herself seem innocent even when she was dead wrong. "It just never seemed like the right moment and then things started moving so fast and before I knew it, he was proposing."

Despite the turmoil in my heart, I smiled. I smiled because it was easier than using my remaining strength to strangle her. It was such a basic excuse and what's so fucked up is that there is never a right moment to tell your sister that you're dating the love of her life and it sucks that she hasn't even had a chance to move the fuck on. I felt for the wall and hoisted myself up. I needed to get out of there before I really did strangle her.

With every half assed apology, my anger turned into murderous rage.

"Don't leave," Katie pleaded, blocking my path.

"Move," I ordered.

"No."

I pinched my nose, trying to remain calm. I really didn't want to put my hands on her. I'd rather die than let myself go down that road. "Katie, move."

"I can't let you leave like this," she tried again. "It's messed up, I know, but we love each other—"

"I couldn't care less about how much you fucking love each other!" I spat. "We loved each other, too." I pushed past her and made it to the door before she called my name.

"Taylor! Please," was the last thing that I heard before I slammed the door behind me.