"DAMN IT, I said hold still!"
"But it stings!" I whined.
"Stop being a baby," Niko barked as he applied the antiseptic spray on my cuts. Yes, cuts. Monica was a deranged psycho who had no opposition to scratching up my perfectly nice face. Niko finished up the last cut before putting a little Cars bandage on top. "Good as new."
"Ow," I hissed when I felt the bandage make contact with my skin.
"Don't you mean ka-chow?" Niko said with a chuckle, laughing at his own joke like the loser he was.
I scowled at him. "I can't believe your girlfriend attacked me like a rabid squirrel."
He cringed at my choice of words. "Don't call her that."
"Didn't seem to bother you before," I countered.
"Things change, okay?" he snapped.
"Looks like I struck a nerve," I murmured.
Niko ran his hand through his dark brown hair. "I'm sorry, Dan."
"Are you okay?" I asked concernedly. Niko was home on a weekday and he seemed stressed the hell out so there must have been something wrong.
He took a seat on a barstool in the kitchen and I mimicked his actions, sitting on the one beside him. "Remember when we got back together and I brought Monica home to tell Mom?"
"I don't remember," I admitted.
He raised his eyebrows. "Mom flipped out and we got into a fight."
I shook my head. "Not ringing any bells, brother."
"I made pecan pie."
It was as if a light switch flicked on inside my brain. "Oh, yeah! Why didn't you start off with that?"
Niko rolled his eyes at me, but could he blame me? His pies were out of this world magnificent. "Remember when we were in the kitchen and I was about to tell you something but I didn't get to finish?"
I nodded as the vague memories resurfaced. That night was so long ago I was confused why he was bringing it up now. What did that have to do with Monica being a nut job? Did she fall and hit her head on their way out or something?
"Mom didn't brainwash Monica to try and murder you until I broke up with her if that's what you're thinking," Niko said. Technically it wasn't what I was thinking, but I didn't necessarily disbelieve the theory either. "I found out some news about Monica which was why I brought her home. I wanted to tell all of you."
My eyes widened and I gaped at him. "Dear God, don't tell me you're expecting a demon child with her."
"No!" He shook his head profusely. "She's not pregnant, okay? I found out something a lot worse..."
What could be worse than an unplanned surprise pregnancy? My mind was burning with curiosity. Why was he beating around the bush so much, I mean how bad could it possibly be?
"Quit stalling and tell me."
Niko gulped nervously, his face void of emotion. "Monica's our sister."
I slid off the barstool and my head smacked against the ceramic tiled floor. Niko helped me to my feet but I smacked his arm away. "Nikolas Germaine Parker, what the hell do you mean Monica is our sister?"
He grimaced, and I could've sworn he was turning green. "Okay, maybe that wasn't the best way to word it..."
"Niko!" I shouted. He couldn't just drop something like that on me and remain so calm.
"I think I'm going to be sick."
"You're telling me," I cried. If Monica and I had any blood relation whatsoever I had no interest in living to see another day. She was deranged for crying out loud!
"Monica's mom came to visit her at Penbrooke, and she wanted to have lunch with the both of us," he began. "The entire lunch I was getting déjà vu, it felt like I had seen her somewhere. It wasn't until she introduced herself as Elizabeth did something click."
I hadn't heard that name since the day I saw my dad. The feelings I had tried so hard to suppress came back like a tidal wave as I recalled that day. Dad's Elizabeth was a disgusting home-wrecker who had no regard for the five lives she tainted and disturbed. But why was Niko bringing up... I looked at him, horror-stricken.
"If you're going to say what I think you're going to say, then I suggest you go hop back into your Civic and leave."
"It's true," he said dejectedly. "Monica is Elizabeth's daughter."
Well, at least it all made sense why I subconsciously hated her. Monica was the spawn of a she-devil, not that she was any less herself. It didn't make sense though. If Elizabeth knew Niko was with Monica, why did she allow the relationship? "Did she recognize you?"
He shook his head. "I saw her all those years ago but she never saw me. Plus, I highly doubt Dad talked much about his wife and kids to his side piece."
"How did you know it was her?" I questioned.
He shrugged. "She looked exactly the same she did five years ago."
"What if she tells Dad Monica's dating someone named Niko? Don't you think he'll find out?"
"Elizabeth's the epitome of a dumb blonde, she kept calling me Nick."
I supposed Nick was a common enough name. The more important question was... Wait... "You had sex with her!" I cried.
"That was not a part of the plan," Niko admitted, his cheeks turning crimson. "I invited her over because I wanted to tell everyone the truth, but she wouldn't talk to me unless we were back together."
Everything he said went in one ear and came out the other. What I was more fixated on was the fact that my brother had sex with our stepsister. Granted she wasn't related to us by blood, but that was still absolutely horrifying. I wrinkled my nose in disgust at the mental image. "I always thought Brenton would be the one to explore incest, but not you Niko." I paused. "Or should I say Nick."
He winced. "Just do me a favour and kill me. Make it quick and painless."
"Stop being dramatic," I scoffed. "Have you told her the truth yet?"
He shook his head. "I could never find the perfect moment."
How would a conversation like that even go? Hey former partner of mine, just wanted to let you know we're kind of related, surprise! I pitied my idiot of a brother, glad it was him in this pickle and not me. That was what happened when my moronic siblings thought with their dicks and not their brains. That seemed to be a common trend for the Parker men...
"Do you think Mom knew?"
He shot me an incredulous look. "Why the bloody hell would I share this information with our mother?"
"No, dummy, maybe she knew and that's why she hated Monica so much," I explained.
Niko's eyes bulged. "If that's the case then just spare me of my misery and kill me now."
Although disturbing, what if there was some logic to my theory? What if Mom knew this whole time but didn't want to bring up he-who-must-not-be-named so instead she created a tense atmosphere whenever Monica was around to subtly make us loathe her too? What if I didn't actually despise Monica? I thought about that for a second before scrapping that last thought. Yup, I hated her guts. "You're going to have to tell her," I told him. "Not only does that bitch need closure, but she deserves to know the truth."
"Why does it matter? It's not like we're ever seeing Dad again." When he saw my reaction he quickly apologized. "Dan, I didn't mean that."
"It's fine," I reassured him, trying to keep my voice level. While I thought I had moved on from the whole Dad fiasco, maybe a small part of me was still holding onto the idea of having him in my life again. And maybe, just maybe, this situation with Monica was giving me a false sense of hope that if Niko told her the truth we might get to see Dad again. "You owe it to her to be honest. What if the roles were reversed?"
"I guess I'd want to know too," he said in a disgruntled tone.
Since we were basically already on the topic of Dad, I wanted to prod a bit more before anyone came home. "Do you ever think about him?"
"Who?"
"Dad, idiot."
"Not really," Niko admitted. "I kind of forgot he existed until the whole thing with Elizabeth."
I gawked at him. "How can you forget your own father? You were practically a teenager when he left." While Brenton and I were twelve, Niko was fourteen at the time, so I was quite surprised he didn't think about our father more.
"I don't know, I didn't really dwell on it. It's obvious the parent who actually gave a shit was the one that stuck with us."
While I understood our dad made a stupid and selfish mistake, I had no doubt that he never stopped loving us. "How can you say that about your own father?"
"But everything you say about Mom is okay?" he retorted.
"Screw you."
"Dan, wait." Niko held onto my arm before I could leave. "Let's not fight, okay? I drove back specifically to talk to you about the whole situation."
I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. "Seriously?"
He nodded, his cheeks turning the lights shade of pink. "You're kind of like my best friend."
"Again, seriously?"
Niko pushed me away. "Thanks, I'm definitely feeling the love here."
I smiled, shaking my head at him. "I'm just surprised. I assumed you were closest with Brent."
He frowned. "I wanted to tell you about Dad more than anything, but Mom made me promise not to. She was hurting and—"
"And you think him leaving didn't make me hurt? Do you know how many nights I cried myself to sleep or stayed up praying for Dad to come home?" I paused, observing his reaction. He seemed upset by my outburst so I continued. "You know I'm not a religious person, Niko, but I thought maybe if I believed in a god that meant Dad would come home, but did he? He never did, but how was I to know any better? Had someone told me the cold hard truth about why he left, maybe that little girl's broken heart could've been mended. Instead, you chose to be selfish."
Niko looked at me with the same expression when he found out his pet hamster ran away when he was twelve but I didn't care. I had experienced nothing but pain and sadness and it wasn't fair that all my siblings got to walk away completely unscathed while I carried the heavy weight in my heart.
"My best friend left my life, and you couldn't even be bothered to tell me that much."
I didn't want to stick around to cry or see Niko cry so I used this as my opportunity to leave. I turned my back to my brother, leaving him alone in the kitchen as I walked out the front door. I didn't know whether I should have gotten inside my car and drive away, call Amber, or just sit on the porch, but my decision was made when I saw the familiar mop of curly blonde hair in the distance. James had his earbuds in as he walked up the street, so lost in his music that he didn't notice me.
Shit, I forgot to pick him up from work.
He didn't seem the least bit upset, in fact, he seemed so calm. I didn't want to ruin his state of peace with my problems but he was the only one I felt like I could turn to. Without another thought, I sprinted in his direction. James did a double-take when he saw me, ripping his earbuds out of his ears as he ran to me.
"Dani, are you alright?"
I clutched the front of his jacket and pressed my face into it, feeling a lot better when James wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight.
"It's okay," he whispered into my hair. "You're going to be fine, I'm here." Once I had finally calmed down James led me to his porch where we sat. Thankfully the trees surrounding his porch were large enough to conceal us from my house. I rested my head against his shoulder while he wrapped his arm around me. "What the hell just happened?"
I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand, relieved they were dry. At the very least I wasn't crying so that was a plus. "I got into a fight with Niko about our dad."
James pursed his lips at me. "What about your dad?"
"I just can't believe he left and never made an effort to come back. He loved me." I looked up at James. "At least I thought he did."
He cupped my cheek with his hand. "You're kind, beautiful, intelligent-ish— ow!" That earned a smack from me. "Point is, anyone would love you, and I don't doubt for a second that he loves and misses you."
"You're just saying that," I dismissed.
"When do I ever give out compliments for free?" he said with a smirk. "I mean it, Dani. You're incredible and if he doesn't see that then he's an idiot."
Ignoring the fact that James called my father an idiot, I smiled at him. "I'm lucky to have you."
His smirk broadened. "Can't say I disagree."
"Aren't you the image of humility?"
"In the flesh."
Despite how annoyingly cocky he was, I smiled up at him, glad to have him in my life.
James tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, his gaze flitting from me to my cheek. His thumb stroked the bandage I was sporting. "Do I even want to know what happened?"
I lifted his wrist and peered at his watch. "Depends on how much time you've got."