The Brother of My Boyfriend: A Love for Two

Dylan doesn't understand why Jason is angry about him mentioning Emma, so he asks, "How do you know I talked to Mandy about it?" he asks, curious.

"That's not the point. What matters is that I know, and I didn't like it at all. You know this is something that saddens me. It's the only thing that can unsettle me. So please, never bring up this topic with anyone again, and make sure to tell her that," Jason says, furious.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it would cause such a problem. I didn't talk to her with ill intent, it was just because she asked me if, with your way of not wanting anything serious with anyone, you had ever fallen in love. That's why I mentioned Emma. But it won't happen again, I'm sorry," Dylan says, upset about the situation he caused.

"It's okay, let's forget about it. I'm going to pick up Mom from the airport," Jason says.

"Alright, we'll talk later. I have to go to work," Dylan says.

Dylan leaves the house and heads to work, while Jason finishes getting ready to pick up his mother from the airport. He's still unhappy with the whole situation, replaying every word Mandy said and how it hurt him. He couldn't understand why he cared about what she thought of him or why he couldn't stop thinking about her.

****

Mandy wakes up to her mother calling her. She slept with her phone on her face and almost sat up. Her mother enters the room trying not to startle her, but ends up giving her a big scare.

"Mandy, honey, wake up. You're going to be late for class," she whispers, putting her hands on Mandy's shoulders and gently shaking her. "What happened!" she exclaims, startled.

"Easy, honey. I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you. It's just that you weren't getting up, and I didn't want you to be late," her mother says. "I was so tired that I ended up falling asleep with my phone on my face. I must have fallen asleep while talking to Dylan," she explains. "Surely the same thing happened to him. He said he had early commitments for a new project. Come on, get up. Breakfast is on the table," "Alright, I'll be down in a bit. Thanks for not letting me oversleep, Mom."

Judith smiles at her daughter and goes down to the kitchen for breakfast. Mandy goes into the bathroom to take a shower. Every drop of water that falls on her makes her think about the harsh words she said to Jason and how she had been a jerk, using his ex's death against him. She decides she needs to apologize to him as soon as possible.

After finishing her shower, she sends him a message asking him to wait for her at the corner of her house to give her a ride and that she has something important to talk to him about. But he doesn't respond to her message. Mandy finishes getting ready and goes downstairs to have breakfast with her parents. Shortly after, she leaves the house, and to her surprise, Jason is waiting for her. She gets into his car, and a silence hangs in the air until she starts to speak. "I... I don't even know where to start, but I want to say that I'm sorry for using a tragedy that happened in your life. And I also want to apologize for being a complete jerk. I know I went a bit too far with the things I said," she tries to apologize. "A bit too far? Is that your way of apologizing?" he asks.

"But I did say I'm sorry. I'm here asking for your forgiveness. I didn't mean to say any of that," she tries to argue.

"If you didn't want to say it, then you could've just kept quiet. You said it because you wanted to. At least admit that, Mandy. I thought you were a nice person, a different girl, but I was wrong. You're like the others who, when they want to, use something against us to make us feel like garbage," he says, hurt.

"It's not that bad. I know I might have been rude, but I said things you needed to hear, and you know it," she persists.

"I deserved to hear that you don't want us to be friends, that I'm immature, even though you knew perfectly well that I didn't react well to losing the love of my life. The person I saw suffered at just 16, and I had to be strong for both of us to try to make her last days happy. You have a strange way of taking care of people. Look, it can't be explained, but you're just making things worse. I'm not like Jason, everyone tells me that all the time, but I'm still a human being," "I'm sorry, it's all I had to say. Now I need to go to college," she feels guilty.

"You don't have to get out, I'll give you a ride. I'm going to the airport to pick up Mom,"

"I thought she was coming next week,"

"She decided to come earlier,"

"It's typical of her to do these unpleasant surprises,"

"Dylan told me you two don't get along. My mom is like that, anyone she gets close to ends up suffering in some way,"

"I don't have anything against her, it's just that she doesn't want me and your brother to be together. She thinks his ex-girlfriend is good enough for him, and I'm not," she says a little upset.

"You're more than enough for anyone... and I mean that for my brother, of course," he gets a little awkward.

"Thank you, and again, I'm sorry, Jason. I wish I could turn back time,"

"You can't do that, but you can try to have a future of peace,"

"Yes, you're right. We got here so fast I didn't even realize it. Thank you for the ride,"

"You're welcome,"

Mandy got out of the car with determination, turning to close the door. As she started to walk, Jason called her with a determined tone.

"Since you're willing to change the future, how about later after class, you go to a place with me?"

She turned, surprised. "What place?" she asked.

Jason replied with a mysterious smile. "A place you'll discover. Are you in or not?"

Mandy considered for a moment and then agreed. "Alright, fine, I'll go with you. Just promise not to get me into trouble."

He laughed, teasing. "Sure thing, little troublemaker. Your 'dating' won't be jeopardized."

"I'm relieved to know we won't end up in jail," she teased.

"Haha, funny. After your class, let me know. Just don't tell anything to Megan or Dylan." "Alright, I'll send you a message."

Mandy walked to the college gate, and Jason headed to pick up his mother.