AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She sucks in a deep breath and holds it in for a moment. “Yeah, I think so. I don’t know how it’s going to go, but I’m ready to give it a try. I’m just glad that we don’t need to face your mother with this as well, although I’m not convinced everything will be perfect the next time we see one another. I’m trusting you that she said she’s willing to accept me, but still…”
I let out a little laugh. I know from the bottom of my heart that everything actually will go well once we all meet up again. I’m going to arrange a dinner or something once all the dust has settled to give my mother a chance to do better. I have a lot of hope that she will.
“That will be fine, I can promise you that much, but this… maybe not so much.”
We both stiffen and look at the house in front of us. Freddie’s place. It’s time to face him head on and see where he stands with this. Since we’ve been through so much together already, I’m sure we can handle this as well. I hope anyway…
“At least I’m not filming that dumb movie anymore,” she says with a sigh. “I think I would rather be here than having to get naked in that film. I’mnevergoing to do that. I don’t care if it does cost me jobs. I set that boundary for myself, and I want to stick to it.”
I smile proudly at her. Because she’s decided what she wants to do and she’s standing up for herself. She will have a much better career if she can feel proud of herself the whole time. It makes me happy to see the woman that she’s becoming as she blossoms into herself. As she becomes who she’s really meant to be. I can’t wait until the moment she moves in with me and we become official. I’m looking forward to the second we can really beus.
“Come on, let’s do this. Let’s rip off the Band-Aid.”
There’s an intense nervous energy burning between us. It’s palpable and honestly leaving me with a bit of a dry mouth. I haven’t ever had to say anything this bad to Freddie. I’ve never betrayed him, but this is the first time I’ve ever had anything worth risking everything for.
It’s Zoe who knocks on the door first, but she steps back and hides a little behind me. She slides her hand away from me, but then reaches out and grabs me again. I don’t think poor Zoe knows how to handle this, but together I think we can do it… I hope. I have to just be strong, that’s all.
Freddie glowers the moment he opens the door, and he sees us together. He almost goes to shut the door on us before Zoe steps forward and refuses to let him.
“Freddie, things can’t carry on like this anymore. I think you know that as well as I do. We need to talk. We need to hash this out and make everything okay…”
“Why?” He offers his sister a sharp one shouldered shrug. “I know what the truth is. You guys are pretending to be together for the press, right? To boost your career or whatever. You don’t need to explain anything to me, I was there the moment we concocted the plan.”
“Freddie, just let us in so we can talk about this properly.”
I can see that Freddie isn’t interested in this, but Zoe is strong and determined. She isn’t about to let him back down on this one. She narrows her eyes at him with her hand on the door, holding it open until finally he steps aside and lets us in.
I don’t know if I would have had the same courage. Seeing the mood he’s in might have put me off. I could have quite easily convinced myself to come back at a time when he’s feeling better. But then again, I don’t know if he will ever calm down, so I suppose it’s now or never.
“What is it you want to chat about?” Freddie asks coldly with his arms folded defiantly across his chest. His rage is rolling off of his shoulders in powerful waves.
“We need to talk about what’s happened, Freddie, and where things have changed. You’re my brother, and I don’t like this distance between us. It’s painful.”
“Why do you think this has happened, Zoe? Do you think I want this? I’ve been so lonely,” Freddie argues. “I’ve lost both of you in one fell swoop and I don’t even know why. I’m not sure what’s happened with you guys. I just feel like I’m not in the loop anymore.”
I sigh heavily because I feel guilty. So guilty because we have pushed Freddie out of the picture. We’ve been so wrapped up in one another that we haven’t thought about him.
“I’m sorry,” I finally pipe up. “I didn’t mean for that to happen. It’s all been a bit complex.”
Freddie sucks in a sharp breath. “What the hell do you mean by ‘complex’? This is really winding me up. I’m imagining the worst here, thinking that you guys are together for real or something, and I don’t understand. The less you tell me, the more I freak out.”
Oh fuck. Zoe and I exchange a look. He just described our relationship as “the worst.” There’s no way this is going to go well. But we’ve come this far, so I know we have to tell him.
“We are together,” Zoe blurts out, before I can think of a much softer way to say this. “We have been together the whole time, Freddie, and I know you aren’t going to like this, but we are. We’ve fallen in love, and we can’t stop that. We can’t make this right.”
Freddie’s cheeks shine so brightly red I can almost smell his rage. I brace myself, knowing that I’m about to get a well-deserved smack in the face. I won’t fight back, because Freddie deserves this punch if it makes him feel better, but I’m not looking forward to it.
“I can’t believe you guys betrayed me like this,” he snaps with his hands balled up into fists. “I can’t believe you are together. That makes me feel sick. Sick to my stomach. The age difference… it’s too much. There’s no way you should be together. Remy, that’s mysister.”
“I know,” I respond as I rise to my feet. Because it’s time. “Which I hope you know means I wouldn’t be here now if this wasn’t important to me. If it wasn’t real.”
Freddie shakes his head determinedly. “Of all the women in the world. Why Zoe?”
“I can’t help who I have fallen in love with. And she loves me too.”
“This is my fault.” He slumps on to his couch and lets his head fall into his hands. “This is all my fault. I never should have suggested this stupid plan. The fake fiancée thing… that was my plan because I never thought like anything like this would happen.”
“No, Freddie, this isn’t your fault.” Zoe goes over to him, and she wraps her arms around him. He doesn’t respond, but he doesn’t push her off either. “This would have happened no matter what. We would have fallen for one another anyway because we can’t keep away from one another. We can’t stop ourselves from falling in love. It’s just one of those things. I know you don’t like it, but I’m hoping one day you can see that we make one another happy.”
