Oh Brother - Season 1 - Episode 36

Episode 5 years ago

Oh Brother - Season 1 - Episode 36

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With yesterday fresh in my mind, I felt giddy. As I got ready for the dance with Dee, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. Mainly because I had an answer to Christian’s constant question.


It didn’t feel wrong. In fact, it felt incredible and I knew that this was what I wanted. To be able to touch him whenever I wanted. To be with him as more than just siblings. I was sure of it after yesterday.

“Why are you so happy?” Dee asked as she straightened her own hair. “Obviously it’s Christian related, but what happened?”
I blushed at how obvious it was that something had happened between me and Christian. He had turned me into someone who was love struck, but I wasn’t complaining. After yesterday, I had nothing to complain about.

“We made out,” I simply said, smiling shyly. “That’s all.”
“That’s all?” Dee’s eyes widened. “Are you seriously saying that’s all. Oh my god! You made out with him!”
I laughed. “Okay, sorry for trying play it down.”
“Why in the world are you trying to play it down! This is incredible!”

I laughed again at her clear happiness for me. This was definitely why I loved her. Even when Dee had once wanted him, she was able to be happy for me.

“Wait, does Cheryl know anything?” Dee suddenly asked, stopping my laughter.
“No,” I said, slightly ashamed. “Can we keep it that way?”

“Why?” Dee frowned. “She’d be so happy.”

“I know, but it’s not like we’re dating. I’ll wait for that to tell her.” I shrugged. “I don’t want to jinx anything, you know.”
That was only sort of true. I was still slightly mad at her, even though she had been right. It was strange, but that side of me made me wonder how Christian could ever like me. I wasn’t about to ask him that though. What we had now was good enough. With the word incest buried in the back of my mind, I was excited to see him at the dance.

*****

I flattened out my dress as I stepped into the school gymnasium. With the long, royal blue dress I wore, I was glad to see that I matched the decorations of blue balloons and streamers around the gym. It should’ve made me less noticeable, but my royal blue seemed to stand out beautifully with the colour of it surrounding me. I smiled as the lights dimmed, looking for Christian.
“You guys look incredible.”

Dee and I turned around to face Cheryl, who had her straight hair curled for the first time. In her red dress, she looked stunning. I was glad to see her dressed up for once.

“Wow! Look at you!” Dee exclaimed, grinning. “Someone isn’t going home alone tonight.”

Cheryl and I laughed at that, but I couldn’t help but think of Christian. I had gotten ready at Dee’s house, so I hadn’t seen him in a while. I hadn’t seen him since our make out session actually, which made me nervous.
“Looking for Christian?” Cheryl suddenly asked.

“No,” I lied, not in the mood to bring him up to her. “I’m not.”


Her eyes widened as I turned around and walked off. Dee followed me and I sighed, knowing I was being a horrible person. Christian should be hate me, I knew. But, he didn’t. He never did.


I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder, and I froze at the warm touch. Without turning around, I knew who it was.
“Where are you running off to?” Christian asked, and I could hear the amusement in his tone.

I turned around and smiled at him. He looked incredible. In his black suit that fit him just right, he looked like he should be modelling. Pride welled up within me at that.

“Looking for something,” I answered, smiling innocently.

Moving his hands to my waist, he said quietly, “You mean, someone?”
I bit my bottom lip to fight off a smile. Sometimes it was strange seeing this side of Christian. He had always been so innocent to me, but then he had this side that was so flirtatious. It drove me insane – in a good way.
“Yeah,” I replied just as quietly, wanting to be with just him. “You.”
He broke out into a smile and pulled me closer to him. I smiled back at our close distance. One wrong move and we would be making out again, I realized. Knowing that couldn’t happen here, I pulled away and walked off. I gave him a flirtatious smile as he huffed, causing him to smile as well. My heart fluttered.

*****

I had spent most of the dance with Cheryl and Dee. Even though I wanted to be with Christian, I was kind of scared. I knew people would talk, which worried me. The word incest had disintegrated, but it didn’t mean that others judgments had too.

Suddenly, I heard the music playing turn into classical music. I glanced at Dee and Cheryl who were talking, and smiled to myself.

The memory of Christian and I dancing was fresh in my mind, so I decided to live off of that for now.

But suddenly, I felt a hand grab my own. Bringing my eyes up to my favourite blue eyes, I smiled.

“You told me to dance with some girl,” Christian said, smiling. “I choose you.”
I found myself melting as he dragged me to the dance floor. Before I knew it we were in the same position as yesterday, and we were moving gracefully across the dance floor.


And to my utter surprise, I couldn’t care less about everyone else. This didn’t feel wrong, so I didn’t care.

As Christian and I danced, we stared at each other. There was a huge smile on his face and I had a feeling I also wore the same smile. With my heart racing, I suddenly had this urge to just confess. To tell him that I really like him. Looking away from him to see my friends who were smiling at me, I knew that I should. We had been through so much together, and it was time to have a happy ending.

I looked up at Christian and my eyes softened. He was still staring at me, looking as if I was the only thing he cherished in this large, beautifully cruel world. Knowing he did like me back – as shocking at it seemed – I felt confident.


The music stopped after a bit and everyone stopped dancing. Christian didn’t let go of my hand as he led me away from the dance floor, and I smiled as I walked side-by-side with him to a table nearby. With my heart still racing, I was ready to tell him how I felt.

As we stopped near the table, I looked up at him and blushed when I noticed that he was staring at me. He never seemed to take his eyes off of me, which was comforting to someone who never felt pretty. I hated rushing into feelings, but I definitely felt like what I felt for him was more than just a crush at this point. More than just a special like.


I wasn’t sure if it was love, but I sure as hell cared about him a lot.

I opened my mouth to tell him that, but then someone else said, “Autumn, isn’t that your stepbrother?”

I turned to see who had spoken. It was a girl in my Math class, Sam, who I spoke to here and there. With curiosity evident in her eyes, she smiled up at Christian. A bad feeling began to stir in my stomach.

Reluctantly, I said, “Yeah.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “And you were dancing with him?”
“Yeah…” The bad feeling grew.
“Oh, how cute.” She laughed suddenly. “I guess he’s just a nice guy who didn’t want you being alone. If his intentions were anything else, it would be incest.”

Sam continued to laugh, but I cringed. I cringed at the very word I had tried so hard to repress. With the word popping into my mind, I found my heart sinking.

“That would be disgusting.” Sam smiled, seeming to think we found this situation as funny as her. “Two siblings dating… Ew.”

At that, I found my heart aching. I found myself thinking about what I was doing. Of how bad it must look to others. As much as I liked Christian, I realized I couldn’t do this. I just couldn’t deal with others judgement. My brain screamed at me for ever thinking I could repress the stupid word.

“You should leave,” Christian suddenly said, sounding gentle but stern.

I wouldn’t dare look at him as I looked down from Sam’s frowning face. With this realization, I knew that this wouldn’t work. I had to forget about Christian. For the both of us, this was for the best. My stomach twisted and I suddenly wanted to scream. Cry maybe, but mostly scream.

“Autumn,” Christian said, sounding cautious as Sam walked off.
“I’m sorry,” was all I said, before I ran off.

Incest . Who knew a single word could ruin my life. Could make me want to cry until I shrivelled up. It was so horrible.