"Look into my eyes," Vivian said calmly, though her tone revealed all her exhaustion and helplessness. Brian didn't turn, still staring at the floor. She repeated the command.
"How can I look?" Brian muttered internally, staying in place.
"I love her, I love her so much that I cannot lose her. I'll take care of this, I've got to," he told himself, then finally turned and met Vivian's gaze. Vivian tried to stand but stumbled from exhaustion. Brian moved to help, but she shouted, "DON'T TOUCH ME!" making him step back.
Clinging to the shelf, she steadied herself and started walking toward him. Once in front of him, she slapped him again—straining, like she was throwing a 110-pound ball instead of a hand. Brian didn't react, remaining stoic. Vivian tried another slap, then unleashed all her strength, but couldn't hurt him physically; she mostly inflicted emotional pain.
"How could you do this, huh? How could you fucking do it!" she screamed through sobs, then fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Brian remained standing, tears starting to fall from his own eyes.
"I BELIEVED IN YOU! I FUCKING BELIEVED YOU WOULDN'T DO SUCH A THING! BUT I WAS FUCKING WRONG, WASN'T I?!" Vivian shouted, still on her knees. Brian stayed standing, hands on his hips, head elsewhere, too afraid to meet her eyes.
"You came into my house and lied to my face. People said you did all that stuff, but instead of believing them, I believed you. Yo-yo-you should fucking die for this, YOU'RE GONNA FUCKING DIE FOR THIS!" Vivian cried, flinging herself face down on the floor. She looked so helpless that even with her hands and feet free, she didn't try to escape. It wasn't fear; it was helplessness.
"SAY SOMETHING TO ME!" she shouted again. Brian stayed silent, crying.
"DON'T BE A FUCKING COWARD AND TALK TO MY FA—"
"What do you want me to say? What do you want me to fucking say, huh?" Brian suddenly turned, knelt in front of her, and said, "I never wanted this, for fucking God's sake. I loved her. I loved Michelle. She was my everything. You really think I did this for revenge? To make her pay for what she did to me?"
"Then what? Then fucking what?!" Vivian shouted, sitting back on her knees, focusing her gaze on his.
"Then why did you kill my daughter?"
"Because I had to, I had to—"
"Had to? Had to? Fuck off!" Vivian interrupted, spewing all her hatred.
"Listen to me, I'll explain everything—"
"What are you gonna explain, huh? Explain what, for fuck's sake?" Vivian interjected. Brian started to speak.
"Because I killed Theo! Not because I wanted to, but because I lost fucking control. We were fighting, Theo and I—I must've hit him too hard and killed him by accident. Michelle was there, I panicked, didn't know what to do. She would have reported me to the police, and you know she couldn't take care of Love, you know that too," Brian lied to soften Vivian.
"I never wanted this, but I had to. It was either her or me. And I chose me," Brian said, tears streaming down his face. Both were crying.
"Fuck you!" Vivian said, "You should've found another way," she added, using her last breath.
"Kill me now, please kill me now, get that fucked-up damn pain outta me!"
Brian, after that sentence, stepped back, grabbed tape, and restrained her again. He went upstairs, and the weight in his chest felt multiplied tenfold. He barely made it to the living room, throwing himself onto the couch. He kept crying, releasing everything inside him so strongly that Love's gaze locked onto him completely.
⸻
Julia was in her room, putting on makeup. Her fight with her twin still hadn't ended—they hadn't spoken since that day. Dressing up for the party she planned to attend that evening, she realized she couldn't get her twin out of her head. No matter what, they were sisters, fraternal twins. Even though they looked different, they were born five minutes apart. To her, they were one.
Julia went downstairs to the living room, where Maria lay in front of the TV, scrolling through reels on her phone. Julia felt awful, unsure how to apologize, yet didn't want to overcompensate. Before she could speak, Maria turned her head, saw her, but didn't greet her. She glanced once, then ignored her. Julia almost left but stopped.
"Hey," she said. Maria was surprised and echoed her greeting.
"How are you doing?" Julia asked. Maria replied, "I'm fine." Julia considered leaving again but stayed calm and started a conversation.
"I'm sorry for my attitude last time, really sorry," Julia said, looking her sister in the eyes, trying to show sincerity. After a long, tense silence:
"I'm sorry too," Maria said, looking back. After a moment, they smiled and hugged.