Playground Love

"It's been a week..", I mumble, staring at Tony's cellphone in my hands. 
He sits up from the bed and scoots over to me, putting his arm around me. I look up at him but only see the glisten from his dermal since the room is dark. 
"If you want to, then do it. I'm not going to stop you.", he says in a sleepy voice.
I unlock his phone by sliding my finger across the screen and go to contacts. Once I find Jaime I freeze. Tony's grip around me tightens some and I could practically feel his heart beating as fast as mines. "I'm so nervous.", I whisper, still staring at the bright screen. 
"I'm right here.", he reassures. That does make things a little better. Every time I'm confronted by a situation at which I'm nervous or scared of doing, he always says that. 
First day of work at an animal clinic: 'I'm right here by the end of the day. It's okay.'
First day of my final exams: 'Don't worry, I'm right here if you need to study. I'm right here.'
Last day of my final exams: 'Don't pull your hair out, pull out mines. I'm right here, you'll do great!'
I look up at him, now being able to see his face because of the light coming from his iPhone, and smile, giving him a small kiss on his lips. Then right when I pull away, I hit the green button. I pull the phone to my ear and stand up, then start to pace around the room. I glance at Tony and his eyes follow me around the room. For each ring, it seems like I get even more nervous than I already am. I'll have to apologize to Tony for getting his phone all sweaty. 
After the fifth ring, I lose all hope that Jaime is going to answer. The caller I.D shows up as Tony, if he even kept his number, so maybe that's why Jaime isn't answering. Which is completely understandable. I sigh and look at Tony, then mid-sixth ring, a very deep, sleepy voice answers, "Hello?"
I stop right in my tracks and hold my breath. My words are caught in my throat and if my hands weren't already super wet, they just got wetter. 
"T-Tony? Is this you?", Jaime asks. His voice, I haven't heard it in so long. It's almost foreign to me now. 
"Paloma?", Tony whispers. I don't turn to him, I feel frozen. 
"Say something to me..", Jaime pushes. "Tony! God dammit! Is Paloma there? Paloma??", he starts to yell. 
I start to cry, no, sob, at the tone of his voice. The rock that I once stood my ground on for the past week is crumbling right under my feet. 
"Hello?? Hello??", I hear Jaime yell as Tony takes the phone away from me. I realize that he's about to end the call with Jaime and I start to freak out. "Wait- wait!", I say desperately as I try to take the phone from his hands. 
"No, you're not ready yet. No- Paloma-", he says and ends it. I grab the phone and stare at the screen, then glare at him. 
"I was going to say something back!", I yell, the tears still coming down my face. He sighs and rubs his temples. 
"Paloma.."
"Why the fuck did you hang up?! After a week I finally get it in me to call him and then you- you just hang up on him?", I keep yelling. 
"Paloma just shut up for a second, alright?!", he yells impatiently. I gasp and look down. I hate it when he yells, it's horrible. "Look at yourself! I can't watch you breakdown like this because of a simple phone call!"
"Then why don't you call him?!"
"You really think he wants to speak with me, really?"
I run my hand through my hair in frustration and get off the bed. "Well you could try, I'm trying! All of this is fucked up. It's been a week- fuck.", I mumble and walk out the room. I see Alan sitting at the kitchen table eating his breakfast. He looks up at me, then quickly looks back at his plate when he sees my red-eyed face. 
"Um- good morning..", he murmurs. 
I let out a deep breath and nod. "Morning.", I say before grabbing Tonys car keys and walking out the door. 
Though Tony and I haven't had one of these little fights in a long while, the tension between us has been lingering in the air. Tony hasn't budged at all. He doesn't want to call Jaime, he doesn't want to go ask Vic or Mike about Jaime, nothing. I know that he might be scared of him and what he'll do.. But it's been a week already. A week. 
I never thought I'd miss my brother as much as I do now. The thought of him never leaves my mind. So many questions pop into my head as I drive down the street. Does he still even care about me? Is he still mad at Tony and I? Will he ever forgive him? Me? Us?
A week, a week with all of this stuck inside of me. It's ready to burst out. 

~

I don't even try to go after her this time. I heard the door slam shut, she's probably already driving off. I swear, her getting her license sucks most of the time. I need to give her some air to breathe though.  
I step off the bed and open the window, letting some light shine through. As I pull on some pants, my phone goes off. I look at the screen and see Jaimes name and my heart almost stops. 
I run outside the room and turn to Alan eating. "Where is-"
"She left already.", he mumbles, sipping his coffee. 
I roll my eyes. I already knew that, but dammit, I don't want to be the one to answer this call. I stare at my phone in my hand and finally decide to press the green button. 
I clear my throat before answering. "H-hello..?", I say as I walk back to my room. 
"T-Tony? Tony- is this-"
"Yeah, it's.. Tony.."
"Tony...", he whispers. "Tony.."
I quickly walk back to my room and shut the door behind me. 
"H-hey, Jaime.."
"Is Paloma with you??", he asks desperately. "Is she okay??"
"Y-yeah, she's fine.."
He mumbles something, but I can't make out what it is. 
"Jaime??"
"...what..?"
There's so much I want to say, but nothing comes out. Maybe this is how Paloma felt. I'm left speechless because I know I fucked up. But what else was I supposed to do though? Forget all about her? This is my chance to make it right, so I'm going to say it. Paloma would want that. "Could you ever forgive me?", I mumble. 
I wait for his answer. Seconds seem like minutes. Long, dragging, minutes. 
"Tell me where you guys are.", he says, ignoring my question. It ticks me off, but I go with the flow.. "I want to see Paloma. That's all I want. I won't take her from you anymore. Not like you took her from me."
Obviously, he still doesn't like me. "I'd have to tell her about this first.", I say trying to make my voice be nice. 
"I'm her brother, don't forget that, Tony. I have a right to know- to see her again."
"I haven't forgotten, the thought of you is the reason why things between P and I are so tense. If you love her so much, why don't you just accept the fact that we're going go stay together?", I finally let out. "She's happy here with me, yet sad because she knows that you're miserable over there. Why can't you just accept us? It'll make her happy again. Fully, happy."
He stays silent for some time, letting it all sink in. "And can't you understand that she's my fucking sister?! That's she's nine years younger than you? You don't know how it feels to know that your best friend is off living with your little sister and fucking her around! You don't know how it feels to have the only part of you, your only family, taken away from you!"
"Jaime! Jaime shut up and listen to me for once in your fucking life-"
"No! You fucking listen to me, pendejo, I'm not okay, nor will I ever be, okay with you dating my eight-teen year old sister! You took her away from me, man!", his voice cracks, "You knew what was going on- and you took her away from me.. After all these years I left her, then I finally get a chance to build our relationship back up, after our parents passing away- you still fucking took her away! I'll find you- I'll find you and-"
"She chose to leave! She fucking had a decision to stay, but she didn't, Jaime! Open your fucking eyes, she loves me, we love each other- and if you're too fucking blind to get pass the fact that she's nine years younger and your sister than fuck you!", I yell and end the call, then out of anger, throw my phone against the closet wall. It hits it hard, then falls to the floor. I immediately regret throwing my new iPhone at that. Fuck. 
I hear the front door open then close and I walk out of the room only to see Paloma in tears in the living room. Alan stares at me, hoping I'd come and deal with it. I let out a frustrated sigh and walk to her, grabbing her hand and pulling her into our room. 
I sit her down on the bed and I don't say a word to her. She wipes her tears away and her olive eyes meet mine. 
"Sorry.", she mumbles. 
I shake my head and kiss her cheeks. "Don't be."
She sighs and turns her head to the closet, making eye contact with my broken phone. She turns back to me. "What happened?"
I sigh and stand up and walk to my phone. I pick it up and look at the cracked screen, hating myself. It doesn't even turn on. "Jaime."
I hear her gasp. "What? He was here?"
I chuckle. "No. He called back while you were gone. The call didn't exactly end... On a nice note."
She puts her head in her hands. "He'll never understand. He'll never accept it. I don't know what to do anymore."
I walk to her and take her hands away from her precious face. "Stop. You're here now, if he doesn't accept it, then oh well Paloma. We have to move on. You can't keep letting Jaime win this. I know he's your brother, he's my- he was- my best friend. But I love you and I can't let him not accepting us get in the way of the future I have planned for us."
She stares into my eyes and then throws her arms around me, pulling me in for a tight hug. "You're right.", she cries. "I have to let go."
I pull away and nod. "I know it's hard, but in the end, you'll see it's worth it."
I wipe away the last of her tears and kiss her soft lips. We lay down on the bed and I start to kiss her neck. Things have been pretty hectic lately, I should relieve her from all that stress..
As my hands run up her shirt, we're rudely interrupted by Alan. 
"Dude- you need to come and- shit.. Sorry-", he says as he backs away. I sit up and laugh, Paloma pulls her shirt down. 
"No, it's okay, what?"
He clears his throat. "Someone... Is at the door.. It's for you."
I give him a confused look. 
"Just- come on.", he leaves the room. I quickly pull a shirt on and walk to the living room, Paloma following right behind me. 
I look through the peep hope of the door and see the back of a blonde haired girl. She's not facing the door, so I have no idea who it is. 
"Who is it?", I ask and pull away from the door. 
Alan sighs. "It's Stephanie."
My eyes get wide and Paloma's mouth falls open. 
"What is she doing here?!", I ask. 
He shrugs. "Dude, I don't know!"
"Shit-", Paloma says and runs to our room, then slams the door shut. 
There's three loud pounds on the door. "Open up! Your car is out here- I know you're there!", she yells. 
"What the fuck?", I say and open the door. "What are you doing here?"
Then, out of no where, her hand meets my face. I'm thrown back by the random slap. 
"Are you serious?! Paloma? Seriously? That's fucking sick, Tony!", she yells. 
"Stephanie- calm down-", Alan says and pulls me away from her. 
"Shut the fuck up- this doesn't involve you!"
I come back from my thrown back phase and walk up to her, pushing her out. "Get the fuck out- get out! You have no reason to be here!", I yell. 
She pushes me off and slaps my chest. "I wasn't the only one cheating! But Jaime's sister?! Seriously?! She's eight-"
"Shut up!", I yell. "So what?! She's eight-teen! Can't you shallow fuckers get over that! Why does it matter to you anyways? We broke up weeks ago!"
"Because Jaime called me just now saying that my boyfriend ran away with his younger sister! I knew you'd be here- you always crashed at Alan's when we fought.."
"Jaime called you?"
"Yes! He has no idea where his-", she stops talking and her eyes stare at something else. "You..", she says menacingly. I turn around and see Paloma standing next to Alan, her hands up to her chest, cupped together. 
Stephanie walks to her and raises her hand up. Is she really about to- fuck that. Before anything happens, I grab her arm and pull her back. 
"What are you doing?!", I yell. 
She turns to me, tears in her eyes. "Why her?! Out of everything we've been through- her?"
I look at Paloma and she walks away, back to our room. Fuck, Paloma must be feeling even more terrible now. 
"You need to leave. Forever! Get out of my life, it's over between us!", I say and walk past her. 
"I'll tell Jaime. I know where you guys are, I'll tell him.", I hear her say. 
I stop in my tracks and turn to her. "Don't try to threaten me. Go ahead and fucking tell him. Go ahead.", I say before walking in and shutting the door. 
I walk straight to my room and see Alan trying to calm Paloma down. 
"I got this, thanks.", I say. Alan nods and walks out the door. 
"I'm so sick of crying, Tony. What the fuck was that about? Why was she even here?", she says crying. 
"Jaime told her about us. She's going to tell Jaime where we're at. So we need to go somewhere else."
"What?!", she says and looks up at me. 
"Jaime will be here any minute now- we need to go.", I say and walk to our drawer. 
She comes up behind me and pulls me away. "No!"
"What?"
"No! I'm not leaving- I'm not running away from my own brother! If he is going to come into where we live now and try something- well, let him! I'm not letting him win anymore, remember?!"
"Paloma.."
"This is it, Tony. Jaime will either have to understand, or just get out of my life. Forever. This is it."
I stare at her long and hard before nodding. She gives me a small smile and holds my hand. 
"I won't let him touch you.", she says as we walk to the living room. 
"And I won't let him take you away from me."
Alan stares at us and locks the front door. "Guys.. What's gonna happen??"
I smile at him. "Nothing. We'll be fine."
I walk with Paloma to the kitchen to help her prepare a small snack. Alan stares at us, confused, but then makes himself comfortable on the couch. 
Paloma glances up at me and grins, I grin back. 

As we eat our small snack and watch tv, the door bell rings. Paloma tenses up, but I squeeze her hand in mine. 
Though the nervousness is eating me from the inside, I know things will be alright. 
At this point, nothing can come in between Paloma and I. Nothing. 
I stand up along with Alan and walk to the door, my heart beating hard against my chest. I glance at Paloma, she stands there with a beautiful smile on her face, ready for whatever is about to come at us. 
We could do this, I say to myself as I look to see who it is.