Why Can't You Love Me?

Vic walked into the kitchen, seeing his little brother popping the top off of a cold beer.

“Hand one over.” Vic said, taking a seat at the breakfast table in the middle of the Fuentes kitchen. Mike returned to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer for his brother. He sat across from Vic and slid the closed beer across the table.

Vic popped the top off in the same manner as Mike and took a swig at the same time as his brother. They both put the bottle down on the table in sync.

For brothers who were a couple years apart, they acted almost like twins. They were able to complete each other’s sentences, practically read each other’s thoughts, and did things nearly at the same time. Maybe it was from the constant touring and having to spend almost all their time together, but they really didn’t mind. They were not the type of brothers that fought. And if they did, it was usually over something stupid, like who got to pick the movie for Movie Night or who was going to pick up Melody from daycare.

“Lily is putting Mel to bed?” Mike asked, taking another drink. Vic nodded. He glanced at his watch. It was some time after ten.

Jaime and Tony had just left. They had spent most of the night discussing new band material and going over the rough drafts of the songs Vic had started on.

“What’s wrong?” Vic asked after a couple seconds of silence. Vic had noticed earlier that Mike was acting strange, but he didn’t want to say anything in front of the guys.

The younger brother shook his head. He really wanted to talk about it but at the same time, he didn’t. Maybe he was just over thinking things. It was nothing, right?

“C’mon. Spit it out, man.” Vic persisted. Mike rolled his eyes with a sigh. He knew Vic wasn’t going to stop bugging him so might as well come out with it.

“Okay, okay.” Mike huffed and took a large gulp of his beer to give him some courage. “Did you notice Tony acting weird? Looking at Lily like she was some shiny new toy? He’s got the hots for her, man! I know it!”

Vic snickered and smirked.

“Dude…” he started, pointing his beer at Mike, “Let Tony be. It’s probably just a crush.”

Mike looked appalled.

“NO! You KNOW he’s never taken interest in her before so why now? Do you think they’ve been talking while we’ve been on tour? You saw him playing and talking with Mel! He’s never done that before! And he had a full-on conversation with Lily about who-knows-what! They never say anything to each other. Either there’s something going on or he wants her. And you know Tony… he’s a one night stand kinda guy.”

This time it was Vic that rolled his eyes.

“You know that Tony didn’t talk to her during our tours. He was with Stephanie, remember? And what’s so wrong with him talking to her now? I mean, Lily is twenty! She can make her own choices, ya know? She’s not a little kid anymore, Mikey.”

“But she’s our little sister, Vic! And we have to protect her. Tony is not the kind of man that should be with her. She hasn’t had a boyfriend since high school and honestly, I don’t think she needs one! She’s doing just fine by herself and Melody.”

Vic laughed.

“I think that if Tony really likes her and if she really starts to dig him then they could give it a shot. He knows what the damage is if he hurts her. C’mon, he knows the consequences. He saw what happened with Jaime. Besides, she really wasn’t catching his hints today anyways.
Why are you trippin’?” Vic stated.

Mike fumed. He couldn’t believe that Vic really wasn’t getting him. Or at least agreeing that Tony was a man whore who only cared about himself when it came to relationships. His long term relationship with Stephanie hadn’t been the best one. He had cheated on her multiple times and whenever she came on tour, he neglected her until she left. Tony wasn’t really capable of loving. He loved things. But not people. Mike didn’t think that he had ever heard Tony say I love you to anyone besides his mom and well, the guys, but that didn’t count.

“I don’t want another Jonathon to happen! That’s why I’m trippin’, Vic!” Mike said, putting down his beer bottle with a bit more force than he intended.

They both went silent.

Vic knew it was coming to this but he didn’t want to think about it.

“Look… it’s not going to happen.” Vic said. “…again.” He added quickly.

“How do you know?” Mike asked.

“Because… I don’t think Tony would do that. He wouldn’t force her to do anything she doesn’t want to do. He knows, Mikey. He knows what happened. He knows everything. And you know he was there when we hunted down Jonathan. Do you really think he would hurt her in that way?”

“We really don’t know what Tony would and would not do.” Mike said coldly.

Vic shook his head.

“You’re being fuckin’ stubborn. Tony wouldn’t hurt her like that. Just… just let her give him a chance if she wants. Don’t interfere. If what you saw really is Tony liking her, then don’t confront him about it. Let her see if she likes him too. We shouldn’t stop her from trying to move on, Mike. She’s not a kid.”

Mike grumbled under his breath but didn’t say anything back for Lily had walked into the kitchen, looking exhausted from putting a cranky Melody to bed.