Sister-in-law

"Ari!" Priscilla's high-pitch tone echoed from the front door to the dinning room, making Allen roll his eyes up immediately.

A couple of seconds passed when the beautiful young woman from Allen's photo appeared in the bottom of the staircase, looking only a little more mature. She had a huge smile on her face, which only grew wider when her eyes landed on the redhead.

"So it's true!" She climbed the stairs in a second, stopping right in front of Isabelle. "You brought a girl home!" She covered her mouth with both hands, dramatically grasping for air.

Allen's face turned annoyed, narrowing his eyes. "Pris…" His voice sounded more disappointed than angry.

"What are you waiting for?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. "Introduce us." She demanded.

Allen rolled his eyes again. "Iry, this is Priscilla, my sister. Pris, this is Isabelle, my—" he cut it, swallowing. He felt nervous all of a sudden. "Oh, forget it. You just want to make fun of me."

He brushed off the question with that, starting to walk downstairs.

"Your what, asshole?" She asked-yelled, now furious.

"Well," Isabelle started, her voice shy and low. "I'm his girlfriend."

Allen almost tripped down the stairs, turning around in half a second. The stunned expression on his face made Priscilla laugh hard.

"Sometimes it takes a woman to get things done, huh?" Before Allen could say anything back, Priscilla wrapped her arms around Isabelle's body. "Nice to meet you!" Then, she pushed her away to take a better look. "You're so gorgeous!"

Isabelle smiled shyly. "Thanks."

"Alright, alright." Allen walked between them, grabbing Isabelle's hand. "Let's go down already."

"Don't be greedy, prick! I just wanted to see her!"

"No, you wanted to stalk her." Allen answered back.

"What if I do? It's your girlfriend, after all." The mention of the word made his ears turn red again. Priscilla noticed, biting her lip to control her laugh.

Allen clicked his tongue, averting his gaze. "Forget it." he muttered, moving his body and starting to go downstairs.

Isabelle chuckled as she let him lead her to the kitchen, looking back only to mutter "Cute" to his sister; making her laugh again.

Dinner was livelier than usual. Full of chit-chat, jokes, and embarrassing stories from when they were little. Mrs. Olivier also participated, as the kids —now adults— liked her to be around and accompany them; something that was forbidden whenever father was around.

Isabelle noticed, though, that whenever the mention of their father was present, the mood felt slightly somber; only to brighten up the moment they changed the subject. Her eyes wandered through the family pictures around the kitchen, where they all shared a beautiful, wide smile. So she pondered how much of that happiness was actually true, if they all reacted the same way towards their parents; even Mrs. Olivier.

Rain fell heavy, thunders raging over them as the night came full. Lights went out a couple of times, showing how merciless the storm actually was. Fortunately, Isabelle felt safe where she was; with the plus that she was to spend more time with Allen than she planned.

Isabelle wondered when it had turned to this. She had a crush on him, yes, but she never imagined she could crave being around someone so much as she did right now. The thought of going home made her feel lonely, and that fact started to freak her out. She wondered if, maybe, she was falling too hard for him too fast.

The moon was already high when they stopped talking and, as Priscilla did not want to let them go so fast, she proposed watching a movie together. Even though her intentions were not entirely selfless, she wanted to spend some time with her brother too. About her intention, she was planning on teasing Allen as she noticed he was trying incredibly hard to get this girl to like him. She knew something was going on, and she wanted to find out.

Isabelle agreed, not knowing how to decline, as she was incredibly excited about it. She wanted to spend some time alone with Allen, but Priscilla was a charming woman, knowing exactly how to have people in the palm of her hand.

Allen just went with it, too tired to try to make up an excuse he knew Priscilla was going to solve. And that she would probably tease him with later on. He could picture her clearly, laughing at his pathetic attempt to have some time alone with Isabelle. He shuddered at the thought. I'll have time when we 'go to sleep', he thought. I don't need to push it.

Mrs. Olivier offered to make them some pop corn, so she stayed in the kitchen while they moved to the living room, setting everything up for the movie.

"I'll be back," Allen said, "I'll go for some blankets. It's cold."

Priscilla looked over to Isabelle, who was hugging herself trying to warm herself up, and smirked. The red head nodded with a happy smile, to later put her attention on the movies they had there to watch, as there was no internet connection due to the storm.

Allen headed upstairs and went to the closet they had in the middle of the hall, looking for the comfiest and thickest blanket he could find.

"She's really cute, Ari." Priscilla said from behind.

"I know." He replied, busying himself with the blankets, even though he already knew which one he was going to take.

Priscilla walked beside him and leaned on the side of the closet, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Why is she here? I mean, you never bring girls home."

Allen shrugged. "Storm was hitting too hard to take her home."

"Hmm." Priscilla hummed, looking at him intently. Allen shifted nervously, grabbing the blanket and getting ready to flee the scene. "But this is not the first time you bring her here." Allen looked at her for the first time, with a raised brow. "Nana told me."

He clicked his tongue. Dropping his face for a second, before raising it again with an annoyed expression. "So? Your point?"

"My point," she started. "Is that you never do that. It's suspicious." Priscilla narrowed her eyes. "What are you trying to get from her?"

Allen narrowed his eyes, starting to get angry. "What the fuck do you mean?"

Now, Priscilla's face grew serious. "Why would you bring a girl home, Ari? You know how dad is. What if he sees her here?"

"I'm not stupid. I never brought her, knowing there was a possibility father would see her here."

"Yeah, but some employees could say something." Priscilla stated, making Allen grow quiet. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke again. "Why are you insisting on this girl? What are you looking for? And please don't tell me is not just to sleep with her because I swear—"

"Shut up." Allen hissed, cutting her. "It's not like that. Why does everyone think that?" His expression turned disgusted. "Do I really look like an asshole to everybody? Even you?"

Priscilla's expression turned confused. "It's no secret you sleep around."

"I haven't fucked the whole city, Pris. What the fuck." He replied, angry.

"No, but it's rather often."

"I don't go around asking for sex. They are the ones that come to me." Allen explained, but the more he said, the more Priscilla's expression turned into a scowl. Allen clicked his tongue again. "What I'm trying to say is… I do—did sleep around, but only because I have needs, too. And they were willing to accept it was just once."

"Are you telling me Iry is one of those—"

"No." Allen cut her right away before she could finish the sentence. He looked around, making sure no one was around. "She's not like that. I don't want her for that."

Priscilla looked at him, dead serious, for a while. They were in silence, trying to figure out each other's minds. Allen put the blanket he had on his hand under one arm, and changed his weight from one leg to the other. Then, he broke the silence.

"I like her, Pris." Allen's expression turned from annoyed to plain concern, turning Priscilla's heart upside down.

At first, she was too stunned to speak, not really sure about what to say. She never thought the day would come when he would say something like that. Rather, she never thought someone could manage getting him to say something like this.

"Y—You mean like… You LIKE her." She made emphasis on the word. Allen nodded. "But—"

Allen sighed. "Why is it so hard to believe?"

"Because you're so…" Priscilla's voice shut down, trying to find the words.

Allen was about to burst in anger, when a movement beside him caught his attention. His stomach turned, and his heart tightened at the thought she could have overheard the conversation. To his bad luck, she did.

"Because even a statue is more capable of showing any kind of affection than you are." The mature, high-pitched voice spoke from the darkness, followed by the silhouette finally coming out to the light. The words stung on Allen's heart, but he remained expressionless as the woman approached them.

"Mother." Priscilla and Allen said at the same time.