Her sister knew her better than that, and Brie should have known there was no way in hell Nicole was just going to let this slide because Brie always did this. She’d say something, the quickly backtrack because she was so afraid of saying something bad against Bryan, and it was so annoying to Nicole because no one was perfect, no relationship was perfect, and Brie needed to stop putting up this facade. “No I won’t forget anything because I know something is up. You need to stop trying to cover things up, Brianna, and stop letting Bryan think he is always right, because he isn’t. You’re a human being too and I’m so tired of you always blaming yourself and thinking you’re wrong because he isn’t happy about something. You’re a grown ass woman who has her own thoughts, opinions, and you can do things that Bryan doesn’t always agree with. Hell, he does it to you all the time!”
Brie couldn’t stop herself from flinching at each word from her sister, even as her sister’s voice hadn’t raised one bit. She was just so used to hearing a voice be raised when talking to her that it almost seemed like there was nothing but voices yelling at her. She shook her head after a few moments, pinching the bridge of her nose with a scowl before looking up at her sister and shrugging. “Except maybe I’m not right a lot of the time. I’m always putting my nose into other people’s business and I’m always wrong about so many things and Bryan–”She trails off here, biting on her lower lip before shaking her head, partially in denial and partially because she doesn’t want to continue this train of thought.
Sure they were only sixteen minutes apart, but Nicole had always been extremely protective of Brie, and as soon as she noticed how her sister’s demeanor changed, and the words she spoke, Nikki went into big sister mode. “What are you talking about, Brianna? Who is making you feel like that? It better not be Bryan because I swear to god I’ll break his neck again!” Was that harsh? Maybe, but no one, especially Bryan, messed with Brie or made her feel this way, and Nikki didn’t care who it was, she’d handle them, no questions asked.
This was why Brie hadn’t said anything. She loved Bryan, with everything she had and she understood that she had done things wrong and deserve those words from him. She certainly didn’t deserve Nicole’s protection, no matter what her sister thought. Shaking her head immediately, Brie licked her lips and, “Nicole, no. It’s fine. Everything that’s been said has been something I’ve deserved and he’s right, and really, just –” She pauses, noticing the anger on Nicole’s face as she continues on, and she flinches back with a cringe before her eyes widen. “Can’t you just ignore everything from the past five minutes?”
Now if there was one thing that was for certain, it was the fact that Nicole knew her sister better than anyone, even her own husband, and she could just tell that she’d struck a nerve with her twin, and she had a feeling it had something to do with Bryan. No, she didn’t know exactly what was going on, but she’d observed Brie and Bryan lately, and they just didn’t seem like the happy couple they’d always been. Brie’s words didn’t help either, because she knew Nikki’s life was anything but perfect, but her relationship was the one thing that was solid, and Nikki could almost hear a touch of envy in Brianna’s tone. “Okay, what’s going on, Brie? And don’t tell me nothing, because you know I know better. Talk to me.”
Brie sighed, knowing that she had not only said too much, but that her sister had finally figured out something was wrong with the relationship between Bryan and her. Running her fingers through her hair and tugging, Brie looked away from her sister and bit on her lower lip, wondering how she could even begin to explain what was going on between her and Bryan. “It’s small things, you know? Things that make me doubt myself, or wonder if I had done something wrong..” She trails off.
Of course her sister was only going to apologize for one thing, but at the end of the day, Nicole could respect that, because there were a lot of things in Brianna’s relationship with Bryan that she didn’t agree with either. Like how controlling he was, how it seemed like he wanted to distance Brie from the rest of her family by moving to the middle of freaking nowhere, and Nikki still wasn’t happy about Brie retiring so abruptly because Bryan had, but she wasn’t going to bring all of that up right now. “Well at least you’re sorry for something.” Nicole said softly, reaching over to playfully nudge her sister. “You’re never going to be happy with my relationship with John, are you?”
Brie barely stopped herself from scowling at her sister’s response before letting out a small chuckle, looking down at the ground uncharacteristically. She was usually so confident, in herself and her thoughts and her relationship but what Nicole didn’t know was that there were some problems between Bryan and herself and the joke hit closer to home than she would ever know, even if it hadn’t mentioned Bryan outright. “Well, I have to be unhappy with something in your life, since it’s so perfect,” She responds after a few moments, grinning.
Nicole loved her sister, more than anything in the entire world, but sometimes Brie was a little too overbearing when it came to Nicole and John’s relationship. She knew Brie just wanted Nicole to be happy, but Brie just couldn’t accept that Nikki would rather have John beside her for the rest of her life, than marriage and kids. It was something she and her sister argued about, a lot, but Nikki hated arguing with her sister, so much like she always did, after a few minutes to cool down, Nikki made her way out towards the backyard as well, and sat down beside her sister. “Brianna…..I’m sorry, okay? Can we not do this right now?”
Brie had remained quiet for a few minutes, chewing on her lower lip furiously as she thought about their most recent fight. It had come back to Nicole having kids, a lifelong dream for her, and Brie just didn’t see why Nicole had to give that up. Loving someone, being with someone, it was a commitment and in Brie’s eyes, Nicole was the only one giving things up to make her other half happy – why couldn’t he give things up, too? Because of a mistake he had made with his ex wife that had made him bitter and paranoid? Taking a sigh, in part to get those thoughts out of her head, Brie nodded. “I’m sorry too, for what it’s worth. For upsetting you. But not for my opinions.”
She was sitting on the grass in their backyard, grateful that John and Nicole even had grass when she heard her sister come and sit next to her. They had just gotten into an argument and while Brie was apologetic, she wanted to hear what her sister had to say first, wanted to know how Nicole felt instead of her speaking up first. Because sometimes, she was just tired of being the one to do things first.
