34. Marisol
Marisol
S he hadn’t moved from her bed since getting home last night.
She also hadn’t stopped crying. Both of these things she hated but didn’t know how to change.
Hell, she didn’t have the energy to change.
If it weren’t for Lola, she would still be wearing her outfit from last night and a face full of ruined makeup.
While Marisol let herself go into a dark place, Lola was there to keep her head above water.
After getting her into pajamas and making sure she washed her face and brushed her teeth, Lola led Marisol to bed. Snowball had snuggled up to her side and purred. She hadn’t moved since, and Marisol appreciated the comfort her cat brought her.
She had expected Lola and Javi to leave last night.
She heard them whispering in the other room, discussing what they needed to do.
Lola stepped out to make a few calls, but they didn’t leave.
When she woke after a night of restless sleep, Javi and Lola were still there, cooking something in the kitchen.
Marisol had wanted to leave first thing in the morning but received a call from her dad.
It was vague and short, but ended with him promising he would handle everything.
When she tried to protest, her father wouldn’t hear it.
When she tried to push more, Lola had intercepted and somehow convinced Marisol it would be best to let their father handle this.
Maybe she could have pushed more, but she didn’t have the energy. If her father wanted to handle it, then he’d handle it. As long as Cisco came back—hopefully not upset with her. She felt like she was the reason he was in jail. It was her family and her problems that put him in there.
Lola’s soft voice filtered in from the other room. She was on the phone again, probably with their father. Marisol heard her name mentioned but couldn’t make out anything else her sister said or who she was speaking to. The conversation lasted for about five minutes before Lola said goodbye.
A few moments later, there was a knock on her door.
Lola peeked in, holding a steamy mug of coffee.
“Good morning,” she said as if testing out the waters.
Seeing if Marisol would be a bitch after everything Lola had done for her.
Marisol couldn’t say she blamed her sister for her caution, but it still stung.
“Morning,” she murmured. Her voice was hoarse from the hours she spent crying. Her head pounded, threatening to split her skull in two.
“I brought you some coffee.” Lola walked to the side of her bed, placing the mug down on the nightstand. She then took a seat at the edge of the bed. “Javi is making breakfast if you’re hungry.”
“I’m not.” Then, because she didn’t want to sound ungrateful, she added, “But thank you.”
“Well, it will be there when you need it.” Uncertainty crossed her sister’s features, almost as if she were debating what to say or do next.
Marisol understood. She hated that things were like this between them.
She wanted to fix it, but like everything else, their relationship was hanging on by a thread.
After last night, she realized she didn’t want that anymore.
Hell, she never wanted that. She loved Lola and wanted to be the sister Lola deserved.
“I don’t know if you want to talk about last night,” Lola said, pulling Marisol out of her thoughts.
“But I just wanted to say that I’m sorry you had to go through that.
I’m sorry Cisco got caught up in it all too.
Neither of you deserved that. But I am proud of you for standing your ground.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen you stand up to Mom like that. ”
Marisol let out a bitter laugh. She pushed herself into a sitting position, earning an annoyed meow from Snowball. The cat jumped to the empty side of the bed, making herself comfortable once again.
“I can’t believe I went along with her for so long. I mean, I saw the way she treated you—fuck, I treated you the same—and yet I thought it would be different for me. But she was still trying to mold me into something she wanted. I just never fought back,” Marisol said.
“Until last night,” Lola replied gently. She reached across the bed to grab Marisol’s hand, giving it a squeeze. It was a comfort Marisol didn’t feel like she deserved.
“Yeah, and it was too late by then,” Marisol muttered bitterly.
“It wasn’t?—”
“Lola, you know it was,” she cut off her sister, staring intently at her.
“I’ve let Mom dictate my entire life. I had multiple chances to stop it, and I never did.
Call it fear or self-preservation or cowardice, but I should have stopped it long ago.
Last night was years in the making, and because I waited so long to stand up to Mom, I hurt people I love. ”
“Cisco will understand, Marisol. I see the way he looks at you,” Lola assured.
Marisol shook her head, letting her tangled curls bounce into her face. “I’m not just talking about Cisco, Lola.” Of course she was worried about Cisco and what he thought of her. She didn’t want to lose him. But the reality of the situation was that she had been hurting someone much longer.
“I’m a terrible sister.” The words were out. With them lifted a burden she had been carrying around for years, weighing her down. They were long overdue. “I’ve been a terrible sister for most of our lives.”
Tears stung in her eyes. But she wasn’t the only one crying. Lola’s eyes were wide, and tears rolled down her cheeks. “Marisol, I… Things are different now. We’re different.”
“It doesn’t make what I did okay, and you know it!
” Marisol choked out. Lola pursed her lips together, staying silent so she could continue.
“I was so awful to you for so long. You deserved to have a big sister to look after you and defend you, not one who was a bitch. I want to be there for you, Lola. I want to be your friend.”
“Oh, Marisol, you will never be my friend.” Lola’s words cut like a knife, knocking the very air from her lungs. She deserved that, but it hurt so bad.
At least it did until Lola took her other hand and pulled Marisol into her arms. “You won’t ever just be my friend because you’re my sister, and I love you.
” The tears that ran down her cheeks were not ones of sadness this time, but relief.
She held her sister, maybe for the first time ever. And it was perfect.
Lola was the first to pull back, eyes red-rimmed and a beautiful smile on her lips.
“You’ve done a lot in the past few years to actively make amends.
I was angry with you for so long, but you aren’t that same woman anymore.
You’ve been an actual sister to me for far longer than you realize.
You don’t have to walk on eggshells around me.
We deserve to have the sibling relationship we’ve always craved. ”
“I love you, Lola.” Marisol's heart swelled with love and excitement for their future.
“I love you too,” Lola half laughed, half sobbed.
It was Marisol’s turn to take her sister into her arms and hug her. She hugged her for all the times she didn’t in the past. For all the times her sister needed her, and she turned her back. Never again would that happen.
They stayed like that for a long time, taking comfort in each other’s arms. This was better than the times they spent in “therapy” breaking shit. This was really what they needed.
“I don’t mean to interrupt,” a male voice spoke from the doorway. The sisters broke apart to see Javi with an amused grin on his face. “But, Marisol, you have a visitor.”
Marisol raised a brow. For a second, she thought her mother might be here, but then she remembered her mother never visited, and Javi wouldn’t have let her in. He had stood up to her a few times, and she doubted he’d shy away from a few more.
Right before she could ask, movement behind Javi caught her attention. Then, appearing behind Javi, freshly changed and well rested, was Cisco.
Without even waiting for him to say hi, Marisol launched herself out of bed and into his arms. She tripped, and her body collided into a solid wall of muscles.
Two strong arms wrapped around her waist. He smelled so good. Like home. Her home. After everything that transpired last night, she feared he wouldn’t want to see her. And yet he was here, looking far more put together than she looked and felt.
“Preciosa, that is our cue to leave.” Javi laughed from somewhere next to her. The bed creaked as her sister got up. She vaguely heard her move around the room before finally approaching her.
“We’ll take your car to get home, and I’ll call you later.” She smiled and then looked at Cisco. “I’m glad you’re here with her. You’ll watch her?”
“She’s safe with me,” his deep, masculine voice said, enveloping her in his warmth.
Safe with me.
She vaguely heard her sister and Javi make their way to the door.
The soft click of the lock had Marisol pulling back just enough to see his face.
He looked at her like she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, despite the fact that her hair was a mess, and she knew she had dark circles under her eyes. Cisco didn’t seem bothered by that.
“Cisco, I’m so sorry. I came last night to get you, but the cop told me he couldn’t release you. And then?—”
“Marisol.” Just one word.
It was enough to make her stop talking and bite her bottom lip. She couldn’t quite tell if he was upset with her or something else. Was this the moment he would reject her? Tell her that her family was too much— she was too much—and that they should part ways?
But Cisco didn’t say any of those things. He took her into his arms and kissed her until all she knew was him.