Chapter 3

His spineless brother didn't show his face around the house for two days. Two whole days! It was now four days to the wedding and he still didn't know what was going on exactly. Endymion still had meals with his family and Serenity of course was always at those, but that was the only time during those two days that their paths crossed. They would steal pain-filled glances at the other when they thought the other wasn't looking. When they did happen to catch the others' eye, they instantly turned to glares. They definitely didn't talk to each other.

Sebastian finally came home on the third day and with that equal amount of days to go before the wedding. "Sorry, darling." Sebastian leaned over to kiss Serenity's cheek. "I was longer than I expected. They were having trouble with the printing." Sebastian worked at a music record company and he oversaw a lot of different departments. That comment could have meant all sorts of things. "Has everyone been well behaved?"

Endymion watched the exchange with cold eyes, and Serenity gave a curt nod and smiled warmly at his brother.

Endymion couldn't stand this any more and he pushed away, leaving the room. His older sister followed. "Susanna-" He warned when he caught her trailing his steps. There were five siblings in all, three girls and one brother. Susanna was the oldest and a female and thought it was her duty to act like a second mother. Endymion was the oldest son and they often butted heads over what they thought was right.

"I'm just here as a friend." She leaned against the railing with him, looking over their considerable grounds. "It's hard to watch them, isn't it?" When Endymion refused to respond she nodded. "I know Seb's been in love with her for ages, but she never seemed to respond the way he wanted her to. In fact, I always thought the two of you would get together. You always managed to find each other, no matter where you were originally in the house. She even chose the room right next to yours for her visits. She didn't even know it was yours until you both came out at the same time one day. It was a funny scene to watch as you both spluttered at one another." Susanna was several years older than Endymion so she had a more mature recollection of the memories. Saw them in a different view. Endymion hated that fact now, though secretly at the time he loved that he could just go a few steps to see Serenity. They could both be in their own rooms and knock a code on the wall and for a long time they had, telling each other secrets that no one else knew. They could even sit on their own balconies and talk and see one another. It had been a blessing, as often they were sent to their rooms as a punishment but they were never alone.

"Well you thought wrong. Serenity's happy with Bast-" He cut himself off, even though the man was his brother and he was furious with him, he didn't have a right to call him that, not when he was trying so hard not to make his own child one.

"Is she?" Susanna wondered. "Before you got here, she was always bursting out into a weeping fit, thought she hid it from us, running to the bathroom as a cover, but we knew better. We just didn't understand why. She and Seb put up a wonderful show for us, Seb's feelings being genuine, but Serenity's- I'm a bit skeptical. Seb's been gone for two whole days and her crying has been cut in half. Either she really hates him or she hated that you weren't around. She's still crying, probably because she knows deep down she's marrying the wrong brother. I don't know why she's going through with it if she knows it, that's why I have to assume she's not sure why the tears keep coming."

"She's not a crier." Though he'd seen a lot of it since he'd been here, but he chalked it up to hormones being off the scale, but he wouldn't tell his sister that's the reason for the tears. He couldn't explain her sudden improvement then.

"She's not eating." Susanna continued as if Endymion hadn't spoken. "She pushes her food around, feeds the dogs when she thinks nobody's looking. They're following her around, waiting for her to give them more. She's extremely high strung these days, her stress level is through the roof. She's working hard on not only work, the wedding but anything else she can get her hands on. I said hi to her the other day, coming home from a shopping trip and she about shot through the roof in surprise."

That really didn't sound too much like the Serenity he knew. Not eating was bad for not only her but also the baby. She was going to make herself sick on top of being pregnant. Or worse, she might lose it if she really was pregnant. He still couldn't get over the two weeks thing. She must have been seeing his brother behind his back for longer than that. Endymion sighed and buried his head into his hands. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Sweep her off her feet and never let her go."

"I tried that already. She chose him over me." Endymion refused to look up as Susanna came and sat next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Prove it to her. I know she's just waiting for you to stop her from making a decision that will tear apart three lives in this family." Susanna thought of Serenity as a sister from the first day they met, the day Serenity was born.

"I'll think about it." Endymion finally responded.

"Better hurry. Time's running short."

She left him then with his emotions running rampant, not sure which way to go about things. Serenity was going to have his brother's child. The woman he loved was sleeping with his brother and was going to have the other man's child. Endymion couldn't bring himself to stop it, Serenity had made her choice. She'd made her choice the moment she entered Sebastian's bed.

He heard voices and then he saw Sebastian coming around the corner by himself, the others must have stayed inside. His brother, same height, smaller build, longer hair, bluer eyes, easier personality. He could see why anyone would chose Sebastian over him. Sebastian was easy to get along with, he had a personality that wouldn't stop. He cracked jokes and everyone laughed, even Susanna and himself. He'd always loved his kid brother. Which made his betrayal all that much harder to swallow.

"I have to talk to you." Endymion ordered when Sebastian made an about-turn to leave once he saw Endymion sitting there.

"What is it?" He asked steadily.

"It's about you and Serenity."

"I've loved her since the day I met her." Sebastian responded. "Everyone knew it too. I've told you often enough of my feelings. I will take good care of her and she'll never want for anything. She will be the most cherished woman in the world."

Endymion shook his head, it didn't always work that way. Just because Sebastian loved Serenity didn't mean that she would love him back. That he wouldn't get sick of her not loving him in return. Though she'd pretend if she wasn't already. Didn't mean that Endymion wouldn't find himself tripping over his love for her with every breath he took. Sebastian's tone had been accusing, as if Endymion had been the one to betray the other. That might be true, Endymion had been aware of his brother's feelings, but he couldn't help how he felt either. Serenity had come into his arms willingly, he thought that her feelings for Sebastian had never changed from that as her brother. She'd never felt that way about Endymion and he'd never accepted her as a sister either. There had always been something simmering beneath. But maybe Endymion was wrong. Maybe Serenity had loved both of them or neither of them and had found herself pregnant and had to be tied down now. Maybe she would have continued on with other men after Sebastian.

"Did you know?"

"Of course." Endymion's eyes snapped open towards his brother's frank response. "Oh not at first of course. Serenity came to me while I was working one day and asked to see me privately. Things rolled on from there. I knew about you though after it was already too late. I want to say it would have made a difference but really with the way I feel about her, it really wouldn't. I'd still love her even if she had been with a hundred men. Even if she cheated on me. It didn't make any difference that one of those men was you."

Endymion roared as he popped to his feet, grabbing Sebastian by the collar and held his brother backwards over the railing. "You should never have done that to your brother!" It was in the end, completely Serenity's fault, but she was pregnant and Sebastian was here, rubbing salt onto a wound. Serenity had attempted to make herself out to be the victim and had never aggravated him. She'd tried to get away and stay there, not wanting anything further if it had to do with him. Sebastian wasn't happy that he was going to get the girl, he had to twist the knife too. So much for his usual personality. But Serenity did that to both of them.

"You should never have done that to your brother!" Sebastian wasn't scared and even though he held Endymion's arm for balance, he was just as furious underneath that cool facade. The only difference between the two of them had been Endymion was completely winded by this betrayal. Sebastian had weeks to deal with it.

Endymion pulled Sebastian back to firm ground and let him go. "I don't know why you invited me."

"The rest of the family would have been disappointed, wondering why I wouldn't invite even my brother. I wasn't going to otherwise. You'd still have been in Japan, only coming back after Serenity and I already returned from our honeymoon. Complete shock to Sere though when you walked through the doors. I thought I had time to warn her but you came earlier than expected. Why couldn't you have come tomorrow or the next day like planned?"

"I caught an earlier flight, hoping to be with my brother for his wedding, proud like a big brother should be."

"You can still be those things." Sebastian commented, rubbing his throat. "I'd appreciate it if there weren't any hard feelings between the two of us."

"There will always be those." Endymion snapped. "I cannot even look at your face. I will be here for the wedding but then I will not set eyes on you for anything except only the most important family gatherings. You should be ashamed bringing Serenity around when you have deceived everyone so."

"Not like you weren't deceiving them or me. Seeing Serenity behind our backs and flying off to Japan without more than an announcement. You at least owed me a heads up. I was bowled over when Serenity finally told me. You can't imagine the shock."

"Yet you're all too happy to marry her. I've been seeing her for months. How do you know that these few weeks wont become boring to her as well? That she'll leave you for the next guy as soon as you turn your back?"

"Because-" Sebastian didn't have a great backing if he didn't disclose the real reason they were getting married so quickly.

"Because she's pregnant?"

Sebastian gulped but then nodded. "That's part of it, yes."

Endymion didn't bother to ask what the other part of it that Sebastian believed he had as a hold over her. He didn't want to know. "But why get married so quickly? If she really is pregnant and she's only two weeks along, then you have months before she starts showing."

Sebastian didn't answer for a long time and Endymion turned to his brother, wanting to know his reason for such a quick engagement. "Because I don't want the chance to lose her again!" He finally snapped out. "I already lost her once to you, and if she miscarries but we're married, then she'll still be mine."

"But surely-" Endymion didn't know what he wanted to say. His brother had never been so possessive of any female, hadn't brought many around and none of them had lasted long. He had always been pining over Serenity. Maybe it was wrong of Endymion to have stepped between them, maybe he should have encouraged Serenity to see Sebastian in a different light before they got involved so then the two of them would be free of Sebastian's obsession. Got it out of their system.

But no... Endymion could have never encouraged Serenity to look at anyone else, not when he desired her so, loved her so much. It was killing him, not being able to love Serenity the way he still did, the way that they had been for the last several months.

Susanna was talking about how Serenity was losing weight, not eating and how her stress level was through the roof, well, Endymion was suffering from those same symptoms and he wasn't pregnant. Endymion stepped away from his brother, the first step of many that he was going to make. In his mind, after this wedding, they'd no longer be brothers in anything but name. "Take care of your bride-to-be. She's gotten dangerously thin. Probably to keep up with your lifestyle. But since she's pregnant with your child, perhaps you should encourage her to wait until after having a child before trying to kill herself in an effort to appease your standards."

Sebastian took a swing at him and Endymion let it connect with his jaw, relishing the pain. He hoped the physical pain could take away the deep seated one in his gut, wrenching at his heart and very reason for existence.

It knocked Endymion back into the wall slightly, but did no further damage. Then Endymion got up, brushed himself off and walked inside. His sisters started coddling him, but he pushed them aside and continued on his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Serenity had been gazing at him in horror when she saw the angry red mark on his jaw. He didn't want anyone's concern right now. He wanted to punish himself for ever leaving and giving her the opportunity to cheat on him. She hadn't had even the decency to tell him it was over.

He wanted to be furious at her, as it was mostly her fault, but instead his heart was breaking and he couldn't find it in him to fight it. He wasn't sure he cared. He crawled onto his bed and went back to sleep, not bothering to change. There was a depressing thought swirling in his mind as he hugged a pillow in his sleep, no matter what Serenity had done, he'd always love her and since he'd never be free of the feelings he would have to take himself away so he didn't have to look at her embracing her new life.