Growing up, it had always been the two of them. Their parents owned a small business and had to spend most of their time working, making it their firstborn's responsability to take care of his little sister, a few years younger than him.
He'd cook for her and help her do her homework. He'd pick her up at school, carry her backpack and even walk home some of her friends who lived close by (and, as it was only natural, big brother would be her friends' first crush, something that sister would never allow them say). He'd listen patiently to how her day had been, as her stories went from playdates with her friends to boys, first kisses and heartbreaks.
Despite being so close, time had it that they'd grow up to be completely different people. Hadn't they been siblings, they probably wouldn't even have been friends - which cause him to be even more surprised when his best friend went to his place and he wasn't the one his friend was there for, all dressed up.
"I promise I'll explain everything later", his sister said, kissing him on the cheek and grabbing Tom's arm as she walked out the door.
Well, I think it's pretty obvious what's going on here, he thought, closing the door and listening his little sister's voice fade into the night.
I wish I could say he didn't give it too much thought, but truth be told, he wouldn't be able to think about anything else before she came home, too many hours later, even if he tried - and try he did.
"We're dating", she announced as she walked through the door, knowing he was there waiting for her.
"It was pretty obvious when I heard you kiss goodbye", he sighed.
She sat beside him on the couch, looking at him with those eyes that said she wanted to tell him all about it. He was her confident, after all: big brother had always been there for her.
"Nope. Don't wanna hear about it".
"Tommy said you wouldn't be cool about it".
He knew she was trying to provoke him and walked right into it.
"Oh, Tommy did, didn't he?". He tried to sound offended, but couldn't help but laugh. "Well, tell Tommy that if he hurts you, I'll hurt him worse". She knew he was only half joking. "OK, spill it. But spare me all the details".
.o.
It wasn't long before she started complaining about their "willingness to die", as she called their taste for adrenaline. One could think time should teach her to be cool about it, or even try it, sometime - but surely one did not know her. Things only got worse as years went by, like each adventure got them closer and closer to death.
His little sister's stubbornness didn't come at all as a surprise, but that her relationship would last that long certainly did.
Even he could see how much they had grown together and made each other happy - which kind of made up for the feeling of half losing both his baby sister and his best friend by the time they announced their engagement.
Shortly after, he started to feel that maybe his life needed a different kind of adventure.
.o.
"I can't believe you took her rock-climbing on your first date", Tom said, both shocked and excited. "Hey, maybe we should try it, sometime", he kissed his fiancée on her cheek, making his friend slightly uncomfortable.
"Oh, get over it, Joel. It's been years". She had decided to ignore her fiancé's stupid comment, obviously. "Also, I'd never, ever go out with you again if that had been your great plan for our first date".
Joel's eyes lighted up.
"You weren't there, sis. It was...", he inhaled deeply, "out of this world".
She felt truly happy for him, thinking that he might have finally have found what she had, even if it took him a little longer. Nothing could possibly make her happier than seeing that spark in her brother's eyes... But that wouldn't make her go any easier, as she tormented him for weeks for being such a teenager in love.
And as teenagers are often forgetful when someone's on their minds, so was Joel when he left the jewelry store only to hurry back there and retrieve the wedding rings he had forgotten, his sister's phone imprinted on his chest.
Yet, it was her idea to invite such special girl to her wedding.
"I mean, you're gonna need a date, right?"
"Yeah, but don't you think it's too soon? I don't wanna scare her off or anything."
"You don't want to scare her or are you scared to take the next step?"
"I wouldn't be scared even if I were the one taking her to the altar."
She smiled. He was so unapologetically in love and so sure of his feelings, that she felt her heart was finally at peace.
.o.
He felt dizzy because of all the drinking and stupid because of that stupid suit, and still he smiled when he checked his phone and saw her name and a message saying he looked hot as a response to his picture wearing said stupid suit. It wasn't yet his wedding, but he couldn't wait to see her on that day and the next and all the other days for the rest of their lives...
Which made it even harder to say what he had to. His heart ached in his chest just by the thought of not seeing her for so long, so he decided to put aside that thought until it was the right time.
He texted his date before he looked himself in the mirror for the last time, hoping she wouldn't take long - he'd wait forever and a day for her (and hoped she would, too, and the thought that she might not scared him to death), but his sister wouldn't be so patient.
Before stepping outside, he looked again at the little black box in one of his drawers and smiled.
The surprise he had for her, that day, may not have been the best; but he had another one prepared for his return.
He had no intention of leaving her side. Not ever again.
AN: this story is based on a game called "MeChat". I don't suppose there's a big fandom out there, because I didn't find a category to add it to. I'm planning on writing some other oneshots about some other characters, but the first had to be my sweet boy Joel (my fav is actually Sora, but his storyline kinda breaks my heart). Also, English isn't my first language, so maybe be nice to me?