Family Ties
As Brandon paid the cab driver he noticed the hallway light was on in his parents' house, at least he wouldn't have to drive all over Beverly Hills looking for Brenda.
Brandon pushed open the front door and found Brenda sitting on the bottom step of the staircase, he knew she'd be there waiting for him to start telling her off. He didn't, he just sat down next to her and waited for her to start talking.
"I didn't mean to do it Bran, it didn't come here to break up Kelly and Dylan." Brenda twisted her fingers together in her hands. "I didn't expect to still have all these feelings for him, I kind of lose all perspective when he's around, like the world dims and all I can see is Dylan." Brenda could feel Brandon's shoulder against hers and took comfort in its warmth.
"I was a mess when I left here. I didn't feel like I belonged, like breaking up with Dylan had meant I'd broken up with everyone else too. I felt like I was making things difficult for everyone and it would be better if I just got out of Beverly Hills, admit it Brandon even you were sick of me." Brenda looked at her twin, into eyes that were so much like hers but at the same time filled with an innocence she couldn't remember ever having.
"You were a handful, doesn't mean I stopped loving you Bren, you're my twin, my other half I don't like the distance between us now, or the feeling that I was part of why you ran away nine years ago and never came back."
"Come on Brandon, the distance between us started before college, we've not been the same since we left Minnesota, I needed you to always be on my side and you weren't, there wasn't anything for me to stay around for." Brenda took Brandon's hand in her own, marvelling at how they still fit together just like when they were kids. Brandon rested his head against Brenda's and waited for her to carry on.
"So I left Beverly Hills because I was lonely and moved halfway round the world to be lonely in a new city, which believe me is a lot easier than being lonely surrounded by your friends. Then I heard about Dylan marrying Toni and I admit it, my heart broke just a little bit more, he'd moved on and met someone he loved enough to marry and I was still pining for my high school sweetheart."
"Come on Bren, there've been other guys for you since Dylan, you were going to elope in college."
"There haven't been other guys for me, there hasn't been anyone I trusted enough to let into my heart, not really. I guess that's the problem when your soul-mate breaks your heart in high school, it stays broken." Brenda knew that Brandon would think she was being melodramatic but she carried on talking before he could interrupt.
"When I heard Toni had died I knew that Dylan was about to find his way back to me, via Baja of course. I felt alive, for the first time since leaving high school I felt really alive, I was with someone who made my world sparkle, who loved me and challenged me." Brenda took a deep breath, knowing that she was about to shock Brandon and that he would be furious with her.
"I guess we were having such a good time that we didn't stop to think about where we were going or what we were doing. We got married." Brenda dropped her eyes away from Brandon's face, waiting for him to react, he seemed to be paralysed for a second before what she had said dawned on him.
"You got married?!" Brandon stood up and stepped away from his sister, he turned his back on her then whirled back around to face her, Brenda stayed where she was looking up at him as he processed what was happening.
"You married Dylan McKay and you didn't think to tell anyone?"
Brenda nodded, she wasn't sure saying anything would help the situation.
"Does Kelly know?" Brenda shook her head still not trusting herself to speak.
"Well I guess she was right all along there really were three people in her marriage." Brandon ran out of steam and sat back down. "Why Bren? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because everyone would have tried to stop us, they'd have said it was too soon after Toni died, they would have been right by the way." Brenda managed a smile.
""You guys are divorced aren't you?" Brandon suddenly had a horrible feeling that Dylan was a bigamist.
"Yeah, we got divorced two years ago, just before he married Kelly." Brenda cursed herself for the bitterness in her voice.
"Well that's one thing you did right I suppose. So what happened, why did it go wrong?"
"I can't tell you all the details Brandon, some of it is too raw, too personal, it belongs to me and Dylan. But you saw him when he got back from London, I don't need to tell you life wasn't exactly a bed of roses."
"He was a mess when he came back, I never had any idea that you two had been steady out there, I knew you were together but I didn't know how intense it had got."
"Yeah well that's me and Dylan, we can't do anything without secrecy and drama, I wasn't in such good shape when he left London."
"Has there been anyone else since?"
"Nothing serious, I date but I don't let people get close to me any more, I've been hurt too many times by the love of my life."
"What are you going to do now?"
"I don't know, I've signed the contract with the show, I did it to stop me running away, I guess I picked up some of Dylan's bad habits. I'm going to be in Beverly Hills for a while, but I'll be keeping a low profile."
"Look, I shouldn't be telling you this Bren but it sounds to me like Kelly and Dylan's marriage has been on the rocks for a while."
"So why are you telling me this?" Brenda was confused Brandon would never betray a confidence for no reason.
"Because I think you need to know all the facts before you decide what to do next." Brandon felt bad for betraying Kelly's confidence but the knowledge that Brenda and Dylan had been married had shifted things in his mind.
"Where's Kelly now?"
"She's at the beach house, I think you know where to find Dylan." Brandon watched as Brenda stood up, digging the keys to her rental car out of her purse. "What are you going to do?"
"I won't know until I start driving." She kissed her twin on the cheek, "Thanks for listening to me Brandon."