Page 77 of Love at First Ink

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 thisbetween 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, butyou 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.Herhome. After everything that transpired last night, she feared he wouldn’t want to see her. And yet hewas here, looking far more put together than she looked and felt.

---