Brian woke up with a ringing in his head. Every time he tried to open his eyes, his body would protest by giving him a headache so he stopped trying and lay back. Giving himself time to recover. At the back of his mind, three words kept circling each other as if they were in a ring waiting for a match. Slut. Whore. Trash. It was a weird thing to think about but considering he was having his first hangover in history, he thought it was normal.

As he lay there, his memories from the previous day started streaming in. He'd started by going to class early in the morning then came back home to sign some papers his father's secretary had sent over. Then he'd decided to go see Maggie because he missed her. At the thought of her name Brian sat up quickly, ignoring the headache pounding in his head. The rest of his memories hit him all at once. Maggie and Drew, drinking with Simon, hitting Drew, calling Maggie all those names and throwing her out.

As if that wasn't enough, he'd asked Abby to do it. God only knew what she'd done after they were outside. He'd practically served her on a silver platter and handed her to the person who hated her most. Because he'd seen Drew on top of her. Had he done the right thing? Did she deserve everything he said and did to her? He remembered the first day he'd seen her. She was standing in his kitchen doing dishes as if it was something she did everyday. Her simplicity was the first thing he'd noticed. That and her kindness. Was it possible for someone to change so much? 

Abby had. He'd watched her grow up then into someone else completely. But Maggie is not Abby. The voice in his said echoed. They were two different people. Even if Maggie had changed, would she go so far as to sleep with Drew? It seemed impossible. But that asshole knew where her birth mark was. Unless he'd actually seen her naked, he wouldn't have known it was there. Was he still besotted with Maggie that he couldn't see the truth?

No, he couldn't be wrong. Otherwise that would mean that he'd wronged her yesterday. If she was innocent and it was all a big misunderstanding like she kept saying, then he would be the one who had failed her. In all honesty he hadn't meant to say what he did. What was worse was that he couldn't blame it on the alcohol. He'd consumed a little of it but not enough to make him drunk. He'd been sober and hurting so he wanted to hurt her back. Now that he had calmed down a little, he could admit that he'd gone a little too far especially since she was pregnant. 

"Brian, Brian how did you get here?" he asked himself getting out of bed. There were so many questions that only Maggie would answer but he wasn't ready to see her. Walking in and seeing them like that felt as if someone had stabbed him in the heart. How long would it take before he stopped feeling that way every time that picture crossed his mind? Months? Years? It wasn't going to be any time soon. It would take a while before he could summon up enough courage to face her.

After taking a shower, he wondered where he should start. School or work? His exams were almost here but with everything, it would be a miracle if he could pass. Was the universe conspiring to dump all his problems on his head at the same time? It was tiring. A vacation would be nice. Some far away place where he would be surrounded by strangers. Maybe he could have a few flings to forget her. In your dreams Brian.

It was two days later and Brian had decided to skip the last class so he could go home and rest. Juggling work and school was exhausting. As he was opening the door, he wondered how other students did it. All he could think about at that moment was sleeping. And he would have gone straight to his bedroom if he hadn't heard voices coming from Abby's room. Not wanting to alert her that he was home, he tiptoed to her door and craned his head to eavesdrop. At the back of his mind, he was hoping to hear something about Maggie. All Abby did was talk about her day in day out.

"Are you threatening me?" he heard Abby ask.

"You bet. Don't think I'm stupid. Just because I let you treat me the way you do doesn't mean I'm dumb" Brian jerked his head back. Drew? Why was that asshole here? And why was he threatening Abby?  He grabbed the handle but Abby's next words stopped him dead in his tracks.

"You agreed to help me get rid of Maggie so you could blackmail me?" What were they talking about? Getting rid of Maggie? What had they done?

"Isn't it obviou....." Drew stopped when Brian kicked the door open.

"What did you do to Maggie you bastard?" he asked looking from one to the next.

"Oh look, it's Brian. How have you been man? Is your heart still hurting?"

"I'm not in the mood to play games with you. Tell me what you did to Maggie"

"You really want to know?" he asked just as Abby said

"It's none of your business Brian. Get out of my room"

"Not until you tell me what you did to Maggie. I heard you saying something about getting rid of her. Did you hurt her?"

"This just keeps getting interesting. Do you mean to tell me that you still care? After everything she did you still care?"

"Talk you imbecile, before I break your face"

"Okay then. If it's the truth you want then here it is...."

"Stop it Drew. This is not funny" Abby cut in pushing him.

"Oh I'm not joking. You don't know how long I've been waiting for this moment. Will you tell him or should I do the honor?"

"Tell me what?"

"Nothing. Leave us alone Brian. I need to talk to my boyfriend"

"No, don't go. You should hear this"

"Drew...."

"It was all her plan" he said then stopped for effect.

"What was?"

"Nothing...."

"Everything" they both said simultaneously.

"What are you talking about? I can't understand anything. What was her plan? What did you do to Maggie?"

"Drew please let's talk about this" Abby pleaded. Brian straightened up, wondering what was going on. Did Abby do something she didn't want him to find out?

"It's like this. Our Abby here has always been jealous of Maggie from day one. We are both men and we can admit that she's stunning. Village girl or not. It's only normal for other girls to be jealous of her and want to get rid of her"

"Jealous? Of what? Abby has everything. Why would she be jealous of Maggie?"

"I've never understood that point too. But she really was jealous so she came up with a plan to make you two break up"

"He's lying Brian, don't listen to him. I just broke up with him so he wants to take revenge on me"

Drew snorted "You wish"

"Leave my house you moron. I don't ever want to see your stupid face again" Abby screamed trying to push Drew but he shot out his arm and shoved her away. Stumbling, she fell on the floor.

"I am going to kill you!" Brian hissed throwing his bag down.

"Before you do that hear me out. I'll tell you the truth" he said holding his hands up in surrender. Brian wanted to really beat the crap out of him but he also needed to know the truth. For his peace of mind. Whatever this two had done to Maggie didn't sound good or Abby wouldn't look so scared.

"You have five minutes. Talk"

"Brian! You can't believe what he says. It's all lies"

"Either way I still need to hear it"

"It was Abby's plan to make you distrust Maggie. She'd arrange for situations where it looked as if Maggie had lied to you so you would start doubting her. I thought it was clever since your girlfriend was easy to manipulate. After you started doubting her I had to step in to solidify your beliefs. Everything you saw was planned. When I say everything, I mean everything"

"How?" was all Brian could ask. His throat had suddenly gone dry.

"It was just a matter of coordination. You'd leave the house and I would get a text informing me that. If you showed up here, there were people Abby had paid to alert me. So you can see how I would know that you were coming and how you would always find dearest Maggie in a compromising position with me. In my opinion I think your sister should be a producer. She'd make it in Hollywood, no doubt"

"Shut up!" Brian said trying to think. All those times he'd yelled at Maggie and gotten angry at her when it wasn't even her fault. They were puppets whose strings were pulled by his sister and her boyfriend "How did you know about her birth mark?" he asked quietly

"I paid one of the girls to find out. Honestly, I can't believe you fell for that. Maggie's gorgeous but I'm not even attracted to her. She's not my type" Drew said slinking towards the door "Oh yeah, one last thing that I think you've already guessed. The baby is not mine. Never was. I leave you two siblings in peace. Try not strangle your sister to death. She's the only one you have. Adios amigos" then he was out the door like he knew one more second in that house would be his last one.

He also wasn't wrong. Brian felt like killing someone. The only problem was that he couldn't move. All of a sudden he felt tired. Walking to the bed, he sat down. Abby was still on the floor where Drew had pushed her, reminding him of how he'd pushed Maggie the same way. She had been crying and begging him to listen to her but he'd been so angry because he thought she'd made a fool out of him.

"Tell me something Abby, what do you take me for?" he asked softly.

"You can't believe what Drew said Brian. He was lying"

"Stop lying. I have very little patience left"

"Brian I'm not lyin....."

"Who the fuck do you think I am?" he asked jumping up "Do I look like you puppet Abby? Is that why you did this?"

"I didn't do anything"

"Do you want to know what's funny? It's that I actually believe him. I know what you're capable of when you want something. It's not hard to believe that you've been manipulating me all this time"

"Okay, I did all of it because I hate that Maggie with all my heart. Is that what you want to hear?"

Grabbing her arm, he pulled her to her feet "So now you're admitting it?"

"Yes. I did everything Drew accused me of. I planned it from the beginning to the end. What are you going to do? Hit me?"

"Why? What did I ever do to you? Have I not been a good brother? I've always protected you Abby. Even from Maggie because you're my sister. I let the acid incident go knowing that you were the one at fault. Every time you do something stupid, I let it go because I kept telling myself that deep down you're not a bad person. It turns out that you were the one fooling me and not Maggie"

"Don't take it personally dearest brother. This isn't about you. You can date any woman out there. Anyone but Maggie"

"You have no right to decide that"

"Which is why I used other means to get rid of her"

"Joke's on you. Because I won't ever leave her. She's the only woman I've ever loved and I will do anything to get her back. Your efforts were all in vain"

She laughed sarcastically "You really are stupid. Do you think I didn't anticipate this? I did. I knew you would find out the truth sooner or later. I dare you to go find your precious Maggie. Tell her how sorry you are and let's see if she will take you back"

"Maggie isn't like you. She will understand when I tell her what really happened"

"I agree. If you had followed her two days ago, maybe she would have listened to you and even forgiven you. Now? I'd like to see you try. Especially after what happened" she added smiling

"What are you talking about? What happened to Maggie?"

"Go find out yourself. I'm going to pack my stuff and go back home. I'll tell mom to find me a place of my own"

"Good. Because I never want to see your face ever again. I'm done with you Abby and I don't care if we share a family or not. Whatever you do, don't show yourself to me or you will know who I am"

"Your threats don't work on me so save them for people like Drew"

"We'll see about that"

"You better hurry or Maggie will think you abandoned her. Oh wait, she already does. Good luck trying to convince her otherwise"

Brian left, grabbing his car keys on his way out. He thought of going straight to the agency but discarded that idea. Her house was closer so it was better to start there. He didn't bother calling since he knew she wouldn't pick up. What Abby said made him drive faster. There was a sinking feeling in his chest. What had happened to her? Why did Abby say she would never forgive him? She'd said it so confidently as if she knew something he didn't.

Stopping outside her house, he rushed up the stairs to her door. "Maggie, open up" he said knocking continuously.

"She's not there" someone said from behind him. Turning around he asked

"Where is she?"

"You must be Brian. Right?"

"Yes. Where's Maggie?"

"I can't tell you that. But what I will say is that you're an asshole and it would be best for her if you never go anywhere near her"

"You don't know me so you have no right to say that"

"But I do" Thomas said approaching them "Stay away from my sister before I do something stupid. Like giving in to my anger and killing you"

"What happened to Maggie? Why won't anyone of you tell me where she is?"

"Because it's none of your business. People who are high and mighty like you can't interact with trash with like her"

"I didn't mean that. I was just angry"

"I don't care. I hope that this is the last time I'll ever see you. The next time we do I won't be so polite. Let's go Janet" Thomas pushed him aside to open his door. Sighing, Brian wondered who he could ask. As he was heading back to his car, he heard two of the neighbors gossiping.

"I haven't seen her but I heard she was beaten up pretty bad"

"Poor girl. She is so pretty. I hope she recovers soon"

"Excuse me" he said stopping beside them. "Are you talking about Maggie? What happened to her?"

"Yes. Do you know her? Just the other day she was coming home when she encountered robbers. They stole her purse, beat her and left her for dead"

*****************************************

Should it be poor Maggie or poor Brian? I can't decide.