The White Rose Crisis Ch. 05

The 24^th of April is here again...if I had been more organised I would have had five new stories submitted for my fifth anniversary as a writer on Literotica.com!

Well, the dates might be off but at least you get the stories still. Enjoy!

*****

Part 5: The Final Spiral

–-

I travelled home in silence, the radio off, my mind turning all the facts over and over until I thought the top of my skull was going to pop off. My cousin Lucy was sleeping with my ex, Taylor, and I had watched them play with each other. My Auntie Ellie, who slept with her own brother and fell in love with him, knew I might have committed incest at my older sister's wedding.

And then there was me, who didn't know who I had slept with in my drunken state up in that dark room. Me, who had gone up there thinking it was Taylor waiting for me with her face down and ass up on the bed. Me, who still didn't know who owned the silk white rose that had fallen off of that girl's dress during sex and ended up in my possession, a constant, haunting reminder that it wasn't all a dream.

I clutched the rose in my pocket, feeling the material between my fingers and pondering fretfully on its owner. It had sat in a box with a list of other clues to the girl's identity for several days, torturing me every time I lifted the lid. I was closer to solving the mystery now, but it had been a harrowing journey.

My mother – thank God – still had her rose pinned to her dress when I stumbled into her a few minutes after the event, having just found out that Taylor hadn't been anywhere near the room and had no memory of having sex. My mother is remarkably similar in size and shape to my sisters; obviously that's where they get their looks from, so I was glad to check her off the list of people who had access to that room at the wedding.

After a few days of living in fear I successfully proved it wasn't my little sister Jaimi, who gave me a monstrous scare after I found a pregnancy test and a pair of red underwear, the same colour as those of my mystery girl. She had come to me filled with despair after frolicking in the bushes with some random guy at the wedding reception, risking a pregnancy and staining her rose in the process, which she later produced to my great relief.

Then after guiltily spying on my cousin Lucy and Taylor having sex – which caught me completely by surprise – I managed to confirm that Lucy was different enough from the girl I remember that they couldn't have been the same person. I still wanted to see her rose in some of the photos somewhere, just to confirm it, but my mind was at ease slightly knowing that she had probably been with Taylor the whole time, thinking back on other photos I had seen so far of them together.

Getting busted by my Auntie Ellie watching the two of them turned out to be a good thing, in a way. Ellie assured me that I hadn't slept with her by accident either, and told me all about her own experiences with incest when she was living with her brother. She offered more support than I thought I would ever get from anyone, and also gave me a USB stick of photos from the wedding – some professional ones I hadn't seen yet. This could contain the clue I needed to solve the mystery, which, to my regret, had been narrowed down to two remaining people.

One of them was now my girlfriend. The other...the last possible relative on my list.

As I pulled into the driveway at home my phone started to go off in my pocket. It was Meghan calling. Knowing it was late already, I got out as quietly as I could and headed for the back door, hoping not to wake anyone inside as I answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"It's me."

"Hi, just give me a second ok?" I crept through the kitchen and headed for the stairs leading up to my room, noticing the T.V. was still on in the lounge room and hoping it was just Jaimi watching some late night show.

"Meghan?" I said quietly, entering my room.

"Hey, I didn't wake you did I? I know it's late –"

"No, no," I mumbled, emptying my pockets and throwing my wallet, keys and the rose on the bed. "You just finished work right?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. How was it?" I kept up the small talk as I turned on my laptop and plugged in the thumb drive. I probably should have been more focused but I needed answers and didn't want to wait.

"It, it was fine."

"Ok, good." I realised there was a pause from Meghan as I entered my password and got to the desktop, opening the USB folder. "Is everything ok?"

"...I got a response from that company." I immediately stopped what I was doing and started properly listening.

Meghan was smarter than me, and talented too. She had applied for her dream job in computer programming at a game company, a real opportunity for her that could mean big things in the future. She had been teaching part-time at a 3D animation school alongside her bar work and this opening was just what she was looking for. I crossed my fingers mentally and physically.

"Ok, so, what did they say?" There was another pause.

"I didn't get it."

"Oh, oh Meghan I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"They said I didn't have enough experience, they needed a programmer, not a teacher." I could hear the pain in her voice as she spoke. "They suggested I find work in some other department of I.T. first."

"I know how much this meant to you." I really didn't know what else to say. "I'm sorry, hun." A small sob came through the phone.

"I don't know when I'll get another chance like that." Her voice was cracking slightly, like she was holding back tears. I heard a car stopping somewhere outside, and my computer was ready to use, but I ignored it all.

"It's not just that. Work was bad...it was a really busy night and I was working basically on my own, and I was told to close up finally and you know it takes at least half an hour, and as I was finishing some people came into the bar and the manager made me open up again just to serve them...I was already meant to be going home!"

I sat down at my desk, my heart sinking as I listened to her. She had been doing so well since leaving her last partner, but now it sounded like she was hitting a very low point of depression again.

"They were abusive too, they always are when they see us being pushed around by the managers. They know we have to do everything for them and treat us like crap!"

"Oh hun, how can they do that to you? You can't stay there if this keeps happening."

"What choice do I have, I can't afford to leave, and I can't find any other work." She was crying now, unable to hold it back anymore. I heard movement in the house, doors opening and closing and the sound of conversation floating up from downstairs. Part of me wondered who was moving around this late at night but I was too concerned about Meghan to dwell on it any further.

"Is there something I can do, anything I can do to help?"

"...come over?" It might have sounded silly but our decision to go from friends into a relationship was still new and I hadn't stayed the night yet. As it got later it was very unlikely I'd be safe to drive home in my tired state, assuming Meghan didn't want me to sleep over. I only paused for a moment, half listening to someone laughing downstairs, but Meghan must have sensed my hesitation.

"Please Will, I need you," she said in a quiet voice. In that moment of need, when someone as strong as her wasn't ashamed to admit it, my mind was made up.

"I'm on my way," I said firmly, standing back up and pushing my chair under my desk. I didn't even hear the creak of the staircase, or the sound of footsteps on the landing outside my door. "I'll see you soon, ok?"

"Ok. Will...I love you." I froze hearing those words. Those short, simple words, spoken softly by someone who had meant more to me for longer than all of my previous girlfriends combined. There was only one thing I could say.

"I love you too." I hung up and turned to grab my keys off my bed, the conversation still playing over in my head.

I wasn't alone.

Sarah, my older sister, who had been on her honeymoon and I hadn't seen since her wedding, stood in the door, staring at me. I was so surprised at her appearance that I didn't even react. Slowly her gaze dropped to my hand, reaching for my keys which were sitting on the bed beside my wallet...

...and the white rose.

I glanced down, my mind registering what had caught her attention, and with a sudden epiphany I looked back up at her, just as her eyes came back up to look at me. We stood staring at each other across the room, silent except for the sound of our breathing.

Without a word, Sarah turned and walked out of my room, closing the door quietly behind her.

–-

I drove to Meghan's place. I parked on the street, buzzed my way in and took the lift up to her level. She opened the door with fresh tears on her face and collapsed into a hug. I led her to the couch where we curled up quietly, and within a few minutes Meghan had fallen asleep in my arms.

I started to drift myself but my phone going off disturbed me. In a daze I looked at the message; it was from Jaimi.

- newlyweds back from honeymoon. did u see sarah? where r u?

I fell asleep out of sheer mental exhaustion, to thoughts of betrayal, misery and fear.

–-

I got home late the next morning, but as it was a Saturday my mother was in the kitchen making tea instead of at work. She looked up as I entered and her eyebrows knitted together with worry.

"Will! Where were you last night? I was worried!"

"Sorry Mum, Meghan had a bad day and asked me to come over."

"Oh dear, is everything alright?"

"No, not really. She missed out on a really important job opportunity. I think she's feeling depressed again."

"Ohhh, the poor thing, and she works so hard too." She walked over and gave me a hug. "I'm so glad she has you for support." She drew back, then her expression brightened. "Hey, guess what? Sarah and Michael are back, they got in last night. I'm sure they'd love to see the both of you, and it would give Meghan a good distraction. Maybe you should organise something?"

"Yeah...sure Mum, I'll mention it to Meghan."

"Ok good, and give her our best, and let her know we are all here for her if she needs support." She tapped my cheek and went back to her tea, carrying it into the living room as I mounted the stairs.

I shut the door to my bedroom and sighed with exhaustion, looking around the room. Obviously nothing had moved or changed since I had last been in here, less than twelve hours ago, but at the same time everything was different. The white rose sat in the middle of my bed where I had left it – where Sarah had seen it – and a blinking light on my laptop indicated it was in sleep mode, waiting to be used with the thumb drive still plugged in the side.

It seemed like a futile gesture but I sat down at the desk and woke the laptop up, opening the photo folder. Sure enough, flicking through the pictures I saw Lucy with her rose firmly attached to her dress, and so was Meghan's – the only other person I hadn't confirmed yet. A few clicks later I saw it, the one photo that I had been looking for, all this time.

I stared at the image in front of me, of several people posing with drinks in their hands. Among them, my little cousin Amy – holding a coke, of course – and some of my other relatives. On the far left at the bar, Taylor sat with Lucy and one of my other cousins, Casey, who I had seen with Taylor after coming downstairs. I assumed now that the three of them had been talking about girl-on-girl sex together, given Taylor's happy new direction she was going in.

And in the background, coming through the door to the hallway leading upstairs, stood Sarah, looking ruffled and missing her white rose.

I slept with Sarah. There was no doubt in my mind now. No way around it, no explanations left to cling to, no hopes of redemption. I had sex with my sister on her wedding day. I slept with my sister.

The only question was...would she tell anyone? I leaned back in my chair, my face in my hands, concern at the question filling my head. She had obviously figured it out when she saw her rose sitting on my bed, but so far it seemed like nothing had happened. I slept with my sister.

If Mum had known she would have said something the moment I stepped foot back in the house. I was confined to quarters for a month for breaking three vases when I was eight, and I had been lucky not to be thrown out on my ass even at that age. She definitely hasn't told Mum then. I hoped she would never know.

I slept with my sister.

I couldn't leave matters like this, but I couldn't think what my next move should be. I doubted I'd be able to talk to Sarah about it – even if I knew what to say, which I didn't. Mum would never be able to talk about incest, it would probably break her heart. She didn't even know about Auntie Ellie and their brother Ben.

I slept with my sister.

I closed my laptop and walked over to my bed, pulling out the small box I had hidden underneath it. I took out several of the photos I had printed out and looked down the handwritten list I had made after the close encounter with Jaimi, realising how different it looked to my enlightened eyes.

red underwear

soft long(ish) hair – straight? Wavy?

bright nails?

breasts – not as small as Meghan's, larger

pubic hair – short, trimmed, dark colour

missing rose

Red underwear.

I cringed, thinking how racy it was to wear sexy red undies underneath a bride's dress and hating myself for having that thought about my own sister.

Soft long(ish) hair – straight? Wavy?

Sarah's hairdo for the wedding was similar to the others, and after the long day it would have been softening up a great deal. It was too hard to tell who I'd slept with just from this.

Bright nails?

To be fair that one wasn't much to go on either, as most of the bridal party were done up all fancy.

Breasts – not as small as Meghan's, larger.

This depressed me more than anything, not least of all because it was the one reason I had a feeling Meghan couldn't have been in the room...no matter how much I wanted her to be considering my other options. Accidental anonymous sex might have killed any chance for our relationship to take off in the right direction, but facing incest just wasn't something I was prepared for.

Pubic hair – short, trimmed, dark colour.

I cringed again just reading this...the words brought back all of the memories that had survived my alcoholic afternoon escapades. I shut my eyes tight against the words. I know what Sarah's pussy looks like, what it feels like...oh God, what it TASTES like...I tried to ignore it, but nothing worked.

I slept with my sister.

I struggled furiously to bring my mind back from that dark place, from the room where I took my own flesh and blood for a lover, fucking her like some sort of sexual pervert.

My eyes glanced over to the white rose sitting in the middle of my bed. Sarah's white rose, no one else's. Sitting down slowly, I cradled the small silk object in my hands, contemplating where it came from and how it brought me here.

This came from my big sister's wedding gown. Tears formed in my eyes and I hung my head in shame as I realised the full force of that statement. I hadn't just changed our relationship as siblings, I had forever stained her perfect wedding day.

I SLEPT with my SISTER!

Filled with remorse, my life genuinely spiralling out of my control this time, I put the list, the rose and the photos back into the box and slid it back underneath my bed. There was a knock at the door so I wiped my face clean and straightened up, just as the door opened slowly. It was Jaimi, standing in the hallway in her pair of black skins shorts and a white shirt, her hair loosely draped over one shoulder.

"Hey there, champ, you alright this morning? We missed you last night."

"Yeah I know. I'm sorry, Meghan needed to see me."

"Is everything ok between you two?" she asked, combing her light brown hair with her fingers and coming in to sit down beside me.

"I think so, she just had a bad day. Didn't get a job offer, stressed out from the way she is treated at work...it's really bothering her." Jaimi reached over and took my hand, giving it a squeeze.

"I think it's amazing you two are finally together," she said quietly. "Meghan is like a sister to me, and I found it really hard to see her suffering so much in her last relationship." Jaimi looked at me and I couldn't help but appreciate the warmth in her deep brown eyes. She smiled and linked her fingers with mine. "Not suffering any more, though. She's genuinely happy with you, even if she has her bad moments."

"I'm lucky to have her."

"I think you're both lucky." Her hand felt very warm in mine. Soft too, I noticed. She leaned over and rested her cheek on my shoulder, my head tilting to rest on her hair. "I'm here if you need to talk, ok? Either of you. We're all family." I could smell her shampoo and deodorant, could feel her move as she breathed in slowly beside me, her hand not letting go of mine. It was soothing, calming, distracting me from my torment and reminding me that I had people who loved me in my life.

Jaimi was being there for us, both myself and Meghan, and I appreciated her more in that moment than I had for the past eighteen years she had been in the family.

"I'm lucky to have you, too," I said quietly to her. Jaimi smiled, nuzzling my shoulder gently.

"Damn straight." I turned to Jaimi and she looked up at me with her loving brown eyes. "You'll always have me." Patting my leg, she stood up and stretched, arching her back and showing off her figure more than a little bit. My hand felt cold without hers.

"So, I'm going for a run...do you want to join me?" she asked me, turning side on and glancing down at me. "Exercise always helps me think things through."

Spend more time with Jaimi? "Sure," I replied, "I'd like that, actually." She gave me a happy smile.

"Great! Downstairs in ten, ok?" It was hard not to be affected by her perkiness sometimes. Searching my room for some running shorts and a fairly clean t-shirt, I got changed and sprayed some deodorant of my own before heading downstairs.

Jaimi was waiting for me at the front door; her hair was tied back in a ponytail and she was now wearing a purple sports tank top that clung to her chest and showed off her belly. I had to admit that combined with her skin tight shorts the outfit made it quite hard not to look at her. She didn't seem to notice though, and smiled at me when I came down.

"Ready to go?" I nodded and we headed out together, hitting the path that led towards the lake near our house.

As we ran together, side by side, I thought about everything that had happened to me in the last few weeks. Ever since the wedding my life hadn't been normal, with the rare exceptions of the time I spent with Meghan, and even then it was a state of half-relaxation mingled with fear.

Yes I was still afraid, but I took comfort in the knowledge that it would take a lot to push Jaimi away from me. She was here for me when she thought I needed it, and I appreciated her for that. I cast my mind back to how I had comforted her when she was distraught over a guy she had sex with at the wedding, how I had been a big brother to her and how she was now repaying that kindness, the way only family can.

Ever since I had freaked out about sleeping with her – since that terrifying dream about making her pregnant – I had seen Jaimi not just as a sister but as an adult who loved me and needed me. At first I assumed it was only because I thought I had made Jaimi the mother of our child, but after I figured out the truth and she had confessed to her own indiscretion things didn't go back to normal – our relationship seemed to change. We got on differently, like the taboo of discussing sex had vanished, even as I was trying to determine whether I had committed incest. In an odd way, it seemed like we were able to connect better.