Chapter 78 - The City’s Unstoppable Jogger Person (2/2)

”But three's a crowd,” Miguel says.

”A crowd's more fun,” she says.

Miguel gazes at Gabriel's eyes, trying to implicitly send the message of ”Give way, bro. Remember the Bro Code?”

But Gabriel is undecided; Miguel sees that his brother obviously wants to stay and be with them. How else can you explain his sudden presence here, in this place, an area Gabriel had never visited in ten years? Surely, this was a sly move. And right now Miguel is confused: why would his brother go to great lengths just to keep an eye on Claire, if that's what this really is? Why be so obsessive about your ”employee”? Is it possible that…Gabriel actually likes her, in the same way Miguel likes her?

Claire also playfully grabs Miguel by the arm, and with her in the middle, she says, ”Come on, let's go. Let's stop overthinking, shall we? Miguel, where did you say you're taking me?”

”Well, uhh,” he stammers, glancing at his brother. ””We're going to a magical place.”

”Really?” Claire's reaction is pure child-like wonder, and she seems a hundred times more beautiful in that moment.

”Yes,” Miguel mutters. ”We're going to—”

”—The City Amusement Park,” Gabriel suddenly finishes. A pause. Suddenly, Gabriel realizes: he shouldn't have known that! Now it becomes plain and obvious of what he's been doing all along—spying on them, or at least, second-guessing Miguel's intentions.

Miguel only laughs, though. ”You know me too well, my brother. I missed that place. Remember when we were kids?”

”Of course,” Gabriel says too eagerly, perhaps to deflect attention and stop Claire from wondering why Gabriel knows where Miguel is taking her. ”Remember the half-burnt corndogs that Mother buys because it's cheaper.”

Miguel laughs. ”Yeah, and how we really tried to hit all the balloons in the shooting gallery, because you wanted to much to win that huge teddy bear?”

”Oh, my God, so embarrassing,” Gabriel laughs, glancing at Claire, who's grinning, too, and secretly amused at the brothers' exchange of funny childhood anecdotes.

”Why did we even stop going here,” Miguel says. ”We should have had a yearly pilgrimage to the amusement park. You know, to remind us of how we used to be. To not lose the child in us.”

”Wow,” Claire exclaims, ”that was beautiful, Miguel. I love that.”

Miguel almost turns his head so quickly because he thought he heard Claire say, ”that was beautiful, Miguel, I love YOU.” But upon realizing his mistake, he grins. ”You know, you just don't know I'm a poet.”

Secretly, Gabriel cringes at what Miguel said. ”He's going to recite one of his poems, Jesus,” he screams in his mind. Please, Miguel, have some sense. Don't spoil this moment, Gabriel begs mentally.

But thankfully, Miguel has fallen silent. He seems to have realized or recalled something. They're just awkwardly walking to wherever they're going, with Claire in the middle and chain-linking them in her arms, like some clever child who's trying to reconcile her feuding parents.

On the other hand, Gabriel is thinking, too, about how fast things have gone down this way. Just a couple of days ago, it would never have entered even his wildest dreams to find himself in this unspoken ”competition” with his brother. He seems to be saying all the wrong things ever since Miguel had arrived. Maybe he should just try not to talk too much. Yes, Gabriel thinks. That's a good plan. Zip it.

By the time they're at the grand entrance to the amusement park, Gabriel has vowed to himself to never open his mouth again—not as long as he's here with them. Because the more he opens his mouth, the more he only demonstrates that he's the world's biggest idiot.