~•★Mike's Point of View★•~

I want you. 

I want you. 

Victoria's voice, as she had said those words to Alex, echoed in my mind as I angrily drove home.

How could she not see how much I care for her?

How much I love her?

And how much I want to be with her?

Why did she insist on being with my brother? What was so good about him?

What did he have that I didn't have?

Why couldn't she just see that I was perfect for her?!

I couldn't control my anger as I pressed the accelerator harder, hitting the steering wheel in frustration. When my mother had told me about the plan, she had made it seem so easy, so possible. But just when I thought things were going well, they just had to get worse.

I was about to enter my driveway, when I felt my phone vibrate repeatedly. I quickly parked and looked at who had called, hoping that maybe it was Victoria who had changed her mind.

But to my disappointment, it was my mother. I called her back when it stopped ringing, wanting to let her know exactly how I was feeling at the moment.

"What do you want?" I bellowed into the mic.

"Is everything alright sweetie?" she asked innocently.

"Don't act naïve with me mom. What do you want?"

I could feel my anger rising as I got closer to hanging up the phone on her. But her next words had me starting up the car again.

"We need to talk."

She was definitely right about that; we had many things to talk about. Particularly, her failure of a plan which I blindly decided to follow.

I immediately backed out and started to drive towards my parents' house, all the while trying to figure out exactly what I could say to her which would show my true feelings.

Within moments, I arrived and parked behind my father's car. As I got out, I heard the front door open, followed by footsteps a few seconds later.

"My baby," she said, walking to me and trying to wrap her arms around me in a hug like she usually did. But today, I wasn't in the mood for it and I showed that to her by gently moving away from her.

"Don't call me that. You're lucky I even agreed to come," I told her bitterly. The warm expression which had framed her face quickly disappeared, replaced with regret for a mere second, before her normal blank and emotionless face returned.

"Come inside."

She had said it so sternly that any chance of retaliation immediately left my thoughts. I followed her inside as words brewed in my mind.

I closed the door behind me after I entered and walked into the living room, taking a seat across from her.

"Why are you being so rude to me? I'm your mother and you're not supposed to talk to me like that."

Of course she'll be thinking about herself at a time like this, I thought to myself, rolling my eyes mentally to avoid a lecture.

"I'm not being rude; I'm just trying to show you the outcome of your stupid plan. I was such an idiot. I can't believe I ever thought it would work."

"Why are you saying that? Did something happen?"

"Oh something happened alright. She rejected me. For Alex."

Her eyes widened suddenly as she shook her head aggressively.

"That's not possible. Everything was going so well." She looked up from her hands which were in fists, so tight that I could see her knuckles begin to turn white.

"She can't get back together with Alex. She can't."

"Well you better start believing it because it's true."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is! Why do you care about Alex so much anyway?! Can't you see what this plan of yours is doing to me?!" I yelled at her, getting up from my seat angrily.

"Michael sit back down," she said with bated breath, standing up also. I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself down but it felt like it was almost impossible with her.

"No I won't sit down so that you can tell me another way to get her which won't work."

I walked past her towards the front door, regretting my decision to come. I should've known that nothing would change.

As I opened the door, I felt her hand wrap around my wrist. I left my other hand on the doorknob as I listened to her speak.

"I know a way you can get her. This time, it's bound to work."

~~♡~~♡~~♡~~

That woman was crazy. How could she ask me to go through with such a devious plan? 

I lay on a sofa in my living room as I thought about what my mother had told me, her so called genius plan.

How could she expect me to trick the woman I love? I knew that if I went through with it, she would undoubtedly get hurt.

But couldn't I console her once she was mine?

That thought had me smiling as I started to see how right my mother was. The way the plan worked made it almost impossible for it to fail almost impossible for me to lose Victoria again.

"So why not give it a chance?" I said to myself, starting to get convinced.

Having made up my mind, I picked up my phone from the bedside table and dialed Alex's number. If I was going anywhere with this plan, I'd have to start with him; showing him how much being with her meant to me.

I waited in anticipation as the phone rang. Finally, he picked up on the third ring.

"What?" his voice sounded uneven.

"I need to talk to you."

I heard him sigh with the sound of movement in the background.

"About what?"

"I'll tell you when I get there. I'm coming to your place now."

I knew that if it were up to him, he would want the whole conversation to be over the phone. But I couldn't let that happen, he had to see how serious I was about Victoria. How I would stop at nothing to have her.

I stood up and got ready. When I finished, I left my house and got into my car, driving towards his house with a smirk on my face.

With each passing second, my confidence in the plan increased.

When I got there, I parked and walked to the front door. I rang the bell and waited for him to come. When it felt like an eternity, I began to constantly hit the door.

"I know you're in there Alex! Open up right─" he opened it when I was in mid sentence and mid knock.

I composed myself before following him into the house and sitting across from him in the living room.

"I need you to back off. I don't care if you're my brother but Victoria is mine." I didn't spare a second as I looked at Alex as he sat across from me, a blank face looking back at me, making it hard for me to decipher his thoughts.

"Victoria isn't just some object that you can throw around you know. She's a person; so don't talk about her as if you own her."

"I'm not saying that I own her. I'm just saying that she's rightfully mine so back off."

"Rightfully yours? Are you even hearing yourself?" he asked me, standing up and walking towards the kitchen.

"Where are you going? I'm not done," I said, starting to get annoyed at him and getting up to follow him. 

"Relax I'm just getting a drink."

I watched him as he prepared two drinks, handing one to me when he finished before taking a seat at the dining table. Reluctantly, I joined him.

"Why are you suddenly telling me to back away from Victoria?" he asked in a calm voice.

"Because I love her and I need to be with her," I replied honestly.

"You love her?" he whispered, looking into his cup, almost as if he couldn't believe me. I nodded my head, looking at him quizzically.

Where was he going with this? 

"I don't know if I can Mike."

"Why not?"

He had been staying back for a while now, so why was he suddenly changing his mind?

"When you love someone, naturally, you put them before you. You put their needs before yours because all that matters to you is making sure that they're alright. And that they're happy. I wasn't fighting for Victoria earlier because I was only thinking about her. And I thought that she'd be happier with you. But now I'm not so sure."

Alex looked past me with a faraway look as he spoke, his words hanging in the air even after he had finished speaking.

"You're right about one thing," I said, gaining his attention, "she'll be much happier with me."

There was no doubt in my mind that that was true.

He didn't say anything as he continued to look at me, his face not portraying any of his thoughts.

"How sure are you of that?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"110%" I replied, not sure if I was trying to convince him or myself. A breath of a laugh filled the room as I looked at him, a small smile appearing on his face.

"You think this is funny? I'm serious," I said, starting to get annoyed.

"Why would I joke around when it comes to Victoria?" he asked, his face returning to a mask of seriousness.

"I wouldn't joke about that either."

I stood up to leave but as I was walking out of the dining room, I heard his stern words, warning me.

"I'm not going to back off Mike. So if you think this is going to be easy, think again."