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Sana didn't know why she was even doing this. Maybe it was because she loved Elias (though she would never admit that openly) and couldn't listen to his pleads any longer or maybe she just liked torturing herself. But here she was, trying her best at an honest smile as Elias introduced his sister and explained what they were going to do in today’s video. The Sibling Tag. They would ask each other different questions that were about them being siblings.That was all she knew about it for now since Sana didn't really bother looking it up, so she had no clue what she was getting herself into. But she trusted Elias and knew he wouldn't do anything to harm her intentionally. Her eyes flickered over to Elias’ friends sitting in chairs on the other side of the room. Today, it would only be her and her brother in front of the camera, the first video on their - weirdly popular - channel that wouldn't include the whole squad. Sana wasn’t sure how the viewers would react to that since they all really seemed to be enjoying watching Elias and his friends do mostly weird stuff. But then again, she couldn't care less what others thought.
“So, let's start!” her brother said next to her, bringing her attention back to him, “first question: who is the younger one, who's the older one?”
Sana tried to hold back her groan because this was something Elias had always teased her about: her being the youngest one of the family. And by the glint she saw sparkling in his eyes Sana could tell he wouldn't spare her today either.
Elias was grinning while he answered the question and she couldn't help but roll her eyes at her brother. “Sana here is only 17 years young, still a child and the small baby bird of our family. I'm the older, wiser brother who has the most experience at life.”
Sana couldn't hold back her laughter at that which earned her a confused look from her brother. “What's so funny?” he wanted to know, scratching the back of his head. She shook her head and spoke again after she had calmed down, “What have you experienced that makes you such a wise brother?”
Elias looked taken aback for a moment, as if he felt personally attacked by his sister even daring to ask that question. “Well, a lot!”
“Mhm, yeah. Living off of mum and dad while you take life ‘chill’, which is basically you doing nothing, must have given you lots of experience at life. I'm truly impressed,” she teased and nodded sarcastically.
“It's called a gap year, Sana! I've told you before,” Elias defended himself but they’d had that conversation before, so they both knew where this was going.
Sana raised an eyebrow at him expectantly and gave him a smirk. “You know, people usually go work or do some internships or whatever. Not spend their days sleeping, or hanging out with friends.”
“Shut up, I have a different definition of a gap year.” In return Sana snorted and nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, sure, you have.”
Shaking his head, Elias looked back into the camera and smiled. “Anyway, moving on. What do you like about each other?” He turned to Sana, raising his eyebrow in question. A silent prompt for her to go first.
She didn't have to think about that for too long. Sana knew what she liked about him, which characteristics she appreciated the most. Her features softened as she answered, a smile playing around her lips. “You're always supportive of everything I do. You're there for me when I need you and I can count on you. You look out for me even though that can still be annoying sometimes but I know you only mean well.”
It wasn't often that she let her soft side slip, especially not in front of so many people. She could hear several “awww’s” coming from the other side of the room, and Sana was quick to throw a glare in their direction to shut them up.
Sana nudged her brother into his side, signaling him that it was his turn to answer the question. His smile was even bigger than Sana’s.
“I like that you always have my back. You're fun to hang out with and always have a witty comeback. You're full of wisdom which is impressive for your age. You're more mature than the most of us.”
Sana crossed her arms on her chest, raising an eyebrow. “So, you do admit that I'm wiser than you are?”
Elias rolled his eyes but his smile didn't vanish, and he let her have this victory. “Shut up,” was his mumbled reply but he grinned at his sister all the same.
“What's the next question?” Sana wanted to know, looking down at the paper where Elias had written them down. “What do you hate about each other?”
She looked at her brother for a moment and tried to hold back her laughter but wasn't able to in the end. “Where do I even start?” Sana said jokingly but with fondness in her eyes. Promptly, Elias joined her as well and nudged her side softly while shouting, “Hey!”
They continued like that for a while, answering questions, for example what their funniest memory together was, which sibling read more and which three words they would use to describe the other.
“Last question!” Elias declared and grinned as he read it, “Have you ever liked any of my friends?”
Sana was thrown off guard, not expecting a question like this at all. As she choked out, “What?”, she tried her best to keep the redness from her cheeks.
“If you ever liked any of my friends, Sana?” he repeated and his grin only got wider. How did his cheeks not hurt already?
She shook her head determinedly when she replied shortly with a steady voice, “No.”
For some reason she didn't want to think about Elias looked at her surprised and asked, “No? No one? Ever?”
Again, Sana shook her head. “No, never. Now stop asking about it,” she answered resolutely, signaling her brother that she was done talking about it and that he should better stop asking. The whole world didn't need to know that she had a huge crush on her brother’s best friend and neither did Yousef. She would keep this secret locked inside her heart until she would get over it eventually and then they could all laugh about the stupid crush she had had on him. Sana was pretty sure that Yousef didn't like her that way. He only saw her as his best friend’s little sister. That was all she was for him. So the question she had now was: When exactly would she get over him? She knew it was a fruitless crush, something that would never blossom. And yet she couldn't stop herself from imagining what it would be like to be with Yousef.
“What about you? Have you ever liked any of my friends?” she wanted to know, forcing a grin that she didn't quite feel.
“Yeah, I have,” Elias confessed, a smirk spreading on his lips.
“What?” Sana squeaked surprised. Okay, she wasn't that surprised if she was being honest. After all, she had definitely noticed the tension between her friends and her brother’s squad when they first encountered each other. She just didn't think that her brother seriously liked one of them.
“Who is it?”
“That's a story for another time,” Elias said, looking into the camera like he was on The Office. Elias said the typical goodbyes to the viewers, telling them to go subscribe, like the video and leave some comments down below. Afterwards he turned off the camera and looked at his sister with a big grin. “That wasn't too bad, was it?”
In the beginning, she didn't think this would be fun but… it actually was, to her surprise. It wasn't something she would do regularly now but she would consider doing it from time to time if her brother wanted her to. “Yeah, it was fine,” she said and got up from her spot on the couch.
She couldn't help side-eyeing Elias suspiciously. He had made her curious and she desperately wanted to know who exactly he was crushing on. But Sana wouldn't push it. If her brother was ready to admit who it was, then he would come to her.
Sana went into the kitchen to get a glass of water. All that talking had made her throat dry. She poured herself some water and as she raised the glass to her lips, Yousef appeared in the doorway. He told her he wanted to get a drink himself as he took a glass from the cupboard and poured himself some orange juice that he had gotten out of the fridge. They stood there in silence for a while but Sana noticed Yousef shifting around nervously as if he wanted to say something. Finally, he did open his mouth.
“So, you've never liked any of Elias’ friends?” Yousef asked, smiling shyly. And how she loved that smile. Besides his laugh, this one was probably her favorite. Whenever he smiled at her, she couldn't help but reciprocate. He had that effect on her.
She shook her head slightly but smiled at him, “Nope.” It didn't come out like earlier: passive aggressive, determined to convince everyone she didn't like anyone. This time it was softer, kinder, as if she was trying to convey that she meant the complete opposite, that she was totally gone for him. Sana didn’t know if he understood it, though. Yousef was a smart guy, so she hoped he did.
Yousef nodded shortly, still smiling at her warmly as he whispered, “Okay.” It was barely audible but Sana heard it. Of course, she did.
She watched as he waved at her, leaving the kitchen again. Sana was left with a weird feeling in her gut because she didn't know what to make of this conversation. As she retreated to her room, she tried not to think about it too much.
A few hours later Elias sent her the link to their video that he had uploaded on Youtube by now. It didn't take long until the other girls had watched it too and kept bugging her with questions about who Elias liked. She told them she didn't know and then turned the group chat on silent, knowing full well her friends wouldn't stop nagging her. It would be the only thing they would talk about tonight.
It had gotten dark outside by now. Sana was in her bed, reading a book as her phone dinged again. She was surprised to find a message from Yousef and immediately opened the text. As soon as she read it, she couldn't believe it, staring at her phone dumbfounded. But soon she fell back on her bed and was looking up at the ceiling, giggling to herself.
Yousef:
I like you too <3