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I (18F) have a bad relationship with my brother (17M). He doesn't trust me. How do I fix this?

Non-Romantic

My brother and I are not very close to begin with. When we were younger, we'd play together all the time, but these past few years in high school, we have drifted off and we never do brother/sister things like we used to. We both have our own things now.

When I was younger, about 7 years old, I stole 20 dollars from his desk. At the time, I thought it would be funny to see his reaction missing his money. (I know, it's messed up). Instead, he went to my parents about it and I fessed up, resulting in me being disciplined severely for it. I never had the intention of actually keeping the money, but I know that what I did at the time, was extremely wrong. I have never done anything like that again. Anytime I want to even touch someone's possession, I ask for permission.

So today, I needed to print something urgently, but my brother was at an appointment and I needed to use his computer. I, without his permission, logged into his account since I know his password, from him telling me a few years ago. Later, when he came back home I was planning on telling him that I used his computer to print out something, but he came home and saw his account logged on. He immediately freaked out, smacked me in the head hard and punched me in the arm a few times really hard too. It hurts still since every time he punches he deliberately tries to hit with his knuckle to cause more pain. I feel like I deserve it though since I did betray his trust by accessing his account. So I apologized, said I would never do it again, (and I intend to keep the promise). I admit, I have logged onto his account a few times ago in the past and I know I am 100% in the wrong for it. He knows that I have done it in the past.

So after he saw me using his account today, he punched and smacked me. Then proceeded to calling me a "stupid b****", saying that this was the reason why I have no friends (not true, I have plenty of close friends) and calls me a lying thief and brings up the incident of me stealing his money when I was 7, which was 11 years ago. It's quite annoying since he hits me over the littlest things, which I think is uncalled for, and always brings up what happened 11 years ago.

I'm pretty used him beating me on a daily basis and verbally abusing me. I don't really care since I'm used to it. I have tried to hit him back, but he is much stronger than me and will hit me back with 10 times the force, so I just take it. My parents don't do anything about it.

I love my brother dearly and I always try to help him out. But it feels like he never does the same for me. I know that I am not the best sister, but he isn't the best brother either. No matter what good I do for him, always the small bad things I do outweigh the good, and he brings up things from the past (11 years ago) all the time.

I know that my parents have raised my brother and I really well. I know that I've become a pretty good person, but in my opinion, my brother isn't. At home, he wastes food all the time, expects everyone to do what he wants (one time I was in the washroom getting ready for work, he wakes up and urgently needs the washroom. I tell him I'll be out in two minutes and I rush to get everything done. He says he can't wait and doesn't want to go to the other washroom and goes to get the washroom key, opens and kicks me out of the washroom with force and locks me out when my things are still inside, then he calls me selfish for not getting out of the washroom when he needs it).

He is my younger brother, but my parents make excuses for him all the time, saying he's young and doesn't know better (even though he's already 17), and my parents enable him all the time. I really want to build my relationship with my brother, since I'll be knowing him for the rest of my life. He has a terrible view of me based on my past mistakes and no matter what I do to try and change it, he still thinks badly of me and thinks I'm less than him. How do I change this? I want my brother in my life, as my brother and future uncle to my children, since he's the only other immediate family I have other than my parents. I am willing to look past his negative aspects and fix what I am doing. Most importantly, he does not trust me at all, since I have accessed his account without his permission and stole from him 11 years ago. If you guys have ever been in a position like this, I would love it if you gave me some insight. Thank you.

tl;dr: My brother does not trust me after I accessed his account and stole from him 11 years ago. I want to mend our relationship.

Posted Aug 12, 2015, 5:04 PM UTC · edited

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