𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 - kiara carrera¹

𝒙𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒙. 𝒃𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒔

"TILLY, TATUM AND THOMAS."

All five friends stared down at the photo of the three babies. There was no way - this did not mean what they thought it meant. Tatum shook her head and started flicking through the book, rapidly searching for answers, and ignoring her brother's orders to stop. She needed to know. Who was the third baby? Who was Tilly?

"Tate -"

"No."

Finally. A woman in hospital - the frail, blonde woman the twins recognised without blinking. Ten years. They hadn't seen their mom in ten years. She left so suddenly, she didn't even say goodbye.

But resting in her arms was not two, but three newborns.

Tilly, Tatum and Thomas - our three ts (12.04.03)

"Triplets?" Pope observed with a raised brow.

"No way," chuckled JJ.

John B looked beside him to meet Tatum's eye. "Do you remember Tilly?" he asked.

She shook her head, tracing her finger over the photo.

"Shit," expressed Thomas from behind. Everyone turned to face him. He didn't care. He focused on Tatum, like he knew something. "Remember Tils?"

She giggled with a nod. "Our imaginary friend?"

"Our sister," he corrected. "The kid mom walked out with? We never saw her again after she left."

"Because Dad said -"

"Dad can't magically get rid of our imagination, Tate!"

Her mouth dropped. He was right. The girl they used to play with as small kids, the girl they used to have dinners with, the girl who disappeared after their mom left - the girl their father and older brothers convinced the twins wasn't real. There was another Quinn out there somewhere.

"So she cared enough to take that kid with her, but not us?" Tatum was suddenly angry. Envious. She could've had a good life, one where she didn't see her father ever again after six years. But it turned out that he was the one who stayed. She picked up the stupid photo album, took out her lighter and set that bitch on fire.

Nobody objected. Not even Thomas. They watched her do it. They let her. She deserved to do this. To let out her anger for once.

For once, Tatum didn't hear Kiara's nagging voice as she tossed the thing onto the beach behind them. For once, she didn't lose herself in the fire. For once, she just wanted her family. Thomas, Joseph, Leroy, her dad - the people who stayed. But she knew she'd only be kidding herself if she thought there could ever be a good time at that house of horrors.

And she swore to herself that if she ever seen the third T in those photos, she'd set that princess alight, too. Because she got the life Thomas and Tatum deserved. Because she got a mother. Because she didn't have to live and fight to survive in her own home the way the other two did. Their mom tossed them away like garbage, and left them in the dump. They hated her for that.

John B stood behind her. His palm was warm as he pressed it on her bare shoulder. Thomas came next. He didn't make any physical contact, but she knew he was there, and that he was just as angry as she was. Pope and JJ added themselves last, wrapping their arms around her. But when the blonde tried hugging Thomas, too, he was thrown to the floor with a grunt.

"How d'you think the girls are doing?" asked Tatum finally.

"Probably killed each other by now," John B responded.

Thomas chucked. "It was your dumbass idea that it would work."