Kevin, but she wasn't ready.

Chaos Kevin

"My what?!" My voice was so surprised that it skyrocketed into a different octave.

"I'm your brother" He repeated, not moving from where he stood so he would not frighten me again, "Your biological brother"

"How are you here? How did you find me?" The questions came tumbling out of my mouth and I found myself wishing that Kevin was here to ground me as my eyes began to burn.

The door behind me opened and my mum spoke before Cole could, "I contacted them"I swung my whole body around to look at her she looked so small standing in the large door frame and her eyes looked red as if she had been crying. My mouth opened and closed but I couldn't find the words to say, this was all too much at once. She carried on, "I contacted them before we left home to come here because I knew your father's intentions and I knew he would say things that would destroy this family unit even further, I couldn't stand the idea of you being alone"

"Bullshit," Cole spat and I gasped, "That's bullshit and you know it, you've stopped us from contacting her for years"

"We didn't mean t-"

"Cut the crap" He hissed, "For years my parents have tried to contact you and you've ignored them, wouldn't even let them send birthday cards"

Ever since I'd found out I was adopted it had been so difficult to come to terms with, of course, I'd wondered why I was adopted and who my real parents were. Did they not want me? I had barely been able to sleep some nights thinking about it, realising my whole life had centred around this lie, these people who treated me like this had never been my family, my Grandma had never been..... Mine.

"Why didn't they come?" I asked softly and when Cole looked confused I elaborated, "Our parents, why didn't they come?"

"They couldn't" He replied, "We have a little sister and we weren't sure how long it would take us to find you and how you'd react, they couldn't risk bringing her"

I frowned, Cole looked as if he wasn't too much younger than me, perhaps a few years if that, if we had a sister that young then how old were my parents?

As if he'd read my thoughts Cole said, "Our parents were young teenagers when they had you, that's why they put you up for adoption, though I'd wager they'd have kept you if they'd known the kind of family these people were"

"How old is she? The sister" I couldn't bring myself to say our sister or even insinuate that this was all real.

"She's 5 and a half" He replied and his face lit up as if nothing in the world made him happier than thinking about her.

"I'm sorry, Leliana" My fake Mother said from the doorway and I couldn't help but feel a pang of compassion for her.

I sighed and then sucked in a lungful of the cool evening air, I really needed to digest this information inside, over a hot cup of coffee and maybe even some more whiskey, "Look I need some time, to get my head around all of this" Cole nodded understandingly and looked as if he might turn around and leave, "You wanna come in for a cuppa?" I asked and his face lit up.


****************************************************


We talked all through the night.I learned that my parents were childhood sweethearts who had been together since I was conceived, determined to better themselves and become financially stable in careers so that they could have me back only to be denied access to me. Cole, my brother, was 3 years younger than me and had come along at a much better time for my parents who were then almost in adulthood themselves. They married young and for a long time, it was just Cole and them living a picturesque lifestyle in Dublin until 5 years ago when wee Ava was born and they were smitten. It healed a piece of our parent's hearts to have another girl but they never stopped trying to find me or contact me and so when my adoptive parents contacted them they sent Cole over immediately. Our mother, my mother wasn't just an amazing cook but a wonderful artist who did commission work and murals for their local community and ran the local Art gallery. The way Cole told everything made it seem like a dream, as if I'd just stepped into a fairytale dream because their life really had been a fairytale, hadn't it? My eyes burned but I blinked it all back, all those years I'd spent hopelessly alone and I could have been with them, I could have been so happy. It was nearing the early hours of the morning when my adoptive mother finally spoke.

"Gran wanted us to take you, she never got a Granddaughter," She said gently, "Your father agreed, he was softer then, gentler before Seth died"

It made so much sense now why Dad had changed so much after Seth died, why he had disliked me so much, I was the only surviving child they had and I wasn't even his. The realisation almost made me feel sorry for him, but I pushed it away.

"I should probably head off" Cole said, his words slightly slurred.

"Don't be daft" I said, "Crash on the couch, you can't be taking yourself home when you're tipsy"


*********************************************************


Someone was yelling. My head and my eyes both throbbed, I'd cried a decent amount last night when I'd crawled into Kevin's bed. I rubbed my eyes and sat up on the edge of the bed, I was a completely different person than I had been this time yesterday when I'd sat up and pulled myself out of bed. Everything had changed and ye-

The bedroom door slammed open and Kevin stood there looking completely dishevelled and under any other circumstances I probably would have been turned on, but he pointed out the door and yelled at me, "Why the hell is that fecker asleep in our house??!"

It took a few moments for my brain to buffer and realise why he was here all pissed off and yelling and who he was pointing at out in the lounge. Of course, Cole was still out there and Kevin had come home - but why was Kevin home so early?

"Aren't you due back tonight?" I asked finally and that was not the right thing to say because Kevin took a step back as if I'd just slapped him and finally everything came together in my head, Candy Bar guy was here in our house asleep while Kevin was away, "Oh shit, Cole" And those three words were definitely not right either.

"Lily, what the fuck is going on?" Kevin asked and his voice was shaking and I realised as I looked up at him that it was because his heart was breaking right in front of me, because he thought I'd been unfaithful.

"Kevin" I finally jumped off the edge of the bed, "Kevin it's not what you're thinking"

He gave me an incredulous look, "Because that line makes me feel heaps better" He retorted.

"I tried to explain but he wouldn't listen" Cole's voice came from the kitchen.

"Shut the fuck up" Kevin yelled back and frankly the testosterone pouring off him was really doing something for me and right now I was super pissed off that we weren't alone in this house.

"I'm adopted," I said and Kevin rolled his eyes, he already knew that, "Cole is my brother, my biological brother"

His brow furrowed as he thought for a few moments, digesting the information and I wished that he would hurry up because I desperately wanted to kiss him right now, he'd been gone for days, "He's your brother, not some random guy you cheated on me with"

"First of all, I would never cheat, secondly my mother is here? How little do you think of me?" My reply almost made him smile.

"You didn't answer your phone all night or morning and I got an earlier flight, come home and Candy Bar guy is cooking breakfast in our kitchen" Kevin word vomited, "After our last phone call what else was I supposed to think?"

I took a step toward him and reached out my hands gripping the sides of his hoodie and tugging him closer to me, he came with little resistance until our bodies touched, "I'm sorry" I said softly and instead of replying he dipped his head and pressed his lips hungrily against mine, it almost knocked me off my feet.

He pulled back after a few moments and ran a hand across my cheek and back toward my neck, dipping my head so I'd look up at him, "I missed you" He said softly, his voice was all low and husky and I desperately wanted him to kick the door shut and throw me on the bed. He must have seen the look in my eyes because he grinned and leaned down to kiss me again his mouth warm and insistent.

"Breakfast is ready!" Cole called.

I'd never be less hungry..... For food that is.