Run-Away Little Sister: Hurting

Chapter Seven: Regret

Matthew's was because he knew if he had uttered the truth years ago he could have not only saved his little sister from all the trauma and abuse she'd gone through, but she wouldn't be gone right now either.

Nathan's guilt came from never fixing the problems he caused between the two of them. He could have chosen to stay by her side and continue helping her, but he didn't. He chose to leave her completely alone in her own personal hell. Now Nathan had to live with the fact that his sister had nobody, and was so alone, so scared of her own family that she left.

He promised his twin that he would always be there for her, no matter the circumstances or consequences, and that was the moment when Nathan truly realized that he had broken his promise to his twin sister. 

He left Anastasia alone in a crowded home, alone in her own mind struggling to survive.

"She left?" Mason asked breathlessly, looking over James' shoulder at the note in his hand.

"She left." he confirmed.

"W-what?" Nathan asked, his voice breaking, "What did you do to her yesterday?"

"We punished her." Mason answered his younger brother, "But she deserved it for lying and trying to ruin our best friend's reputation."

"No she didn't lie." Nathan shook his head, "Did you look into her eyes and ask her? You know her eyes don't lie. Just like with mom and dad's death, you completely ignore the truth and only took what you wanted to see."

Nathan was angry now. How could they believe she would make up such a lie?

"And how would you know if she lied about our parents death, Nathaniel?" James asked, his tone sharp.

"Because as her twin brother, we have that connection. I can look at her and know if she's telling the truth, but so can you guys. When we were younger you always could." Nathan snarled back, shocking everyone in the room, "I may have not been the best brother, I may have not stood by her side as we got older, but I never once touched her. I never once hurt her physically and I always made sure to get her side of the story before jumping to conclusions. You all are terrible, but I'm just as bad as you because I never tried to stop you."

Tears formed in Nathan's eyes as he looked to the floor and sighed heavily, "How could I let you hurt her?"

And then Nathan stormed off, muttering, "Maybe I can find her..."

Everything was silent, nobody else moved for minutes, everyone being lost in their thoughts, when suddenly Matthew spoke up-

"I did it."

"What?" James questioned.

"I was the one to dial the number, I wanted to talk to mom and dad, not Ana. After seeing what you did to her when you thought she was the one to call them, I got scared. I got scared okay? You terrified me. I was supposed to be the big brother, the protector, yet Ana did all the protecting. I'm a disgrace to her and our parents, and Michael too, but it wasn't her who made that phone call. And Nathan's right, Ana's eyes held truth to them yesterday, Dane tried to hurt her first, and we are the worst brothers to ever exist."

Matthew paused one second, catching his breath from speaking so much, and then in the next second he was on the floor holding his jaw in pain.

"You helped kill our parents?" James' harsh voice boomed out, "And then let Anastasia take the blame. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Matthew only looked to the ground, holding his jaw. Jackson and Mason both looked on in disbelief at their older brothers.

How had everything gotten so fucked up?

Flashback Over - Present Time

It had been two years since that fateful day.

Nathan couldn't find his sister.

James punched his little brother.

Matthew finally told the truth.

Jackson cried for the first time in years.

Mason watched in disbelief as his family fell apart in front of him.

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Now things were slowly starting to get to their new normal.

The family of brothers had gone to the police after hours of looking for their little sister, only to come up empty handed. The police officers launched a a missing person's case for Anastasia, but ultimately dropped it when Miles called, handing in a large sum of money for their silence.

After weeks of not finding their little sister, James eventually got off his butt and signed his family up for family therapy to work through their issues in hopes of getting better, even if there was only the slightest chance that they could get better. 

If they ever wanted a chance when Anastasia came back, if Anastasia came back, they knew they'd need to show her that they were different than before. 

And this was the perfect place to begin, therapy. 

When everyone had found out what James had done to his little sister, he was put in jail for a week, waiting for a judge and a trial. In the end, because Ana wasn't there to testify James didn't get charged and all existing charges on that specific case were dropped, leaving James with a clear background, but a heavy heart.

Now, James works out two times a day to keep his anger in check. Matthew isn't afraid of speaking his mind and letting people know the truth of things. Jackson and Mason broke things off with Dane, after beating him up for hurting their sister and then lying about it. Jackson was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Mason became more introverted than extroverted, choosing to stay in with Jackson rather than leave without him. Nathan, however, took Ana leaving the hardest. He spent his time hating himself over the fact that he never got the chance to make up for his actions before she left. Nathan chose to stay by himself more often than not.

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Two years had past since Ana left, and it was now Nathan and Ana's birthday. They both would have been sixteen, but now Nathan would be the only one celebrating with their family.

It was hard for Nathan to think about, knowing with his brothers he never felt like he was in danger, yet his twin sister almost died by their hands. It was a scary thought, one that stayed in the back of his mind almost every day.

Little did the Smith Brothers know, a better version of Anastasia Marie Smith would be coming home very soon. 

Anastasia Marie Smith-Wolp would show the world exactly who she was. 

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Author's Note:

Hello Everybody!

Here's chapter seven, I hope you guys enjoyed it. It's different from the original version, but I hope this shows that the brothers are going to try and change. They want their second chance, if Ana will eventually give it to them they want to be ready for that moment. The brothers want to be better people. 

Let me know your thoughts about this chapter in either the comments, by voting (clicking the star), or by sharing this story with someone you think might like it. I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks for reading!

-michaelaloveswriting 

Original Version Published: April 14th. 2019 

Edited Version Published: June 25th. 2022