I fought the incredibly strong urge to turn off my phone.
Justin had been texting me off and on for the last two hours, prompting me to call or at the very least text him. It was honestly the last thing I wanted to do on a day that was supposed to be spent with my best friend and sister.
"Han?" Sophia tapped on my dressing room door gently. I opened him, frowning when I saw the worried look on her face.
"Yeah?"
"I think Hailey's crying. She won't come out of the dressing room." I frowned, feeling my eyebrows drawing in confusion as I gathered my things in my arms and headed out of the room. After handing my stuff over to Sophia to go pay for, I walked over to the room I'd seen my sister go into and rapped at the door.
"Hails, it's Hannah. Everything okay in there?" She didn't respond for a few seconds.
"I wanna get swallowed into a giant hole in the ground." She responded, sounding as if she had been crying for hours.
"Let me in."
"No. I'm hideous." She grumbled.
"I've seen you worse. Let me in before I crawl under the door." After a few seconds of silence, I heard the sound of the door clicking and it swung open. I slipped in, locking it behind me as I looked down at my sister.
She looked like she had been kicked, which sent my mind into automatic autopilot.
"Mason?" I breathed out, "What happened? Is he okay?" She shrugged, hugging her legs against her chest as I crouched down beside her.
"Hails,what's wrong?" She sniffled, and shoved her phone into my hand. I was immediately greeted with the sight of a half naked picture of her.
"You didn't." I leaned back and shut my eyes, secondhand embarrassment flooding through me.
"He kept asking why Justin was asking weird questions and I. . . I did it as a heat of the moment thing. Oh God, what did I just do?" I gave her a long look before starting to add to the picture, my fingers dancing across her keyboard without even thinking about what I was saying.
"What are you doing, Hannah?" She whispered.
"I'm saving your ass from humiliation. We're twins, remember?" I showed her the text I had sent to Mason, explaining that the picture was of me and had been meant to be sent to Justin.
"Thank you." She leaned against me, her face buried against my chest. I smiled, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly as I stared at the black door in front of me blankly.
"Anytime, Hails. It's what sisters are for."
*
I was taking my mid-afternoon Saturday nap when someone decided ringing my doorbell repeatedly was a fun new app that they couldn't get enough of.
"Hailey!" I yelled, then yawned, "Get the door!"
When I got no answer, I dragged myself across the room and opened the door with an annoyed look.
I shouldn't have been surprised to find Justin standing on my front porch, considering I'd been avoiding him for the last two days. But I was, especially since he looked as if he'd just been hit by a bus.
"Hi." I rested my head against the door, yawning again.
"Hi? Seriously? That's all you have to say? I've been trying to get a hold of you for two fucking days, Hannah." I shrugged, making a gesture over my shoulder.
"Why didn't you just ask Hailey what we were doing? It seemed like you're pretty involved in her life now."
"Stop that." He snapped.
"Stop what?" I tapped my foot impatiently, "If you're looking for Hailey, she's in her room-"
I was about to snap out another snarky comment when I saw that his hair was matted behind his head.
I moved and turned him, reaching for the matted spot and nearly fainting when I pulled my hand back and found it drenched in blood.
"Justin, what the hell happened?" He shrugged, pushing my hand away.
"It's not a big deal. We need to talk-"
"Why the hell are you bleeding?" I yanked him into the house and slammed my door shut behind him.
"It's just a small cut, Han. It's nothing." He grabbed my wrists before I could rush into the kitchen for the First-Aid kit.
"Why did you send a picture of yourself in nothing but a bra and panties to Mason?" His eyes burned into mine.
"How does it feel?" I found myself questioning instead of giving him the honest answer.
"Excuse me?" He blinked in surprise.
"How does it feel, Justin? Obviously you would have loved to see Hailey in that picture, right? Because you obviously want her, don't you?" I slammed my fist against his chest. "What the hell did I do wrong?"
"Other than send an almost nude picture to Mason?" He whispered.
"Why do you want Hailey so bad, Justin?" He looked down at the blood drying on my hand.
"Mason." he shut his eyes.
"We're talking about you, not-"
"Mason asked me to try it. Making a move on Hailey to see how she'd react." I searched his eyes for any sign he was lying, but there was nothing there.
"Why didn't you tell me then?" I demanded.
"He didn't want anyone to know." He sighed, "But that's not a reason, I know. I love you, Hannah, not your sister." I wanted to be a sucker and cave then.
It did sound like something Mason might do, an indirect way of showing Hailey he liked her by revealing his jealousy. It was actually fairly smart.
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and led him into the kitchen, forcing every thought but helping my boyfriend out of my head.
*
"Dad, come on." I groaned, stomping my feet like a five year old on a reality show.
"Absolutely not."
"Dad, I have to keep an eye on him while he sleeps. If you won't allow him to stay here then we'll sleep in the car or at a hotel. How would you like that?" I knew I shouldn't have been talking to my father the way I was, he was my everything. He had been our mother and father, our caretaker, our best friend, for years.
"Door stays open and he sleeps on top of the covers, understand?" I smiled, nodding despite the fact that it sounded as if my father were referring to Justin as a dog.
"Yes, Dad. Thank you." I hugged him, planted a kiss on his cheek, and hurried back to my room where Hailey was poking Justin with one of our grandfather's canes. He didn't look the least bit amused.
"What'd he say?" Hailey asked, curiosity glistening in her eyes.
"He said yes." I watched her eyes widen a fraction.
"No way. Yet, he won't let Mason stay over whenever I ask. We all know who Daddy's favorite is." She huffed, shaking her head. I sat on the edge of my bed beside her, nudging her with a laugh.
"Nope. You're Dad's favorite, Hail. I'm a thorn in his side half the time. You've always been his favorite." I saw denial flash in her eyes, but she didn't say anything.
"Thanks, for earlier. For taking the burden of being the height of Mason's sexual fantasies tonight." We both started laughing, nearly waking Justin passed out on the bed behind us.
"Oh, who am I kidding, Mason would never have those kind of thoughts about me." She sighed, "But, I think I may have found someone to set him up with. You know Ella from work, right?"
"Barely."
"Well, she thinks he's cute. I bet he'd love for his first time to be with her." I bet he'd love for his first time to be with you, Hails.
"Anyway, I better head off to bed. Don't want to wake Prince Not Charming." She pushed herself off my bed, but froze a few feet away, "And look, Hannah. He said a few things that were a little out of hand, but he never tried to make any moves on me. I. . . he really loves you and I know you care about him. Don't make any mistakes, okay?" I nodded, pulling her into a hug before releasing her out into the hallway.
I waited until I saw her door shut to walk back over to Justin on my bed, his head still wrapped in the bandage I'd forced Dad to put on him.
"I hate you sometimes." I muttered, falling on my bed, "You're a royal pain in my behind, you know that?" I rolled onto my side and brushed a strand of his dark hair off his forehead.
"I don't know what they did this time, Justin, but you need to let me know, okay? I can't help you unless you let me, baby." He twitched slightly under my touch.
"I love you, Han." He didn't open his eyes, and for a second I thought he may have been dreaming. That thought quickly vanished when I felt his hand against mine.
"I know." I shut my own eyes, "I guess I love you too, idiot."
****AN****
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~ChasingMadness24 and BriannaVore