**I don't like the title of this chapter but I literally couldn't think of anything else when I wrote it. Also, right now it is currently 10:00 where I am and I just took my first break from studying microbiology - I started at 10:15. This morning (and I still can't make sense of anything). Don't go to nursing school kiddos :-). Plz pray for me as my test is on Wednesday morning. Hope you enjoy this chapter while I look for a will to live.**
Troy's POV
"Did someone say my name?" Chad asked when walking into the packed room. Scanning the faces amongst us, my eyebrows furrowed with worry when a look of pure hatred crossed his face.
"Deborah." He spat with venom dripping from his words. At the sound of Chad's raised voice, Aurora peeked her head out of my neck and began pushing gently at my chest. Taking that as my cue that she wanted down, I released her and watched as she all but tackled him. He stumbled back a few steps, clearly caught off guard from the smother hug. I watched with building fury as she nuzzled her face into his chest and tightened her arms around his waist.
Chad's head instantly shot up, eyes locking with my own. His expression was one of utter shocked mixed with slight confusion. "I swear to God I didn't do anything, man. Please don't bust my balls." He begged, probably because I knew the look I was giving him said one thing, and one thing only. You're fucking dead. I squeezed my eyes shut for a slight second as my fists tightened. Counting to ten, I released a deep breath while reminding myself that this was my best friend, my brother. He would never in a million years do that to me. Not to mention, my girl was practically glued to my side, and vice versa, 24/7. Stop being irrational. Calm down. Deep breaths. Remember the breathing exercise Shorty taught you.
Opening my eyes once I'd finally managed to calm down, I cleared my throat and waited - very impatiently - for Aurora to start explaining the meaning of all this.
"Aurora, sweetheart?" My mother soft voice called. Analyzing my mother's knowing face, I came to the harsh realization that everyone in this room knew what the fuck was going on besides me and Chad.
"Can someone please start fucking talking?" I spoke smoothly, albeit still a little angry.
"Can someone please fucking explain why she's here?" Chad growled while pointing a finger in Debbie's direction, Aurora still clinging onto him for dear life. His words seemed to shake her out of whatever state she was in, because she unwrapped her hands from his torso and reverted back to where I was standing at the entrance of the room. I breathed a sigh of relief as she molded her body against my frame as usual.
"Chad, I'm you're mother. I understand I haven't been the greatest, but you can't even possibly begin to understand the situation I was, am, in." She reasoned with a sheen of moisture gathering in her eyes. My eyes grew to the size of saucers. Mother?! All of a sudden, the room exploded into an uproar of shouting voice. It was getting louder and louder by the second; everyone wanted to be heard.
"ENOUGH!" My father roared, voice dominating everyone else's in the room. It went silent. It was so quiet you could've heard a pin drop. Everyone watched on as my mother gave him a gentle peck on the cheek while trying to calm him. He was clearly worked up, that much I knew from the telltale sign of his chest rapidly rising and falling. It was the same sight I saw on many occasions when Chad and I broke something valuable whenever we went against the rules and played ball in the house.
"There is a lot of things that need to be said. Everyone sit down, shut up, and let Deb explain." My dad ordered, no room for argument in his tone. He means business. Everyone followed his command without question. I noticed how Chad took a seat as far away as he possibly could from him...mother?
I sat in shock and awe as Debbie retold pretty much her entire life story from start to finish. Even I couldn't tell how Chad was feeling. His face was a calm, collected mask, not giving away a single clue to what was brewing beneath the surface.
"So you're saying I've had a sibling this whole time? A fucking twin at that." He asked rhetorically, a deep hurt seeping into his words. This was the first insight we were all getting as to what he was thinking about the entire situation.
Greg nor Debbie spoke right away. They exchanged glances briefly before Debbie cleared her throat. "Yes." She finally muttered weakly. Chad looked away and gazed out the window, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down while he battled with whatever he was feeling. Anger, sadness, confusion, shock. Probably all four was my guess.
"How could you?" Aurora suddenly spat, her tone bone-chilling. Everyone turned to look at her, shocked by her sudden outburst. "How could you do this to your only daughter? It didn't matter what living situation you would've been in! Anything would've been better than what I had to go through! I couldn't even tell you the amount of times I had to scrap my doped up father off of the living room floor. The number of sleepless nights I got because I was afraid he would choke on his own vomit in his sleep!" She cried, getting more and more worked up the longer she talked. "It was hell! You can't even begin to image the things I've seen! The things I've been through! All because you didn't think you could fucking handle it! YOU DIDN'T EVEN TRY!" She screamed as tears leaked from her eyes. She sobbed so hard she was gasping for air, unable to breath through the intense wracking of her body. She looked like she wanted - needed - to say more, but she physically couldn't get it out.
I picked her up once again before dashing up to the safety of my room. Slamming the door behind me, I sat myself on the bed before maneuvering her body so she was straddling my own. I wrapped my arms securely around her, cocooning her with my body with my warmth.
Whenever she got nightmares during the night - though the frequency of them were fading with slowly but surely - this was what we'd do. I'd hold her just like this until she came back down to earth. I'd warm her up a cup of milk in my shitty dorm microwave and then just cradle her like this once again until she was exhausted enough to fall back asleep. It was such a routine, that just being in this position combined with the rocking motion made my eyes droop and a deep yawn to surface - my body was that used to it.
It was moments like these that made me realize how much we truly loved each other. We depended on one another in small ways that made making it through each day so much easier. From the way that she would proofread my papers or text messages out loud for me and catch the simple mistakes I couldn't decipher on my own, to the way she'd quizzed me before exams while sitting atop my back as I did my pushups. From the way I talked her down from every panic attack, got the heaviest books down from the highest shelves in the library, and made sure her coffee cup was never empty when she was intensely working away. We were just made for each other. Our love was something you only find once in a lifetime; it was a love that only got stronger with each passing year.
"I don't even know who I am anymore." I heard her faintly whisper.
"What do you mean, baby?" I murmured, pulling my arms back from their restricting hold so that I could see her face.
"I-I based my entire future off of a lie. I was told that all the recipes I was given and all the tricks I was taught were supposedly 'family secrets'. I don't belong to that family and I don't belong to this one either. I don't know who I am anymore." She whimpered, her sobs starting back up again. I released a quiet laugh while shaking my head at her. Leaning forward, I pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead.
"That's not true, Rora. You've already experienced first hand your real dad's immense passion for all things food. Not to mention the relationship his insanely large family has with cuisine as well. Every summer Chad leaves for a few weeks to stay in Sicily with his father's family and it never fails that he comes back at least 20 pounds heavier." I said through a light hearted chuckle. She let out a painful sounding sigh that had my heart constricting in my chest.
"What do you want me to do, baby girl?" I asked while languidly rubbing her back up and down.
"Well what I really want is for you to fuck me good and hard, but the last time we did that in the main house it didn't end very well. Not to mention literally all of my remaining...family members are downstairs and would surely hear." She replied, completely catching me off guard. I jerked my head back to stare at her in awe, so proud at how well she was taking the whole situation - well, minus all the tears but I would've expected nothing less considering the situation. She giggled at my reaction before cupping my face in her hands and running her thumb over my lips.
"I love it when you look at me like that." She whispered sweetly.
"Like what?" I asked, my brows furrowing the slightest bit in confusion.
"Like you want to just eat me up." She said, amusement heavily lacing her tone.
"Oh, I do want to eat you. All the time." I growled before swooping down and capturing her lips with my own. I caught her residual laughs with my mouth before thrusting my tongue in and coaxing hers to follow my lead. She did and we both instantly became lost in the kiss. Reaching down between us, I began popping open the buttons on her shorts with practiced ease. I had just maneuvered my hand into her sexy little lace panties when my bedroom door suddenly swung open and then slammed back shut. Aurora jumped with fright in my arms as I glared harshly at who'd just entered.
"I know for a fact I locked that shit." I spat.
"You did, but you just so happened to teach me the credit card trick years back so we could prank your sisters. Speaking of which, stop touching mine!" He demanded before chucking a pair of dirty pants from off the floor at me with impressive force. I laughed while dodging the article of clothing and redoing Aurora's pants. Sliding her off of my lap, I wound my arm around her waist instead as she continued to lean all of her weight against me; I knew she just needed the closeness right now.
"Ugh, I can't believe you told me all about the wild sex you and my sister have! I can't even look at you the same!" He said with an appalled expression. My breath caught in my throat at his words. Fuck, I'm in so much trouble.
"You did WHAT!" Aurora screeched from beside me. I cleared my throat before shooting her my best guilty eyes - they usually did the trick when I landed myself in the dog house.
"I can explain!" I rushed out, slightly panicking as her eyes grew even harder. "It was after we won the bowl game and the entire team was celebrating. When we got back to our hotel rooms, I was pretty buzzed and told some stories I really shouldn't have." I said, wincing as she gave me the coldest look she's ever given me. I was convinced that it would be able to freeze hell.
"Fuck, I'm so sorry baby. What I did was unacceptable, but I wasn't in the right state of mind. If I could take it back, I would in a heartbeat. Please don't be mad." I said practically begging. Fuck, I would get on my knees for this woman if that's what it took.
"I have more pressing issues to deal with as of right now, but don't even think I'm letting you get away with this so easily." She warned with an edge to her voice. A few seconds later, I watched as her body visibly deflated.
"This just makes everything so much more complicated. What about my other brother? Fuck, he's not even my brother. I don't even know what to consider him anymore." She spoke through her incessant hiccups.
"Just because you're not related by blood doesn't make him any less of a brother to you, Rora. You grew up with him, that alone justifies him being your brother. None of what transpired today will change my father's want to help him out of his situation. At all." I assured her, knowing exactly where her worrisome thoughts were headed. She breathed a sigh of relief before slumping back against my bed.
No one said a thing, all of us too consumed with our thoughts. After what I assumed was about ten minutes, Aurora's small snores began to fill the room. I chuckled quietly to myself before carefully covering her with a small throw blanket from the bottom of my bed. I sat admiring her tear streaked face before three small knocks at the door pulled my attention away. My eyes met Chad's and I nodded for him to answer it.
He cracked the door open just a bit before stepping back to allow whoever was there full access. My dad quietly entered the room after catching a glimpse of Aurora's covered body.
"How long has she been out?" He asked softly.
"Not too long. I don't want to bother her just yet." I said, knowing he came up here for her rather than me.
"This is important, Troy. I just got a call from my lawyer. Her brother's case is being reopened and it's going to court tomorrow." He stressed, conveying to me with one look how serious the situation really was. I cursed under my breath before slowly rolling Aurora's body to face my own by her hips. I lightly patted her back, knowing that shaking her caused her to wake in terror. Her snores continued as a small smile graced my face.
Leaning down, I caressed her baby-soft cheeks with my lips while muttering for her to wake up. After a few minutes of gentle coaxing, her eyes fluttered open.
"Go away, m'sleepy." She slurred while just barely pushing at my bicep. I chuckled at her antics before pecking her lips.
"It's about your brother's trial tomorrow." I said, containing my laugh as she shot up in bed seconds later.
"Why didn't you say so? What? What!" She demanded while looking at my dad with frantic eyes.
"I'm sorry this is so abrupt sweetheart, but you're going to have to testify again."