I haven’t ever watched my life fall apart, from the outside, looking in. These last fifteen minutes in the car, observing has been excruciating. I’d thought about getting out of the car, many times, except each time, something new happened. Something life changing, like watching Kase’s name fly out of my twin sister's mouth. Or watching Kase see his son for the first time. My heart broke as soon as I saw the kid's face.

When Kase jumped on the guy, I couldn't wait anymore. What he’s capable of and the thunderous expression written across his face; I knew he'd need someone on his side to help him stop.

So, here I stand, three sets of eyes pinned on me. I didn’t think this through. The silent street fills with panting and grunts from the two guys. Kase rolls over and pushes up to stand and I rush to his side, struggling to avoid the stares from Everly and the guy.

“This is rich, even for you, Kase. What, you can’t have Everly so you found someone who looks just like her?”

“Fuck you, asshole,” he rasps, taking a step toward him. I lay my hand on his chest, halting him. He growls, glaring at the guy. “I’m sorry. I need to take a walk.” He whips around and stomps off.

“That’s right, walk away. You’re good at that.”

Who the hell is this guy? He’s signing his own death warrant and I’m not stopping Kase next time.

“I figured you’d be happy that it was me taking care of Everly and your kid.”

Kase’s fists squeeze, his knuckles whiten as he remains still and I can see his restraint slipping. Everly must see it too.

“That’s enough, Wayne.” It’s the first time I’ve heard her talk. I focus on her and I can feel her pain, deep inside my body. I shiver at the trespassing emotion. Our eyes lock and I feel like I’m looking into a mirror. “Wayne, you need to leave,” she says without looking away.

"But—"

She shakes her head and finally looks at him. “No, you need to leave.”

Wayne’s face twists and he pleads with her. “Please don’t take away my son. You told me you wouldn’t.” He wipes his bloody lip with the back of his hand, looking at the blood.

“I can’t do this right now.”

“I’m so sorry, babe,” he says.

She winces and he drops his shoulders in resignation.

“Tell Reed I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

When he walks past me, I can see tears falling. It’s obvious he loves Everly and Reed. After he drives away, it’s down to two.

I shove my hands in my pockets because things just turned awkward. She looks me up and down, her brows creased. She clears her throat. “I don’t know what to say.”

I let out a muffled laugh. “Hi?”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Ellie. So, it seems we’re twins.”

Her eyes bulge and her mouth gapes open and I imagine that was exactly my expression when I found out. “We were split up when we were born and adopted to different families.” She got the better deal.

She shakes her head fast. “No. That can’t be right. You must’ve received bad information. I’m not adopted.”

She stares at me for a few moments and then takes out her phone. Her hands shake as she presses the call button. I hate this for her right now. At least when I found out, I was happy that I didn’t belong to my mom. She’s about to find out the parents she loves, lied to her.

“Mom, was I adopted?” The words spill out of her mouth with no preempt. “Mom,” she snaps. “Just tell me yes or no.” She gasps and the phone slips from her hand, landing on the ground. A woman’s voice cries out of the phone, calling for Everly. I walk over, pick up the phone and end the call.

“I’m so sorry you had to learn this way.” My voice is filled with regret. I hand her the phone when it starts to ring. She takes it and turns it off. I glance down the street to see if Kase is coming back, but he’s nowhere to be seen.

“You must think I’m a horrible person right now,” she says.

I turn back. “Truthfully, I have no clue what to think right now.”

“Do you… want to come inside?”

I understand her hesitancy. It took a few days to let this sink in before I could talk about it. Now, it feels surreal to be standing in front of someone who has your face, your voice. We shared the same space for nine months, we share pain, we share DNA.

We share the same man.

Yet, there is one thing she’ll always have that I can’t; a child that belongs to Kase. He’s been adamant about not wanting kids, but all of that has changed. He has one with her.

“Please,” she whispers. “You seem to know more about us, and I’d like to talk.”

“I'd like that.” I follow her up the steps.

Once inside, shuffling footsteps come down the hallway. Reed walks into the living room and his eyes widen. “Holy shit!” he whoops, looking back and forth between us.

“Reed Williams,” Everly warns in a way only mothers can.

“Mom!” He ignores her and walks over to me, looking me up and down. “You got a clone! You said you always wanted one. I didn’t know they were real. How much was she? Does she have a turn off button? Can she clean my room?” His questions rattle off his tongue as fast as a freight train. My lips curve into a smile as he continues to observe me. He pokes my arm. “She feels real too.”

“Reed,” she says, trying not to laugh.

“Mom, this is so cool. How will I know who's who? I don’t want to tell her a secret when it’s not you.” The excitement in his voice is too much. Everly and I both burst out. His eyes brighten and he jumps up and down. “You can even make her laugh when you do!”

“Reed, she’s not a clone.” Reed gives her an incredulous stare. “She’s…” she pauses, wondering how to explain. It might be easier to go along with the clone aspect. “She’s my sister.”

His smile drops and he jerks his head in my direction and back to her. “You told me you didn’t have any brothers or sisters.”

“Um… this is a surprise to me too.” She struggles with the words to explain. “Can you go outside and play while we talk?”

She manages to get him outside by offering candy. He couldn’t care less what’s going on when he pops a sucker in his mouth. He runs outside, yelling he’ll be at Bennett’s. The screen door slams leaving us alone once again. 

She walks to her kitchen while I walk around her living room. The soft yellow on the walls match the outside paint and brighten the room. Pictures of Reed are all over one of the walls, black frames surround them in a patterned display. My eyes jump from picture to picture, many with Reed and the guy from outside. My heart hurts for Kase and I wonder how he's dealing with everything. I move along when my subconscious tells me it should be Kase in those pictures with Everly and Reed. My chest hurts thinking that is where he might want to be.

Everly offers me a glass of tea when I’m looking at a picture of her and what I’m assuming is her mom. She’s a beautiful brunette. She could pass as our mom. A slight streak of jealousy rears its head. It’s not her fault you were stuck with a rotten mother. I take a large drink to swallow the feeling and my hand flies to my chest.

“Oh my gosh.” I cough and clear my throat of the sugar cube I just drank. “I forget how sweet the tea is here in Texas.”

“So… I guess you’ve been here before? Texas,” she clarifies.

“I grew up in El Paso.” Twirling my ice around, I glance down to my glass. I can sense she has more questions. “You have a nice home,” I say, looking around, avoiding her gaze. I pick up a picture sitting on her TV stand. It’s Everly, Reed and the guy from earlier. They seem happy.

“That was taken right before I got my memory back.”

“Oh.” My eyebrows rise in surprise. Reed isn’t much younger in the picture.

“It was taken last year.” She's only had her memories back for less than a year? She walks over to the couch and sits.

“Who’s the guy?”

“Wayne. Kase’s best friend from school.” Wow. That explains a lot. No wonder he attacked him. “It’s a long story, but until last year, I thought Wayne was Reed’s father.”

I do a double take. “Did he know Reed wasn’t his?” I ask, trying to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. I take a seat on the cushioned chair, opposite the couch.

She takes a deep inhale and blows it out. “Oh yeah. Look at him, he’s a tiny version of Kase. Wayne isn’t a bad guy, he truly loves me and Reed. We had a great life. He was the perfect husband, the perfect dad. It was all just based on the perfect lie. Until I hit my head from trying to use a skate board. I blacked out and when I woke up, it was the oddest thing. My memories were all there. Old and new. My body was waging a war inside itself. The love I had for Kase was there like it never went away, yet the love I had for Wayne was there too. It was a confusing couple of months,” she says, sarcastically.

“Wow,” I say, trying my hardest to ignore that she still loves Kase. Her eyes travel down my arm. They stay on my scar for a few moments and then move down to my ring finger. My fingers tingle, and I nervously cross my legs and shove my hand in between them.

“What happened?” She runs her fingers over her arm where my scar is.

How do you tell someone that the bond you share with them is so deep, it’s life altering? “I was… someone attacked me.” I’m an advocate for the abused. Using my voice and my skills to help women who have been through the same thing I went through is important to me. But in this moment, I’ve never been more afraid to admit it. Her breath hitches and her fingers touch her parted lips.

“I’m so sorry,” she mutters through her fingers.

“It’s okay. It’s been years since it happened.” I wince when I realize my mistake.

“When… did it happen?” 

“Um…” I pause, sweat drips down my back and I'm about to excuse myself for the bathroom, but decide it's best to get it out. “When I was eighteen.” Her eyes dart around the room. With a slight shake of her head, she’s telling herself it can’t be possible. But it is. “It was August twenty-fifth.”

She pushes off the couch, her breath quivers as she passes me, walking out of the room. I drop my head into my hands. Please don’t hate me. I already carry the guilt that this is all my fault. I hear her come back into the room, so I look up. Her eyes are glossed over and she’s holding her arms across her chest.

“I just want to make sure I understand this. You were attacked on the same day I was in a car accident where they thought I might have passed out because there was no other explanation.” I bite my lip and nod. She clears her throat. “And then you come here… to what? Show me you’re getting what I should’ve had?” Her voice turns to ice and the coldness shoots straight to my heart. I stand up, shaking my head.

“No, that’s not it at all. I wanted Kase–”

“Kase was mine. He’s not yours. He’s only with you because you have my face,” she snaps. She throws all my fears at me, each word like heavy bricks, hard and damaging. Coming out of her mouth, they dig deeper inside my heart, leaving a hole that might never heal. I try to hold back my tears, hiding the hold she already has on me. I can’t form the words I want to say. They’ll all be lost in her hurtful words. She won’t hear that I never meant to hurt her. I came here to meet my sister. I came here to see if Kase was over her. I didn’t think I was coming to lose him to her.

"Or are you with him for his money?"

I stand up, clutching my arm as my mind races to understand what she's asking.

"You don't know, do you?" She scoffs, glancing down at my ring as if minimizing Kase's and my relationship.   

When the first tears fall, I know I need to leave. “I’m sorry I ever came here.” Running out of the house, I catch Kase sitting on the swing with Reed, laughing.

The coldness left in my heart from Everly’s words, snaps and shatters in a million pieces.

I have the answers I needed.

This is where he belongs.