AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m what?
I heard what he said, but my mind has already gone into denial. He’s wrong. He’s playing a cruel joke on me after all. Finally, my brain-to-mouth connection is somewhat reestablished, and I rasp out, "Remembering what?"
"The, uh—incident."
"Huh?" My mind is racing through possible scenarios. I’m trying to make sense of it, but I come up with absolutely nothing.
"I don’t know where to begin. I promised." Rhys looks pale, and I can see him breathing erratically.
"Promised who? What?"
"Mom and Dad...to never tell you."
Cold starts building in my core. Mom and Dad? What the hell is going on here? When I speak, my voice sounds calmer than I feel. "Rhys, what is going on? It can’t be that bad if I’m not going crazy."
Makes sense, right?
He rubs his palms across his face and mumbles, "You have no idea."
I haveneverseen him like this. I’m more confused than ever. I do want my answers, but for a brief moment, I forget the last few years. I push all the hurt he has caused away and scoot over to his side of the couch. After a moment of hesitation, I pull his hands away from his face and try to hold on to them.
Rhys flinches away from my touch and looks at me with pure anguish. "I can’t lose you again."
I’m on an emotional rollercoaster.Hecan’t loseme?Again?Anger replaces the coldness. I put some distance between us and stare. Who does he think he is? He left me two years ago. He stopped talking to me and never bothered to tell me why. I try to contain my temper, but I can’t stop raising my voice. "EITHER YOU START TALKING, OR I’M OUT!" A little calmer, I continue, "You turned your back on me, and now you play the victim? I’m the one seeing people while my head threatens to burst open! SCREW YOU!"
My last words make him flinch, but he just keeps staring at his lap. I’ve had enough. After the last three weeks, I have no patience left. I’m exhausted, and his behavior is just too much.
I stand up and take two steps when he whispers, "I love you."
Uh—what?
I stop in my tracks and turn. He doesn’t look at me.
"I love you, too." Because despite everything that has happened between us, I do.
"No, I love you. LikeI. Love. You." His voice is barely audible, but he emphasizes every word.
I just stand there, dumbfounded. "Huh?"
I mean, that’s a very valid response, right?
He finally faces me, and our gazes lock. His eyes mirror everything from agony, to embarrassment, to love. "I’m not your brother." After a brief pause, he adds, "But you were never supposed to know."
Uh.
He takes another breath. "I’ve loved you my entire life. For as long as I can remember. But then you became my sister ten years ago, and you were never supposed to find out."
I plop ungracefully back onto the couch. My legs don’t support my weight, and when my lungs start to burn, I realize I’m holding my breath. All I get out is a rasp, "I don’t understand."
I truly don’t.
Rhys drops his eyes again. "You’re remembering. Those migraines you have are memories."
The next pause is endless, and I begin to think he is not going to say anything else.
"You were kidnapped."
KIDNAPPED?A voice in my head screeches. I must have misheard him. There is no freaking way one forgets something like that. I’m pretty sure my eyebrows are somewhere in my hairline.
