Defied Reality - 18. Chapter 18: Another

Tess found herself pacing the twins condo, holding an envelope in her hand and then she stopped when Trent and Taylor came in.

"How'd you get in..." Trent trailed off. "Never mind..."

"I didn't door project, where I was...there was no door." Tess said.

"What happened?" Taylor asked, shutting the door.

"Well, Brighton had me held prisoner in a warehouse...and some demon, Kieran, saved me, told me not to thank him, that I wouldn't want to later. I ran out, managed to escape as the two fought, the warehouse blew up and I was thrown towards the street. I don't know who died or who didn't...but I sure hope Brighton died."

Trent nodded. "Go on."

Tess looked down at the envelope. "Gage ran up and got to me and he teleported me to the beach and..I think he used a power, I was all hazy, felt drunk, everything was really blurred...but I noticed he had a necklace just like ours. Despite the brain fog and the visual impairment, I could still see him, he went into the ocean, there was a glow and then whatever he did to me wore off...and I found this in my hand." She stuck her hand out, showing off the envelope. "I haven't opened it."

Trent grabbed the white envelope and started tearing it open.

"You are so sloppy." Taylor said.

Trent frowned. "Given what Tess said, I don't like it." He yanked the piece of paper out and dropped the envelope and unfolded the single piece of paper and he began to read. "I want to apologize for leaving you like this, I know you will be angry, I know you will feel betrayed and will still feel like you need me. The truth is that you don't, you all are reaching your higher potentials, slowly but surely, you have all come a long way since the beginning and I believe that so long as you are careful and thoughtful, you will navigate life and your destiny just fine. I've returned to Nibiru, I know that coming back here, should you complete your biggest mission, it's signing my death warrant...but the others were right, I belong here, not there, Gage."

Tess' eyes widened and she stumbled back and grabbed the back of the couch. "He left us..."

Taylor stared at Trent, wondering just how he would react.

Trent balled up the paper in his fist and then threw it across the room. "I can't believe it!" He spun around and looked between Tess and Taylor. "That letter is bullshit! We all know it. He left because he didn't know how to fit in, he left because he felt useless, he left because he didn't grab onto his purpose! It's not our fault that he decided to become a closet case and shut himself off to everything!" He then pointed at Taylor. "You should know that more than anyone! You tried to get him into our lives and all he did was refuse!"

"To be fair, Trent..." Tess looked up. "He wasn't from here...you know people can be born and raised here and feel alienated...imagine how it was for him, he was truly alienated. At least we all knew how to get around."

"Tess, don't defend him, we could of taught him just as much as he was teaching us. We still need him and he knew it, he knows it." Trent frowned.

Taylor looked down. "The night of the beach party...I told him to be with me...or go home."

Trent looked over at Taylor. "Well, he made his choice, that's not your fault, he needed to make a choice. He had no business being with you if he couldn't, or rather wouldn't be with you."

Tess ran a hand through her hair, tears running down her face. "Well, I don't really care at this point, I don't care about anything!" She screamed and the twins attention immediately turned to her. "Brighton is likely dead, Cole is a demon, created by a demon, who likely is going to come after us, turn him against us, and I have this baby that I can't kill! What am I supposed to do?! I don't want this baby! I don't want it!" She rushed past them and headed for the door.

"Tess! Wait! We can figure it...out." By the time Trent reached his last word, Tess had stormed out and slammed the door behind her.

Taylor looked at Trent. "What do we do now?"

Trent looked at Taylor. "He never told us the purpose of the crystal, never translated the tablets...maybe we try to live as normal of a life as we can." He looked around. "I guess we get the super master now." He grinned briefly. "Speaking of bedrooms, where is Zaine and Jordan?"

"Not sure, I trust Jordan on her own though, she seems to have a good grasp on life, and I'm sure she wouldn't let Zaine off on his own."

"I don't think Zaine is life dumb, I just think it overloads him." Trent expressed his evaluation.

"I don't think we should forget about the crystal so quickly, he said it was very important."

"Well, I don't know how to translate the damn things." Trent walked around and sat on one end of the couch. "What we need to worry about is..."

"Me?" Scout walked in since the twins failed to lock the door.

Taylor turned around. "How did you...find out where we...live?" He asked as Trent looked over at the door.

"I...don't know, I just thought of you guys and...I started driving and it brought me here." Scout looked at Taylor. "Did you plant a vision in my head?"

"Plant a vision?" Taylor's eyebrows lifted. "Uh...no." That was something Taylor hadn't even done before.

"I saw it...in the locker room, when you got close to me, touched me, you were both in a cave..." Scout looked between them. "It was the...most passionate thing I've ever seen."

"Wait..." Trent stood up. "First you have a vision of us in the cave...and then despite your cousin and your friends...you found it...passionate?"

Scout looked at Trent. "Do I ever say anything? Does Tina? Glenn barely does, Dallas has to whip him into it. Dallas leaves me alone, I don't know why."

"Okay..." Taylor brought both of his hands to his mouth, his palms pressed together. "What you saw...was my power...I had to use it to save Dallas' life because Trent lost his temper." He side glanced at Trent. "Because he needs anger management."

Trent waved his arms out.

Taylor shook his head and looked at Scout. "It's a long story...but we have gifts...we're human, partly...but we're half alien. Really though, think of us as more highly evolved humans because aside from powers and a few other little differences, we're pretty much the same."

Scout's eyebrows lifted. "Half aliens?"

"Yes...and you need to keep that on the DL...we already suck at doing that ourselves. In fact, the people that find out do a better job." He looked over at Trent. "We damn sure have to do a better job without Gage here to clean up our mess like he did for Tess."

Trent grinned sarcastically. "What Gage did was not that impressive. Tess can recreate events too...and so long as she and who ever else she grants memory, she can change our mistakes."

"If she is there, and it's better if it's done right when it happens or we have a whole bunch of time to relive if, say...she did it a week later." Taylor looked at Scout. "So you had a vision. Not all that out there, psychic's exist."

"I'm not psychic, never have been. Besides, don't they see the future? And I knew it was the past, I didn't even have to question it, plus I knew how to find where you guys were."

Taylor held up a finger. "Hold that thought." He walked over to Trent and spoke quietly. "Do you think there is a chance that he is one of us?"

Trent looked at Taylor. "That makes no sense, we make the Bermuda Triangle points, our symbols revolve around triangles and pyramids, three points, a fourth wouldn't make sense. And if so, don't you think he would have been in the dream with us?"

"Not technically, the foundation and base of a pyramid is square, four points...and if that symbol is more important than the triangle..." Taylor sighed. "I know, it makes the Bermuda Triangle thing totally not make sense at all..."

"We can't tell until we know more." Trent walked around Taylor and headed over to Scout. "Okay, were you dropped off on your parents door step in a carriage?"

Scout's eyebrows lifted. "No, I was born in a hospital, though I was on a ventilator, the power went out and that generator failed to kick on...and I died for a couple of minutes, thankfully...the power came back on and some how I started breathing again."

Trent slowly nodded. "Well, we're going to have to figure it out, until then, keep this all quiet, for your sake..and ours. Just keep your normal routine, don't act any different." He then placed a hand on Scout's back and guided him to the door, opening it.

Scout walked to the door and stepped out. "Okay...but, wait!" He said as Trent started to shut the door. "I should text you my number, you can text me yours...and I can just add it as a fake person, that way no one will know, if they get my phone."

Trent pulled out his phone and handed it over. Scout took Trent's phone and added himself and then handed the phone back. "I'll text you my number." Trent said.

"Okay." Scout nodded as Trent shut the door and went on to text his number to Scout and then shoved his phone into his pocket and looked at Taylor. "For now...I just want to have a normal next week."

"If possible, I'm down." Taylor sighed. "There is just one thing I have to do."

Baily sat down at the table in KFC and looked at Taylor and a hint of a smile appeared.

"I know I told you we needed to talk and...I hope you don't take this as cheap." Taylor looked at Baily. "It's just one of my favorite places, honest truth."

Baily let out a breath and shook his head, a light laugh escaping. "I don't think this is cheap, in fact...when a 'we need to talk' comes up, a fancy date atmosphere would be pretty awful, at least until you find out what it is, then you might change your mind."

"Well, then you won't." Taylor said. "First of all, we did make it clear we were taking things slow, and you know we weren't officially together, right?"

Baily nodded.

"Well, it isn't going to go anywhere beyond friendship, if you even want to be friends after this." Taylor paused and poked at his cream potato's with his fork. "I don't know if you heard the rumors about me and Trent or not, if you have...they are true. It's...an alien thing."

Baily nodded. "Go on." He said.

"On our other planet, twins are bonded at birth and it's common for twins to have a bond on an intimate level..physically and emotionally, it's accepted, even if the twins have outside relationships, the bond is not to be messed with or severed, it's just accepted, that is how Gage explained it to us. The only reason Trent and I didn't have it from the beginning is because we were raised apart...but the temptation was always there, on a subconcious level."

Baily listened intently.

"Well, it came out in a fit of rage that Trent had, he warped us to this cave, it was a highly sexual situation that we were put in...and after the sexual encounter, the bond was awakened...and sealed and now...we can't resist it, we tried and as long as Trent had Avery...it was easier for him, but when they ended, he fell weak to it." Taylor shook his head. "You already know all of this, the only thing new is that he isn't with Avery anymore and we both have given in to the bond. So...because of that, you and I..."

Baily shook his head. "I already knew you were both giving in, I was in the cafeteria when Dallas and his friends were giving you a hard time. So I get it...you two are giving in." He nodded. "Taylor, I had hoped things would go further, but I never got my hopes up, I knew where your heart was." He smiled. "It's okay, we weren't together, we aren't together, we never made any promises."

Taylor's eyebrows lifted. "Just like that? You're okay?"

"Well, like I said, I had hoped..so it is kind of disappointing, but I'm not going to go dramatic on you, I know how things were." Baily frowned. "I just...hope that I still have a friend. Dallas and Glenn were the ones that made the video of my seizure...put it on youtube, made sure I saw it."

"How did they make you see it? I mean you'd have to find it on youtube and a video like that, unless they have a huge fan base, I doubt you'd find it easy." Taylor picked up a chicken leg and took a bite.

"I have Tina on my friends list, we were study partners one time and she sent me a friend request on Facebook. Dallas got onto her account and posted it on my wall. I watched it and deleted it. Tina isn't the type to do stuff like that, she's a lot like Avery, really mature. Though after how Avery treated you, I'd say Tina is more mature."

"Tina..." Taylor slowly nodded. "She looked really unhappy by how Dallas was acting in the cafeteria. She and Scout were really quiet, hell come to think of it, Dallas had to hit Glenn in the stomach to get him to speak up."

"Well, lately she's been wanting to know about you, especially after she had seen us together. I mean given the rumors, your immediate friendship with Tess, I think she is either curious or...it's a front and she wants out from under Dallas' thumb.

Baily continued. "See the popular clique were all one big circle and for some reason, Tess went her own away, Cole did the same, but rather than sticking together, they split from each other too, at least for a while."

"Mia must of did something, Tess hated her horribly." Taylor said.

"Well, from what I have seen, Tess and Tina were always closer than either one was to Mia, she was merely a good lay for Glenn, Tina only seemed to stay because she was with Dallas." Baily shrugged. "Just my theory, they were all cold hearted when it came to Mia, none of them went to her funeral. Tina said it wasn't that she didn't care, just that she wasn't close to Mia and she saw no reason to attend."

"Why doesn't Tina just date Scout? He seems far more decent." Taylor sipped his drink.

"Because it's too late, now it would cause a shit load of drama and...come to think of it, Scout never dates anyone. Truthfully, if it weren't for Dallas, I don't even think he would be considered high status...but rather the introverted loner, maybe."

Taylor nodded. "Well...thanks for taking this so well, I'm sorry it couldn't work out."

Baily did his best to put on a smile. "It's okay, really, I mean it hurts a little...I mean, I never even got a small chance at love until you, at least I got a chance." He reached across the table and took Taylor's hand.

Glenn had slipped a note into Trent's locker asking Trent to meet in the court yard and signed it as coming from Tess, knowing it was the only way he could get Trent to skip class with him so that he could meet with him without Dallas' or the others knowing. He walked through the door to the court yard and hurriedly moved down the walk way to see Trent sitting on a bench near the water fountain.

Trent heard the hurried footsteps and looked up and his eyes narrowed. "You." He started to stand up. "You wrote the letter."

Glenn held his hands up. "Trent, wait, it's not what you think. I didn't come here to fight. In case you didn't notice, I'm not the one that says a whole lot, Dallas is the one with the mouth."

"Still..." Trent crossed his arms.

"Look..I go along, it's called peer pressure, ever hear of it?" Glenn frowned. "It's pathetic."

"What do you want?"

"I have a crush on Avery, I don't know what happened between the two of you, if it was the thing with your...brother...or what." Glenn did make a face at mentioning it.

Trent grinned. "Avery cheated on me with Simon."

Glenn's eyes widened as he looked up. "Simon...as in year book committee Simon?"

"Yep, she was pretty stupid about it too. She took him to my house, they did it in my bed. I guess she didn't want her dad to catch her, better I catch her instead."

"No way, he must of date raped her." Glenn's eyes narrowed.

"Oh no, she was alert and knew what she was doing. She tried to say Tess had a video of her in the gym shower and he bumped into her and she dropped everything and he snatched her phone and blackmailed her." Trent grinned and shook his head. "Like Tess wouldn't have caught that or noticed."

Glenn sighed. "Whatever, gives me a reason to beat the shit out of him." One of his hands balled up into a fist. "Can you help me get with her? You know how you did it."

Trent stared at Glenn thoughtfully. "On two conditions, you drop Dallas and you don't rag on Taylor and I anymore."

Glenn's eyes widened slightly. "I won't have any friends anymore."

"What are your priorities? Dallas first, or Avery?" Trent asked.

Glenn closed his eyes. "Fine, but only after I have Avery's attention."

Trent nodded and stepped closer. "Fine, I'll trust you...but when it comes to me, you would be smart to keep your word."

Glenn stared straight into Trent's eyes. "I got it."

"First of all...Avery loves attention, she doesn't like to share, second of all, she likes the extraordinary, do something interesting to catch her interest, and lastly, be a little more tough, being Dallas' little bitch dog is not something that is going to interest her."

Glenn's eyebrows lifted. "That's all you have for me?"

"It's something to think about...until I have the time to help you, after how you've helped Dallas hurt us, you aren't high on my priority list." Trent went to step forward. "Oh...and no forging anymore notes from Tess or anyone else I would find worth meeting." He brushed past Glenn and walked off.

Tina watched the two out in the court yard, after having seen Glenn shove the note into one of the slots in Trent's locker, she had followed after him. Once Trent came inside, she followed him down the hall way. "Trent?"

Trent grinned and continued walking. "You're breaking macho's rules."

"Huh...yeah, I don't follow rules in my relationships, at least not beyond the norms." She followed Trent and fell into a walk beside him.

"So, what is your business?" Trent asked.

"Well...to be truthfully honest...I was wondering how you were making the payphone spit out all the change. Most people were to self involved in their own lives to notice, but I happened to be all by myself and saw it, that was just before Felix nearly shoved me to the ground trying to get to you." Tina side stepped and moved in front of Trent. "Then he's murdered?"

Trent stared at Tina. "Trying to say I did it? I was with Avery when Felix took off."

Tina shook her head. "No, not trying to say you did it, I just added those details, what really interests me is the payphone. Either you hit it really damn hard, which would require a lot of strength, or you did something else to it."

"I hit it really hard." Trent said.

"And then it just stops when you're done with it?" Tina's eyebrows lifted.

"Why are you interrogating me?"

Tina sighed. "I'm not...or I don't intend to. I just...I'm curious, that's all."

"You want to be part of the pack?" Trent grinned. "Dallas would be so pissed off."

Tina looked around. "Well, he's not exactly the high school sweet heart that I'll remember fondly."

"Or the one you will want to go to prom with? Get your picture taken with, or get his lettermens jacket and class ring as departing gifts as you run off to college?" He grinned.

Tina looked at Trent. "Could you drop the sarcasm?"

"Tell you what, prove yourself and we'll see, we have to trust who we let in, especially now. I mean, I thought I could trust Avery."

"Hey, I haven't said a word against you." Tina's eyes widened briefly. "What you and your brother do is your business, who am I to meddle with it and make bad things happen?"

"I'll think about it, we usually don't go around selecting people, usually what happens is we're stupid, and because of that, they automatically fall into a place." Trent frowned. "And I hate insulting myself." He turned around and headed off down the hall.

Tina grinned, watching him walk off. "And why did I find that so fucking cute? Shouldn't have."

Cole rounded a corner and saw Tess walking down the hall and went to chase after her. "Tess! Hey...just give me a second to talk!"

"I don't want to talk to you." She said as she kept a fast pace down the hall with Cole chasing her.

"That's not fair!" Cole said.

Tess suddenly stopped and turned around. "Not fair?! You want to hear about not fair?!" She looked around and then lowered her tone. "What's not fair is getting raped by a fake person who's really an angel and then getting stuck with his unkillable child and then finding out my boyfriend is a demon. All of that...is not fair, not to mention that Gage...takes off and beams me up Scotty!"

"What? Gage left?" Cole asked, surprised.

"Keep up with the program." Tess frowned.

"Look, I was sick of being helpless and defenseless...and so Liam..."

"Your boss?!" Tess started to laugh. "The auto mechanic guy? He's the one that did it?"

"He said they were gifts, that is all that he said." Cole sighed.

"And where did you think those gifts were coming from?" Tess turned around and started walking again.

Cole followed after her. "Look, he isn't after you, he doesn't care about the big bad plan."

"Well I bet his friend sure does." Tess said. "He told me not to thank him because I wouldn't want to later."

Cole rushed forward and stepped in front of her. "Kieran? Don't you think if he wanted you dead...he would of tried? Did he try?"

Tess stopped in her tracks and stared at Cole with a stubborn expression. "No."

"There you go." Cole sighed. "Even if they were after you, I would fight with you, now that I can."

Tess looked down. "Listen...I just think...a lot of things should be put in the past, including you and me. I just want to be alone..."

Cole's eyes widened. "Just because of this?"

"Because of everything." She looked up, tears staining her face. "I need to figure out how to fix my life...and that is something I have to do by myself, okay? Can you just be the guy that accepts it?" She asked.

Cole frowned. "Yeah...I can be that guy, doesn't mean I have to like it." He stared at her with a pained expression. "You know..we have been through a lot together, I was even ready to tell you that I lo..."

"Don't!" Tess interrupted him and her eyes closed. "Not now..." She shook her head and looked at him. "Maybe if...later...things...just..." She shook her head. "Just, maybe, if later." She turned around and walked away.

Cole looked down and sighed, his heart breaking and broken.

Taylor heard a knock on the door and opened it and his eyebrows lifted to see Trent on the other side and a grin slowly started to appear. "Why are you knocking on the door? Did you lose your key? Could of just used your powers to get in..."

"Taylor, I didn't lose my key." Trent smiled and then looked down. "I uh..actually thought..." He looked up at him. "Well, I thought...we could have our...first official date." He brought his hand from around his back and held out a single rose, nervously wondering how Taylor would respond.

Taylor's eyes slightly widened in surprise, he honestly wasn't sure how to react. He looked at the rose and then looked at Trent. "I...uh..." He turned away, leaving the door open and walked several steps further into the house.

"I know, I suck at the whole romantic thing, right?" Trent stepped inside.

Taylor turned around and looked at Trent. "Can we even do that? Go on dates? Uh...I...just..." His eyes shifted down. "What if this bond isn't supposed to be like that?"

Trent frowned and laid the rose on the bar of the kitchen and grabbed Taylor by the shoulders. "What do you mean? We do love each other, right?"

"It feels that way." Taylor looked up at him. "But...what if it's not? What if..."

"You can tell me." Trent said, looking into his brothers eyes.

"What if...the bond is just supposed to be sexual?" Taylor asked. "Gage never told us otherwise. I mean if it were meant to be love, why would we have other relationships?"

Trent slowly nodded. "Valid point...but all that matters is what we want and what we feel, not what the world, not what either world, tells us to want or to feel."

Taylor slowly nodded. "It's just...still new. I thought it would be so...easy." He looked up at Trent. "There is no doubt that I want this...I guess, I just wonder what parts we can have and what parts we can't."

Trent pulled Taylor in and wrapped his arms around him, hugging him. "I understand, I can understand that."

Taylor's eyes shut tight and tears streamed down his face as he hugged Trent. "I just wish thoughts like that wouldn't nag at me, you know?"

Trent pulled back enough to look at Taylor. "I want to take you somewhere beautiful."

"Like where?"

"Like heaven...but our heaven."

Taylor smiled and leaned forward and pressed his forehead to Trent's only to lightly kiss him a second later, a short but gentle kiss. "I could picture it...a castle in the sky."

Trent smiled. "Exactly what I had in mind." He said after the kiss was broken.

"Clouds everywhere." Taylor smiled and opened his eyes when he felt Trent step back.

He took Taylor's hands into his own. "Maybe...when I get better control of that power..." His thumbs rubbed the top of Taylor's hands. "So, what do you say?"

Taylor slowly shook his head. "I think...we're past dating, and I don't say that out of fear, I just mean that...I think we have evolved above that, I think we always have been...from the moment we were so close."

Trent nodded. "I understand." His smile began to relax.

"Doesn't mean we can't do things together." Taylor's smile grew bigger. "Just not the cliche stuff..."

Trent laughed quietly and nodded. "I think that works for me."

Taylor looked over at the rose. "You know what, never mind." He looked at Trent. "I...was saying those things out of fear." He paused and then quickly went on. "Not that I didn't mean them! Just...to use that as an excuse."

Trent nodded his head in a tilt to the left and then to the right. "I almost figured." He said, not appearing upset, in fact, that relaxed smile remained.

"We can go out...just no more flowers, it's kinda cheesy." Taylor started to grin as he looked at Trent.

"Cheesy, okay...no more cheesy." He nodded and took Taylor's hand.

Taylor smiled and walked with Trent as they headed out the door.

Tess stood out on her balcony and stared out at the ocean, a deep breath was taken and for just a second, her eyes shifted downward and she thought about how that just might be her way out. It was just a thought, one that drove her away from the balcony and into her room, she slid the glass door shut and headed out into the hall and into the living area, seeing her dad on the couch working on his laptop while her mom was preparing dinner.

Tess reached up and wiped her eyes and then cleared her throat. "Mom? Dad? I have...I...I have to tell you something...and it's big."

Ava turned from the stove to look over at her daughter. "Honey, what is it?"

Austin closed his lap top and leaned forward to sit it on the coffee table and turned to look at Tess.

Tess looked between them. "I know you can't stop dinner...but uh..can we all at least...be together?" She waved her hand in a circular motion towards the kitchen.

Austin nodded and got up from the couch and headed over to the bar, as did Ava as they stood on opposite sides. Tess looked down at the floor and took a couple of steps closer and nervously toyed with her fingers. "First of all, he's dead. Okay? He died in some accident, I don't know the details, I just know that he's dead." She looked up at her dad. "This guy from school..."

Austin already didn't like what he was hearing.

"He came to hang out...or that's what he was supposed to be doing and...he...uh...pushed me at the wall and knocked me out and..." Tess bit her lower lip and looked down. "Well, now he died in an accident and...I'm..." She closed her eyes, a troubled expression appeared, not thinking it would be so hard to say this to her parents. "I'm pregnant with his baby."

Austin's eyes widened and his hand balled up into a fist. "And he's dead?" He asked in a calm voice but the rage beneath was clear.

"Yes, he's dead." Tess looked up at her dad. "He was hanging with some guys at this warehouse, I think it might of been a meth lab or something because...it blew up." She shook her head. "Not that I was doing drugs or anything! I barely knew this guy, he was just one of Cole's friends and...Cole has a tendency to give anyone a chance, I'm not even seeing him anymore, I broke it off."

Ava looked at her daughter with a shocked expression. "Have you decided...what you are going to do?" It was all she could think to say at first.

"I'm not aborting the child...it's part of me." Tess frowned, really, she couldn't abort the kid, it wouldn't die! It killed the doctor! "Maybe adoption or something. I have a while to think about it." Tess looked between them. "I just don't need the grief..." Tears started to run down her face. "All I want...is to be alone, but of course you guys live here...so...if I could just have the respect..."

Ava walked around the bar and wrapped her arms around Tess. "Of course...honey, you know we would support you all the way." She pulled back and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you, we love you." She brought her hands up to her daughters face and a pained expression appeared and she walked back into the kitchen, knowing dinner needed to be watched.

Austin took a deep breath and hugged Tess and held onto her and rested his chin ontop of her head. "We love you very much." He pulled back, holding her by the shoulders. "Whatever you need to get through this."

Tess smiled for a second, mostly in relief, and then she nodded. "Right now...I just want to be alone, that's all." She pulled back and headed off down the hall.

"Think that's a good idea?" Austin looked over at Ava.

Ava turned the stove off and sighed as she dealt with the food. "I don't know, being alone...it could turn into depression, then again...it's easier than being around others, keeping up life and trying to put up a brave face." She turned to look at her husband. "I think it's okay, so long as we don't let it go on for to long."

"Yeah, I just don't want this turning into a horror story where she feels pressured and runs away...but then I don't want this to be even worse than that. It's like...it's bad...and it's bad." He walked over and sat back on the couch.

"Lets just let it be tonight." Ava sat two plates on the bar, figuring she would take Tess' dinner to her room. "No need to plan the next few months right here, right now."

Scout found Baily sitting at one of the computers in the library and grabbed the chair at the one next to him and sat down. "Hey."

Baily stopped what he was doing and looked at Scout. "Unless you want to torture me, I can do the report myself and we can both get the credit."

He shook his head. "No..I don't want to torture you. In fact...I'm glad they made us partners, and not for reasons you might think, it kind of gives me a cover to talk to you."

Baily's eyebrows lifted. "Really? Because you torture the twins."

"Then you don't listen, I never said a thing during that time in the cafeteria." Scout paused. "You used to be with Taylor...How did you handle it?"

Baily grinned and looked at the computer. "I was never with Taylor, I had hoped...but I was his support while Trent was with Avery, he told me he didn't want to start anything with me because of what he felt, so that was the way the cookie crumbled, it was okay. I actually want them to be happy. It's not like they're hurting the world."

"Yeah, well, my cousin will take anything he can feed on, that's how he is." Scout looked down. "Which is why I'm glad we were made partners, gives me a reasonable explanation to be seen with you. If Dallas really knew..."

Baily's grin remained. "Knew what?"

"That...I...well, I'm like you."

He looked over at Scout, surprised for a moment, though what caught Baily's attention more was how he expressed it. "You can't even say it?"

"I've...never said it." He looked around the library. "It's like...the hardest thing in the whole world to say."

"For some, it's like that...and then after they say it...some feel like a rock has been lifted off of them. And some...wonder why it was so hard to say to begin with." Baily sat back and crossed his arms. "It's like holding your breath for so long and then finally letting it out and taking it in."

Scout slowly nodded. "Okay...well..." He looked around again, as if making sure no one bad was around. "I..." His eyes landed on Baily. "I'm...gay."

Baily looked over at him. "How do you feel?"

"I feel...a little free." Scout slightly smiled. "It's just like you said it would feel."

Baily nodded. "Now...where do you go from here?"

"I don't know." He slowly shook his head.

"Well, that feeling of freedom will go right away as soon as you see Dallas again, you will feel repressed just like that." He snapped his fingers and then looked at the computer.

"To be honest, I was attracted to the twins...and them together, the idea of that.." Scout looked at Baily. "This might sound crazy, but...something happened in the locker room."

"What?" Baily suddenly looked at him.

"I walked in...and there was this blue ball of light and it was aimed at Dallas, and Glenn was there...but it was all paused...like a movie. The twins were there and Taylor told me to forget what I saw...but when he touched me, I got this sudden vision of them, together." He slowly shook his head. "It was amazing...almost made me forget what all I had seen when I walked in."

Baily looked thoughtful and looked at the computer. "You should talk to them. You know they live in the condo complex, the one where that military raid went down at."

Scout nodded. "I heard about that, I know where it is."

Baily looked at the computer and grinned. "How about OJ Simpson?" He joked.

"Too famous, someone probably already picked it." Scout looked at Baily. "I was thinking about the King brothers."

Baily tilted his head to the side. "That's an interesting one, pretty vague though, doesn't get much coverage. Though...the fact that they are now out, young adults, seemingly fair off, it would be interesting how they went from child killers to reformed citizens."

Scout nodded. "Baily...do you know..anything about what I saw?"

Baily looked over at Scout. "It's not my place to say, but one thing I will tell you, is that it's a huge reason why they are together."

"Okay, well...how about I come to your house later? Dallas might show up at mine."

"Or he might stalk you to mine." Baily said.

"I know his car, if I even see one like it, I'll drive on."

Baily stared at Scout thoughtfully and then grabbed his notebook and jotted his address and number down and yanked the page out, folded it up into a pocket sized square and handed it over. "Put me in your contacts as a fake name...for your sake and mine, once you know how to get to my house, I have a fire place, we'll burn it."

Scout took the piece of paper. "A little paranoid."

"I've done good to stay off their radar, I don't want to get on it now, and if your cousin is smart, he'll take the twins off of his. What you saw...was Trent about to kill Dallas...and Taylor stopping it."

Scout slowly nodded. "Well, hopefully he doesn't try to kill me." He looked down and shoved the paper in his pocket. "I really want to talk more..." He looked up and a small smile appeared. "Before the twins showed up...I liked you, I still like you." And before Baily had a chance to say anything back, he got up and rushed off, wanting to leave it on that note.

Tess walked in with Zaine. "So this is my house...the main part of it, anyway."

Austin looked up from where he had poured a glass of vodka. "Who the hell is this?" He asked, pretty much not wanting to see Tess with any guy after what he had learned, he had gone into over protective mode.

"Just a partner for a school assignment, dad, chill, he's practically autistic." Well, that wasn't really a diagnosis, but it was clear Jordan had adjusted to the outside world better than Zaine had. "So...is it okay if we go to my room? Not like you aren't here...and if you don't have to many of those, you won't pass out."

"I won't." Austin nodded for them to go ahead.

Tess lead Zaine off into her room and closed the door. "And...this is my room."

"Your dad seems...nice...and protective." Zaine turned towards Tess. "I'm going to fail at this."

"No you won't. I'll do the majority of the assignment, I just want you to take in the learning experience of...well, the assignment...and the social aspects of, well...spending time with me." She said as she grabbed her laptop off the dresser and climbed onto her bed, crossing her legs.

Zaine slowly nodded and sat on the edge of the bed, at the bottom corner and he looked around. "Yeah, because I don't really know any...documented killers."

"We're going to do little girl Mary from England, she was like...this little girl, maybe ten or eleven or something and she lead this really little boy out to this abandoned building by offering him candy and killed him by strangling him, then she broke into a pre-school, trashed it, went to the boys funeral and laughed." Tess turned on her laptop and shook her head. "Just a bunch of stuff...I would have to read the details."

Zaine's eyes widened. "That's awful."

"No kidding. She is free today, no one knows where she is." Tess looked up at Zaine. "So..how are things?"

"Blank." Zaine looked at Tess. "I go blank, I mean...I hear stuff and...I say what I think I'm supposed to say...but I feel...completely apathetic."

"So when you said...that's awful, you really didn't feel that way?"

"No, I think it's awful, yes, but I don't feel what I think I'm supposed to feel."

Tess sat her laptop aside and placed a hand on Zaine's shoulder. "Not everyone is horrified by those things, especially when they are impersonal to us. I think it's awful too...but I'm not exactly screaming and crying and feeling agony and grief."

Zaine looked over at Tess and slowly nodded. "I just don't understand how Jordan turned out better."

"People are different." She shrugged. "I'll help you...I have no distractions and despite the fact that I just want to be alone, well...you really don't bother me."

A small smile appeared on his face and he reached up and took her hand from his shoulder and brought it down to the bed, holding her hand in his. "Thanks."

"No problem." Tess smiled and then slowly pulled her hand back and looked at the computer. "Okay Bloody Mary....where are you...?" She started typing in Google.

"So...what is your life like?"

Tess choked back a sarcastic laugh. "Present or past tense?"

"Either." Zaine said.

"Well, in the past it was fun, friends, partying...having fun..." She stopped typing as her expression saddened. "Everything was so simple. Even the fights I had with Mia, those were fun."

"Fights are fun?"

Tess looked up and quietly laughed. "With certain people. Guys take it to serious though, with girls, at least with me...I can make a game of it."

"I don't like fighting." Zaine looked down. "All they wanted us to do was fight...the people."

Tess nodded in understanding. "The reason might be bad...but the outcome isn't. A person that doesn't fight is always the better person."

Zaine looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry...I just...go blank."

Tess nodded. "It's okay...it's a slow process." She smiled and then looked at the computer and started typing in Google. "Okay...where are you, little girl Mary?"