"I can't possibly feel this way about her, she's my little sister!"
These words had been said so many times in Shane Danson's head, that they'd seemingly often replace every other thought in his mind.
Yet it seemed like no matter how often he said them, no matter how much he tried to bury his feelings, it never worked. Whether in his dreams or his thoughts, he'd done enough dirty and taboo things to his little sister that something as simple and innocent as looking her in the eyes had become almost unbearable. At this point, he wasn't sure what to do. His feelings were becoming harder to suppress by the day and even harder to hide from her. The fact that they were identical twins only complicated things even further for the both of them.
From the day they were born, their souls were practically intertwined. The two were born mere minutes apart, as Shane was only older than her by about 11 minutes of intense labor. The two were inseparable as children and even into their early teens, they spent all their time together. Typically even the closest of siblings grew out of wanting to be tied to each other at some point, but Shane and Ashleigh simply never grew out of wanting to be together. It was always enough to weather any storm that came their way. They were only truly safe with each other, especially given the circumstances.
The two had seen their share of misfortune, from losing their parents at just ten in a car accident, to spending the following four years bouncing around family members who took turns exploiting them. Their parents had been prominent in the Ohio real estate business but had broken off contact with both their families for failing to support their relationship. So when they both died, the families spent the next several years arguing for both custody of the twins and for access to the kids' inheritance.
The two were constantly questioned for what little knowledge they had regarding the inherited money their mother and father left for them once they became of age, with their father's sister even trying to argue with them over their relationship as being too dependent on one another. Things became easier once they were taken in by a close friend of the family in Gloria Ramirez, a former Cleveland police officer who had been a good friend to not only their parents but also had a soft spot for their kids and offered to take them in almost as soon as she heard their parents died. With their vote of approval, the courts named her their legal guardian until they became legal adults.
But things between the twins were tense and had been so for several months. Over that time, Ashleigh began to notice their relationship was shifting, and not in a good way. She could sense anguish and longing in her other half, but he wouldn't talk to her about it no matter how many times she asked. She felt like she was losing him, and didn't even know where to start. Deep down she only prayed she could find a way to fix it before she lost the most important person in the world to her.
---
This particular Friday morning started like any other. Shane awoke at around 6 a.m., as years of caring for his sister had him trained to be up early. His little sister had never been a morning person, so he followed his mastered routine. By the time she got up every day, he was showered, dressed, and breakfast was either done or just about done. They'd become known for either being late to or missing homeroom, so they had a habit of taking their time in the mornings. Besides, Shane wasn't exactly in a rush to get to school anyway, especially after one of his sister's so-called friends let it slip that she was still a virgin a few months ago.
After that, guys were never too far from her if he wasn't right next to her with it seemingly being an unwritten contest among the guys of the school to deflower her. Neither of them was a fan of the attention, but Shane was both relieved and confused about how it never phased his sister.
As it stood, the twins rather large bank and tendency to stay together made them among the school's more popular people, though each of them could only count two real friends they had, Deuce Camden and Samantha Robertson. They were the only people who knew Shane and Ashleigh's dynamic as two halves of the same person. The twins had just two classes out of seven apart during the third period, but had a friend in each one, as Kyle sat with Ashleigh during her fourth-period Biology class and Sam stayed with Shane during his third-period Calculus class.
At around 6:40 that morning, Ashleigh's phone began ringing. She loved the song, so she waited a few extra seconds before getting up and answering.
"Hello?" she answered groggily.
"Hey, it's me. Little early, huh?" Sam responded.
"No, it's fine. I just wasn't up yet."
"Cool. Have you talked to him yet?" Sam said a bit eagerly.
She sighed. "Sorry Sam, I chickened out. " Sam had spent the last two weeks trying to coax her best friend into hammering out her problems with her brother, but her rather timid nature kept getting the better of her. This was uncharted territory for Ashleigh because up until now they were always honest with each other. Maybe she had taken their bond for granted.
"Ashleigh, you're never gonna get any answers if you don't man up and talk to him. "
"Man up? Sam, I'm a girl. "
"You know what I mean. " Sam replied sternly. She knew her friend was right, though. Ashleigh didn't know exactly when it started but her brother has without a doubt changed. In a matter of months, he went from the fun-loving socialite she grew up with to the bland, cold and unbothered shell she's grown concerned for. It was clear that he was trying to push her away. She just couldn't figure out from what or why. Still, her friend shared in her concern, which meant things couldn't possibly get any worse because as great a friend as she was, in reality, Sam was very self-absorbed.
"I know. You're right, I've got to get to the bottom of this. " Ashleigh said before accidentally hanging up the phone. Panicked, she immediately called back but got no answer. Before she could try again, she got a text from Sam. "Talk to him!" followed by two thumbs up emojis, meaning good luck. With that, she got out of bed and ran her hand through her hair in an attempt to make it look somewhat straight before looking at herself in the mirror.
She wore a tank top she'd borrowed from her brother and a pair of low-cut basketball shorts that barely covered her ass, unaware of how much harder she made life for her brother by wearing them. Stretching her arms, she walked into the kitchen to see Shane finishing up making his plate, hers already in its usual spot.
"Good morning Shane!" Ashleigh said with her signature enthusiasm, despite how increasingly difficult it felt to maintain. Shane turned to look at her but ended up unintentionally staring. He couldn't help but be transfixed by how good his sister looked, even in something as plain as a tank top and shorts.
His sister was a true beauty, that was undeniable. She stood at about five and a half feet, had dirty blonde hair that ran to the middle of her back, and filled out in all the right places for the 18-year-old she had become just a few months ago. She also loved food in general but worked out often to keep up with her love of eating. Her figure was about 80% Barbie doll with just enough curve in her hips and ass to give her that killer edge most girls couldn't pull off.
Pair that with her infectious smile and genuinely kind personality and there was only one conclusion Shane could reach: she was as close to perfect as a girl could get. But his little sister's blushing snapped him out of his temporary trans and he returned to his more stoic demeanor.
"Morning." He said dryly. Being somewhat used to this by now, she quietly sat down and began eating without another word. She knew she needed to work up the courage to address this with him, but she figured that would be much harder on an empty stomach so there was no harm in eating first. Shane followed suit, but pretty quickly noticed how slowly she was eating. Usually, she'd never hesitated to blow through her brother's cooking. That was another thing he loved about his sister.
As beautiful as she was, she was far from a typical girl. She ate and joked like a guy, yet never lost her infectious charm. So between her lack of inhaling her breakfast, coupled with the look of longing she gave him every time she briefly looked in his direction, he could see something was wrong with her. Even though he was at least a hundred percent sure his demeanor towards her was the problem, his elder sibling instincts acted on their own, and he couldn't stop himself from opening Pandora's box.
"Ash? " Shane asked. Nothing.
"Ash!" Shane said a little louder.
"Huh?" Ashleigh said, shaking her head. Assuming she'd just zoned out, Shane rolled his eyes and went back to his plate.
"He's right in front of you. Do it now or we never will!" she repeated several times in her head. Shane may have caused her to lose focus, but she knew it was time to end this.
"Shane, I'm sorry. Please forgive me," she said, averting her gaze to the table. She raised an eyebrow at this. What was she talking about?
"What? What did you do?"
"I'm not entirely sure. But I'm sorry, Shane." He was really confused now.
"Ash, what are you talking about? "
"I must have done something to make you upset with me all this time."
Her statement hit him like a brick wall. The only thing worse than her words was the look she was giving him while she said it. The only comparison was a wounded animal in the rain begging for shelter. It nearly broke his heart.
Keyword: nearly.
In his mind, his secret had to remain just that no matter the price, and knowing his sister he knew the day would come that she'd start asking questions or commit to trying to figure this situation out for herself. He was prepared, or so he thought.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. " He replied as emotionless as possible. But Ashleigh knew him too well. He couldn't look at her and say that, as his eyes retreated to the table midway through his statement. It showed her that this was something he forced himself to say. But why? Why would he intentionally push her away?
She wasn't prepared to leave it alone. Not this time.
"Shane, I know you just lied to me because you couldn't look me in the eyes. We're all we have, so we're supposed to be honest with each other, remember?" Ashleigh said with an obvious strain in her voice as her eyes started to tear up.
"I'm holding up my end of the bargain," Shane replied dryly. Ashleigh could feel herself slipping emotionally. This wasn't fair! What was he going through? What was going on in his head that forced him to act like this with her? Why won't he talk to her? Does he not trust her? Her of all people?
"What is wrong with you! Why won't you just talk to me? What did I do?"
"Nothing," Shane said, looking down. Him taking his gaze off her again must have been the last straw.
