These Twin Souls: Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Nothing Has Changed

I looked purposely at her as her hair blew gently in the wind. She smiled slightly and waved, turned her back on me and entered her family home. I waited for her to come to me, five whole hours, and then I went to bed. I was up at 5am that morning, my body clock was wired that way for work. I slowly headed downstairs as Ben's snoring echoed around the house, I looked out of my living room window into the darkness of the street, only the street lights glowing as the Marsh house looked like a black cloud was smothering it. What an apt look, we were all devastated over Denny, there were clouds covering all of our hearts! I thought of my sweet Verona sleeping in her old bed for the first time in years. I thought about her faint smile and the way her hair blew in the breeze, how she hadn't changed much since she was a baby...those blue eyes still brought me to my knees! I was more than a little hurt that she didn't come over and say hello, not even for a couple of minutes, but I guessed her parents were her priority over me and so they should have been!

I woke Ben for school two hours later, he hogged the bathroom as usual. When he came down for his breakfast, there was a knock at the door. Ben shot up and strided towards the hall to answer it. "I'll get it!" he chirped, I was confused as to why he was so keen to answer the door when usually he sat and let me do everything. I heard her voice and it made my heart pound in my ears, the vibration made me dizzy.

"Hey Ben!" she giggled, "Oh my gosh you're so big!"

"Hi Verona!" I heard my brother gush, and it all became clear to me! Ben had a crush on my soul mate!

"Where's Ry?"

"Oh!" I could also hear the disappointment in his voice when she asked for me. "He's in the kitchen."

"Thanks, it's so good to see you! You're a proper young man now!" When she appeared in the doorway of my kitchen, I thought my heart would explode out of my chest. She smiled, broadly and happily for a moment, and then her face fell. It was as if she'd forgotten about Denny the moment she saw me, and then it suddenly came back to her. She began to cry and held her arms out to me like she'd done so many times in our lives. "Ry!" she sobbed and rushed into my arms. She squeezed me tightly, burying her head in my chest, soaking my t-shirt with her tears. I embraced her, I rubbed her back gently and tried to calm her, but her body trembled and she squeezed even harder. Ben appeared and blushed at the sight of us, entwined in each other. I held her at arms length and my hazel eyes fixed on her baby blues.
"Let's go for a drive, eh?" she nodded as I carefully turned her round and guided her towards the front door. Ben gave me a dirty look, the look of a jealous younger brother, but I ignored him and focused on Verona. "Get to school!" I muttered as he flipped his middle finger at me and scowled. I would have to deal with all that later.

We drove all over town for a long time in silence. I didn't even know how long we'd been out, until my stomach began to growl and I knew it must be lunchtime. We stopped at the local cafe for some lunch, still in silence, the only words uttered involved an argument over who was paying the bill, I won of course as I always did. She secretly liked me spoiling her, ever since she was a little girl she loved me to shower her with gifts and pay for everything. We drove a little longer, headed to the beach and went for a walk, hand in hand we walked in silence again. I wondered when she was ever going to talk. It began to rain as she stopped at the edge of the sand, standing on the grass she turned to face me and my heart stopped, I'd dreamed of this moment, when she came back to me and I waited for her to speak. Whatever she was going to say was worth getting soaked in the rain for I was sure of it. Verona took my hands in hers and sighed as our heads touched ever so gently. "I missed you!" she whispered and rubbed my forehead with her own.
"I'm so sorry about Denny..." I began but she silenced me with one finger pressed to my dry, unkissed lips.
"Don't say anything just...you smell exactly how I remember!" she laughed softly and her lips ventured towards mine, I pulled my head back slightly, I wasn't ready for this!
"And how's that?" I forced a smile, "Like Swarfiga, oil and paint?" she frowned at me then, not amused with my attempt at a joke.
"Please Ry! I just want to be here, with you...quietly?" I nodded and pulled her towards me, holding her close to me. She smelled exactly how I remembered her too, like sweet sherbet and roses. I wanted to kiss her now, so badly. I hadn't kissed anyone since the night she crept into my room and made all of my dreams come true! I wanted to be angry with her for using me, I wanted to tell her she broke my heart, I wanted to tell her a whole bunch of things that didn't matter a damn right now! My best friend was gone and my twin soul was only interested in me for comfort, to console her over the death of her brother! And I hated her a little for that! We stood for a while, I held her lovingly in the soaking wet, my shirt dripping and my hair limp, but I didn't care! As my anger subsided she looked up at me again and smiled. "You've always been there for me haven't you?"
"Yes, and I always will be!" I gave her a soft peck on the nose as she giggled and twitched it adorably.
"You know, when mum called about Denny, all I could think about was being an only child! Isn't that silly?"
"No, not really. Sometimes I remember what it was like before Ben came along, how alone I was and...you're never alone Verona!" she nodded and nuzzled my arm with her face.
"I know that, I've still got you!" she replied in a muffled voice, then looking back up at me she said something that made me want to die like the day she drove off and left me, "I've always had two brothers, you and Denny! I wanted to tell him something, something important, but he's gone now and..." her voice cracked and she bit her lip. "...I wanted to tell him that I'm getting married and...well since you're my other brother, my only one now, I guess it's only fitting that you be the first I tell! So, yeah, I'm getting married!"

I sat in my car as the rain pelted the windshield. I'd just dropped Verona off at her house and parked in my driveway. Her words echoed around and around in my head and I wanted to scream. My twin soul was getting married to some other guy, we hadn't even buried Denny and she was getting married? All that crap about me being her other brother, I'd never wanted to hit a woman before but she tempted me there by the beach. Did she know what she was doing to me? Did she really hate me? Why was she torturing me like this? First Denny died and now any chance of her being mine died along with him! Who was the guy she was marrying anyway? What was so great about him? What made him a better man than me? I should have been mourning my best friend but instead I was mourning the death of my chance with her! I wanted to tell her, confess all, tell her that our night together meant something to me! I wanted her to know that I'd never even touched a girl since that night and I didn't ever intend to as long as she walked this earth! I wanted to tell her she was making a mistake, that I was her soul mate, I should be the one she called her husband! Ben began knocking fiercely on the living room window and gesturing to me, someone wanted me on the phone it seemed. When I got in, Ben chucked the phone at me and stomped off, it was Verona. "Ry?" she cried.
"What is it?" panic rose up into my throat, almost choking me.
"Denny's coming home tomorrow morning! Will you come with us to pick him up?" my panic changed to pride, the Marsh's wanted me to be there to meet Denny as he made his final journey home. I was honoured. "Ry?" she sniffed, "You there?"
"Yeah, yeah! I'll be there honey, what time?" she always had a way of turning my anger and frustration towards her into love and adoration every time! I could forgive her anything, even the blatant torturing of my heart and soul!

That night I headed up to bed early, I wanted to be presentable to meet my friend off the plane in the morning. Before I made my way upstairs, Ben muttered something to me as he scowled at the television, he'd been in a mood all night and barely touched his dinner. "What's that kiddo?" I turned back to face him as he folded his arms roughly and muttered,
"Nothing!"
"Come on, it's not nothing, talk to me?" Ben shot up from the couch and faced me up, fists clenched at his sides and his eyes full of rage.
"Okay, you really wanna know? Verona! You don't deserve her, you never have! So stop being such a dick and get over her! You're way too old and you're embarrassing yourself!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"Ben, me and Verona? We're..."
"NOTHING!" he screamed in my face before I could finish. "She doesn't love you Ry! When are you going to accept that and leave her ALONE???" he shoved past me and raced upstairs, slamming his bedroom door and making me feel sick. Because he was right, everything he said...was true! But I still loved her, and that would never change, no matter how much trouble it got me into, I couldn't change my heart! Right now my heart was destroying my relationship with Ben, my little brother and only family I had left, and at that moment I didn't care!

To Be Continued...