My breath hitches in my throat as he glides over to us, inexplicable recognition filling his hazel eyes. He flashes us one of his infamous dimpled smiles when he approaches. Still smiling, he says something, most likely a greeting of some sorts, which I could not hear since my shock apparently drowned out all sound. That is, until Gus decides to nudge me in the side rather hard, immediately snapping me out of my daze.

“Autumn?” he says, giving me a funny look. “You okay? You look a little pale.” I nod furiously, determined to show him I’m fine.

“It’s nice to meet you, Autumn,” Matt says. I try to reply, but my throat suddenly feels dry, which causes a sort of inhumane, strangled gasp to come out in place of actual words. This causes his eyes to widen slightly and Gus to snort in amusement.

Matt clears his throat and reaches his hand out to take our bags for us. I hand it to him and Gus and I begin to follow him out of the airport.

I spend most of the car ride not participating in Gus’ and Matt’s conversation; instead, I silently watch the scenery of Southern California pass by in a blur, wishing we could slow down so I could just take it all in.

I had never actually been outside of Washington, and as far as that goes, I’ve never been farther than Tacoma. Jim and Rhonda were always leaving the state – or even the country – for their jobs, but they never had time to take us with them, or anywhere else for that matter. So, technically, if you don’t count the short few months following my untimely birth, I’ve never left what I consider my “home state”.

After an hour drive, we finally pull into the driveway of Matt’s house. It is a lot simpler than I had imagined – it looked rather normal, when compared to the ones around it. However, it was still much bigger than most, but since ours back home wasn’t much smaller, I wasn’t too shocked by it.

He parks the convertible he picked us up in, inside the garage, which clearly connects to the house. I crawl out of the back seat, where I had lucked out on sitting in, rather hesitantly. We follow him through the door, which appears to lead into some sort of mudroom.

Matt kicks off his shoes, and so does Gus. However, I don’t bother; I almost never took off my
Converse, even when I was in someone else’s home – it didn’t even matter whose it was.

He doesn’t say anything about it, thankfully, before leading us through the mudroom and into the kitchen.

I always used to think that the house we’d lived in most of our lives was one of the biggest, nicest house. That was until I stepped foot into that kitchen. Black marble countertops make up most of it; it’s at least twice the size of ours back home. And neater, too. The pantry looks more like a walk-in closet, from what I can see, which just makes me hungry.

Gus clears his throat suddenly, and I snap back into reality, realizing that Matt is already pretty far ahead of us. I jog slightly to catch up.

I try not to be sucked into the décor of the living room and dining room as we pass them to get to the staircase that led to the second floor. Matt pauses at the top of the staircase, right in front of a hallway that appeared to contain quite a few other rooms. I suddenly have the urge to open every one of the doors that was lined up down the hallway, just to see what was inside. Just to see what secrets Matt was keeping – if any at all.

“The master bedroom is at the end of the hall,” he begins, turning towards us. “Your rooms are right across from each other on either side; you two can chose which one you want.” Gus glances at me, raising an eyebrow slightly. I shrug and we push past Matt, making our way down the hall.

I go left, and Gus goes right. As soon as I open the door and see the room for myself, I know this is the one I want.

It’s much larger than mine back home; however, there’s only one window that only occupies a small fraction of the far wall. This left plenty of room for me to hang up anything I pleased – I could start my wall collage from scratch; I could start a new art wall.

And I had all summer.

There is already a single bed in the middle of the room, across from a larger-than-life walk-in closet. I would never need all that space, I was sure. Under the window, there is an empty desk. But other than these few pieces of furniture, the room was pretty much empty.

“I know it’s a little plain,” I hear Matt say from behind me, and I jump, not having heard him approach. “But you can do whatever you want with it – so long as you run it by Val and I first.”

Val.

I had barely thought about Matt’s wife since I arrived in California, which made me wonder; was she Gus’ and I’s birth mother? Or was there someone else before her?

I notice Matt frown a little, probably from the look of thought on my face.

“Are you alright?” he asks me, and I nod.

“Yeah, just thinking,” I reply, moving towards the bed and sitting on its plain white duvet. He raises an eyebrow, most likely about my shoes being on the bed, but doesn’t say anything.

“Well, Val is out getting a few things for tonight,” he announces, just loud enough for Gus to hear from across the hall. He appears in my doorway not two seconds later, beside Matt.

“What’s tonight?” he asks, frowning slightly. I mirror his expression, finding myself to be just as confused as he is.

“We’re having some people over,” he explains, shrugging. “They wanted to meet you… Did Jim and Rhonda not mention this to you?” We shake our heads. He sighs. “If you guys want, I could ask them to come tomorrow instead. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.”

“No, it’s fine,” Gus interjects, ignoring my glare. “We can handle it.” He smiles at Matt as if to sell what he’s saying, and he seems to take it.

“Okay. Then I’ll just bring up your stuff; give you guy’s time to settle in.” Gus smiles and nods, and Matt returns the smile before turning and returning back down the hall.

As soon as he’s gone, I take the opportunity his absence provided to give Gus a piece of my mind.

“What the hell?” I exclaim. He narrows his eyes at me.

“What?”

“Gus; you know I don’t do well with new people,” I hiss and he rolls his eyes.

“Tums,” he says, “You know I love you, which is why I told him it was fine if they came over.” Noticing how confused I am, he sighs, sitting next to me. “Autumn, we’re starting high school in just a few short months. You’re going to be forced to interact with people you don’t know. If you don’t practice at least a little while we’re here, then how are you supposed to make it through the next four years?”

“Plenty of people have made it through high school without talking to many people, Gus,” I point out.

“Yes, but look how they turn out.” I blink at him, still confused and he just sighs again. “Look, just try this, okay? For me?” He puts on his best puppy-dog eyes. You wouldn’t think someone like Gus knew how to pull off such a look, but he did, and whenever he did it with me, it worked.

“Fine,” I groan and his face instantly lights up. He wraps his arms around my shoulders, squeezing me tightly.

“You won’t regret this, Tums; I promise,” he says, pulling away and smiling widely at me.

“You better,” I mutter back.

~

Brian and Michelle are the first to arrive not an hour later. At this point in time, I can’t decide whether or not it seemed stalkerish to already know about these people before I even meet them. But that thought doesn’t prevent me from forcing myself downstairs after Gus to introduce ourselves.

As soon as Matt notices us walking into the kitchen where the three of them have gathered, he perks up, beckoning us over excitedly. Gus has to grab my wrist and pull me over, so I don’t seem like I’m staring too much at Brian.

“Guys,” he announces proudly, clapping Gus on the shoulder as soon as he’s near enough to do so, “these are my kids. Augustus, Autumn; these are Brian and Michelle. Brian and I work together and my wife and Michelle are twins.” From a fan stand-point, I feel like I’m being talked to like a five-year-old; of course I already knew all this, but Gus certainly didn’t.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he says, smiling politely. He nudges me in the side rather hard and I force a similar smile.

“Awe, Matt; they look so much like you!” Michelle exclaims, walking over to me. She begins looking me over, studying the similarities between the two of us – similarities I still had yet to pick out on my own. Matt just chuckles in amusement and Brian rolls his eyes.

“Jesus, ‘Chelle; don’t look at them like they’re some sort of science experiment,” he scolds her playfully. I notice her blush slightly before turning her attention to my hair.

“Is this your natural color?” she asks, picking up a strand of my bright auburn hair, looking at it with a bewildered expression on her face. I would be lying if I said this was the first time I’ve been asked this question; when I was little, it was a lot darker. Now it just looked like I had an Instagram filter highlighting my hair everywhere I went with how bright it’s turned out.

“It is,” I mumble. I notice Brian give her another look and she drops it with a resigned look on her face.

“So,” Brian begins, looking between Gus and I. “Do you guys play any instruments?” Now it’s Michelle’s turn to groan at him. I just blush while Gus shrugs.

“Not really,” he admits. “We both used to take piano lessons in elementary school, but Autumn never liked it, and I had to quit because of sports.”

“They don’t have to play instruments if they don’t want to,” Matt interjects, once again placing his hands on Gus’ shoulders. Brian just ignores him.

“What sports do you play?” he asks him.

“Soccer,” he replies modestly. “I’ve been playing since I was in the first grade.” Brian looks him over before shaking his head, laughing to himself.

“Damn, Matt,” he laughs. “Are you sure these are your kids?” Michelle hits him in the chest as if to scold him.

“Just because they’re his children, does not mean they have to have the same interests,” she tells him; he just rolls his eyes at the brunette.

“Besides,” Gus adds, turning towards me. “Autumn’s talent is way cooler than me kicking a ball around on a field for two hours.” Everyone turns their attention towards me and I feel my face heat up.

“Really?” Brian asks, raising an eyebrow. “What do you like to do, sweetie?” If possible, I feel myself blush even more. Matt chuckles lightly at my blatant mortification, and Gus just shakes his head at me.

“It’s nothing really,” I mutter, wishing right then that I could just disappear. Gus scoffs.

“Yeah, right,” he says.

“Awe, c’mon,” Brian pouts, jutting his bottom lip out a little. “Can’t you tell me?” I shake my head, backing away slightly.

“Its okay, Brian,” Matt says, keeping his tone light. “She’s still a little shy.” It kind of bothered me that he felt the need to speak for me, as if he knew me my entire life. But I don’t say anything.

Suddenly, I hear the front door open and a pair of voices bickering back and forth begin growing louder and louder as they approach. As soon as Zack and his girlfriend, Meaghan, burst through the swinging kitchen doors, it becomes apparent that they are simply arguing over fast-food.

“All I’m saying,” Zack says, sitting at one of the counter stools, grabbing the petite blonde by the waist and pulling her onto his lap. “Is that as soon as you take a bite of one of their tacos.” He closes his eyes, as if savoring the taste of one of Taco Bell’s infamous tacos. Meaghan just shakes her head.

“You guys are seriously having this conversation again?” Brian asks, looking over at them; I press my hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter. Brian turns to us, shaking his head. “They’re always like this,” he tells us. I notice Zack aim a half-assed kick at his best friend’s leg, which he professionally avoids, by stepping around Michelle so he’s on her other side.

“Matt,” Michelle speaks up, ignoring her husband’s antics, “Where’s Val?” He frowns slightly at this, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

“I don’t know,” he admits. “I’ll go call her real quick.” He steps out of the kitchen, and I look over at Gus skeptically. He just shrugs.

“Is she still mad at him?” Zack asks, looking over at Michelle.

“I think so,” she mutters, picking at her manicured nails. “I think she’s really just mad that he waited so long to tell her…”

“Tell her what?” I can’t help but ask. I feel Gus glare at me, but I do my best to ignore him.

“About you and your brother,” Brian replies simply, and Gus and I frown.

“What do you mean?” I press, and Brian frowns over at us.

“Matt never told Val about you two.” When he notices the confused look on both of our faces, he frowns even deeper. “You guys thought Val was your mother, didn’t you?” Zack snorts, and Meaghan hits his leg gently.

“Who is our mother, then?” Gus asks, and Brian shrugs.

“Kid, that’s something you’re going to have to ask your father, because I have no fucking clue.” I feel myself grow curious, and slightly frustrated to the point where I could feel myself wanting to cry. How could they not know who our mother was, when they all knew each other for most of our lives?

“None of us knew that he had gotten some girl pregnant, hon,” Michelle says gently, clearly noticing the distressed look on my face.

“He kept it a secret from us all this time,” Zack mutters, his words laced with anger. I flinch slightly, not expecting this tone from him, considering he had done nothing but joke since he and Meaghan arrived.

“Um, where’s the bathroom?” I ask, trying to keep my voice from cracking. Michelle looks over at me, sympathy filling her eyes.

“It’s just down the hall. Are you alright, sweetie?” I force a nod before scurrying out of there, nearly bumping into Matt on my way out. He gives me a concerned look as I push past him, but he doesn’t bother calling after me, which certainly does not help.

Once I’m alone, I allow my tears to start spilling out. I hated that I took things to heart; I hated that I was crying over the assumption that Matt was too ashamed of us to even tell his wife. It made me realize that I just wanted to be here even less than before, and I immediately wish I had remembered to grab my phone off its charger in my new “bedroom” before coming downstairs, so I could text the guys back home. I needed a distraction before my pessimistic, adolescent thoughts consumed me.

Notes

A/N: I'm planning on updating this every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from now on, so long as I can stay on top of writing this.

Hope you enjoyed!

~WOLFY~