Strings (1 of 2)

Chapter 56 - Tell Me a Secret

"And sometimes, even when you know the end won't be good, you still want to live it." - The Random Stories

[Flashback - 3 years ago]

Dean and I lay in my bed on a random Saturday morning, our limbs tangled together under the sheets and my head resting on his bare chest as I listen to his heart beat against my ear. His body's warmth keeps me cozy against him despite the breeze from the window.

"Tell me a secret." I grin up to him suddenly with big eyes.

He groans and rolls his eyes playfully. "Not this game again..." he chuckles.

"You love it. Come on, say it." I elbow him slightly and smirks.

"Okay, okay. What secret? " He replies on cue and I think about a topic.

This is our game - only ours. We swore each other to secrecy that we would tell no one about the game or the secrets shared inside it. 

It started a few months ago, when we thought that because we have known each other for so long that we know everything about each other. So, one day we decided to make a game of it. One of us says "tell me a secret" whenever we want, as long as we are alone. The other replies "what secret?" and has to answer whatever topic the other chooses to ask about.

We have since learned that there are a lot of things we still don't know about each other.

"Why do you think you don't have any siblings?" I ask after a moment. I have always wondered why his parents didn't have a bunch of kids. They are fantastic parents and love him so much... wouldn't they want to share that?

Dean's eyes widen slightly. He wasn't expecting that.

"I did have a sibling once." He answers quietly and I sit up instantly, pulling the sheets up as well to cover me.

"What?" I ask quickly. He never told me about this...

"A twin, actually. But he died in my mom's womb." My mouth drops open as I stare at him. Why hasn't he mentioned this to me in the past decade of being friends?

He scratches his face lightly and shrugs to me. "Actually, I don't know if died is the right term. Technically, I absorbed him early on in the pregnancy."

"Dean. How don't I know this?" I ask him, fully in shock from his confession. He has never at all mentioned this before.

He chuckles lightly and moves a strand of hair from my face, folding it behind my ear.

"It's not something that normally comes up. It's fine, Em, really. Don't feel sad about it for me... really." He squeezes my hand with a genuine smile on his handsome face.

"Anyways, I think my mom just decided to stick with only me after that. She never talks about it, but I think that's why deep down."

I cuddle back against his chest and sigh. Poor Clara... she is so kind and good, she deserved to be the mother to a hundred lucky kids.

"So there could have been two of you in my life? Double the pain in my ass..." I joke to lighten the mood and his chest rumbles against me as he laughs.

"Double the handsome you mean." He squeezes my waist and I smile into his stomach.

"Exactly. How would I have chosen?" I lean back to peak up to him with a playful smirk and he rolls his eyes.

"Don't even talk about that." He frowns as he grumbles down to me. "I don't want to think about you choosing someone else over me, let alone my own brother."