Trying For You

Chapter Fifty

QUINN POV

My thumbs fiddled around nervously as I sat across from my sister I hadn't seen since I was seven. Ava's eyes never left the table and mine never left her.

We'd come to the cafe after the stadium altercation and my three companions sat at the counter, leaving us to talk. But we weren't talking at all. While I kept busy trying not to cry and begging my heart to slow down, my twin looked lost in her head.

I took a deep breath in to prepare my words even though I wasn't sure what they were just yet. My mouth opened and nothing came out, so I tried again. Huffing quietly at my failed attempts, I let my eyes fall on the girl who made everything better.

Ry wasn't looking at me then but I kept my eyes on the beauty until she did. When my favourite color stared at me, I tried to tell her how nervous I felt. Ry smiled and mouthed 'I'm inlove with you' at me and I instantly felt my heart slow down to a calming rate. I tore my gaze away from those captivating ambers and back to my twin.

"Did that guy hurt you?" I asked, looking at the brunette.

Ava's eyes snapped up to mine, a slow grin forming on her face. "Nope, but I'll tell you this. I was about to have my ass handed to me because while I have a big fucking mouth, these babies are just for show." I lifted her skinny arms and flexed.

"He would have hurt you if we didn't hear you." I frowned at her nonchalance.

Ava shrugged, "he was hurting a child. I couldn't see that and not do something to help."

I felt some pride bubble in my chest and smiled. "That's true."

We let silence fall over us with me feeling this ache to hold her in a bone crushing hug. Ava's eyes drifted around the empty cafe, a sigh leaving her once in a while.

"The first thing I remember after waking up was this pain like no other. I mean, everything hurt. I couldn't stop crying, I struggled to breathe, my body was too weak to move and I thought nothing could ever feel worse." She spoke up and our eyes locked. "Then they told me my family had died and I was proven wrong. That's what killed me. Even as young as I was, I felt utterly destroyed. Months went by and I got sent to the orphanage where I met Miss Angel, she took care of me, you know. For a while I felt a bit better, not much but," she shrugged. "After I got adopted, that little bit of ease I encountered left. Turns out they couldn't have kids of their own and they just wanted someone to give a name.

I grew up with money but I barely saw the couple who adopted me. At age nine the woman entered me into a beauty pageant and from then on it never stopped. I felt like a doll, makeup, clothes, diets, my scars were even hidden but they didn't care because I had a pretty face. I had people who liked me because of the money but I never had real friends. I've been alone, Quinny. I've always been alone even when I was surrounded by so many people. And now, you and everyone else is telling me that I didn't have to be? You're telling me that my baby sisters were alive all these years? All this time I could've been looking for you instead of being a broken doll?" Her voice had significantly lowered throughout her words, eyes glossed over from barely held in tears.

I sniffed and wiped my eyes, looking over to where the other three sat. Sadie and Kaiden's head turned away but Ry's didn't. She gave a sad smile and gestured for me to go to a now crying Ava. I nodded my head to both her and myself before standing on shaky legs. Sitting next to my twin, I gingerly wrapped my arms around her trembling body. Ava only cried more and when I moved to pull away, thinking I had done something wrong, she returned the hug.

Ava cried to her heart's content while I shed some of my own before she calmed down. The others had left to go outside when she didn't stop crying to give us more privacy.