She has always been alone, if you exclude her grandpa and books of course.
He has always been surrounded by people, never mind them not being good for him.
One little mistake at fifteen has brought him to her stomping ground.
She's a bibliophile...
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Lana is a complete mess.
Her hair is disheveled, her clothes are wrinkled and her eyes are damp with tears.
"What the fuck happened?" I asked, anger seething through me.
"He just overreacted," she explained.
"I don't care, what did he do?" I fumed.
"We were arguing about something and he turned ballistic, screaming and shouting at me so I dumped him." She explained as a new trail of tears fell from her eyes.
"Did he touch you?" I ask.
"No," she shook her head as I pulled up to January's house.
Good.
January opened the door for us and ushered us in. She took Lana to the couch and draped a blanket over her, then she walked to the kitchen returning a few moments later with a plate of cookies and warm tea.
"Thank you, January." Lane smiled softly at her.
All this made me admire Jade ten times more than I already do.
"It's no problem, we have a guest bedroom upstairs if you want to get take a nap. You can eat or drink whatever you like and you can stay here for as long as you'd like." Jade smiled sweetly at my twin.
"Thank you," Lane pulled Jade into a tight hug, Jade reciprocated immediately.
"Anything you need I'm right here, okay?" Jade smoothed the flyaways on my sister's short hair.
"Okay, I think I might take you up on that nap though." Lana's eyes started to droop.
"Sure thing, come on I'll show you the guest room." January took Lana into her arms and lead her upstairs to a room right next to hers.
Then, she tucked Lana into bed, turned off the light and left the room.
"Thank you," I whispered to her when we reached the kitchen.
All the rage I had in me evaporated completely the second Jade smiled at me.
"She'll be okay." She guaranteed.
"I hope so." I whispered, "do you want us to get started on your bread?"
"You still up for that?" She asks, hesitantly.
"Of course, I couldn't think of a better way to spend my Saturday." I smiled too sweetly at her.
She shoved me and got to work.
ꨄꨄꨄ
"What're you doing?" My sister's groggy voice brings Jade and me out of our baking rhythm.
She puts all the ingredients together I mix them and occasionally clean up.
"Making muffins," January smiled at my twin, "how are you feeling?"
"Better, thank you again." Lana smiles slightly.
"It's no problem," Jade smiles, "are you hungry? I'm sure we have some of pops' leftovers in the fridge."
"Uh, no I'm good," Lana shakes her head, "but do you have any more of that tea from earlier?"
"Of course," Jade's eyes light up, "sit down I'll make you some."
"Where is Mr. Carlton?" I ask, noticing I haven't seen him since the morning.
"He's out back, probably fell asleep." Jade explained.
"It's mid January, he's probably freezing." I exclaim.
"No he's okay," Jade grabs my arm and turns me to the kitchen window that faces the back of her house.
"See that little cabin over there?" She points to the wooden cabin at the far end of the yard that's covered in snow, I nod, "that is his reading nook, it's heated and there are a ton of blankets out there."
Oh.
"That's cool." I nod.
"Cool?" Lana exclaims, "bro this is amazing."
"Thank you," January smiled sheepishly at my twin.
"You're fucking welcome." My sister smiles brightly at Jade.
I know this move of hers, make everyone think she's okay while she is completely not.
She'd share bright smiles and a cheerful face to help her get her false point across.
But I know her too well to fall for that.
"Here you go," Jade places the tea in front of Lana a long with a plate full of cookies.
"Thank you," Lana smiles and takes a sip.
"No problem." Jade smiles brightly and softly at my twin.
"January," Mr. Carlton enters the house through the kitchen door, "who is your friend?" He gestures at Lana.
"Lana, August's twin sister." Jade smiles at her grandfather and pours him a cup of tea as well.
"Oh, I hope you aren't half as bad as your brother." Walter laughs lightly and sits down after he patted my shoulder affectionately.
"Nah," Lana smiles, "I'm worse."
That makes Walter laugh the hardest I've ever seen. Lana joins him.
"I don't think I've ever seen your grandpa laugh like this." I nudge Jade.
"Me neither." She whispers back.
Then Walter got up and started walking to the living room, "come Lana, let them cook."
Lana throws me a smile and moves over to the living room.
"That was..." I start.
"Weird." Jade finished my thought.
We continue making our Muffins.
***
Hey, hi, hello.
How are you?
I love this chap so much.
Tell me what you think!
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