Beyond Bloodline - Unbreakable Bonds

fifteen

Saxon had just finished tugging the last of his clothes over his head and chanced a glance back towards his bed, getting spooked out of his mind no little bit when he found his gaze locking with Nigel's darkened ones. "Nigel, what the hell?" he scowled, slamming the door to his closet shut and walking over to drop in the desk chair next to his bed.

"What?" Nigel blinked slowly, his gaze following him and watching as his twin picked up a handkerchief and began fiddling with it.

"How long have you been up?" he asked.

"Long enough to see you spend nearly an eternity debating on your choice of clothing for the day," he shrugged. "It's dull as ever, by the way."

"Thanks," Saxon rolled his gaze away from him, sure he'd just keep getting annoyed the more he held contact with him. So he slowly picked up his needle so he could pick up on where he'd left his embroidery at before he'd tried going to bed last night. But his twin's stare got so intense, he wondered how it didn't end up burn a hole on the side of his head. "What now?"

"I'm just checking," Nigel said, a half-smile tipping his lips up the slightest bit when Saxon turned a curious look on him. "I'm trying to see what makes you so special."

"Excuse me?"

Nigel didn't need to listen to the tone. The offense was practically written all over his twin's face. Just like he wore every other of his emotions on his sleeves.

"I mean, I don't get it," there was no point backtracking from this so Nigel didn't even make the effort to. "I look and look, trying to find what makes you much more special to them. But you're just you. So fucking ordinary."

Saxon's jaw ticked as the offense he felt dug deeper but he refrained from saying or doing anything, like making him get out of his room, and simply turned back to his work. To some extent, he understood where his brother was coming from but it annoyed him. He hated having to endure his caustic barbs and snide comments.

"You're doing it again," Nigel's smile widened slightly. But there was nothing happy about it. "That's all you guys ever do. Ignore everything like it'll disappear by paying it no mind."

Saxon barely held a curse under his breath when he nicked his finger, focus divided. "What do you want me to say to you?" he asked, doing his best to keep his tone even.

Nigel scoffed. "At least acknowledge me," he said. "It's fine enough that they treat me as though I'm invisible and so fucking dispensable. I don't need you doing it too."

"I never—" Saxon paused, his fingers stilling. He hadn't ever made him feel that way, had he? "I've only ever acknowledged you."

"Sure," Nigel continued, now non-committal. "So tell me, why do they even like you?"

"I don't know, you tell me," Saxon smarted back, not having the patience needed to deal with his twin. Not this morning. "Why don't they like you?"

Hurt flashed briefly across Nigel's colored irises but he was glad the other was at least too focused on his stupid embroidery to notice or even worse, try to care. Then he smiled, one much realer than the ones he'd just been managing that morning but not really meaning any of.

"Why the hell are you smiling now?" Saxon's gaze snapped to him after he caught part of the brief action from his peripheral, his eyes flashing with annoyance.

"Finally tired of pretending?" Nigel asked, brow arched.

"What?"

"That's the probably only real sentiment you've conveyed all your life in regards to me," Nigel said, giving a casual shrug. "This is much realer than any act you've ever put on around me. Is it mean, stranger than what I'm used to? Sure. But I'll take this real anger over your false concern."