Dawn Hollow

XXIII

"Again, PJ, I'm really fucking sorry," Noah sighed into the phone again for nearly the 100th time by Joseph's count from the bed across the way. He hadn't looked up once from the comic book he was flipping through but just based on how far he had gotten in it, his twin had been endlessly apologizing for about an hour. "Okay, but can you please tell me if there is anything I can do to make it up to you?" Joseph rolled his eyes and scoffed. It was like his twin never learned. He always had to make things 'better.' He always had to fix everything. But some things aren't entirely fixable. Not all at once anyway.

"Can you hurry up and get off the phone? My ears can't handle anymore of your voice," Joseph whispered under his breath. Noah gave him a raised middle finger while continuing half out of spite.

"Okay, well, if you need anything, just let me know. I'll see you tonight." Then, finally, the cell phone was out of his hands and limply tossed onto the bed. His feet flung over the bed to the ground, elbows on his knees and shaken fingers swimming through his hair.

"What did he say?" Joseph said without looking.

"He accepted my apology and told me it was okay. But he said that he was going to the dance with Kane instead."

"And how does that make you feel?"

"It stings, Joseph! And it sucks because that's such a dick move to ask someone to the dance after he just rejected someone else! He knows I worked hard to give him the perfect promposal and to turn around and stab me in the back! I just...god, I feel so betrayed!"

"I get what you mean. But no matter what happens in life, there's only one thing that you can do about that." Joseph closed his comic book and swung his legs over the bed as well, eye-to-eye with his twin, "You have to smile and support."

"Smile and support? That's practically impossible!"

"I know it seems that way, but it's better than leaving anything on a bad note." Noah ran his hands down his lips, eyes drifting over to the open window with many thoughts spiraling through him. "Do you remember when I tried to ask Stephaine Rox to the dance?"

"That was ages ago, Joseph!"

"I know, right? That was before testosterone, my name changed, even before I started wearing more masculine clothes. Before I even knew who I wanted to be. But remember how I had this whole elaborate plan you and PJ helped me come up with? I bought her a flower, a teddy bear; I even wore my nicest outfit. And right when I turned the corner to her locker to ask her to the dance, Miles Poplin was right there asking her. It absolutely crushed me, especially since Stephaine and I were such good friends; that was all she ever talked about! But then Moeder told me to just smile and support my friend. And that's exactly what I did, no matter how much it hurt."

"So then, what does this have to do with me?" The twin asked, somewhat lost in the conversation.

"You don't want to lose PJ as a friend, do you?"

"No, of course not!"

"Then the best thing you can do is support what's best for PJ. And the hard truth might be that Kane is better for PJ. Noah, I'm not asking you to be best friends with Kane or even be nicer to him than you already are. But I'm just trying to say that even though it will be hard, being civil with a smile on your face is the best thing that you can do."

"But what if it hurts?" Noah said with bubbles in his deep eyes. Joseph took the hands of his brother, grinning fondly.

"It will. I'm not going to sit here and lie to you about that fact. But that's what means you have a good heart. That you let what hurts happen for the happiness or betterment of someone else. It proves your selflessness." Noah nodded down at the floor, squeezing his brother's hands tightly. The words brewed and boiled inside him, trying to make sense of all of it. Despite all that, however, he agreed with every single word. Now, perhaps, he understood that he had it all wrong. Love wasn't two people being in a relationship necessarily, but instead spreading the goodness of your own heart around to those that you care about. And PJ was the very center of his, which meant he knew exactly how to make things right.