you read the title, here we go-
(a lot of abandonment btw, and small mention of death/car accidents)
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A4 Sheet and Cardboard were seemingly the definition of "opposites attract". A4 Sheet was playful and the life of the party, while Cardboard was more reserved and didn't show much affection. But everyone thought they were the perfect couple, with three kids and a nice home.
Truth is, Cardboard was completely unhappy. It started with her oldest, Book. When she was born, Cardboard didn't feel the unconditional love other mothers would with their kids, she just saw her as a burden that she'd carry for the next eighteen years.
Cardboard and A4 Sheet also never intended on having kids, but decided to keep on with their new life, getting married to make it easier... but in Cardboard's eyes, it chained her down to an unhappy life.
As Book got a bit older, Cardboard had pushed a lot of expectations onto her, making her the "perfect" daughter. She also used Book as a way to live out her dreams in life, of what she could've been.
When the twins (Taxy and Foldy) were born, Cardboard didn't care as much. She didn't hate them as much as Book, but she didn't like them that much either. They were just... there, in her eyes.
As a result from the lack of maternal affection, the two of them struggled in making friends. However, Foldy was luckier in that regard, being known in her class as the "quiet yet kind" girl, who was under the wing of her insanely protective best friend who everyone was betting that they'd be a future couple.
Spoiler alert: her classmates were right.
Taxy, though... wasn't as lucky. They didn't really want to socialize much in the first place, focusing more on the schoolwork than friends. It was hard for them to keep any long-term friendships, as they were often forgotten about... if there was ever a project that was to be done in groups of three, they were the fourth friend that ended up doing it alone.
They felt like the black sheep in the family, and they never understood why... something was always off. However, when Foldy's friend (who was 13 at the time) was beginning to open up about something... Taxy got a small insight as to what it could be.
They began to look more into different labels, and while one aspect was figured out quickly... the other was a bit of a hassle, to say the least. It changed a LOT, but never long enough for the labels to stick. Even now, they're still lost in confusion.
As for the rest of the family, it didn't affect them much (except for that A4 Sheet was now joking that Foldy and that friend would get together - SPOILERS: HE WAS RIGHT-) but Cardboard was curious, and decided to look into more about the community...
She recalled that a co-worker of hers was part of that community too. They weren't all that close beforehand, but now that she was investigating more... they had something to talk about. Lo and behold, they started to become friends.
By this point, though, Cardboard was basically giving up on Book, as her resentment towards her became stronger and stronger, as Cardboard began to think about how much better her life could've been without her.
Truth is... Cardboard fell out of love with A4 Sheet long ago. Every bit of affection he'd give to her was sickening, and she grew resentful of him too, blaming him and Book for "ruining her life".
Taxy - even though they were struggling with their own identity - was beginning to grow suspicious towards Cardboard, and was fully expecting things to go wrong soon... everyone else was completely unaware, however.
And then, one day... Cardboard realized the truth about herself, and that she had fallen for the co-worker. She knew that her friend wouldn't go with her, though, due to the fact that Cardboard was literally married, but... what if she said the truth?
