Mirror Image [Dropped]

[One]: Thicker than Water

 I - Thicker than Water

Life went on as it always did after that day – with an oppressed Nate tagging along his more domineering, sharp tongued and generally unpleasant twin.

“And don’t you dare do anything stupid today.” Neil hissed at his brother as the two entered the school building. He hadn’t forgotten what Nate had done the day before, how he’d let that kid run away, and he was still angry.

Nate fought the urge to snap back at his brother; he knew better than to let his irritation show. His brother was...volatile, he knew, and he knew what would happen if he opened his mouth in protest. Oh, he was well aware of it – and he hated the disadvantage that put him in.

Unhappily, he nodded.

Neil smiled, satisfied. They’d been sharing the same thought.

“Neil, my man!” A voice cut through the scene that moment – Kane. “Nate,” he acknowledged amicably, and they went on to exchange hi-fives.

The rest of their clique poured into the hallway and around their usual meeting spot soon enough; greetings ensued; and, well, life went on.

*

“What did I tell you earlier?” Neil made no effort to keep his voice low – he was furious – and nobody was around to hear him anyway. The latter was important to Neil, for he cared about his ‘image’, and yelling at his brother like that wouldn’t exactly be scoring him as many points.

Yet back there behind the school, he wasn’t thinking about what it would look like if people saw him yelling at his twin. He was one hundred percent livid, there wasn't anything to be done about it, anything to be done about what his brother had done to have that effect on him.

Nate raised his chin in defiance. “I couldn’t let you do that,” he stated, internally struggling to keep his voice calm. He was experiencing an odd mixture of both anger and fear – yes, Neil scared him. Or maybe it wasn’t Neil as much as it was his unpredictability; what he would do, especially when he was angry, scared Nate.

Or maybe it was just one of the things that he could do that made Nate’s heart constrict a little out of fear; made his throat dry up. Neil was angry, they had established that, and Neil could go on ahead and destroy everything…no, Nate shook his head stubbornly, trying to drive the thought out as soon as it occured. Don't entertain the idea.

His thoughts drifted off, away from his brother, only to be brought back to the secluded corner behind school, to reality, by the shaking that his brother was handing to him.

“You’re not even listening, are you?”

“I’m sorry.” Nate’s mind was still racing. He hadn’t done it this time, had he? Oh, God, please let him calm down. Please don’t let him ruin everything. I swear, I won’t try test him again.

“Pathetic.” Neil stormed off without giving Nate the opportunity to try and salvage the mess he’d created. He groaned.

This was bad.

*

On the other hand, Neil’s temper hadn’t cooled down even in the slightest. His brother could be so, so- infuriating sometimes! And he hadn’t even been listening! The things he did and the way he acted – if it weren’t for the fact that they had exactly the same genetic material within them, he never would have believed them to be brothers.

Really, Nate never seemed to understand him. Nate never understood what Neil held as valuable, and more often than not he ended up doing...things.

Sometimes, Neil wished he didn’t have a twin.