The Truth is... {Sequel to I May be Famous But They Don't Know That}

Chapter 3

When I open my eyes again, I am met by a frantic Chase. I can see tears forming in his eyes and he is on the phone with someone, "What's wrong?" I ask him in almost a whisper. He stops talking and looks down at me, suddenly relief is flooding his eyes and he relays a quick apology to whoever is on the other end of the line before hanging up. Then he is scooping me into his arms and carrying me back to my car, "You are not staying here today." He hissed, fierce protectiveness burning in his eyes.

However I could still see the fear etched into the crease between his brows. One tear had escaped and was trailing it's way down his cheek, "What happened Chase? Why were you so afraid." He took a shaky breath as he sat me down in the passenger seat and gently buckled me in, as if I was no older than a kindergartener, "When you collapsed, well, all I saw was, was your brother..." He trails off, a tortured expression seeping into his eyes. That's when I remember that the first sign of my brother's tumor was when he fainted in front of Chase, "Oh Chase." I whisper before I wrap my arms around him, "I'm fine, don't worry."

He holds me tightly before releasing me and walking around to the driver's side. The words that Will spoke are replaying in my mind like a record on repeat. Drunken escapades. Brother's death. Reality hits me when I realize that his description mirrors what I have been experiencing with Chase, and that's when I know that he knows more about my situation that I had thought in the first place.

Chase drives me home, not uttering a word, however I know that he plans to stay there with me, my parents are both out for work, and he has no way of getting back to school anyways. I don't have the energy to tell Chase what Will said to the Press. All Chase knows is that they know about Chris, other than that, he is in the dark. Come to think of it, I don't even know if Chase is really aware of what he is doing to himself. He views his drinking as a mechanism of protection from the past, if only he knew that I would always be here for him.

"What do you want to do?" I question as we pull up to my house. Chase doesn't answer, instead he is running around the car to scoop me up from my seat, he is determined to not let me walk today, "You are not going to do anything today. You can sit on the couch and watch TV, but that's it." He instructs. Cool air brushes against me as he pulls the front door open and saunters inside. I bury my face in his shirt and try to hold back my tears. I don't want to do anything, all the emotions that I have kept carefully stowed away threaten to crash down on me. I can tell that something as simple as seeing on of Chris's favorite shows will set the domino effect going. So when Chase sets me down on the couch I curl up in a ball and hug my legs to myself.

Chase takes the hit and refrains from turning on any TV shows. Instead he sits down next to me and pulls me into his embrace, "It's ok you know, we have each other." He whispers into my ear as I quietly cry into his sleeve, "I don't get it." My voice is small, a shadow of the strong voice I had kept up for months, "What?" he asks quietly, afraid of breaking the mood of silence, "Why is Chris gone? We were twins? Why didn't I get the tumor? It could have just as easily been me." I managed to get out just before the sobs began to take over my body. Chase didn't have an answer, so he just kissed my forehead and stroked my hair until I fell into a fitful sleep.

I woke up screaming my brother's name. I had a dream where I could see him at the end of a tunnel, but no matter how fast I ran, he kept getting further away until I could hardly see him at all. I think my parents had feared this day would come. They saw my brave actions as an act of denial. Some therapist had told me to let all my emotions out or they would come down on me in a few months. Guess they were right. I sit up and rub the sleepiness out of my eyes. But I can't seem to shake that feeling of tiredness that I know is not from lack of sleep.

I am in my room now, tucked carefully into my covers. My shoes sit beside my bed along with my bag and sunglasses. A wry smile touches my lips as I realize that Chase must have listened to me all those times I had complained about him putting his shoes on my bed. With more effort than it ever used to take, I climb out of my bed and slowly shuffle my way towards the door. It seems to take pounds of exertion to get the doorknob to move an inch, and when it does it lets out a noisy protest. In the hallway, I can here hushed voices in the kitchen, one belongs to Chase, and the other belongs to my parents, both biological and Adoptive, "We knew this would happen." One voice chimes in, "It was a matter of time." Another agrees, "What do you expect, being a twin is the closest bond you can get." Chase's voice is quite serious and I am surprised that my parents allow him to stay for this conversation.

"I think she needs another therapist." I tune out the rest of the conversations and wander back to my room. What my parents don't understand, what they will never understand, is that I'm not merely sad over my brother's death; But for the first time in months, I can tell that without him, the best part of me has gone missing.

** Hello! So I promise it will get more exciting, I just have to set it up first! Thanks for reading though! Between uploads you can always check out my other stories, J Comment?? Vote?? Fan??