Hidden Sister

Sixteen

(A/N:Since all of you lovely readers can't wait for the next chapter, here it is. Lol thank me because I'm supposed to be studying)

Gianna

Everyone around us was silent, as they watched the scene unfold.

I was looking into the eyes of my brother.

My freaking brother

We hadn't seen each other for over a decade. To say we were shocked was an underestimate; neither of us could more, or speak. It was almost as if everything had frozen around us and time had stopped for the very first time.

The tension in the atmosphere was thick, so thick it could be cut with a knife. I could hear whispering all around us and the shocked gasps of people from around us, including my own children, but I was too surprised to care.

"Gianna." His voice spoke, coming out in almost a whisper. The both of us just stood there, unmoving, trying to process this unexpected occurrence.

I didn't know how to react, to be honest. Should I be happy? Angry? Annoyed? Pissed? Shock was more like it. It seemed like life was throwing unexpected curveballs because I didn't expect to see my brother at this Christmas Party.

Hell, I didn't expect to see my family ever again.

In a split second, Shay pulled me into a hug. He squeezed the life out of me and held onto me, but my eyes were widened at his action.

After all these years, I though Shay would shove me away, but instead it was the opposite. Slowly processing what just happened, I slowly put my arms around him and gave him a hug as well.

We stood there like that in front of everyone, just hugging. No one seemed to stop us or even knew how to react, since everyone was confused.

All of a sudden, the familiar feeling of my brother's hugs returned to me and I was hit with a sudden feeling of realization. It was like in a car accident when the shock was wearing off, the scary feeling of what would happen next would hit you.

And it was as if everything came to hit you back in the face again. All the memories, the smiles, the tears, the hugs, the fights came back and hit me in the face like a curveball.

"Shay." I whispered, still undecided on how I was feeling.

Once we pulled apart, he placed his hands on my shoulders and took in my appearance as I took in his. Shay had aged by a few years since the last time I saw him, which was around thirteen, fourteen years ago.

There were a few wrinkles and bags under his eyes, showing that he didn't get a lot of sleep. From when I left, Shay had always shaved his mustache and his beard, but he seemed to grow them out. He had gotten older and had matured from his twenty-year old self, but he still had those familiar, welcoming eyes and his playful smile.

He was always the one who was smiling when we were younger. He was the one in the spotlight, constantly wanting to be the center of attention and in every picture. Meanwhile I was the outcast, the one who hated attention and would ditch every family picture I could.

In total, I was only in about eleven pictures. That's how much I hated the camera, constantly avoiding it. And when anyone would try to take one, I would always run away from them. In school pictures, I only took one in kindergarten, one in eight grade, and one in fifth grade. I ditched my senior yearbook picture because I had left town once my senior year finished. Since I was already eighteen and a legal adult, it was easier to escape the mess I was in.

But now, I'm regretting every minute of deciding to leave my family.

"Gianna, you came back." He spoke, tears appearing in his eyes. All the memories and everything was hitting me, as I wiped a few forming tears of my own.