No Twins Next Door

Chapter 7

It's been a week since Mia spoke to the twins. Ever since the argument, they haven't tried to apologise. They haven't been in the bar for a drink either. It's like they're ignoring her. Mia tried not to think about it too much.

"Act cold. Protect yourself," she reminds herself every day.

She was drinking in her bedroom while Lexi was working. Mia had already drank four cans of Stella and two bottles of Budweiser. She had locked herself in her room and was trying to drink her problems away.

She was trying to get rid of the pain she was feeling. She had spent so many years trying to not feel pain, to protect herself. And now Ethan and Grayson walk back into her life and ruin everything, again. She just wanted to end all the pain.

"You're strong," she said to herself. "You can get through this. You were able to get through ut once, why is it so hard this time? You just need to shut them out. Shut everyone out. Don't trust anyone! They will only hurt you".

She paused. "Maybe I should go speak to my therapist later? I could speak to her about everything; see what she thinks about the whole situation. Knowing her, she would tell me to be friends with them. Saying it would be good to have someone to talk to about my past, someone to relate to. Someone who I could share memories with".

While she was drinking, she heard a knock on her door. She wanted to ignore it, but they knocked again and spoke up. "Mia?!" She recognised the voice as Grayson. She sighed as she stumbled towards the door.

She swung her door open and glared at him and Ethan. "Oh! So now you want to talk to me?! What?! Did you get bored of me?! Did you feel like you could do better?! Did you feel like I betrayed you again?! Did you feel like I lied to you?! WHAT DID I DO?!"

Ethan and Grayson walked into her apartment and sat her down on the couch. Grayson took the bottle from her hand and placed it on the coffee table and pulled her into a hug. Ethan had locked the door behind them and sat opposite them.

"We're sorry," Grayson whispered into her hair. Mia's head was resting on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "We're sorry for everything: for breaking your heart; for not accepting you; for not being there for you when you needed us; for judging the way you live. We're sorry. And we understand if you don't want to talk to us any more - we wouldn't either".

Mia hugged him tight. "I've missed you both so much!" She whispered. Grayson smiled as he hugged back. "I should never have been so cold towards you. I was just scared that you'd hurt me again. I'm sorry".

"It's fine, you don't have to apologise," Grayson replied.

They spent the day watching Netflix while eating almost all the food in the cupboards. Mia was trying to get the alcohol out her system, which led to her falling asleep while they were watching the first film on Netflix.

When Mia woke up, she was hungover with a pounding headache. Ethan got up to get her a glass of water and some painkillers. Mia thanked him and took the pills. After she had taken the painkillers, they began to talk about everything they did back in New Jersey together.

They were laughing and joking about what had happened. They were talking for hours. It wasn't long until Mia wasn't happy. "We're going back home next week," Ethan was telling her. "I think you should come with us. I'm sure everyone would love to see you again".

Mia looked down at her hands. "I don't know," she said quietly. "My family were very disappointed in me for quite a while. And then I just leave without telling them. Now you want me to see them again? How do you think that will end?"

"You can't live without your family, Mia," Grayson said. She sighed and closed her eyes. "I know you don't have the perfect family, but they are your family. No matter what you do, they will always love you. And they miss you".

Mia frowned at him. "How do you know?"

"We went home before coming here," Ethan explained. "We spoke to your mum and dad. They told us to tell you that they miss you and they're sorry for everything. They weren't sure if we'd see you, but they were hoping we would so we could tell you how they feel".

"What if they yell at me?" Mia questioned. "I know I'm not the perfect daughter, and I've done many things I regret... but what if they still hate me? I don't think I could see them look at me with so much disgust again".

"They aren't disgusted in you," Grayson told her. "They regret ever yelling at you. They regret not helping you when you needed them. They know they should have done something. That they should have tried harder to help you. But they want to apologise for all of that. They want to show you that they are better".

"People change, Mia," Ethan said. "You said so yourself".

Mia buried her face in her hands. "Fine, I'll go with you". Ethan and Grayson smiled at each other. "But if anything bad happens while in Jersey, I'll be coming straight back to New York. Understood?"

"Yeah," they replied in sync.