→ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

                                    

                                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
With tired eyes, I trudged down the stairs, adding another sleepless night to my ongoing struggles. I didn't bother analyzing my appearance this morning. Instead, I let my natural wavy brown hair hang loose, threw on a matching tracksuit, spritzed on some perfume and headed out of my room.
Mum and River stood patiently waiting by the front door. Mum had on beige dress pants, a blouse and a blazer. While River had black jeans and a T-shirt on— both looking more presentable than me. 
"You ready bambina?" Mum asked, looking up from her phone and shooting me a kind smile. I nodded grabbing my coat from River, smiling at him, and following them to the car. 
"I have one rule," River said sitting beside me, "As my dear sister and twin, no boobs, butt or— actually stomach is fine, when we're shopping for clothes." He nodded to himself, now I may not be the smartest cookie in the cookie jar, but my brothers definitely discussed this before hand. 
"River, as my twin and dear brother, I will not be listening to you." He was smiling proudly to himself before snapping his attention to me. 
"I'm older, you're listening to me." He said in a that is final tone, making me shake my head. "Ma!" He whined. 
"River leave your sister alone, she's old enough to show what she wants, and I'm sure she's smart enough to know what's appropriate and what's not." Mum gave him a knowing look, her eyes found mine and she winked at me. 
"Not fair," River grumbled to himself, pulling out his phone dramatically, probably texting our brothers now. 
Once arriving at the mall, River and Mum led us through the stores, starting with Urban Outfitters, American Eagle, Old Navy, and Zara before heading to the designer stores. 
I already had six bags filled with shirts, jeans, hoodies, dresses, sweatpants, and other items, but they insisted I needed more.
"River, help your sister pick out some jewellery. I need to take a phone call," Mum said as we reached Tiffany & Co. 
"Come on," River said absentmindedly, and I reluctantly followed, reaching out to grab his hand. "What's wrong? Are you alright?" he asked, glancing around the mall frantically.
Christ, all I wanted to ask was why I needed jewellery.
"I'm fine. What are you so worried about?" I looked around, noticing the mall was unusually empty. "Wait, where is everyone?"
"Mum has quite the reputation, so we have to keep parts of the mall closed off when she goes shopping," River explained.
"Oh, good or bad?" I asked worriedly. 
River shook his head and laughed. "Good, who do you think we are?" he chuckled, his face amused. I wasn't sure how to respond since truthfully I still barely know them, and for all I know they could be just like my father or worse.
"Let's just get this over with," I said, walking into Tiffany & Co. I didn't mean to change my mood so abruptly, but I now realise how easily I've trusted them, too easy for my liking. 
To make this trip a lot shorter I decided on a small gold bracelet with a matching necklace, River picked out three silver rings, one for him and two for the twins. Once he paid for our jewellery, we left the store and walked around the mall to find Mum. 
"She's probably still on the phone, let's get food I'm fucking starving," River said, looking around for the food court. "KFC?" He asked, I nodded even though I was unsure as to what it was. 
We stood in line and waited to order, River turned to me and asked what I wanted, and I looked up at him awkwardly. 
"Funny thing is, I've never had KFC before." I could've sworn I saw his jaw drop to the floor and back up. "What should I get?" 
"First of all, Rue what the fuck and second of all, boneless meals are on offer?" River said shocked but then excitedly, waving his hands around so frantically that the people in line behind us gave him a dirty look. 
"River! You're making a scene, just order me that small boneless meal thing." I apologized several times to the people behind us, River gave me a strange look whilst ordering but dropped the topic. 
For the duration of our meal, we sat and chatted, getting to know each other, it was weird considering he's my brother but we were talking as if we were on a first date, disgusting but true.
I learnt that River loves anything books and computers, apparently he's the only straight-A student in our family, other than Theo who's studying for his doctoral degree in Psychology at college, but according to River that doesn't count. He also gave me his in-depth account of the family drama, from cousin fallouts to our uncle's cheating scandal last year.  
"But what I'm saying is who cheats with his son's dentist? Like how weird you know? He's seen the inside of his son's mouth, it's strange." I nodded for the millionth time as River rambled on. 
"Enough about that, you've barely said anything." He gestured for me to talk, I may not have been listening to him half the time, but I'd rather him talk about the colour of the sky than me talk about myself. 
"Whatcha wanna know?" I sighed, River tapped his chin goofily before nodding. 
"Basics, what's your favourite thing to do?" I thought for a moment before answering. 
"I love reading and star gazing, but it has to be with a cold breeze and the sound of rain. When I was growing up I'd write small stories, and after sperm donor arrest, I lived on a farm with an elderly couple, they had a goat named Marty, we called him manic Marty, and on nights it would rain I'd go out to the barn and read them to him, I know it sounds bazaar but he would go to sleep straight away." 
I miss manic Marty. 
There was a spark of interest in River's eyes when I mentioned growing up, he smiled softly and laughed along with me.
"Despite fuckface, that sounds amazing. I always wanted a farm or something, but Ma wasn't really into it," River huffed. 
As the conversation flowed, we found many common interests, but our love for reading was a main one. "What's your favourite book?" River asked, leaning slightly forward, eagerness evident in his expression. 
I felt my cheeks flush and I knew I probably looked like a tomato, how do you tell your twin brother all you read is books with minimal plot and major action— the action being dark and dirty. 
"I couldn't pick one but I love romance and fantasy." He nodded, a small knowing smirk on his face, making my face feel impossibly hotter. 
As time passed, I realized how happy and comfortable I felt with River, it was a daunting feeling but one I'd gladly have again. With every shared story, we were gradually making the unknown feel a little more familiar. 
"I think Ma should be done now, let's go."

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
Boring chapter but it's only the beginning :)