Anita walked past me and seemed to take a breath as she noticed me standing in the middle of the landing.

She glared at me with her red face. Her cheeks puffed out and her breathing was ragged, as if she’d run a marathon and couldn’t seem to catch her breath.

“You causing trouble again?” I asked, holding back what I really wanted to say.

“Me? I’m not the one missing funerals! Go talk some sense into her. She’s clearly needing a touch of reality.”

“That’s not what Sara needs right now, Anita. You of all people should know that.” I held my hand up as she started to open her mouth again. “She needs support, not your bloody abuse.”

“Fuck you, Harvey. You go and support her then. She’s acting like a spoiled brat, and I’m the one in the wrong?”

“There’s more going on with her than you realise. And I know you’re grieving, too, but she’s been hit hard these last months, so why don’t you get off your high moral horse and have some fucking compassion for the person you shared a womb with?”

“I don’t have to stand here and listen to this.” Anita began to march down the stairs, her back turned to me.

“You’re right. Why don’t you fuck off, Anita! I’m sure Sara will call you if she ever wants to speak to you again.”

I sighed and closed my eyes. I hadn’t meant to turn on full-on offensive mode, but I couldn’t help it.

Rubbing a throbbing spot around my temple, I knocked on Sara’s bedroom door, and I heard a faint rustling in the background.

“Sara,” I said, “it’s me.”

“Go away, Harvey,” she grumbled.

“I’m not going to do that. You have to come out of this room or I’ll burst in. Your choice.” It was low of me to make such threat, but if anything, Anita was partially right. Sara did need some talking to.

“You have till the count of three, Sara,” I warned.

“Just leave me alone!”

“One.”

“I’m serious! Go away!” she responded, though her voice sounded unsure.

“So am I. Two.”

“Don’t even think about it—” she cried. I turned, facing away from the door and donkey kicked at its weak spot. The flimsy lock gave way after a few hard kicks.

“Harvey! What the hell…?”

I grinned; there was nothing like acting like a crazed caveman to get me all worked up. I walked towards her, ready to grab her out from under the covers she’d buried herself beneath. “I warned you.”

“But I didn’t think you were actually going to do it,” she said in a muffled voice. Only her eyes were visible; her body was covered, nowhere in sight.

“You can’t stay in here forever, Sara,” I said, as I searched under the duvet, ready to grab a limb the moment I found one.

“I know,” she muttered quietly but then squealed and kicked her legs as I found and claimed an ankle.

“Stop squirming!” I yelled as I managed to get control of her other foot. I pulled, and half her body, the upper half, disappeared beneath the sheets, while the other half, her legs, were dragged out across the bed.

“Let me go, Harvey!” Sara screamed. She managed to twist and turn her body so that she was now on her stomach, and her hands took hold of the edge of the mattress. I pulled, and she hung on.

I had a perfect view of her round bottom, tight in her little pyjama shorts. I ran the tip of my tongue across my bottom lip.

“Don’t make me spank you, Sara,” I growled, wanting nothing but.

“You fucking wouldn’t dare!”

No, she was right. As much as I wanted to slap my hand across her cute bottom and watch it wiggle from the contact, potentially leaving a bright red mark against her lily-white ass, now definitely wasn’t the time. And god only knows what would happen if I gave in to what my cock was demanding.

“Tell you what. I’ll let you go on one condition. You take a shower and come downstairs,” I said.

“But I don’t want to.”

“Stop being a brat, Sara.” I let her go, and she turned onto her back to look at me. That got her attention. Her eyes bored into mine.

“I hate you,” she said, frowning, her eyes thinning into two little lines.

“Liar. Come on, I’ll make you something to eat, too.”

“Fine.”

“I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

With that, I left her alone and went downstairs. Mission accomplished, I thought when I heard the pipes knock from the sound of water travelling up to the shower in the upstairs bathroom.

13

Sara

Leaning against the wooden headboard, I sighed. The argument I’d had with Anita had drained me, and my arms were weak from clinging to the bed as Harvey attempted to pull me off. And though he didn’t succeed, he certainly had the strength to do it, making me believe it’d all been for show. Why was he back here, anyway? Why couldn’t people just leave me alone?

I roared, startling even myself. I was being pathetic. I knew it, and they knew it. And yet of the two of them, my twin sister and stepbrother, I never expected it would be Harvey who would encourage me to see sense, to be the one who stayed… and supported me. It made me want to fight.

I bit my lip as his words played in my mind. His threat to spank me had certainly cleared some of the cobwebs. And a part of me wished he’d done it, too.

Swinging my legs off the mattress, fighting the urge to go back to bed, I stomped into the en suite bathroom. I didn’t want to disappoint my stepbrother more than I had already, and I couldn’t bring myself to refuse him because… well, it was Harvey asking.

Plus, I was a sucker for those big blue eyes, stepbrother or no stepbrother. I certainly could understand how woman all around him would drop their panties at his command; he just had to bat those baby blues and they’d be goners.

I took my time in the shower, appalled at myself as I ran a hand over my stubbly legs. Harvey had probably felt and seen the hair on my legs, and I cringed at the thought. Once they were smooth again I let the heat soothe my weary muscles. Reminder to self: Lying in bed for two (or more?) days is not a good idea, best not to do it again.

Feeling a little better, I stepped out. Regret would plague me, I knew, for a long time to come. I should have been there with my family as they buried my mom, should have been there when they lowered her coffin into the ground. But I wasn’t. There’s nothing I can do to change that, no way to go back in time and force myself out of my grief, but I could do something different going forward.

I quickly avoided the mirror and continued to dry off. I grabbed a fluffy towel from the rack and wrapped it around my body, using a second smaller towel to wrap my hair.

I shimmied into a pair of black trousers and put on a loose top; I skipped slapping on a ton of make-up and settled for a quick dab of waterproof mascara. Harvey had seen me plenty of times without make-up before, but this was not for him, this little act was for me. I wanted to feel like my old self again, like the confident Sara I sorely missed. I wondered where she’d gone and if I’d ever find her again. My mind started travelling down a dark path as Eric flashed in my head. I was too self-aware for my own good. I knew perfectly well what had happened to my old self, but now wasn’t the time to go diving back into that hole, exploring the why’s and how’s, not when a pinprick of light was only just starting to creep into my life again.

After I finished with the mascara, I applied the barest hint of blush on my cheeks, blow-dried my hair, pulled it up into a high ponytail, and then braved what awaited me down below.

A strong aroma of eggs, bacon and coffee filled the house as I made my descent. The smell made my stomach growl in hunger. I supposed starving yourself for days will do that to a body.