The Beautiful Monster

Elias looked over at her as she led him over to his couch to sit down. He sank down into the cushion with a sigh, trying to deflate and relax, but he couldn\'t.

He felt on edge, like something big could happen at any moment. His life had been like that for a minute now, and he longed for the day that he could just hold Alyssa and relax.

"I… don\'t even know what to say. Or think. Or do," he said as he stared ahead blankly, feeling her lean against his side.

"You don\'t have to know. This came out of nowhere," Alyssa said as she gave his hand a squeeze.

"She can\'t possibly be my twin sister. How could my parents hide a whole person from me? And why?" Elias asked.

He knew that she didn\'t have the answers, but it was better to ask the air than to keep asking himself in his head. He was already starting to drive himself crazy.

"It just seems like a strange and specific thing to lie about," Alyssa pointed out. She looked concerned as she peered at him.

Elias lowered his gaze, staring at his knees. He knew that she had a point, but she also didn\'t know how deceiving Scott could be.

He was torn, but he was standing his ground for now. Scott had to be lying, trying to find something to gain from this.

Besides, there would\'ve been some sort of clue that his parents accidentally let slip that he had a long lost twin sister.

How could they hide a whole person from him that he supposedly shared a womb with? It was too crazy, and he wasn\'t about to throw himself into another insane period of his life. He was done with all of that.

"I just want them all to leave. I don\'t want to deal with it," Elias sighed as he leaned his back against the back cushion of the couch. He tilted his head back slightly to peer up at the ceiling.

Alyssa remained quiet for a few seconds before scooting closer to him.

"I think you should hear Melina out," she told him.

"What if she just lies to my face?" Elias asked her. He didn\'t want his or Alyssa\'s time wasted, and sitting around and listening to lies seemed like a bad use of their time.

"Maybe she won\'t," Alyssa said, holding a straight face.

"You think they aren\'t lying?" Elias asked her as he turned his head to look at her.

Alyssa shrugged.

"I don\'t know, and you don\'t know either. You need to figure it out before you make any big decisions," she pointed out to him.

Elias sighed as he lowered his gaze. Again, he knew that she was right. She was his common sense, and he knew that it would be wise of him to hear the whole story and then decide what to do.

There was no telling what he would learn, and maybe he could figure out what Scott could stand to gain from bringing Melina here.

"I guess. I\'m just nervous about what I might hear," Elias admitted to her. If his parents lied to him about something as huge as him having a twin sister, what else could they have possibly lied to him about?

Why did Melina know more than him? He had so many questions that needed answering.

Alyssa lightly drifted her nails along his arm in a comforting manner. She gave him a small smile.

"It\'s okay to be nervous. Just don\'t let yourself be ignorant," she said.

Elias leaned his forehead against hers, letting his eyes flutter shut. He breathed in deeply, settling against her warmth and trying to let go of his confused thoughts. It was harder than he expected.

"I\'m sorry that this keeps happening. I know you just want to go back to how your life used to be," he said quietly.

He couldn\'t begin to apologize enough for how much he had derailed her life since he stepped into it.

Alyssa reached up and cupped his cheek with a soft sigh.

"You can\'t help this stuff. We just have to deal with it," she said.

Elias was tired of always dealing with stuff. When it came to work, he had a whole team of people to deal with problems.

When it came to his personal life, it was all down to him to work out the kinks, and these problems were way bigger than the ones that he had to deal with at work.

"If you wanted to leave… I would completely understand," he told her.

He didn\'t want her to leave, but he felt like it was only fair for him to give her an out if she wanted one.

He couldn\'t force her to stay and help him deal with his issues. The threat against her was gone, so she could live her own life away from him. He couldn\'t even blame her if she chose to do that.

Alyssa peered up at him, her nose brushing his.

"I don\'t want to leave. You\'re worth it," she told him.

Elias felt his heart ache as his eyes met hers. He couldn\'t believe that she was willing to go through all of this for her.

He would do the same for her in a heartbeat, and it just proved to him that the feelings that they had for each other in the past were still present. They had never truly gone away.

"I\'ll keep you safe," he told her as he brushed his fingers through her hair. If she was going to stick by his side, he was going to make sure that she was safe.

"I know," Alyssa said with a nod. She leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss against his lips, holding the touch for a few seconds before pulling away. "We should get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow."

Elias nodded, expecting a message from Scott soon about when and where to meet up tomorrow so that they could continue their talk.

He was going to try to not get so frustrated like he did today, but he couldn\'t promise anything when it came to his reactions.

They were going to tell him a lot of information that he probably didn\'t want to hear. He was going to react accordingly. Hopefully, Melina\'s boyfriend didn\'t beat him down for that.

"You don\'t have to come if you don\'t want to," he told her. Of course, he wanted her to be there, but it had gotten fairly intense last time.

Alyssa gave him a pointed look as she got to her feet. She reached her hand out to him.

"Of course, I\'m coming," she told him, like he should\'ve expected that answer.

Elias shared a faint smile with her as he took her hand, hoping she could feel his gratitude. He let her lead him to his bedroom, but he had a feeling that he wasn\'t going to sleep deeply tonight.

There was too much noise in his head, and even feeling Alyssa\'s warm body against his wouldn\'t block out the chaos.

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