"What?!" Twist sputtered. "Did I hear you correctly?!" Petal's eyes widened in obvious confusion.
"Yeah. Are you okay?" She asked. Twist shook her head. It wasn't true. It couldn't be true.
"I have to go." She mewed. Twist turned around and limped away, leaving the others to stare after her.

Twist wasn't sure how long she ran, everything around her seemed like a blur. All she knew was that she was now in the horse fields, breathing heavily. Twist took a moment to comprehend what she had heard. She used pieces of information from her mother, and this new detail to put together a basic story of what must have happened.
"He cheated on her." She said out loud. "HE CHEATED ON HER." Twist's voice was growing louder, and soon she was screaming. "WITH HER BEST FRIEND." Twist yelled the words, turning her head up to the sky. She couldn't take it. She was the daughter of a cheater. Twist felt fat tears spill from her eyes. Her shouts dissolved into choked sobs, and she crumbled to the ground.
"And she never knew..." Twist mumbled through her tears. "She never will..."

Twist didn't know how long she stayed like that, but it was growing dark by the time she heard something besides her own sobs.
"Twist?" A familiar voice called. Twist raised her head. She knew that voice.
"Benny?" Twist made an effort to sound normal. She didn't want Benny to see her cry. Benny approached her, and Twist kept her face away from him. Suddenly, she heard two cats walking instead of one.
"Who's with you?" Twist asked.
"Me." Twist was able to recognize the voice as Dart's. Twist felt extremely grateful that her sister had come.
"You ran off. Why?" Dart asked. Twist realized that Dart had never known their father's name. She had never been told. Until now.
"Fern is our father too, Dart." Twist spat. "Our cheating, lying father." There was a long pause, and Twist could tell that Dart was shocked. Twist finally decided to turn and face Benny and Dart. Dart's eyes were wide, along with Benny's. Silent tears fell from Dart's eyes, and Benny looked on helplessly. Twist stood and padded over to her sister. She dug her face into Dart's fur, letting the rest of her tears spill. Nobody said any words for a long time.

...

Dart didn't know how to feel. Emotions warred inside her, a mix of rage, sorrow, hatred, and guilt. It all combined into an overwhelming numbness. She stood frozen on her paws, and felt like she would never be able to move again. She tried to force back the tears that she had been crying, but felt like she no longer had the energy.
Twist is seeing you cry. Dart said a little voice in Dart's mind. She's crying too. The voice was quickly swallowed within the torrent of feelings, and Dart didn't hear it again for what felt like forever. The trio was back at home, led by Benny, before Dart realized she should comfort Twist.
"Twist." Dart said weakly. "Are you okay?" Twist looked over at Dart with eyes that seemed to be filled with just as much emotion as Dart was.
"No." Twist replied. "I'm not okay. You're not okay either. We can be not okay together." Dart nodded at this, it seemed fair. They did everything else together, why not suffer?

Dart and Twist laid together under the boilers, the hot water warming Dart's back. Nothing could warm her heart, though. Nothing except Twist. The two were curled up together, unspeaking. Dart wanted to say so many things, but couldn't find any words. She had always assumed their father was dead, as she had never heard anything about him. She was content with her lack of knowledge. Apparently Twist was not. She had clearly asked questions, and clearly gotten answers. Maybe answers she now regretted hearing.
"Does this mean we're related to Petal and Puck?" Twist said suddenly. Dart nodded slowly.
"Yeah." She replied. She hadn't thought of that yet, but it didn't seem so bad. Maybe it was the only good thing that would come out of the situation. More family members couldn't be bad, especially when they were as nice as Petal and Puck.
"I guess that's not bad." Dart said at last, putting her thoughts to words. Twist nodded.
"Yeah." She said. Their conversation ceased, and they sat in silence once again.

...

Twist looked at Dart. She had fallen asleep, and Twist felt jealous. She had been able to escape the awful reality they lived in through sleep, and Twist wanted to escape too. She wanted to escape the truth.
"Twist?" A voice whispered. Benny crouched down, peering under the boilers. "Do you want to talk?" Twist honestly didn't, she wanted to lay on the ground and think. But this was Benny. She didn't want to say no.
"Okay." Twist whispered. She crawled out from under the boiler and stood up beside Benny.
"Why are you still awake?" She question popped into Twist's mind suddenly. Benny looked at Twist with a certain intensity.
"I was worried about you. I couldn't sleep." He said. Twist smiled a little, as it was oddly touching.
"Leave it up to you to make me smile in this sort of situation." Twist mewed. Benny laughed a little.
"If you want to talk about it, I'm free to listen." He said. Twist paused. The feelings she had felt personal. But then again, Benny seemed like someone reliable. Someone who would truly listen and care about what she had to say. Someone who's words could help her feel better. Twist had only felt that way about Dart before, and the idea struck her as strange. She could trust Benny with everything. She wanted to trust him with everything.
"Okay... here we go." Twist murmured. Benny looked at her with steady eyes, waiting for her to continue.
"I feel bad." Twist said. "For being the daughter of a cheater." Benny's eyes widened.
"I understand how guilt could spawn from a situation like this, but that was his mistake, not yours." He said. Twist nodded slowly. She knew that already, but hearing it spoken out loud, and with such confidence, made it seem much more true.
"I also feel disgusted. My mom was such a good cat, it seems like such an awful thing to throw that away." She said.
Benny nodded again. "Yeah, it does seem awful." He said.
"It... it also makes me feel hopeless." Twist said. Benny's head tilted to the side in a confused manner.
"Why?" He asked. Twist took a shaky breath.
"It makes the idea of true love seem fragile. If someone as good as my mother can't find it, how can I?" She said. Benny went silent, and Twist looked at the ground.
"It's stupid, I know." She meowed. She felt a comforting tail lay across her back.
"Yes it is." Benny said. Twist looked up at him, shocked.
"Twist, it's the dumbest thing you've ever said. Trust me when I say that you are the most wonderful cat I've ever known, and it would be the biggest shock to me if you didn't find true love. Anyone who's lucky enough to be with you won't throw it away." He meowed. He sounded so sure of it, like it was the truest thing in the world. Twist looked at him for a long moment. Suddenly, she dug her face into Benny's fur. She let tears fall from her eyes.
"Thank you, Thank you, Thank you..." Twist continued to repeat those words over and over. Benny licked her ear gently.
"I only speak the truth."