Disclaimer: I don’t own anything you recognize.

 ***

 Alex Bailey rapidly made her way to the library, which was also her secret haven; one to shield her from the outside word. The young girl walked to the section on fairy tales, and took out the same book she had been reading yesterday. She sat down with a contented smile and she flipped through the pages, looking down at them fondly as if the book was a photo album of her family.

 Unknownst to her, four pairs of eyes were peering at her through the gaps in the bookshelves. Like robots, they started at Alex, unblinking, hands clasping the shelves tightly.

 Bree Campbell stepped into the library, planning to return a few books she had borrowed. She quirked a single blonde eyebrow at the obvious sight of the four girls spying, then strode towards the library counter, choosing to ignore the quartet’s weird antics.

 “She's doing it again,” a short girl hissed, two ponytails swinging as she spun to look at her companions, a fierce look glinting in her eyes. “There is something up with Alex Bailey.”

 “Yeah, I agree,” one of the other girls, Cindy, whispered. Narrowing her eyes, she returned to peering through the gap between books.

 A lanky brown-skinned girl next to Cindy crouched down, but even so, she was still around Cindy’s height even though the other girl was standing. “She's mumbling something at the books,” the girl, Lindy, said in an undertone. Her eyes were wide as she shot looks towards Alex.

 Mindy, the first girl, poked her friend who was standing besides her. “Hmm? What do you think, Wendy?”

 The black-haired girl was startled to be touched, but she nodded vigorously, agreeing with what the others had said. With a frown, she jerked her head towards the unsuspecting Alex on the other side of the bookshelf, indicating that she too thought Alex’s behavior was peculiar.

 Mindy motioned for the other girls to follow her, and they walked away from Alex. Fortunately for them, Alex was too in deep in reading to notice them. Once there was a suitable distance between the girls and Alex, they immediately huddled in a circle. Mindy began, “Okay girls, anyone have any ideas on why Alex’s hugging a book?”

 Cindy looked like she was about to speak, but Mindy herself beat her to it. “Well, for me, I believe the book is from aliens, and Alex wants the discover the secrets of the alien civilization by talking to it,” she suggested confidently. Cindy wrinkled her nose, apparently a bit annoyed that Mindy was taking the lead again.

 “Or maybe she’s just lonely and wants to talk to someone,” Cindy offered. Mindy pursed her lips; she wasn’t looking for this kind of answer.

 “Cindy, that’s so boring!” Mindy chastised. Waving her arms, she began a passionate spiel, and her voice got louder and louder. “A lot of things can happen! Maybe she’s a spy for someone! Or in touch with an underground association! Perhaps secretly working for the government! We know she’s the smartest girl in our grade, and with this abnormal behavior and her disappearance along with her brother earlier this year, she’s hiding something!”

 “Shh!” the librarian hissed, spinning to glare at Mindy. All four girls winced. “Sorry,” Mindy peeped.

 “Umm, but she’s just a schoolgirl, like us,” Lindy pointed out delicately, trying not to upset Mindy.

 Mindy scoffed. “Even at this age, she can hide a lot of secrets. Age isn’t the factor here.”

 Meanwhile, Wendy’s eyes had been following a certain blonde girl during the whole conversation. She watched as Bree moved from the library counter to one of the sections on junior fiction. The Asian wondered if Bree, who was pretty smart, knew about Alex’s book-hugging habits.

 Wendy was beginning to get a bit impatient, because the three girls looked like they were straying far on the real reason for Alex’s actions. She tugged on Mindy’s sleeve and gestured towards Bree. Mindy looked at Bree and because she thought Bree was pretty smart too, she decided to ask for her advice.

 At that moment, Bree had been totally absorbed in reading the titles of the books in the section of murder mystery novels. Intrigued, her unblinking eyes moved from one book spine to the other, taking in the information. As her hand reached for a book she had a particular interest in, she felt someone tap her arm.

 “Yes?” the girl asked, and instantly felt a surge of annoyance when she saw who it was, but swallowed it down. These four girls again! “What do you want?”

 Bree had known the four girls ever since they were kids. Bree had once thought in an alternate universe, she might be good friends with them, because they share the same curiosity and desire to solve mysteries, but unfortunately, they were too nosy for her taste. Bree disliked that they jumped to conclusions without any evidence, and besides, she could work just fine on her own. Bree prepared herself for another silly question about a ludicrous possibility.

 “Hey Bree,” Cindy began. “Have you noticed that Alex Bailey has been a bit weird lately?”

 That caught Bree’s attention. She got the feeling that there was something special about the Bailey twins, but she previously thought she was the only one to realize. Perhaps the quartet wasn't as stupid as she thought?

 “In what ways?” Bree asked.

 Lindy gave a coy smile. “Why don't you see for yourself?”

 Bree knew that although the girls usually came up with nonsense, they wouldn't lie to her. She knew spying was wrong, but she honestly wanted to find out what the girls had spotted. Cautiously, she followed the girls to the bookshelf where they had snooped on Alex.

 She bent down to peer through the gaps, and to her immense surprise, Bree saw Alex hugging a book and whispering “please take me back”. Bree felt her heart pump; this could be an important clue! Alex was usually a sensible and mature person, so Bree thought it seemed out of character of her to speak to inanimate objects.

 Bree drew away from the shelf, and Cindy whispered in her ear, “So? What do you think?”

 “I…” Bree fiddled with the bracelets on her wrist as she thought. “I don't know,” she finally replied after a moment of silence.

 The other girls shared looks with each other. “But you do agree that Alex’s been behaving strangely?” Mindy said in a hushed voice.

 “Well yeah… but please don't judge her because of it. That's impolite,” Bree, knowing the girls’ stalker tendencies, reminded them.

 Alex stood up abruptly and put the book away, startling the five girls. Immediately, they pretended to be examining the books around them. Wendy shot quick looks at Alex as she bypassed their spot. Apparently the bookworm hadn't seen them, which was good.

 Meanwhile, Bree was glad that she hadn't chosen to ignore the girls earlier. Both of the Bailey twins were acting weirdly, which quite confirmed her suspicions that there was a mystery surrounding the twins.

 Speaking of weird, after watching Alex in the library during lunch break, it was English lesson. Or more known as “about the only period where Conner and Bree could interact”.

 Bree felt pretty bad that she was literally waiting for Conner to screw up in one way or another in order for her to (hopefully) get a lead on the mysterious aura surrounding him and his sister.

 She sneaked a look at the boy, who was chattering boisterously with his friends. Conner was making one of his famous exaggerated hand actions to illustrate his words. She wondered why Conner seemed so loud every time she saw him. Clutching her books to her chest, Bree walked through the door and towards her seat.

 She never saw that fist coming her way.

 WHAM!

 Bree stumbled back as something knocked on her head, her books nearly clattering to the floor as a result of loss of balance. Her sharp brown eyes swerved to where she felt the impact came from. A wide-eyed Conner stared back at her, the whites of his eyes clearly visible, a look of sheer horror on his face. His two arms were flung out but unmoving, so Bree thought Conner resembled a frozen windmill. He had probably hit her when he was trying to explain something via hand gestures.

 “OhmyGodIamsosorry,” he breathed out in one go. His arms awkwardly flopped back to his sides, as the boys behind him chuckled. “A-are you okay?”

 “Yup,” Bree shifted the weight of her books to one hand, and used the other to massage her head. “No worries.”

 Relief washed over Conner’s face, as his posture visibly became less stiff. Bree thought it was a bit weird that he seemed so anxious when he accidentally hit her. She gave Conner a look. While her expression didn’t show it, she was secretly a bit disapproving of his clumsy actions. However, her view of him had gone up ever since their victory in that Kahoot game.

 Conner felt like his insides were completely liquefied, and not in a good way. As always, his overly imaginative mind took it pretty badly.

 She's going to hate me forever, Conner groaned in his mind. Why do I always have to embarrass myself in front of her? Lately, Conner found out that he couldn't hear, say, or even think of Bree’s name without feeling his face flush, so he just referred to the girl as “her”.

 He couldn't bear to make eye contact with her. Conner slunk in the shadows of his friends, hoping she wouldn't notice him in a bad way again. He must've looked pretty mortified, because the people around him continued to laugh.

 Bree sat down and dutifully placed her books on the left side of her desk, like she always did. A tug on her ponytail made her groan and she whipped her head towards the back, where this annoying, scrawny kid grinned up at her, face spotted with acne.

 Bree didn't like him. First of all, he had been in the same elementary school as she had been, and he kept annoying her by grabbing her hair or stealing her lunch. Second, he was, according to Bree, at the peak of immaturity of middle school boys. He made the lamest jokes ever and thought it was fun to chase girls around. It looked like he never progressed from his kindergarten years.

 “Please,” Bree began drily. “Just stop pulling my hair.”

 “And what if I don't?” he challenged.

 From a distance, Conner watched, or more likely, glared at their interaction. Fury bubbled in his throat as he saw this idiot annoy Bree, but he forced himself to keep it down. It's none of your business, he repeated to himself, so he didn't move. (Not so) secretly, he hoped Bree could knock the living daylights out of that bastard with a satisfying punch, like in the movies. Scratch that, he would have loved to do it himself, but Conner was sure that Bree could handle it way better. And it would be peculiar for an outsider like him to join in.

 After a while, it seemed like Bree had won, because the boy turned his attention to some other girl sitting beside him.

 “Dude,” someone patted Conner’s shoulder. “Your face is all red.”

 “Really?” Conner felt his face, and found out that he was right. He was so absorbed just now he never noticed his own condition.

 “Yeah,” Fred said. “You had this really red face and you were squinting. Dude, you looked constipated.”

 “Well…” Conner backed away nervously on instinct, legs moving of its own accord. He had no idea what to say. He felt numerous eyes on him, but Fred’s glare was particularly piercing, reminding Conner of those 1000 degrees knife experiment videos he had randomly caught sight of.

 His anxious eyes darted back and forth. “...Anyways…” he drawled slowly, racking his brains for a reply. Even if he had found something to say, he wouldn’t have the chance, because the bell rang at that precise moment. Soft groans were heard throughout the classroom as a couple of Conner’s friends prepared to leave.

 An obvious shoulder nudge. Conner spun to see Fred, who said clearly, as if Conner was a four-year-old, “I’m going now.”

 Conner made a face, surprised at Fred’s attitude and tone. He was probably making fun of him because of his red face, but it somehow seemed a little weird. “Bye,” Conner replied, beaming inwardly as he remembered he was spending an entire lesson with Br- her. On the outside, however, he put on a neutral face. After all, he knew he’d been acting strange for too long.

 Through the gaps between the moving students, Conner glimpsed Fred trying to write something, head bowed low. A few girls blocked his view, and when they went away, Fred was gone.

 Conner quirked his lips, and he felt that Fred had been behaving a bit abnormally these days. First were the hushed exchanges with Alex, then glares, and now scribbling things down? Deep in thought, he tried to sit down, but stumbled and nearly tripped. A slight annoyance twinged in his chest before he managed to actually sit.

 Bree had been idly observing Conner prior to the lesson. She, wasn’t a bumbling idiot (unlike her target of observation), so of course she noticed Conner staring daggers at the other idiot sitting behind her. Bree felt bad that she thought Conner looked amusing back then, his round red face somewhat resembling an overripe tomato. With pursed lips and squinted eyes, he looked about to burst.

 She knew Conner was a painfully honest person. She’d heard about him making snarky comebacks to teachers, and commenting in lessons, only to be overheard. So, she theorized he could be someone who wasn’t afraid to say what they thought, could care less about society’s views, and would fight hard for the truth. Bree admired these qualities, because she was like that too. Although, they were only her theories Bree got from studying personality types. She hadn’t actually seen them in Conner.

 Anyways, Bree supposed that Conner was getting annoyed at the kid behind her on her behalf, which was… nice? He looked pretty mad too, with his coloured face and stiffened pose. Conner might have had came to her defence if she didn’t say a thing. But Bree was also an honest person, so she just downright stopped that kid. Bree was grateful and felt appreciated when she saw her classmate caring for her. She’d only talked to him like once? Twice?

 Just as her impression of him began to get better, he nearly fell down. Again. Bree had lost count of the clumsy stuff he had done. She snickered lightly when he planted himself firmly on the chair, then stopped.

 Oh God, why am I laughing? Bree questioned herself. She wasn’t mocking him or looking down at him. It wasn’t that funny. No one else had noticed his little slip up. So why did she find it slightly amusing?

 When Conner turned, Bree immediately whipped her head back, eyes glued onto her desk. She told herself that she was just acting on instinct, and she didn’t want to be caught and look creepy. It was normal. That anxious fluttery feeling in her stomach was normal.

 As a self-proclaimed “honest” person, it was ironic Bree knew she was lying to herself. But she didn’t know why.

 And part of her didn’t want to find the reason.

***

  Conner was having a weird daydream.

 He dreamt that it was winter and a gigantic snow storm had occured, burying half the school with snow (yes, he knew it was highly impossible). Most people had evacuated, leaving him and Bree alone at the freezing school. She was somehow unconscious, and brave, heroic Conner carried her bridal-style to the school rooftop where they would wait for a helicopter or something.

 Conner didn’t even know why he was having that daydream.

 “Mr. Bailey!” Ms. York rapped her knuckles against the blackboard. Conner jolted out of his daydream. “Yes ma'am!” he barked like a soldier in training. A ripple of laughter spread across the classroom.

 “Glad to see you awake,” Ms. York said with a sarcastic tone. She pointed at her powerpoint and asked, “Can you tell me one element of the original The Little Mermaid?”

 Conner suddenly remembered that they were beginning a new text that lesson. Thankfully, he knew a lot about fairy tales. “Well, the mermaid was supposed to kill the prince with a dagger that her sisters had exchanged for hair, but she couldn’t, so she turned to foam and became something like the Daughters of the Wind. And try to gain immortality. Not sure about the last part though,” he shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal.

 Both Ms. York and the class were shocked that the boy was so knowledgeable. Ms. York had chosen to ask a something she thought he would never know, but she underestimated him.

 “Very good, Mr. Bailey,” she said. “I’m rather surprised.”

 “Oh yeah, I like these stories,” Conner replied. “After all, I’ve visited them.”

 “Excuse me?” Ms. York asked disbelievingly. Conner blinked when he realized his mistake, and frantically attempted to cover it up.

 “I… umm, I’ve read the stories, yeah, the stories, so much that… it almost feels like I’ve entered them!” Conner managed to say. He gave a false laugh that sounded intensely awkward even to his own ears.

 “I guess that’s what good books do to you,” Ms. York said, seemingly accepting Conner’s claim, but her eyes were still studying her student intently. “Anyways, back to the text…”

 So Alex hugs books, and Conner says he visited one? Bree thought, eyes narrowing, her focus no longer on her lesson. Suspicious, very suspicious. And how did that link to their funny aura?

***

   “Here you go,” Fred unceremoniously dumped a few pieces of papers in Alex’s arms. To Alex’s slight distaste, the papers were a bit rumpled up. As someone who loved stationery, she always felt a bit squirmish around creased papers.

 “Nice,” Alex ran her hands over the papers in an effort to smooth them over. “Good job, Freddie.”

 “Any leads?” Fred asked.

 “I'm still searching,” Alex replied, putting the papers into her school bag. “Where's Conner?”

 “I dunno,” Fred said, his eyes roaming over to the students milling in the hallways. School had ended, so everyone wanted to go. Fred was on the tall side, so he could see better over the heads of people, but still, no sight of Conner.

 “Do you think he tripped and had a concussion?” Fred muttered absentmindedly. That was intended as a joke, but taking Conner’s sudden clumsiness into consideration, what he said might not be entirely impossible.

 “Heh, as if I would,” a familiar voice piped up next to Alex and Fred.

 “Oh, I'm so relieved,” Fred said sarcastically, catching sight of a grinning, reddish-brown haired boy.

 Conner nudged Fred. “You meanie, you never cared for me!” he laughed.

 “Okay,” Alex cut in, afraid that the boys’ bantering would go out of hand. “Let's go home, Conner,” she laughed and tugged on Conner’s sleeve.

 Conner stuck his tongue out. “Oh look, my sister’s being naggy again. Someone save me!” he cried dramatically, but followed Alex nevertheless.

 The twins waved goodbye to Fred before they stepped out of the campus, their strawberry blond hair glinting in the afternoon light.

 “I think I'm going to the library later,” Alex said, turning to her brother. “You tagging along?”

 “Nah,” Conner kicked a pebble by his foot and watched it roll away. “I'm going to take a nap. School drains all of my energy.”

 “Oh, alright.”

 There was a brief silence, then Conner launched into retelling the stuff he did at school, including how he messed up by accidentally hitting Bree, although he didn't say it was her. In fact, just thinking about her and that incident made the blood rush to Conner’s cheeks.

 “It's embarrassing,” Conner muttered. He thought about how sometimes he wanted to act dramatic when Bree was around. Now, he just wanted to jump into the abyss and vanish from Earth’s surface forever. Preferably with some cheeseburgers because Conner had a craving for them.

 “It's forgettable. I'm sure no one minds,” Alex attempted to soothe him.

 Conner huffed and kicked an empty soda can lying on the road.

  When they returned home, the twins went their separate ways, Conner to his small room, and Alex to the local library.

 Alex strode to a computer at the library and put a file on the table. She was a bit nervous because unlike Conner, she was pretty bad at dealing with computers and technology.

 Anyways, Alex took out the reports she and Fred had painstakingly written. She had decided to use the internet to search and see if she could find something that could relate to Conner’s condition. Alex had learned from her teachers that the internet wasn't always a reliable source, but she thought it was more efficient than browsing through numerous, possibly outdated books.

 After entering several of Conner’s “symptoms” into the search bar, Alex discovered there was something in common with all the results. Something she wasn't exactly familiar with. Blue eyes narrowed, she clicked on a link and another, heart thumping with anticipation.

***

 “So kids, how was school?” Charlotte Bailey asked her children over a slice of pizza.

 “It was okay,” Alex and Conner answered simultaneously, the latter picking at his food. It was their standard reply.

 Charlotte frowned slightly when she saw Conner. “Is something wrong, Conner?”

 The boy let out a small sigh as he said, “Well, this is the third time we’ve had pizza from takeout this week. I know, I shouldn’t complain. I’m being selfish,” he ended on a guilty tone.

 “Well, would you rather have Chinese takeout?” Charlotte asked.

 Conner made a comical face. “No offense to the Chinese guys, but their food just isn’t my cup of tea.”

 Alex took a slice of pizza and munched on it quietly. After she had finished it, as if treading on a field of landmines, she carefully asked, “Can I ask a question?”

 “Sure,” both her mother and brother replied, although Conner’s reply was muffled by the food in his mouth.

 “When do you think Grandma will visit us again?”

 Alex missed her grandma and the Land of Stories a lot. So much, that at school, she went to the library in a desperate effort to comfort herself. She hoped no one had seen her hugging books; she wondered if she looked like a maniac.

 “Sweetheart, I don’t know,” Charlotte said in her most sympathetic tone. “I guess fairies have their way of doing things. They probably have a lot of duties to do.”

 “So much that she can’t even afford to visit us once?” Alex replied in an uncharacteristically harsh way. Her words hung in the air, the only sound being the creak of a chair as Conner shifted.

 “She’s probably busy,” Charlotte addressed the twins. “But of course, she still loves you guys, in case you’re a bit worried.”

 Conner and Alex exchanged glances, before Conner decided to speak for the two of them. “It’s not just Grandma, we kind of want to go back to the Land of Stories. We miss our friends there.”

 A selfish part of Charlotte didn’t want them to visit the magical place again. It was too dangerous, and she worried herself sick the last time they vanished. But she could see it in their eyes; the same longing she had seen on John. The magic of the Land of Stories lived in their blood, so a part of them would always stay there. She was powerless to stop that.

 “Well,” Charlotte cut out a piece of pizza. “You can’t just find a magic portal on the streets and go back. I’m sorry guys, but unless your grandma pays us a surprise visit, you can’t enter the Land of Stories.”

 The twins’ shoulders sagged upon hearing their mother’s words. Conner subconsciously took a huge bite of his pizza, not knowing what to do.

 “I really want to go back,” Alex muttered, curling a strand of hair around her finger.

 “I miss fiery glint in Goldilocks’ eyes when she fights. I miss the way Froggy smiles politely at about everyone. I even miss the way Red’s nose tilt up, as if the world’s beneath her, when she’s bragging,” Conner mumbled, stabbing a fork repeatedly in his food, taking out his melancholy through inanimate objects.

 When she listened to Conner, Alex felt like she could almost see his words paint a picture of her friends in her mind. She was silently in awe that he had the ability to do that. However, thinking about them only made Alex miss her friends more.

 “Anyways,” Charlotte said matter-of-factly. “There’s not much you can do about it. So, I’ll suggest you to find something to occupy your time. Like a new hobby. Or talk to your friends at school.” Her expression softened. “It won’t do you any good if you get stuck in the past.” Charlotte had a distant look in her eyes when she said the last sentence. It was almost like she wasn’t speaking to her children, but more to herself. Charlotte bit her lip as a familiar yet faraway face floated into her mind, one that she would never see again.

 Yes, all three of them had people they missed, and they all originated from the Land of Stories.

 Alex went quiet as she stared at her plate. Normal life seemed so plain and boring after she had spent two weeks adventuring in a fantasy world of stories with her twin. So she spent a lot of time rereading fairy tales in an attempt to immerse herself in her memories. Alex once even spent an hour desperately trying to perform some kind of magic. After all, how could she resist, when she knew her grandmother was the famous Fairy Godmother, and she had magic in her blood? But going back to school, she found it all a little hard to stomach down.

 “Mom’s right,” Conner said out loud, although Alex knew he was directing those words to her. He gave his sister a comforting smile. “We can’t do anything at that moment. Grandma might not be with us, but she and our friends from the Land of Stories will remain in our hearts and minds.”

 Alex nearly choked. “Oh my God Conner, stop making them sound like they’re dead!” she exclaimed, before bursting into raucous peals of laughter.

 Conner flinched. “Sorry!” he yelped. “I was just trying to make things better! I didn’t mean it, honestly!”

 “Yeah, we know you didn’t,” Charlotte said teasingly, although she was also hiding a grin. “Promise me that you’ll find something else to focus on, be it school, sports, or whatever.”

 “Yes Mom!” Conner agreed chirpily. Alex eyed her brother, finding his behavior peculiar, until she remembered what she had found at the library.

 Alex was less cheerful than her brother, but to stop worrying her mother, she also complied. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or troubled by her findings at the library. They were mildly concerning, but it wasn’t anything big.

 “I’m going to do my English homework after dinner!” Conner announced. Charlotte and Alex shot him surprised looks, but either he didn’t notice or chose to ignore them. The mention of English class had seemingly put Conner in a good mood.

 A mere day earlier, if Alex had been faced with the same situation, she would’ve asked if Conner was ill. But now, after finding out what was up with him (at least, that was what she assumed. Alex was rarely wrong), Alex found it rather amusing, and for the second time that dinner, she almost choked. She tried to stifle her giggles by hiding her mouth behind a napkin.

 Wait till Freddie finds out about Conner, she thought. What fun would he have, as Conner’s best friend.

***

 Alex was so excited to tell Fred, she sought him out before school started, Conner following her. She passed a bunch of girls chatting in the hallway, and recognized a few faces. She shared her Social Studies class with the blonde, and she heard that the redhead claimed to have a crush on Fred. The other faces faded into oblivion as she strode boldly up to her target, an unsuspecting tall boy.

 “Come with me,” she said quickly and dragged Fred away by the wrist. Conner, who was rather sleep deprived that day, was vaguely aware that it wasn’t the first time Alex had done that. The boys who were talking to Fred looked confused, because they all thought Alex was a very shy and timid girl. Funny to see her pulling a bigger boy.

 Meanwhile, on seeing Alex and Fred, a few girls laughed and teased Danielle, who huffed. “I’m not jealous! I don't like Hayford!” the ginger insisted, face almost becoming as red as her hair.

 “Yeah…” Bree, who was besides her, muttered absent-mindedly, her eyes trained on Conner Bailey. For some reason, he looked tider. His usual bedhead wasn’t present, despite the sleepy, dreary look in his eyes. His shirt wasn’t wrinkled or lopsided. Maybe his mother was a neat freak. Or more probably, his sister was one.

 Anyways, why was Bree so concentrated on Conner Bailey and the changes and qualities he displayed? It didn’t make much sense to Bree, and she hated nonsense. It made her head hurt to think about it.

 “Hey, what are you looking at?” Danielle asked out of curiosity, having seen Bree looking at something (or someone) for quite some time. Bree nearly jumped out of shock and sudden fear, which was a rare feeling for someone as composed as she was. She tried to calm her racing heart, telling herself she wasn’t breaking the law.

 “Nothing,” Bree answered automatically, swiftly turning her eyes away from Conner. Somehow, she didn’t want Danielle or the girls to know that she was looking at Conner. That strange (but not entirely unwelcome) twist in her abdomen didn’t make things better.

 “Okay,” Fred yawned, slate-grey eyes peering at the female Bailey twin in front of him. “What it is?”

 Alex steeled herself, knowing that what she found was either very important or a gigantic mistake. She hoped (and believed) it was the former. The teen took a deep breath, and said,

 “I think Conner has a crush on someone.”

***

A/N: Okay, wow it’s been long! Sorry for that! Thanks for your nice reviews and votes ! :)

 AND WOOO THANKS FOR 400+ VIEWS!

 Also, umm yeah, the first half of the story isn’t only about Conner and Bree’s relationship, it’s also a bit about the twins. Because, man, I can’t leave them out. And I’ve taken a liking to Fred, and he shouldn’t be somehow promoted to a mainish character, because he’s an OC.

 (I set strict rules for myself when I insert OCs into fanfictions.)

 (But a small part of me is starting to lowkey ship Fred and Alex.)

 Next chapter is going to be Bree centric, so you’ll see more of her!

 If you liked it, please vote! Thanks for reading! :)

 2/2/2018