"Hey, wake up," a voice whispered as hands brushed against my cheek.

 I groaned sleepily and squirmed myself tighter into the warm fabric. "Come on, Sophie, wake up," the voice chuckled.

Wrinkling my nose in annoyance, I crept open an eyelid and then two before waiting for my vision to clear up. The first thing I saw was a sleek black dashboard, and then as I widened my gaze, I recognized the familiar street of my home from outside the clear window. I was home...

I slowly started to sit up but as I did, I noticed a heavy weight resting against my hips. I glanced over my shoulder, and almost jumped out of my skin when I saw Nathan's face inches away from mine. His eyes twinkled with far too much excitement. "Good sleep?" he smiled. 

I widened my eyes as I realized why he looked so happy. I had fallen asleep on him. Shit.

I glanced over at Brandon in the passenger seat in panic, but he offered me no condolences other than a suggestive wink.

Dickhead...

As Brandon shut off the engine, I quickly scrambled to undo the seatbelt before practically throwing myself out of the car. I didn't trust myself to be alone with him in the car for one second. There was no knowing what I might do. 

For fuck's sake, I had literally given him my bra at the back of a club. I don't think you could humanely be less lacking in self-control than that.

Nathan strolled out of the car after me and closed the door before making his way to my side. "Why so jumpy?" he teased.

"Why are you so annoying?" I bit back childishly. 

Nathan opened his mouth to spit something back, but he was interrupted by the sound of a car door closing. I looked over to the sound and saw Brandon making his way towards us with his suitcase rolling along behind him.

"Hey, Nathan, thanks for letting me drive," Brandon called out as he threw Nathan over his car keys. 

 Nathan caught it easily enough and silently pocketed it without a word of thank you. I rolled my eyes, fed up with this weird little jealousy thing that was going on. 

"Say something," I hissed as I gave Nathan a slap on the shoulder.

 He looked down to the floor childishly and kicked a bit of rubble on the floor. "No problem," he muttered lowly under his breath. 

"Louder," I snapped.

 He rolled his eyes. "Fine, no problem," he said, slightly louder this time.

Brandon watched the two of us with an amused smile on his face. When Nathan wasn't looking, I saw him quite unsubtly mouth, 'whipped as fuck.'

I rolled my eyes, not bothering to grace him with any form of a response.

Brandon cleared his throat with a smile. "Well, I guess, I'll be off now. See you, Soph," he said as he walked over to me and embraced me in a hug. 

"See you, Bran-bran. Have a good Christmas and say hi to your mum for me," I laughed as I squeezed him back.

About five seconds into the hug, I felt a hand grab my arm and pull me back. "Hmm, bit too long for an ex-boyfriend hug," Nathan commented slyly.

I shook my head at his ridiculousness but reluctantly pulled back away from the hug. "Seriously?" I said, cocking an eyebrow up at him. 

"What?" Just saying," Nathan hummed innocently.

Brandon's lips tugged up as he turned to face Nathan. "Enjoy your time at Soph's, Nathan." Then with a nod and a wave goodbye, he walked over to the steps of the house beside mine.

"How the fuck is he not jealous?" Nathan spat bitterly as he watched his retreating figure. 

I narrowed my eyes. "Were you trying to make him jealous on purpose?" I asked slowly.

"Well, obviously, the guy needs to know his place," Nathan shrugged, not seeming the tiniest bit guilty. Then with one last narrowed glare at Brandon, he made his way over to the back of his car to go get our luggage.

As I watched him unpack them onto the road, it suddenly dawned on me how badly Nathan's posh car stuck out compared to the other cars on the road. To be honest, everything about him stuck out. He looked so perfect, far too perfect for an area like this.

I looked around nervously at the street that had been my real home for the last nineteen years. I lived on a rundown little terraced block. It wasn't the worst, but it wasn't the best either. It looked nowhere near as fancy as Nathan's fancy beach holiday home that's for sure. I looked back at my house and frowned as I took in the worn-out paint and unkempt, weed-filled yard.

He was going to think I was pathetic...

"What's the matter?" Nathan said with furrowed eyebrows as he made his way back over to the curb.

 I nodded my head over to his car. "I'm worried about your car, that's all. This area's not the kindest," I trailed off.

 "It, isn't?" he repeated. 

"Yeah, but don't worry about it. I'll get my dad to make space for your car in the driveway, "I explained quickly.

Nathan's eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Is it seriously that bad around here?" he asked slowly.

"Yes," I snickered bitterly. "Let's say I didn't take up kickboxing for fun."

 A look of deep concern took over his eyes. "Sophie, I-"

I sharply turned away before he could finish and grabbed my suitcase. I didn't need him to feel sorry for me.

After jiggling my keys through the door, I pushed it open roughly and tried to ignore the embarrassing squeak it made as it swung. The hinge needed seeing to, along with a lot of things in this house. 

As the door closed behind us, I heard the two high-pitched screams as well as thumping footsteps as though someone was jumping up and down upstairs.

"Sorry about that; it's always a bit noisy around here," I muttered as I looked back at Nathan shyly.

"Are those your brothers?" Nathan smiled. 

"Yeah, they're only five, so you know that explains the noise, and..er...mess," I said as I awkwardly kicked a toy truck that was hanging off the end of the stairs.

"I'm home, anybody here?" I called up the stairs. 

As predicted, the rapid pounding on the ceiling stopped, and then soon enough, two bouncing little figures came hurdling down the stairs at the speed of light. I smiled as I saw them. They weren't identical, but they surely looked it with their matching mess of blonde hair and big brown eyes. So, in other words, they looked like a shorter, male version of me. But with more snot, of course.

"Sophie," they screamed as they jumped off the last step and hurdled themselves into my arms one after another. I collapsed down to my knees so I could hug them better, a bright warm smile on my face.

I couldn't afford to go home more than once a term, so it felt amazing to finally see them on something better than a dodgy video screen.

I pulled away, so I could look at them better but before I could get a word in, Xavier took a step away from me and pointed at something behind me. 

"Sophie, why have you brought a giant home," Xavier asked in a curious drawn-out voice.

 I followed the length of his hand to see what he was pointing at, and then I snickered as I saw he was pointing at a rather awkward-looking Nathan. I picked myself off the floor with a laugh and grabbed Nathan's arm to pull him over to them. 

"He's not a giant silly; he's called Nathan. And he's my friend," I explained gently.

Nathan's face softened with kindness as he looked down at the two of them, and slowly, he crouched down to their level. "So, let me get this right, your name's Xavier, and your name's...Calum, right?" he asked, turning to each boy for each name. 

A small smile pricked to my face, in surprise that he had remembered both their names.

"Yeah," Calum nodded with a toothy smile. I chuckled as I watched him look Nathan up and down in awe. I guess to Calum, Nathan must seem like a superhero or something with him being so tall and toned. Xavier suddenly raised his hand. 

"Yes, Xavier, you have a question?" I asked with a smile. Ever since they taught him how to raise his hand at school, he'd been doing it nonstop. We tried to tell him that raising your hand was only an 'in school' thing, but he didn't quite seem to get it.

"I'm a little confused because daddy said that...that..you were bringing home a boyfriend. So, why did you introduce him as your friend?" Xavier asked with a tilted head.

I felt my cheeks grow hot in embarrassment, hating that he had to blab that right out in front of Nathan. The bastard didn't need to know that my parents thought we were dating, that would only inflate his big fat head.

As I feared, Nathan stood up and turned back around to face me with amusement in his eyes.

Oh, here we fucking go...

"Yeah, that's a good question Xavier, I'd quite like to know too?" Nathan asked with a smirk.

Before I could be humiliated any further, the kitchen door swung open, and my dad walked in. The sight of him before me instantly warmed my heart. As always, he was dressed in his scruffy apron and beat-up jeans. 

"Dad," I smiled. Approaching him in two long steps, I wrapped my arms around him. He reciprocated the hug with a hearty laugh.

 "Ah, Sophie, I've missed you, darling," he said as he kissed the top of my head.

As I pulled away, his eyes immediately zeroed in on Nathan, and his eyes lit up. "Wow, and you must be Nathan, good to meet you, son," he said as he quickly reached out to give Nathan an overly enthusiastic handshake.

"As it is you. Thank you so much for inviting me, sir," Nathan replied back in a surprisingly formal tone. I desperately suppressed the urge to laugh as I saw how much wider his eyes seemed to have gotten as though desperate to impress my dad.

"Wow, Sophie, posh and hot, you really know how to pick them," my dad whispered while giving me a rather unsubtle nudge. I gave my dad a daggered glare since he had definitely said it in a loud enough voice for Nathan to have heard.

My dad merely laughed at my embarrassment. "Anyway, just to let you know, dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes or so. Why don't you go show Nathan your old bedroom or something?" he said as he nodded his head up the stairs.

 I wrinkled my nose. "Really, dad?" Isn't that like something you do when you're like five?"

"Hey," Calum piped up in offense. "There's nothing wrong with being five," he pouted. 

"Of course there, isn't Bubs," I smiled gently as I reached out to squeeze his cheeks.

I sighed. "Okay, fine, let's go up to my room then," I grumbled before slowly dragging myself to the stairs.

I paused halfway up the stairs as I remembered something. "Wait, dad, have you picked mum up from the hospital yet?" I asked curiously. 

I felt Nathan turn his head towards me in surprise, but I was far too focused on my dad's answer to worry too much about what he was thinking.

My dad swallowed, and slowly shook his head, his eyes holding a slight sadness to them. "Nah, honey, a couple more days," he mumbled.

I nodded my head stiffly, knowing that something must have come up. Or in other words, she had gotten worse again. "Yeah, that's fine," I muttered, biting back the rest of my disappointment.

As I got to the landing of the stairs, I felt a hand stop me by my elbow. I looked over my shoulder and swallowed as I found Nathan staring at me. 

"Are you alright?" he said softly. "I had no idea, your mum was-"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I snapped before turning back around and making my way up the rest of the stairs.

In silence, I led Nathan the rest of the way up to our creaky old staircase before pushing open the door to my room. It was as I left it with magazine posters lining each and every wall and a small single bed. There were embarrassingly a few odd soft toys scattered around, a remnant of my collective days. Okay, fine, a remnant of my still active soft toy collective days...

Nathan wandered into the room with a smile on his face his eyes drinking up all the embarrassment my room had to offer. He snorted as he picked up one of the bunnies on my bed. "Hoppy the magic bunny?" he snickered as he read off the writing I'd drawn on the label. 

I shrugged, my cheeks burning hot. "What? He's cute," I mumbled.

"Weren't you like eighteen when you left this room?" he laughed, his eyes twinkling teasingly.

"Oh, shut up. It's not like you can be judgy, Mr. I- used-to-do-spelling-bee's-for- fun," I said, giving him a pointed look.

"Hmm, I don't think I like that attitude. I think I might have to hold hoppy the magic bunny to ransom until I receive a proper apology," he smirked as he hid the bunny around his back.

I narrowed my eyes. "Nathan, I'm not four, you're not going to manipulate me into doing stuff by holding my soft toys against their will."

He lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, really? Well, let's test that theory," he chuckled. I watched in confusion as he walked over to the window. Only as he started to open the window did I realize what the monster planned to do.

"Nathan, don't you fucking dare!" I hissed, shocking even myself at the anger behind my tone.

Nathan slowly removed his hand off the latch and turned towards me with a sparkle of mischief in his eyes. "Nice to see I've got your attention. So, my apology?" he smiled.

I laughed. "You're clearly high if you think I'm going to apologize for shit," I snapped as I marched my way over to him. 

I quickly tried to lunge for it, but the dick sidestepped me before I could get it. "Come on, Nathan, give it back. Why do you always do this?" I grumbled as I chased him around the room.

 "Simple - because it's funny," he called back.

Completely losing my temper, I shoved him back roughly by the chest. "Shit," he said as he started to lose balance. In a panic, he grabbed at my waist to steady him, but it stupidly only ended with him dragging me along after him.

His body hit the floor with a loud thud, and mine landed swiftly on top of his. I laid there in shock for a second as I tried to make sense of my bearings. 

Groaning in pain, I lifted my head up. It was only as I made that action did I realize what specific position I had fallen into. I was draped on top of him with our legs and feet an intertwined yet jumbled mess on the floor. I swallowed nervously as I looked down at him. His eyes held a wandering curiosity about them, drawing me in with every soft movement. The only sound in the room was our faint softened breaths.

I stilled as he slowly reached out for my face, and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"This is how we first met, remember?" he whispered, humor dancing in his eyes. I stared at him blankly for a couple of seconds, then I soon remembered he was talking about the night at the club all those months ago. The night where I had tripped and fallen on him.

"Hmm, that's true," I mumbled, my mind lost in the memory. Things felt so different then, it was as though he was a whole different person.

His eyes dropped to my lips, causing my heart to thump. "But if I were to go back in time, I think I would have done something slightly different," he murmured, his Adam's apple bobbing.

I should have got off of him. I knew I should have. But for some reason, all I could do was lay there as his lips moved closer and closer to mine.

 And, fine, I admit, I moved the tiniest bit closer to him too.

When our lips were seconds away from touching, we heard a loud scream causing both of us to jerk back in shock.

I swerved my head to the door in a panic, then my eyes flew open wider as I saw my two five-year-old brothers openly gawking at us with evident fear in their eyes.

"No, no, no, guys, wait. Let me explain, let me explain," I said as I frantically started to scramble off Nathan.

But instead of listening, both of them turned on their heels and ran off. "Daddy, daddy, you've got to help Nathan. Sophie's lying on top of him, and she was about to eat him!" I heard Xavier scream at the tops of his lungs.

At that very second, I quite simply wanted to die.

Not knowing what else to do, I walked over to the nearest wall and pressed my forehead down onto it in shame. And as I stood there drowning in my own mortification with a likely equally awkward looking Nathan on the floor behind me; only one thought came to mind

Fuck my life.

............
Author's note:

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

What do you think of the twins?

Next update: Monday (6-8PM - UK time)