"Who let you in?" I growled as the door opened.

Surprise passed through Wafi's face at my anger. Stepping back, he held up his hands as a sign of peace. "I picked up Mich and brought him home. He has the results."

My stomach dropped further. I felt sick, my features shifted into one of distaste as I pushed past Wafi to head to Mich. He was seated at the dinner table with his laptop open and a beer by his left hand.

"You didn't tell me you were coming early." My voice came out slightly high-pitched, like a whine. It was a whine. Why wouldn't he tell me? He calls me first whenever he gets home early. But he called Wafi instead.

Mich calmly looked at me and took a sip. "I wanted to surprise you, but clearly, you're more pissed than surprised."

"What did you think I would be?!" I snapped. "You called Wafi instead of me! You met him less than a week ago!"

Mich sighed, closing his eyes. "He's your family, Fi."

"No, he's not. He can't just expect me to believe that."

"Fi-"

"How can you believe that? Did you know him earlier? Did you know about him earlier? Why didn't you tell m-"

"Fi-"

"-e? I have got enough on my plate right now and the las-"

"Fi!" Mich snapped and cut me off in the middle of my rant. "The results are here! He is your brother!!"

I felt my gut contract all the way down to the size of a pinhead. My vision narrowed slightly to just the annoyed expression on Mich's face and I vaguely heard myself say, "What?" In a far off voice. I believe there was an echo too.

A heavy weight landed on my shoulder. A gesture of comfort. But Mich was sitting in front of me so...

I turned violently to get Wafi's hand off me. He held his hand suspended in the air like he'd been burned, the irony. There was hurt written all over his face from my rude gesture but right now, I didn't care.

I turned back to Mich, who watched me in silence. "What?" No echo this time.

In reply, Mich got off his chair and gestured with the bottle of beer. "See for yourself."

My steps forward were sure, filled with the certainty that this was just an elaborate joke being played on me. My gut told me otherwise, and once I saw the result, I think I blacked out for a minute.

My vision returned with me now seated on the chair instead of behind it as I staredat the screen. There was even an explanation under it about how siblings are related by 50% or more with a link to their website if I wanted to avail their services again or contact a specialist about the results.

My eyes stayed near the bottom, avoiding the table with numbers and randomly joined alphabets. Glued to the box labeled 'Statement of Results' in bold.

'Based on the statistical analysis of the above data, it is 745,120.51 times more likely (or a 99.999867390% chance) that Tested Child 1 and Tested Child 2 are full biological siblings versus being half biological siblings.'

Full. Biological. Siblings.

99.999867390% chance.

I could feel my world caving. This one sentence contained enough ammunition to blow whatever I had here apart.

I felt another hand land on my shoulder and before I knew it, I'd jumped out of the chair and was backing away from the two men.

"Fiera?" Mich sounded worried as my eyes stared blankly through him. "Fiera?"

I needed to leave. I needed to breathe. I needed to think. I needed to get out of here.

Rounding the table, I started moving towards the hallway when Wafi stepped in front of me. He placed his hands on my shoulder to stop me as he tried to look me in the eye. I threw his hands off again and tried to get past him but he didn't let me.

His hands grabbed my upper arms with strength, unwilling to let me go or shrug them off. "Fiera, calm down. Breathe. Talk." He lowered his head to make eye contact.

Something in me snapped. My gut uncurled, my brain went blank and emotions just died. I was tired of this.

I looked him straight in the eye. "You want me to talk?" I whispered. "Fine. I don't want you as my brother."

The expression on his face was like I'd kicked his puppy.

"I do not accept you as my brother, no matter what that-" my arm swung around to point at the laptop. "-says. You are not my brother. There is too much on my plate right now without having to deal with this. So just..." I stepped away from him, his hands fell off me without any effort. "Just go. Get out of here."

My voice had been nothing but a tiny whisper till then. I felt emotionally drained after the week I'd had. I just wanted to curl up in my bed and... cry. I don't know why. I just had an urge to cry and scream all my issues out. Killer headache in the morning but better than boozing it off.

I was just about to make it to the hallway when I heard footsteps. As if they'd suddenly been spurred into action.

"Fiera, please." Wafi called out, desperation clear in his voice. "Give me-"

That's when he touched me again.

Rage burst me in me. I whipped around. My hand smacked his hand away as my face contorted into a mask of hatred. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" I screamed. Wafi stumbled back in surprise. "You are not my brother and no amount of begging is going to make me accept that! I am tired of this shit! There is absolutely enough mayhem in my goddamn life without your royal ass inviting yourself into it!"

My hand snapped towards the door. "Get out! Get out of my house!"

Hazel eyes, painfully similar to mine, were wide in confusion and pain. Lips were parted, cut off by my hysterical screaming.

"I said, get out of my house!" My hand pointed towards the door as my entire body shook with rage.

Mich stood behind Wafi, in the arch that led to the dining room. His face mirrored the stunned expression on Wafi. His seemed more disappointed somehow. I guess that comes with being a parent.

"Fiera..." Mich spoke slowly. "How... What is wrong with you?"

"What is wrong with you?" I repeated, albeit more vehemently. "He's a stranger to me and you! But you believe he's my brother, just because he said so!"

Mich scowled. He opened his mouth to say something but Wafi cut him off.

"It's okay, Mich." He turned to give my guardian a strained smile. "This is to be expected, right? I mean, she's right. I can't just show up and demand to be accepted as her long lost brother." His strained smile was turned on me. A shiver ran down my back. "I'm sorry for any discomfort I've caused you." These words were more practiced, like he was issuing a formal apology. "I shall leave your presence immediately and avoid anymore more pain to you."

His words threw me off slightly. Now, I was confused. Mich glanced between the two of us. As Wafi started to turn away, he sighed. "Wait a minute in the car for me, Wafi. I'll be right there. Let me grab my coat."

Wafi's nod was mechanical. He opened the door and was immediately gone.

Cold air rushed in, sending goosebumps up my legs. I shivered involuntarily as I stared out into the darkness.

"I... I can't believe how you acted with that poor boy." Mich spoke sadly, his brows furrowed. "He just wants to be accepted by you. I... I'm leaving. See you later."

"What?" My head whipped towards him as he shrugged his jacket on. "Why? Where are you going? Why are you leaving?"

Mich paused in the act of heading out, stopping right in the doorway. He must have heard the insecurity in my voice because when he looked up, his features had softened slightly.

"I'm sorry, I have to leave. There's a big contract, I'll have to work on it through the weekend. I'll be back early next week, I promise." My expression didn't change, so he hurriedly added. "I'll call tomorrow and get you something. Don't worry about me."

"O... okay." I replied slowly. He gave me a soft smile and closed the door behind him. I didn't want him to get me something. I wanted him to agree with me, hold me as I cried.

The click was the last sound in the house. Suddenly, it was eerily quiet. Even Wafi's sports car didn't make a noise as it pulled away. I just watched it leave from the living room still feeling like I needed to puke. My legs gave way as the anger suddenly rushed out of me and a howling void opened up in me.

My body felt frozen. I could feel the painful lump in my throat but couldn't get myself to swallow it or give in and cry. I stayed there, slumped against the wall in the dark, unlit house, unmoving, unfeeling. The only light switched on spilled over from the dining room. It took what seemed like a monumental effort to push myself up as my stomach growled in anger at the lack of sustenance. It apparently didn't agree that a sandwich about six hours ago was enough.

If this were normal circumstances, I would too but right now... even though I mentally hated the thought of food, my stomach was plenty happy to accept the chicken nuggets. Traitor. I felt a little better anyway, maybe even upto a bath. Water was calming. Water was familiar.

As I passed by the dining table, my hand landed on the top of the laptop to shut it but the screen lit up. My breath caught in my throat as my eyes landed once more on those words.

"... full biological siblings versus being half biological sibling."

My gut twisted again and the full implication of what I'd done hit me like a bowling ball to the face.

At this point, the only thing that supported me physically and mentally was the chair again. I think I know now how I got onto the chair in the first place. My hand shook as I reached out to lower the screen. It's too late. I'll review all this tomorrow. Problems seems less horrifying in the morning.

I did indeed say that but sleep didn't find me. The clock showed time in the single digits as I twisted for the umpteenth time. My gut still felt like I'd swallowed lead. It was a vain effort. I wasn't going to get much sleep.

Leaving my room, I subconsciously twisted towards Mich's room before I stopped myself and headed downstairs. He would always talk to me when I couldn't sleep. He didn't even mind if I accidentally kept him up the whole night just talking. But there was nobody here. Nobody here for a whole week.

It was eerily quiet. It unsettled me so I switched the TV on and curled up on the couch in the hopes of finding something boring enough to kill me to sleep or just make me feel a little calmer. Telecommercials for something or the other blared on almost every channel. I switched to a documentary channel and let the soothing voices take over as I started to slump in place. Right as my eyes started to finally drift shut, a loud honk startled me out of my daze. I flailed about in surprise before my body rolled over the edge of the sofa and slammed into the floor.

I wheezed and groaned any possibility of sleep away as I tried to figure out if what I'd heard was a figment of my sleep-deprived imagination or real life. My eyes moved over to the windows, it was pitch black outside and from my spot on the floor, all I could see was the stars. I got up quietly and shuffled over to the window. My eyes widened slowly as I spotted what the sound was from.

Wafi’s car was parked outside.

Confusion passed through me. I could have sworn he left back then. Unless... he came back? After being harshly rejected and any hopes of me being his sibling destroyed? I wouldn't return in his place. It could also just be someone else in his car but who else would come here at this time?

I walked over to the door, undid the lock and the chain before I pulled it open. A cool breeze wafted in. I shivered and wished I'd bought my robe.

Come on, warm up. You're a Fire Elemental.

I reached out to switch on the porch light as I ventured away from the doorway barefoot. The gravel was wet with dew under my feet, the grass wetter still as I crossed over it to get to the driveway. It better be Wafi inside that car. I'm too tired to run away from a serial killer.

I bent a little as I tapped my knuckles on the tinted glass. My aura flared up to warm myself as I waited in the cold. A short while later, the window slowly rolled down and the strong scent of quality alcohol hit me.

My nose crinkled slightly as I looked over a familiar side profile. Wafi refused to look at me, his eyes glued the steering wheel. His head swayed forward a bit. He seemed tired. And drunk. Very drunk. The alcohol seemed to burn my nostrils. I grimaced a bit more. His eyes flickered towards me and in the dark, he must have taken that as disgust.

He turned his head towards the empty passenger seat. "Sorry. I didn't mean to come here. It's just..." He trailed off as he searched for an excuse.

My eyes roamed his dejected form before I sighed. "It's okay. I'm not angry anymore." He still didn't look at me. "Not angry at you, anyway. You're drunk, come in."

He shook his hea, still not looking at me. "No thanks. I'll sleep... sleep it off here."

I cocked an eyebrow. "If I'm right, you just tried to do it, didn't you?" He didn't reply but his away was pretty telltale. "That honk woke me up from probably my only chance to catch any sleep." He still didn't turn towards me. My eyes rolled up to the black sky. He's going to make me grovel later but I'm getting him out of this car.

I reached in through the open window, my hand brushing against his shoulder. He was too drunk to respond quickly as I plucked the car keys from the ignition.

"Hey." He protested drunkenly, golden eyes on my hand as I held up the keys. "I need those."

I pressed the unlock button, the lights flickered in the darkness. "What you need—" I pulled the door wide open, "—is a good night's rest on a real bed or you'll just want to kill yourself with that hangover you'll have tomorrow." I gestured with my hand. "Come on, Wafi."

Wafi's features moved oddly as he tried to frown and think up a good protest. But it was clear his synapses were drowning in alcohol to make any decision at the moment. I could imagine him getting sleepy and slowly rest his head on the wheel. Only to be jerked awake by the honk that forced us both out of a... restless sleep. I'm not thanking him.

"Wafi..."

"No..." He pouted, and turned away from me again. "You hate me."

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't." I placed my hand on his shoulder. A gesture  I'd violently rejected when he'd tried it. "Come in. I'll make you something to eat." He liked my cooking. He'd said so before.

As expected, he slowly looked up at me. "Food?" Those eyes...

I nodded as I struggled to maintain eye contact. "Yes. Food. Did you eat dinner?"

"N... no." He replied hesitantly. "I wanted to get drunk fast."

Ouch. That hit me hard. Both Mich and I had done that before. The consequences next morning were practically unbearable but it was a great distraction for the time being.

"You should..." I began hesitantly, unsure he would take my offer. "You should... come in. I'm not letting you drive home or sleep in the car."

He frowned. Or he tried to once again coordinate his facial muscles into something resembling one before giving up. "O... kay." He mumbled slowly and rose from his seat.

I eyed his figure cautiously as he straightened his body. His shirt was disheveled and his cuffs unbuttoned, one rolled up and the other flapping loose. Collar askew with an extra button of his shirt open at the top. A can of beer fell out as he placed a foot on solid ground. It clanked loudly, and very emptily, on the driveway as he closed the car door.

I didn't need to encourage him to follow me, but I walked side by side just in case he decided it was a good time to go sleepy-bye.

He looked at me as we reached the few short stairs to the entrance and didn't say a word. I nodded towards the steps. "Come on, one step at a time."

He smiled crookedly. "You're worried that... I'll pass out."

I may or may not have turned red. Maybe the porch light was playing tricks on my face. "No. I'll leave you out here. Heavy things make me nervous and you're obviously heavier than me."

He laughed loudly, his smile got wider. "You don't need... need to worry. I can handle my liq-liqour I won't pass out on you."

Forcefully rolling my eyes, I looked away from him. I was tempted to smile back. "Just get in the house, Wafi."

He laughed once more before easily making his way up. I turned to glance at the can of beer and frowned. Did he get drunk off one can or was he faking to pull out an apology from me?

Following him up, I closed the door behind me and locked up once more. He'd made himself at home on the couch where I'd been curled up. He stared at the TV with the same smile on his face.

"Are you even drunk?" I asked slowly from behind the couch. "I don't like being lied to."

"I'm drunk out of my mind, in fact." He replied. "I had whis... something stronger at home and then tore out of the front gate with a six-pack. You saw one can."

"High tolerance?"

"Very. Another thing we share in common, I believe." He threw me a meaningful look or it may have been a drunk look. At this point it was getting hard to distinguish anything.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sure. Mich talks to me even if..." He paused, his voice lowered a little. "... you don't."

I shifted uncomfortably. His words made me feel guilty even if I felt like I'd done nothing wrong. He was clearly drunk out of my his mind as he said. But it didn't seem like he would be nodding off soon and I didn't want to abandon him again. I sighed before I slowly settled into the armchair beside the sofa. I had a feeling he was smiling wider now but didn't want to look.

***************

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I think I'll upload these chapters in the same day as 'Will of the Fates'. It's hard to keep track of two upload days in a week.

Vote and comment! I hope you're enjoying this budding sibling relationship!