"Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." –Napoleon Hill

Dedication: Dredge116 for the cover! Thank you so much! :)

Recap:

I glared at him as hard as I could, as he turned and walked completely unhurried to his car. He shot us another smirk, before sliding into his SUV. I didn't move a muscle, until he reversed from the driveway and disappeared inside.

"Faith-"

"Get inside. Now." I barked, pointing at the door. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

------------------

"Well?" I demanded, planting my hands on my hips. "Are going to tell me what the hell that was about?"

Xavier winced as he gingerly touched his swollen eye. "Can I clean myself up first?"

"No."

"Faith," he groaned. "I'm in so much pain right now. Please."

Sighing, I threw my hands up in the air. "Fine. I'll go try and find the first aid kit."

I marched from him, mumbling under my breath.

I couldn't get rid of the image of Chase from my mind. It was scary opening the door and facing Xavier. Well, Xavier's twin. It was so freaky.

Swiping my phone from the bench, I quickly began typing a message to Brooklyn.

F: The craaaaziest shit just went down. And it's not what you think! Xavier wasn't cheating on me... he has a twin brother? I'm freaking out, call me when you can.

I shook my head, slightly incredulous, as I sent that message.

This whole thing was so bizarre.

The next half an hour consisted of me attempting to clear up the injuries Chase inflicted on Xavier. It wasn't anything too drastic, just swelling and bruising.

After that, I finally had his attention.

"I don't even know where to begin," he sighed, rubbing his temples, looking exhausted.

I'm still surprised his robe stayed intact. Would have been an awkward fight, if it hadn't.

"Any information would be nice," I retorted dryly. "Did it start after your mum died?"

"Yeah, it did," he nodded. "As I've told you, mum died when I was seven. She married my step father when I was about five, I think. Since we've never met our dad, it was just Andrew. He took custody of us."

"Okay," I nodded, shifting in my seat. "Go on."

"He wasn't a great guy. He would just dump us at our grandparents place when he wanted to go get drunk and stuff. But our grandparents travelled a lot, so when they weren't around, we were just abandoned. Sometimes for a couple of days."

Biting my lip, I shook my head. "That's horrible."

"Yeah. It was. But that was the good life. It got worse when we got older. He started being able to use us."

"Use you?" I repeated, slightly unsure of what he meant by that.

"Yeah. He made us go do jobs for him. People don't question two kids running around. A creepy older guy? That raises alarms. We used to drop off packages and pick up 'deliveries', as he used to call them."

Frowning, I cocked my head to the side. "Deliveries? What was it?"

He gave me an unreadable expression. "Drugs, Faith."

A wave of shock coursed through my veins. I snapped my mouth shut, trying not to react too drastically. Nodding slowly, I began fidgeting.

"Oh."

"Yeah." he said slowly. "I didn't really know what it was, until I was about fourteen. Then, I started questioning it. He didn't like providing answers."

"What do you mean?"

"He used to hit me if I asked him what was inside." He let out a dry laugh. "My brother was his little pet. Chase just did whatever he asked of him. He was probably the smarter one. He never got hit."

"Look where you are now though," I pointed out. "You got out. He's still doing that same shit."

"Did I really get out?" he asked hoarsely, running a hand through his hair restlessly. "They're not letting me off that easy."

"We will find a way," I said boldly. "Keep going."

"Well, basically by the time I got to fifteen, I had enough. I was older, stronger and wiser. I stood up to him. He choked me. He bashed me. He did horrible, horrible things to me. So I packed up and split. I went to the only place I could - my grandparents."

I sat still as I listened, my heart rate increasing.

"But my grandfather passed away and nan, she just didn't cope. They'd been together ever since they were about fifteen. She just lost it. She began going insane. She had to go into a nursing home. So, I was on my own again. Andrew tried reaching out to me, but I couldn't go back. So, I looked around, stayed with some mates, until I saw your dad's ad in the paper about a room to rent. It was perfect, really."

If Xavier hadn't become a person I'd grown to feel such affection for, I would want to punch my dad. He left me, alone, with an ex-drug dealer. Okay, so Xavier obviously didn't know a lot about it and was young and impressionable. But still. Imagine if my father knew.

I could so win the argument between dad and I 100%, but I couldn't rat out Xavier like that.

Or could I? Would telling dad be helpful?

"What are you thinking?" Xavier asked me, leaning forward.

"Er-" I said slowly, not sure what to say. "I was kind of thinking I should tell my dad."

"Are you serious?" he snapped, the smooth expression on his face twisting to anger. "He'll kick me out!"

"Not if we explain it like how you just explained it to me!" I pleaded, getting to my feet as he did. I gripped his arm, trying to get him to calm down. "Maybe we can go to the police-"

He wrenched his arm from me and gave me a dark look. "I confided in you. I just told you things I've never told anyone. And you want to dob me in?"

"Xavier, that's not what I'm doing-"

He shook his head and stepped back as I tried to reach for him again. "I should have known you'd want to run to your daddy."

With that, he stalked from me, towards his room. By the time I got there, he had jeans on and was just yanking a shirt over his head. I wanted to admire him, but now was not the time.

I didn't appreciate that verbal slap in the face.

"Xavier!" I cried, trying to get him to slow down.

Wrenching his hand out from mine, he glowered at me, before marching to the door and slamming it shut behind him. My mouth was hanging open as I stood there, speechless, blinking at the door.

What the hell just happened?

The engine of his motorbike roared to life and I jolted, running to the window. He took off and sped from my driveway.

My heart clenched inside my chest as I watched him leave.

What was I meant to do from here?

***

I had been nervously pacing in my room for about two hours now.

My legs ached, my feet hurt and my back was sore. But I couldn't stop. All I kept thinking about was my fight with Xavier. And the crazy things he told me before that.

It was too much for one to digest.

I didn't think I was in the wrong, wanting to confide in someone who could shed some perspective on this situation. My dad is my best friend, if I spoke to him about something serious like this, he wouldn't freak out. He would listen and we would come up with a solution. Together.

But Xavier doesn't understand that. And how could he? He's never experienced a relationship like my father and I have. I can't blame him for reacting that way, but at the same time, couldn't he see I only wanted to help?

I wouldn't do anything to get him into trouble. He means too much to me.

Groaning, I gripped a fistful of my hair, slightly yanking it. These same thoughts had been whirling around inside my mind to the extent I felt dizzy.

I had driven around, trying to see where Xavier went, but I had no luck. He probably went to the waterfall we went to on our date, but I didn't know how to get there by myself. Especially since it was dark now. And besides, he probably wants some time to cool off.

But it didn't mean I wasn't stressing.

The first hour of pacing, consisted of me describing everything to Brooklyn. She was having a family dilemma and couldn't come over to comfort me, which sucked. But at least I got to vent.

I still haven't spoken to dad since our fight.

I'm not this person. I don't fight with the people I love. I fight with people who I despise, yes, but I don't with people close to me. Brooklyn and my father were people I couldn't bear to fight with. Xavier has now made it onto the list as well. Which means I was fighting with two people that I love.

That was too much for me to handle.

My stomach was clenched uncomfortably. I just kept wondering if he was okay.

When is he going to come back?

What if his twin or his step father find him?

I wanted to vomit.

Striding down my stairs and out onto the porch, I collapsed, the cool wind slapping me harshly in the face. I wrapped my arms around myself and began rocking back and forth.

The wait was unbearable.

I had tried contacting him, of course, but he didn't answer or respond. Which I expected. I wouldn't either.

Sighing, I began shaking.

My heart skipped a beat as I heard sirens off in the distance. My stomach dropped.

Running inside, I grabbed my keys and bolted out to my car. I stomped on the accelerator, following the wailing sound of the sirens. Surely it couldn't be him. I was just paranoid... accidents are common.

I didn't have a good feeling about this.

Finally reaching the red and blue lights, I reefed my handbrake on and fell out of the car, half staggering towards the police car.

A motorbike was laying on its side.

I felt sick.

Stumbling, I tried to reach him. I couldn't see, my eyes were suddenly blurry with tears.

"Ma'am!" I heard a person say, gripping my arm. "You can't go over there."

It was him. It was Xavier.

He was laying on his side, motionless.

A wail tore from my throat as I collapsed onto the hard ground below me.

This was all my fault.

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...What do you think about what Xavier told Faith?

How do you feel about their fight? Is Faith in the wrong?

Do you think Xavier will be okay?

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