As promised, a new chapter. This is for the people like me who aren't going out tonight, because responsibilities. A virgin toast to us all!
Anonymous review reply: Thanks for the review! I'll admit that I have a "secret" love for OC characters, especially twins/siblings. I wondered if I wanted to give Persephone a completely separate background (she wouldn't have been named Persephone in that case), but tbh I love Iris' look and I wanted to keep that, so voila, a twin. As for complications and difficult choices...well, we'll see, won't we? ;)
*~*~ToL~*~
Although Persephone moved out of her childhood home as soon as she graduated, she returns every Sunday night for family dinner and "Catch Up Time" as Joe aptly puts it. Despite Persephone's busy daily life, she almost never misses these dinners. Although she moved out because she needed to get away from all the tension she felt around the house, she misses her family terribly after short periods of time, and looks forward to these dinners (even though she pretends not to).
"Late, as usual!" she calls out to Barry as he rushes into the house, his jacket half off and a bundle of CSI files in one of his hands.
"Hello to you too, Persi," he retorts, a small smile on his face. Persephone twitches at Barry's nickname for her and sticks her tongue out childishly at her best friend.
Hearing the door slam close, Iris comes running out of the kitchen, a mixing bowl and a whisk in her arms. "Hi Barry! Welcome home!" She walks over to him and gives him a kiss on his cheek. "How was work?"
Blushing, Barry replies, "Yeah, it was alright. How are you?"
Beaming, Iris replies to him, but with a roll of her eyes, Persephone tunes the rest of their conversation out. For as long as she can remember, it's always been like this: Barry looks at her like she's just one of the guys, but whenever Iris walks into a room, the idiot stumbles and stutters around her. They look exactly the same, for crying out loud!
Well, Persephone thinks as she catches the eye of her reflection on the mirror across the room, eyeing her just above shoulder-length brown and auburn curls, her several ear piercings, and the spiraling tattoos across her arms, not exactly…
Joe calls for Iris to return to the kitchen with her wares, and Barry goes upstairs to get out of his work clothes (although he has an apartment of his own, he keeps a few set of clothes at Joe's for whenever he needs it). Persephone would be in the kitchen helping too, but it's only big enough for two people, so the twins trade off every week, while Barry and Joe cook based on who has the day off. Joe and Iris cook classic meals, while Barry and Persephone usually dabble with different sorts of cuisine and cooking methods. Between the two pairs and their switch-offs, no Sunday is ever boring in the West household.
Persephone is drawn out of her thoughts as Iris flits through the room, her arms full of food. Her sister has always managed to look so graceful, no matter what circumstance she is faced with. Persephone is not as naturally graced as her younger twin, but what she lacks in poise, she makes up for with athleticism.
For as long as she can remember, Persephone has been involved with some type of sport. Before she hit her teens, she was an avid soccer player. As a matter of fact, soccer was how she met Barry. Before boys and girls were split into two different teams, she and Barry had been on the same team. Their synergy as a midfielder-striker duo was practically legendary, and they had become fast friends after plenty of victory celebrations. That was how he and Iris – the young, beautiful ballerina – had met, and Barry had fallen the moment he saw his best friend's twin sister.
Soon after that, Persephone grew tired of soccer, especially after Barry quit (not that she blamed him; his mother was murdered and his father was in prison), and she joined the track team to occupy her young teenage mind. That didn't last too long however. Although it was just as challenging as soccer, she felt it was too stale and one-dimensional.
When she was fourteen, she tried out for her high school's swim team, and never looked back. The water was where she belonged, and she was an idiot for not realizing it sooner. She could lose herself for hours on end, swimming constantly, the sharp smell of chlorine sticking to her skin and hair for days afterwards. Joe always complained that she would get sick from all her swimming adventures (especially the late night ones that they thought only Barry knew about), but Persephone was never affected by the water. She had always been able to hold her breath for extremely long periods under water, her skin never seemed to get pruned like she saw others' become, and temperature of water never seemed to bother her. She found that particular fact out after a dare from Barry to jump into the C.C. Lake in under zero conditions.
"You know," the lanky sixteen-year old said blandly as he watched his best friend shuck off her winter jacket, "I was mostly kidding when I told you to jump into C.C. when it's freezing cold."
Throwing her head forward, she caught most of her chaotic curls into a lopsided ponytail. "Mostly kidding? I doubt that. You don't mostly kid, Barry," she replied, balancing perfectly on her left foot as she took her right boot off.
Barry scowled, and tried once more to convince her, "You're going to get sick, Persi! And Joe always finds out when you've been up to no good, you're going to get grounded, again!"
"You mean when he finds out that we've been up to no good? Better keep your mouth shut then, Allen." She stuck her tongue out at him as she pulled her pants down, leaving her only in her boy-shorts underwear and tank top.
Living with her, Barry had seen her in less, but that didn't stop the blush from rising to his cheeks as he eyed her toned body. Catching his eye, Persephone laughed and threw her shirt at him, scolding, "Don't eye-rape me, pervert." With that, she took a running leap off the pier and into the freezing depths of C.C. Lake.
Barry had been amazing when she came out of the water, not shivering or bothered by the water at all and even more so when she didn't get sick during the night. After the first night, Persephone was able to convince him several times to go out on late-night swimming adventures with her.
The older West twin takes her seat next to her younger sister, who is seated opposite Barry and adjacent to their father, who takes his seat as the head of the table after placing his pan of seafood casserole down on the small yet homey dining table.
"My favorite!" Barry exclaims as he immediately reaches over to grab the ladle.
Iris smiles fondly at her best friend, and Persephone rolls her eyes again.
Yup, just another Sunday evening with the West household.
*~*~ToL~*~*
A look into the dynamic that they West twins and Mr. Allen find themselves in. A bit cliche, isn't it? Ah well, sometimes we all need a little cliche in our lives.
Please leave a review! Let me know what you're thinking (even if it isn't about the story).
