A/N: I know it has taken me forever to update and I'm sorry for it, but I promise that I will try and be more consistent! :D Here is the next chapter and it is a big shocker! Unless you already guessed it. That just means I'm predictable. Anyway, tell me what you think and I hope you enjoy it! :D :D

Madi

"Well, Duncan, Gwen, it started before Michelle and I got married. . . "

That was how my dad began. When he went on, Duncan and I were both shocked.

"We called off the engagement for about a month over a stupid and meaningless fight, but that's not important right now. During that month both of us dated different people, before we both realized we needed each other and could never be happy without each other—"

"We managed to be quite happy without you, thank you very much!" I couldn't help myself; he thinks that Mom couldn't be happy without him! We were a really happy family after we coped with the fact that he was gone! I mean, we had our problems, but what family doesn't even if there is a man around the house!

"I know, Gwen, we did manage to be happy without your father, but I for one am much happier with him back. I wish you would try to be too."

"Mom, I will, but not at the moment."

Duncan leaned over and whispered in my ear. "I hated him even more than you and I'm holding it together better. Let them finish and then you can explode on him. Don't forget you promised you'd give him a week." Only I heard him, but I shut up, after saying one thing through clenched teeth.

"Go on."

"Thank you. As I was saying, we needed each other," I tried not to cringe. "But before that I did something that I'm not proud of. Your mother understands and I hope you will too. I don't plan on telling Jeremy yet, he's too young." He paused. In that pause I tried so hard not to yell at him to tell us, that included Jeremy too. He may be young, but he understood more than most little kids do.

"I had a very small affair with a woman. It only lasted about a week, but that week was enough. I got her pregnant." Okay, I may be 18 but I couldn't help but cringe at that. Even the big tough guy, Duncan over here, cringed. Neither of us was very fond of health class. I still needed to get to the point though.

"What does any of this have to do with Duncan?"

"Well, Gwen, that's the thing. The woman I got pregnant. . . well. . . she was Duncan's mother."

We both froze, just staring, with a blank expression on our faces, at my parents. . . well, my mom and. . . our dad (that sounds so wrong!). My mom's eyes were pleading, begging me to understand. My dad looked ashamed. Ashamed? Yeah, that was the word. How could he even think about acting ashamed when Duncan was in the room? I mean how were we supposed to know whether he was ashamed of cheating on my mom, or ashamed of being Duncan's father. I couldn't take it anymore; I got up and walked to the window. Windows were like my sanctuary.

My voice shock, against my will, "So," I swallowed, "Duncan's my half brother?"

"Yes, sweetie, that's right." My mom's voice was strained, trying to figure out whether I was okay with it or whether I was going to explode.

I turned and looked at Duncan. He was staring into space. As if he sensed my eyes on him he looked at me. It hit me like a rock. He was so hurt. He had always thought that his father had died before he was born; at least that was what his mom told him. That she had known who his father was, and hadn't told him; that he had been living around the corner and had never said anything, it killed him. This was Duncan we were talking about, he never let any of his emotions show, and yet here his was looking as vulnerable as a little kid.

He stood up and we both walked outside. There was a nice little breeze.

"So, what do you think? Are they telling the truth?"

"It makes sense, Gwen. I was born almost exactly a month before you, and my mom never talked about my dad, I've never known him, never seen any pictures around the house of them being married, nothing."

"So, do we tell people or do we figure this out first? Maybe we could just tell our friends and then keep it on the DL?"

"I think we shouldn't tell anyone until we figure out what's going on. I'll come by tomorrow again and we'll talk, k?"

"Yeah. . . " He started to walk away. "Duncan, what about Courtney and Trent? Don't you think we should at least tell them? I mean, I'm going out with Trent right after this and he's going to want to know what the talk was about, couldn't I at least tell him?"

"Gwen. . . " He looked at the ground, uncertain on how to tell me no. I put on my best sappy face. Then he made the mistake of looking up. "Ugh, fine you can tell him, but I don't think I'm going to tell Courtney, because she'll get a million lawyers on it all at once."

"All right. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah. . . " As he walked home his shoulders were slumped, deep in thought, and that was rare for Duncan. I was a little worried about him.

I went up to my room and leaned against the window looking down on the street. I watched Duncan walk by and saw him stop for a second. He looked up and saw me at the window. He gestured for me to open the window. When I opened it he said, "Jeez sis, what is it with you and windows?" It sounded foreign to me, hearing him calling me sis. It really shouldn't though, over the years we have always joked around about being sister and brother, never being serious of course, but he'd still called me sis before. Maybe it was because this time it's true, I thought.

"I don't know, bro, they just calm me down." We both broke out laughing. Laughter was good; it meant that we were still cool, that this didn't change anything. But it had changed everything. Everything was different now, and no one else knew about it. I had always had Bridgette or Courtney to rant to about everything, but now. . . oh well, I would tell Trent tonight. Then I could rant to him about it. Speaking of Trent, I have to call him.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Trent. It's Gwen."

"Gwen! Hey! How did it go? Are you okay? Do you still want to go for dinner?"

"Yeah. Um. . . actually we are going to have a lot to talk about at dinner. Where are we going?"

"Ok and I'm not telling you. I'll pick you up at 7. Dress nice."

He hung up. Dress nice? Oh boy. I looked through my closet. I only had a couple really nice dresses. I decided on my black one. It was gorgeous. It was a halter top with a V neck and it had a big diamond square that was tilted to look like a diamond at the bottom of the V. It then fell down to just above my knee. I settled for that with black heels instead of my chunky black boots. I put my hair up in a gorgeous messy bun, and left one strand of hair out and curled it. Some well-defined black eye-liner and a very nice, faint silver eye-shadow matched it perfectly. Along with some mascara, I was ready to go just as the doorbell rang.

I walked downstairs. Jeremy had let Trent in and he looked gorgeous. He was like a god sent down from heaven. He had on black dress pants and black dress shoes, with a white shirt that had the first button undone, and a black jacket that fit him perfectly. It was a classic outfit that would look good on any guy, but on him it looked. . . well, he looked like an Abercrombie and Fitch model. I walked down the stairs. He was looking at me like I was royalty or something. There was no way I looked that good, I never looked that good.

I walked up to him. Even though I was in heels he still looked down on me.

He cleared his throat. "You look great."

"Not too bad yourself, handsome." I smiled.

"Bye, Mom."

"Bye, Gwen. And have a good time!"

We walked down the front step and he opened the car door. I got in, and he walked around to the driver's side. Once he got in I couldn't wait any longer. I know I sound like a slut but he was an amazing kisser and that suit didn't help my temptation. I leaned over and gave him a kiss, which he returned. Then I leaned back. "So, where are we going exactly?"

"You'll see, beautiful."

"Ooo, mysterious, I like it." I was still smiling like an idiot. I couldn't help it I was excited. Then Trent decided to get serious on me.

"So what did you mean when you said we would have a lot to talk about at dinner? Is everything okay? Is it something to do with what your parents told you and Duncan?"

The smile vanished from my face within a second.

"Well, that's the thing. What I'm about to tell you is exactly what my parents told us, except that Duncan and I agreed that we weren't going to tell anyone else. Duncan isn't even going to tell Courtney, so you have to keep quiet. K?"

"Are you sure I should know this, Gwen? I mean, if Duncan isn't even telling Courtney. . . " He left the sentence unfinished. Duncan was obsessed with Courtney. This was serious though and I needed to talk to someone other than Duncan about it.

"No, I need you to know this. Part of it is that I am going to need someone other than Duncan to talk to and the other thing is that I am going to be spending a hell of a lot of time with Duncan and I need you to know why." So you don't get jealous, I thought.

"All right. If you think so, then I'm all ears. And I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Well, before my parents got married. . . " I told him the whole thing. Every word, every detail. When I finished I looked out the window. My eyes were blurry and I was trying not to cry. I couldn't believe myself! I've only cried a handful of times in my life and I bet you over half of them have been in the last two days!

I couldn't see anything out the window, but we stopped and Trent turned off the car. He hadn't said anything about the whole brother sister thing yet, and I wanted to know what he thought. He got out of the car and came to my side. He opened the door and looked at me. His eyes were so full of. . . of love. . . wow. When did I turn into such a sap?

"So, now you have a big brother. And on top of that, he already acts like it. Why are you crying about it? It doesn't change anything at all. Now, come on. We're here." The way he said it made me believe him. Duncan has always been my big brother, now it's just official. And why does anything have to change? Trent was right. I looked up and lost my train of thought.

We were standing in front of the most beautiful restaurant you could possibly imagine. It had a Roman vibe to it. There were white columns' on the outside with a beautiful arch. It had big white doors on it with handles shaped like horses. We walked in. It was so romantic. There was faint music playing in the background and the small chatter could be heard. There were two candles on every table that were lit and gave off a really nice lavender smell. Trent took my hand and led me to a small private table in the back. It was like he had known me my whole life. It was perfect. HE was perfect. . . and he was all mine.

A/N: I know it was kind of a crummy ending for a chapter. The next chapter you get a little insight on Duncan's house and his life at home…..mwahahaha. I am hoping to update ASAP. Please let me know if you have any ideas or whatever. So R&R everybody!

p.s. If you are wondering what the dress looks like copy and paste this URL. It is a gorgeous dress. I would wear it for a special occasion in a heartbeat.

Madi