"Lying here with you, listening to the rain." ~Edwin McCain
Nick's P.O.V.
I was sleeping soundly, Claudia laying next to me, when the sound of someone knocking at the front door woke me up. I sighed and rose to my feet, pulling on some clothes. I glanced at the clock, seeing that it read six-thirty in the morning. I narrowed my eyes. Who could possibly be here this early? I slipped out of the bedroom quietly, careful not to disturb Claudia. I ran my fingers through my hair in a useless attempt to make it lay down a little, but it still stood up in all directions.
I didn't even have the front door all the way open when Joseph walked in, looking absolutely frazzled. Actually, that may be an understatement. Deranged may be a more suitable word. His hair was in even more of a mess than usual, his eyes were bloodshot and ringed with dark circles, and his clothing was disheveled. He held something in his hand that looked like a picture, but I couldn't quite tell.
"Nick, we have a problem. A big problem. A major, enormous, strange, impossible, science-defying problem that is rude and not ginger," he said, his words coming out so fast I could barely understand him.
"Rude and not…ginger?" I repeated confusedly, staring at the young doctor like he'd lost every bit of his mind.
"Nope, definitely not ginger. It's just sort of…brown," he replied with a shrug.
"You do understand that you are making absolutely no sense?" I said.
"Yep," he confirmed with a nod. "Technically though, you can't expect me to make sense. Because ever since about twelve a.m. last night, nothing has been making sense. So if nothing has been making sense since then, I can't be logically expected to be making sense because that would be off pattern. Meaning, assuming I am staying on track with the fact nothing has been making sense, I am acting comparatively normal."
I walked off to go find Tylenol, simply because that entire statement had given me a headache.
Jenny's P.O.V.
I lay there on the bed, unable to sleep in spite of how early it was. I was still unnerved by my conversation with the strange, young doctor last night. Once he'd gotten a good look at me, he'd begun behaving…oddly, to put it mildly. He'd started treating me like some sort of science project. Something about him was just generally weird. Not his appearance, put his personality. He actually looked fairly normal to the naked eye, save for the unnaturally pale skin. No, it was his overly perceptive stare and quiet tone of voice that set me on edge.
To most females, I suppose he would seem quite normal. A little quiet maybe, but normal. Then again, the only thing most females would care about would be his looks. And even I had to admit that he was attractive. He was far from my type and I was engaged, but he was very good looking. Tall and slender with tousled hair…he could probably be a model if he wanted to.
"Something wrong, Jen?" my fiancé murmured sleepily.
"No, sorry if I woke you. Go on back to sleep," I said, and within five minutes, he was snoring.
Joseph's P.O.V.
"So Claudia has a…doppelganger," Nick said, bewildered.
"Exactly," I confirmed. I'd just finished explaining Jenny Lewis to him, and he was every inch as shocked as I'd been. He blinked slowly, running his fingers through his hair.
"Wow," he said.
I laughed, smiling somewhat crookedly. "That's what I thought too."
"So, what's she like?" he asked.
I leaned back, tilting my head. "Feisty. Strong. Independent. She is…" I trailed off, searching for an adequate word. Yet there seemed to be nothing in my vocabulary that could accurately sum up Jenny Lewis.
"Joseph?"
"Yes?" I replied.
"Do you…like her?" he asked, his eyes dancing with amusement.
"No! I mean, no, not like that…no," I stuttered, shaking my head.
"You have that look."
"What look?" I asked defensively, crossing my arms.
"That dazed, dreamy look," he said.
"I am not dazed and dreamy," I retorted.
"You like her, don't you?" he asked again.
"No, I do not like Jenny!" I repeated.
"Of course you don't," he said, clearly not believing me.
I just rolled my eyes and got to my feet, tucking the picture I'd shown him back in my pocket. I'd found her on Facebook, so getting a picture to show him hadn't been hard.
Jenny's P.O.V.
I walked into the small café, situating myself at the counter. I ordered a glass of tea and watched as people bustled through the crowded restaurant. Thankfully though, I'd worked with media for all of my career, so crowds no longer bothered me. I took a sip of sweet tea, glancing at the clock mounted on the wall. I had to meet a client in an hour but had wanted to get lunch first, so here I was.
I glanced around absently and nearly jumped out my skin when I saw the doctor sitting next to me. He looked downright distraught and slightly panicked. Judging from the bored way he picked at the hem of his black dress shirt, he hadn't even noticed I was there. But even though he looked somewhat bored, his eyes betrayed something between fear and panic.
"What is wrong with you?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
He glanced over and seemingly just then noticed my presence. "I suffer from severe claustrophobia," he explained.
"Then why are you in a crowded restaurant?"
"Because I'm meeting a friend here in half an hour and I'm early," he replied, tapping his fingers nervously against the surface of the counter.
I smiled, just slightly. I found his nervousness slightly amusing and almost…cute. I returned to sipping my tea and ordered a sandwich for lunch when the waitress came over. I looked at Joseph out of the corner of my eye, studying him. Now that it wasn't dark outside, I could make out his features more clearly. Black hair that brushed the back of his shirt collar, eyes faintly shadowed with dark circles as if he hadn't slept much lately, and fingernails that were ragged and obviously chewed. It was the eyes, though, that got my attention. Icy, piercing blue, surrounded with long, dark lashes. They had little flecks of dark blue in them, just a very faint dusting of them across the pale blue irises. Most would find him attractive, I found him a little bit disturbing.
"Why are you staring at me?" he asked quietly, his words almost inaudible in the loudness of the room.
I jumped, startled. I hadn't even known he knew I was watching him. He didn't look bothered, though. Just curious. He didn't seem the type to get angry easily. How would you know? You don't even know this man, I told myself, knowing I was jumping to assumptions far too early. I averted my gaze and pretended to suddenly be interested in the sleeve of my blouse.
"So, mysterious doppelganger, why won't you answer me?" he asked, his voice showing no trace of sarcasm.
"My name is Jenny, not 'mysterious doppelganger,'" I corrected. "Anyways, you just seemed a bit panicky," I said, hoping he would except the explanation.
"Oh you should see me when I get really panicky. This is nothing in comparison," he shrugged.
"How very comforting," I said sarcastically.
"Well I have mild bipolar, severe insomnia, and my mother was schizophrenic, so you can't very well expect me to be normal," he said.
"So I am sitting next to a schizophrenic with trouble sleeping and mood swings?" I asked, becoming more and more uncomfortable by the minute.
He laughed, a sound that was part amusing and part manic. "No, I don't have schizophrenia, my mother did," he clarified.
"Because that's so reassuring," I said, my voice again heavily laced with sarcasm. He just smiled as if he found the comment amusing.
Nick's P.O.V.
I walked into the café to see Joseph already waiting for me, talking to Claudia. No…Claudia was back at her flat. How was she…? Then I realized he wasn't talking to who I thought he was. I would bet anything that the woman sitting next to him was none other than Jenny Lewis. I felt my eyes lock on the two of them, shock spreading through me. Well, I now knew what Claudia would look like if she ever wanted to dye her hair brown.
I was snapped out of my trance by a familiar voice coming from behind me.
"You left your wallet back at my flat, I thought you might want it," Claudia said as she walked up next to me.
"Yeah…thanks…" I said absently as I tucked it into my pocket.
"What's wrong, love?" she asked, gazing up at me with worry.
I simply motioned to where Jenny sat next to Joseph, and I watched as her eyes widened. I put my hand on her shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. I could feel her tremble slightly under my touch, not that I could really blame her for her shakiness. She was staring at her exact replica, of course she would be shaken.
I glanced out one of the windows and saw Stephen and Abby walking, hand in hand, down the sidewalk together. She paused briefly to give him a quick kiss, leaning up on her tiptoes because he was so much taller. Smiling, he just put his arms around her waist and picked her up, letting her feet dangle a couple of inches off the ground as they kissed. I sighed, thinking of how lucky they were to have such an easy relationship.
"So this…this is what had you so distant when I got up this morning," she said in reference to when I had been very quiet after Joseph had left. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.
"Because I didn't want to frighten you," I replied simply.
"You honestly didn't think I wouldn't find out eventually?" she laughed, but the sound was weak and fragile.
"Come on. Let's introduce ourselves," I said, nodding towards the counter.
She nodded and took my hand as we walked over, seeming to have regained her composure. When I reached Joseph and Jenny, I tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. He glanced up and then looked over at Claudia before flicking his gaze to Jenny. Apparently seeing the two of them, side by side, was a bit much to handle for him as well.
"Claudia Brown," she introduced herself, extending her hand to Jenny. Claudia was blinking slowly, looking like she was trying her best to keep a strong front.
"Jenny Lewis," the other woman replied, giving Claudia's hand a firm shake. Jenny, on the other hand, was completely composed and not showing a bit of surprise. Joseph had mentioned earlier that she worked with the media, so I could only assume that she'd had a good bit of practice keeping at not showing any emotion.
Joseph and I just stared at each other in disbelief. I'd heard of twins, I'd even heard of Siamese twins, but doppelgangers?
"Well this is…interesting," he said.
"To say the very least," I agreed, nodding.
Then we both burst out laughing. Because it was crazy, and impossible, and it wasn't all that surprising. Dinosaurs, rips in time, why not doppelgangers? Never a dull moment, I thought amusedly. Funnier still was that Claudia and Jenny seemed to be getting along great. I decided that maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Maybe the ARC, the anomalies, the doppelgangers…maybe it would all be fine. I wasn't a generally optimistic person, but I'd survived thinking I had cancer, so why not take on some unexplainable phenomenon while I was at it. I had Claudia, I had my friends, I had more than enough to get me through it. And as I stood there next to a batty young doctor, the love of my life, and her doppelganger, I decided that maybe living like you were dying wasn't such a bad thing after all.
"He said 'Someday I hope you get the chance, to live like you were dying.'" ~Tim McGraw
Author's Note:
Hello everyone! This is the last chapter, so I would like to thank every single reviewer, regardless if it was just one review, that has given me advice and encouraged me to continue! Thanks to drodgers89, rattychipmunk, Squabble, Kathryn Hart, R2R (anonymous), CakeyxClickx, sopheezmum, L (anonymous), PrimevalChick, and Stephanieella96! All of you are just amazing :D
I will now be writing a Stephen/Abby fic for my sister Danielle if anyone would like to check it out. I would continue my pointless ramblings, but since you all are probably ready to die of boredom, I will just give one last thank you to everyone that has read and reviewed! I couldn't have done it without you guys!