A/N: I'm sorry for the long delay on this. I've had a lot going on recently – I haven't been well and also work has been affecting me. Depending on my shifts, I find I can't get much done when I come home so now I'm relying on my days off to help me get more story writing done. I hope this chapter is too your liking; we get to see a little more of Hannah, Amy's sister, in this chapter.

Reviews are greatly appreciated!

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR: THE REVELATION

Amy

Now that Mom and Dad were aware of the situation, it was Hannah's turn. She'd be back home tomorrow after spending a few days with her boyfriend, and I knew sometimes despite Hannah's laid back attitude, she could also be more critical than our parents. The amount of times she'd sat down with me in the past and lectured me was unbelievable, trying to act as a 'good girl know it all' even though over the years she'd been the rebel of the family. She always tried to come over as though she was so experienced with life and I was just beginning, even though Hannah was only nine years older than me. I used to think that Debbie talked down to me at times, but she at least had a little more experience under her belt than my sister, and it was helpful experience.

Warren remained in the living room once Mom and Dad had left. They'd left in a cheerful mood and shook hands with Warren, stating that they'd been happy to meet him. "How do you think you got on with them?" I asked Warren, sitting opposite him and crossing my legs.

"Good. It went a lot better than I thought it would. I was half expecting your dad to get me by the neck," he replied with a smile. In all fairness and honesty, that had also been the reaction I was terrified of seeing act out before me. Even though Dad had always been the realist and never shown his love as openly as Mom, he was extremely loyal to his family. No one crossed any of us or Dad would be there to beat them down. He'd never tried to act a 'hard' man, but he'd always made it known that if you crossed his family, you'd know about it. "Your dad was really understanding with it all and basically said that it's your choice. You're not a kid anymore."

"He's right, but for some reason I've always felt like a kid. My sister always tries to act as the all knowing wise ass even though she's gone through some shit and really put strain on the family through her stupidity. I have more brains and common sense and get treated like a kid who doesn't know what she's doing. I just wish they'd let me grow up."

Being the younger sister had always assisted me well – for example, Mom and Dad had always seemed to let me off with some things and my sister would be bollocked senseless for them. Maybe it was also down to our completely different natures. I'd always been the one with more sense in my head in comparison to Hannah, but now that I was talking about moving to America...how could that be classed as having more sense? At least Hannah's boyfriend only lived about two miles away.

xxx

When Hannah finally came home the next day I was in the kitchen washing up while Warren helped wiping everything up as I washed it. "Alright, Han!" I called through the hallway upon hearing her keys and the door shut. I flipped as much of the soapy water off my hands as possible and dried them off quickly.

Hannah walked slowly into the kitchen, her eyes searching for Warren and then they locked on him. A weak smile lifted her lips upward; it was her usual sly smile. "Good man, getting your hands dirty and pitching in," she said with a broad smile. Warren turned around, never speaking but he returned her smile and continued on wiping the plates off. I felt a pang of guilt as I studied his back, knowing that he was covering his wings up again. If we were going to remain together, Warren would eventually have to let my family know about his mutation. But I wasn't going to push him into anything. It was his choice to let them know when he was ready. Unless he had the 'Cure' and let his wings disappear forever, denying they ever existed. At the end of the day, this was his choice and I couldn't influence him. I didn't want to be a clone of his dad and push him one way or the other. This was for him to decide.

There was an awkward silence for a while as Warren finished up wiping off the plates. I put them all away and left him to finish off his mug of coffee. "I heard you met Mom and Dad," Hannah said, sitting down at the kitchen table.

"Yeah, it was nerve wracking but they didn't harm me in any way," he replied.

"Don't say stuff like that," I instructed. "Mom and Dad aren't like that at all."

"So, what's going on with you two?" Hannah blurted out. She was so laid back sometimes that it made me grimace, and she didn't care how she worded things and would just say them. I looked up at her, and felt the sadness wash over me again; Hannah was my sister and I loved her...of course I loved her. And I was going to up and leave. My world was about to change drastically despite the fact that it already had. I was about to move to a different country, making a new life and leaving the old one behind. How could I do this? How could I move away and leave my family behind?

"We've agreed to move in together at the end of the year," I replied, swallowing hard. "We're going back to San Francisco for a few days and then we're going to leave it until the end of the year to move in together."

"What did Mom and Dad say about this?" Hannah asked. Her face had blanched. But she knew all about this. She knew full well how serious our relationship had become.

"They're alright with it, surprisingly enough."

"And what about work? If you're going back to America for a week, you can't keep having time off work."

I was starting to get agitated now at her attitude. Mom didn't nag me like this.

"I've quit my job. Warren's agreed to support me financially."

"How can he from America?"

"Quite easily," Warren said coolly, pitching in. "I've agreed to put money into her account to use until we move in together at the end of the year."

"How can you just quit your job, Aim?" Hannah half shouted.

"Why the fuck can't you just be happy for me?" I shouted, finally cracking. "Mom and Dad are alright with all of this, so you should be, too. But no, you're probably jealous of what's happening." The words blurted out my mouth and I couldn't stop them no matter how hard I tried; it was as if I was possessed and someone from deep down inside me were saying the hateful words rather than me. "Look, Han, I just want to be happy."

Tears were welling in Hannah's eyes and I felt my heart wrench. "Maybe you're right, Aim. You've always had better opportunities than me. You've made the right choices in life and seem to have been given far more than I have. You drop on the love of your life by the time you're twenty one and look how many boyfriends I've had."

"Han, what was Alex?" I asked, sitting beside her and taking her hand in mine. "I haven't been given any more than you have. It's what you choose to do with your life, Han. I just happened to decide to go to San Francisco and I met Warren there. It doesn't mean I've been given any more than you have. You could have gone and met a man there. And anyway, you've got Steve. He seems a nice bloke."

xxx

Warren agreed to go and spend time watching TV in my room while I spoke with Hannah privately. We stood out on the back garden with a cup of tea in our hands. "I didn't mean what I said, Han. About you being jealous," I apologised. "It just slipped out. I know I'm not being rational here, and things are going so insanely quickly. I'm acting more like you." I sipped my tea and watched Charlie the cat sleep on the path, enjoying being able to bathe in the bright sun.

"Aim, I can see why you'd act like this. You said about me having Steve, but he's hardly Warren, is he?"

"Does it really matter what a person has in their life, as in material stuff? Okay, Warren's dad owns a big company, but that doesn't seem to change who Warren is inside."

"But it certainly makes life a lot easier. You've got to admit though, Warren is cuter." Hannah nudged my arm and laughed.

"Hands off. I found him first!" I snorted playfully. "You go and find your own sexy rich man."

I could sense resentment and sadness in Hannah as we spoke. She genuinely seemed happy for me the more we spoke, but I could see there was more raw emotion riding behind it. Even though I'd nastily accused Hannah of being jealous, I knew she wasn't. Hannah was the least jealous person I'd ever met, but the differences in our lives were now apparent and that was what I was pretty sure was upsetting her. I was well aware that most women would be extremely envious of what lay ahead for me, but my own sister? I never in a million years imagined that she'd get like this.

"Han, when I do move, it's not as though I'm going away forever and never coming back. I'll come back as often as I can to see you, Mom and Dad. Can you really see me not visiting? You know how much I rely on you all."

"What's he like?" Hannah asked me, her face just catching the sunlight and in that moment it seemed to dance perfectly off the edge of her glasses and highlight her eyes which had always been told were like mine. The question took me off guard as she'd never really asked many in depth questions about him – this was the first time she'd shown an interest. Maybe her sadness had always been there about the differences in the men we'd chosen and that was how she'd dealt with it, by not talking about him.

I couldn't help but feel myself smile as I thought of Warren. He'd become my whole world now and it felt as if everything inside me had shifted to make way for him in my life. "He's...perfect." I looked up at Hannah as I spoke those words, letting them come straight from my heart. "I never imagined the next man I'd meet after Alex would be anything like Warren. He's so kind, gentle and yet funny when he wants to be."

"How exactly did you meet him?" Hannah asked.

"In a park one night. Weird, I know, but yeah, in a park."

"A park?" Hannah laughed. It was lingering on my lips; I needed to tell someone about what he was. Hannah had always been the person I trusted the most next to Debbie. But how would she take this? Would she go and tell Mom and Dad straight after been told everything? I just didn't know what to do and sighed loudly.

"What's up?" Hannah asked consolingly.

"I need to tell you something about Warren; I haven't told Mom and Dad yet because I'm scared of what they'll say."

"He isn't on sex offender's register, is he?"

"Oh, shut up!" I snorted, slapping her arm. "You really have to lower the tone, don't you?" I sighed again. "Okay, I'm just going to come out and say it, but when I tell you, don't you dare utter a word that he knows I've told you. He trusts me and I don't want that shaken."

"Alright. You've got me worried now."

"He's a mutant."

"Oh, and that's the huge revelation?" Hannah asked. "I thought you were going to say he's a closet pervert."

"If he is, he hasn't shown much of that yet. But I like perverts. Anyway, back to what I was saying. This is what I can't understand. I accept him, Debbie did and now you don't seem all that bothered so why does he have to hide away the way he does."

"Well, what exactly is it that he can do? Mutants have powers and shit, don't they?" And shit. She made me laugh so much sometimes with the half wit way she came out with things. I could feel myself growing nervous; this is what it must have felt like for him when the revelation was about to be thrown upon someone. I was dreading that he might walk out into the garden and hear us talking. How would he be able to trust me after that?

"Just promise you won't breathe a word to anyone!" I half growled, trying hard to emphasise my point.

"Okay, okay. Just spill it."

"He's got wings."

"Wings?" Hannah asked loudly.

"Shhhh!" I demanded, gritting my teeth. "Just let the neighbours know, why don't you?"

"But wings. Bloody hell. I've never heard of that one before."

"Neither had I," I said. "But don't you dare say anything about it, or knowing you keep making stupid references in conversations to birds or something. I don't want him to have any idea at all that we've discussed this. If you let it slip, I'll disown you." Hannah just pouted.

"You know you love me."

The rest of the day seemed to go pretty quickly. Warren seemed a little more nervous around Hannah than he'd been around Mom and Dad. I think it was her more outspoken attitude which was bothering him. When Hannah agreed to go and fetch groceries from the local Asda, Warren sat quietly. "What's the matter?" I asked him, getting on the sofa beside him. I curled my leg under myself and looked at him. "You've been really quiet around Hannah. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Meeting all your family in a couple of days is a little much," he said with a weak smile. I knew he was lying. I could always sense when Warren was lying as he'd try and smile, but it'd be a lop-sided smile with no genuine happiness in it and then he'd look away into space.

"I wasn't born yesterday. Something is up with you and I want to get to the bottom of it. Or are you going to be like a typical man and cover it up?"

"I don't like the way she keeps looking at my back," Warren said finally. He moved forward on the sofa and placed his hands in his lap. "Have you said something to her about it? Every time I look at her she seems to be studying me and then looks away."

Oh fuck! Thanks, Han! I knew she'd blow it all up. Okay, she hadn't said anything but she'd let him know that she'd noticed something different about him. Hannah hadn't always been the best of people to talk to about quite personal subjects; she'd either ramble off onto something else, showing very little interest or let it all slip out accidentally.

"She seriously pisses me off!" I snorted. "Alright, alright. I told her. She didn't show any signs of caring about it but I asked her to promise me not to let you know I'd told her."

"So you went behind my back and told her anyway even though you know it's difficult for me to come clean about this to anyone? I can't believe it, Aim!"

"And why do you think I told her not to let it slip out? I knew you'd get like this, Warren. I know you're insecure about this but not everyone is going to be disgusted by it. Debbie wasn't and Hannah isn't, she just has a weird way of showing things and can't keep a secret. I didn't mean to go behind your back but why are you always so scared to let people know about this?"

"You have no idea what's its like being in this situation, do you, Aim? You don't know what it's like walking around day after day, knowing you're a fucking freak and you're terrified people are going to find out about it."

"Hannah never said you were a fucking freak!" I shouted. "She was surprised that I was making such a big deal of keeping it quiet more than anything, not the fact that you're a mutant. She doesn't care about it." His eyes had grown dark and a nasty scowl was written across his face. "You know what? If you're not going to trust me, you might as well forget everything we've been fighting for. You want me to move in with you the end of the year, well forget it!"

"You talk about trust as though it only applies to you. You've never trusted me because of some asshole from the past and now you expect me to trust you. It's a two way street, Aim. If you want me to trust you, at least do me the same fucking courtesy before you start preaching it!" It caught me off guard as Warren got extremely angry and defensive and never in the six weeks that we'd been together had he spoken to me like this. I knew he was right and I shouldn't have gone ahead like I did and told Hannah. Why I told her to this day I still don't know. It was as though Warren's secret was something I needed to get off my chest and share with someone else apart from him. That and I didn't want him to keep covering up. Why the fuck should he do that? Warren is who he is and I don't expect him to change for anyone so why should he live a lie?

"You know when you said to me that I assume all men are cheating pricks? Can you remember that?" I asked sternly, looking Warren straight in the eye.

"Yeah," he replied.

"You're doing exactly the same. You say I assume all men are cheating pricks; you seem to be assuming that all people are judgemental and would immediately reject you and make fun of you. Have I? Has Debbie? Has Hannah? No, none of us have. Your insecurity comes from your dad and how he sees you." I felt nothing but guilt and love course through me as I took Warren's hand in mine. "You don't see all the good people out there, do you? Your view is tainted by the few who have made you feel miserable."

Warren smiled...finally. I hated to see him frowning. "Then why don't you practice what you preach, Aim? Your one bad experience had led you to believe that all people are untrustworthy, and have I shown you any indication that I can't be trusted?"

"Warren, I was with Alex for a few years and then he just did the dirty across me. He gave no indication whatsoever that he'd eventually cheat on me. But that's beside the point – I'm not saying you will cheat on me. I understand that we both have insecurities in different ways. Yours is opening up to people and being yourself, me its trusting people. We've been brought together for a reason, I think, and that was to help each other. I've helped you be open with someone and be who you truly are inside, with you, you've helped me trust again. I'm not saying I'm perfect, far from it. But please, trust me a little more when it comes to my family. I know them and I know they wouldn't reject you."

Shortly after our heart to heart, I found myself in my bedroom with Warren. I was pinned under him as we'd just made love again. I looked up into his eyes and found myself smiling and feeling nothing but unrelenting love burn for him. I curled my arms around his neck and kissed him, feeling our tongues entwine so perfectly and I knew that I'd never love any other man like I did him. We kissed for a while, enjoying every second of being intimate and then finally when Warren got up and sat on the edge of the bed, I followed him. I got on my knees behind him and kissed the base of his neck and moved downwards into the feathers. My hands roamed further down his wings, feeling the skin beneath and the softness. I felt him shiver and I kissed his neck again.

Why did he hate himself so much and why did he feel the need to cover up? He was the most beautiful man in the world and he couldn't see that. No matter how many times I said it to him (until I was blue in the face), he'd never believe me. "You don't need to be anyone else," I whispered. Then I wrapped my arms around him from behind, feeling my bare breasts press into his wings.

"I know I don't with you."