Flip of a Coyne

A Coyne Twins Story

Chapter 25: Declan and Fiona Take New York Part 2

"So, what do you want to do today?" Max asked as she and Declan's and Fiona's cousin, Lillian, bounded down the stairs of the Coyne Penthouse. Once again the two girls were left alone as the older kids went off in search of adventure in New York, this time in Central Park. Max met Lillian back on the Sunday when they arrived and the two girls hit it off easily. Lillian wasn't like Declan and Fiona, she didn't show off her money for attention. Max actually forgot that she was related to the Coynes until she paid for something with a flick of her credit card. They stayed up watching movies on Pay-Per-View and talked about their schools, their friends, sports, and boys. It was like a cycle and after doing the same thing for two days Max wanted to do something a little different.

"I don't know," Lillian replied as they walked into the kitchen where Marie, the cook, was all ready making breakfast. Bagels, toast, and English muffins were sitting on a plate, steaming. An assortment of fruit were in a large bowl and many different drink choices were at their disposal. "We could use Cousin Fi's makeup. She won't mind, she can just go and buy some new ones. I know a good technique that will help make both of your eyes stand out."

"Um, Matt and Mack say I can't wear makeup until I'm thirteen," Max replied. She hated that rule, most things she couldn't do until she was thirteen. She was eleven, however her birthday was in January so it was close, but not close enough for her.

"How're they going to know?" Lillian asked, lifting a pencil thin eyebrow. "I wear it all the time. I'm wearing it now."

"Really?" Max leaned forward so she was looking at the side of Lillian's head. She didn't even notice that her new friend was wearing makeup.

She nodded and took a sip of her orange juice. "I go for the natural kind of makeup so no one will notice. You don't want to look like a tramp." She waved her hand. "It's easy, I've done it since I was eleven. I'm an expert, practically."

"Ok, let's go now!"

Lillian laughed. "Eat something first. Mom said breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

Max rolled her eyes but did as she was told, quickly going through her eggs, toast, and milk. She waited practically on bated breath until Lillian finished her breakfast. The two ran back up the stairs, laughing and talking excitedly before going into Fiona's room. Max was amazed at how…elegant everything looked. Back at the condo everything was in its proper place but it felt more human. Like there were two Fiona's. Lillian pondered over Fiona's vanity before grabbing different containers and rushing out of the room.

They went back into the guest room, shut the door, and then went into the adjoining bathroom. Lillian made Max sit down on the toilet seat as she spread everything out on the counter. Max looked at herself in the mirror and studied her face. She could see Matt's and Mack's faces in her own. She had Matt's eye size and his nose while she had Mack's mouth and face shape. The only difference was that she had a green eye like Matt and a blue eye like Mack. The funny thing is she didn't see her parents in her, just her siblings. She found it a blessing and a curse. She thought it was cool to look like them but at the same time she hated that she wasn't original. Sometimes she even hated her own name since it sounded so similar to her siblings. She wondered for the longest time why they were all named with Ms but never got around to asking her parents since they were gone all of the time.

"Ok, pull your hair back and let's get started," Lillian ordered, holding a brush up to Max's face. She pulled her hair back into her signature pigtails and closed her eyes, waiting as Lillian spent the next few minutes putting makeup on her face. Lillian would whistle and make noises and that would make Max's nerves skyrocket. Finally Lillian set down the makeup and held a mirror up to Max's face when she opened her eyes.

"Whoa," Max whispered looking at herself. "I look…"

"Thirteen at least, maybe fourteen," Lillian said with a proud smile. "I outdid myself this time."

"Thank you," Max said, still in a whisper. Then she frowned. "I don't have any makeup. I won't be able to look like this at school."

"So we'll send out our personal shopper," Lillian said with a shrug. "Just hide it in your suitcase on the way home."

Max beamed. "Thanks so much!"

"No problem," Lillian said with a wave of her hand. She then frowned and looked at the bathroom door. "I won't tell anybody about the makeup if you don't tell anyone about me," she said as she closed the bathroom door.

"Ok, but what is it?" Max asked.

"I trust you with this, ok," Lillian said as she moved Max away from the toilet and lifted the lid.

"That's great but wha…" her voice trailed off as she watched Lillian lean her head over the toilet and shove her fingers down her throat. She gagged a couple of times before finally bringing up the breakfast she had just ate with a cough. Max's eyebrows knitted together as Lillian forced her fingers down her throat again and brought up more food before spitting and flushing the toilet.

"My sister showed it to me. You can eat whatever you want and stay thin. It works," Lillian said proudly, lifting her head from the toilet. "You said you wanted to be a swimmer, right? And swim season is coming up? You have to be small and be agile to win and this is the fastest way."

"But…doesn't that hurt?" Max asked.

"The smell is bad for the first couple of times but then you don't notice it," Lillian replied with a shrug. "You'll feel great and look great." She spun on the spot with her arms out. "Trust me. I'm living proof." She laughed and threw her arms into the air. "It's safe, really. Don't tell anyone, ok? I don't want them to know my secret. I get compliments all of the time. Even from boys."

"Boys?" Max repeated.

Lillian nodded and smiled. She knew she had Max hooked.

"Drew, are you ok? You've had the same scowl on your face for the past two days," Adam said as the two walked down the street.

Drew didn't respond but kept walking. Adam pulled his beanie lower on his ears to keep out the biting chill. His cheeks probably resembled beets by now. But Drew wanted to go for a walk and Aurda sent Adam with him, probably so she could spy without leaving the house.

But Adam hated going on walks with Drew. The only places he went were the Dot and walking down the same street over and over again. It was because Drew hoped he would run into Alli so they could talk and make amends. But even Adam knew that it wouldn't happen. Sure, he wasn't a girl, but he lived like one for a while and he knew when a girl was burned it was hard getting on their good side again and Drew practically committed a crime in girl world. What was worse was that he jumped to another girl when he claimed that he still had feelings for Alli.

Adam loved his brother to death but he hated who he became over the years. Adam missed the time where he treated girls with respect, holding open doors, giving compliments, helping them out when they were "damsels in distress". But he's been hurt one too many times since he started playing football and left him with a shadow of his former self.

"Drew, come on, talk to me," Adam urged, moving quickly to fall into his brother's fast walk. "What's going on? It's like…since your Dad and Sabrina got there you've completely shut down."

Drew finally stopped walking so quickly and slowed his walk, changing directions from Alli's street to the park. Adam gulped. The only time they went to the park was when Drew really needed to talk about some things that he didn't want their mother to hear about. Like when Adam first approached the topic of wanting a sex change. Or when Drew wanted to talk about how much pressure he felt was being put on him by everyone around him and how he hated that he couldn't live up to their expectations.

"So, what's up?" Adam asked, shoving his hands into his pockets as she looked up at the gray sky. He was sure it was going to snow soon. It felt like it, but then the sun would peek out a few times and ruin his hopes.

"I…I don't…" Drew started, trying to find the right words. He shook his head and it seemed like his frowned was etched deeper into his skin. "I don't like having Dad here."

"Why? I thought you were glad to be able to talk to him again," Adam said in shock. Adam would've jumped at the chance to talk to his Dad if he were in Drew's position. But Drew seemed to hate the idea since his father got there.

"There were random times that I was allowed to visit," Drew said as he stared hard at the swing set. One swing was moving as if by itself because fo the wind that was blowing. "It wasn't many times, just those random Labor Days when you'd go with your Dad to visit your mom and my mom went out of town for those school things. I'd stay with Dad for a few days and everything was fine."

"So what was the problem?" Adam asked, not quiet getting what Drew was trying to say.

"Sabrina tried to help me with my homework a lot 'cause Dad would be at work. I don't know, I guess she was trying to get to know me or something but I was brat for a while. I didn't like her. I didn't like the fact that Dad wasn't with Mom anymore. I tried to make her hate me as much as possible thinking that Dad would leave her," Drew replied, a faraway look in his eyes. He tugged at a loose thread on his jacket as he let out a breath. "I remember a lot of times she would get mad at me as we tried to do homework. She had less patience than I did and gave up before I did. Then Dad would come home and help me and settle things between us and everything would be fine."

"Wait, you've been having trouble doing school work since then, haven't you?" Adam asked. Drew nodded. "She's the reason you don't do well?"

"Yes," Drew replied. "I know she is, I just don't know how. But seeing her on Sunday brought back these strong feelings of hatred but I couldn't place where they were coming from."

"Why don't you talk to your Dad about it?"

Drew actually laughed out loud. "Because my Dad always tunes out something I say against her. It's as if she brainwashed him or something. He always claims that I'm telling lies if I say something about her and he won't listen to me."

"Maybe you should just keep trying."

Drew shook his head. "It won't do any good. I gave up a while ago. She doesn't want me in hers or my dad's life and I can't fight her if he's always taking her side." He let out another sigh and stood. "Might as well get back before Mom sends out police dogs to find us."

"Do you really think she would?"

"I honestly wouldn't put it past her." He watched as Adam stood and stretched. "Hey, thanks for listening."

"Anytime, bro."

The two brothers got up and made their way back to the house. Adam raced up the stairs and inside the house to get warm while Drew took his time. He stood on the porch, hating the situation they were in, and finally grabbed the handle of the door, pushing it open.

"Well it's about time you stupid kid," Sabrina said once Drew stepped in through the front door.

"What?" He asked, turning to look at her.

She looked up at him from the newspaper she was reading. "I said it was about time you got in," she repeated. "Dinner's almost ready. I made your favorite. Will you please do something fucking right?"

"Huh?"

"I said will you please set the table." Sabrina laughed. "Long day? You're out of it."

"Uh, yeah, I just…I'll be right back," Drew mumbled, moving past her and rushing up the stairs to get to his room. He closed the door and pressed his back against it, closing his eyes and trying to think back to the times when he was younger. He remembered sitting at that small round table, cheek propped up in a hand as he tapped a pencil to the paper. He remembered Sabrina hovering over him, getting frustrated the longer he took to do a problem. He remembered being satisfied; watching her getting even more annoyed as he purposely took his time. And then…he just hated doing school work.

But why?

"People have telling me that I'm dumb my entire life...Mom, Dad, brother, Perino, every other teacher I had."

"Are you ok, Fi?" Declan asked as they walked through the crowded park. The two sets of twins were walking around, taking a look at the sites and the booths. Declan and Fiona were walking a few steps ahead of the Montgomerys who were sharing a pretzel. Declan had noticed for the past five minutes that Fiona kept shifting her attention to people around her as if looking out for someone. "What're you looking for?"

"Not what, who," Fiona replied. "Paparazzi."

"There's no one out here, Fi, why're you so worried?" And before the words finished coming out of his mouth he understood. She was afraid that paparazzi would take their picture and make them out to be on a date or something. After that whole "twincest" fiasco Fiona's been on edge whenever she returned to New York and with the trial coming up she was jumpier than usual. "Fi, you have to stop worrying. Let people say what they want to say. They need a story and we know it's not true."

"They're trying to ruin our name," Fiona replied. "Which will make Dad even worse than he all ready is." She sighed. "I'm just glad he hasn't been here for the past couple of days. Too bad he's coming back today." She shook her head. "How could Dad be with someone so…so vile?"

"It's Mom's decision," Declan replied.

"I'm going to ask her," she announced suddenly. "I'm going to ask her why she married Dad."

"What, you're just going to randomly call her up?" Declan asked dryly.

"No, I'll wait for her to get home," she replied, ignoring the tone in his voice. "I wonder if she even knows about the other girl. Who could she be? What if we know her?"

"You're not going to ask Mom!" Declan said, suddenly fierce. "If she knows or not it's none of our business and once you find out you're going to want to talk to the other girl and that'll hurt Mom and she's been through enough all ready. Understand?"

"Yes," Fiona replied, eyes wide.

"Sorry," Declan apologized. "I just…I don't want anything to do with her. Or Dad. I just…" his voice trailed off.

"I know," Fiona said, putting a hand o his arm and smiling. He smiled back and kissed her forehead.

"Will you stop? You look like a paranoid freak," Matt muttered as Mack whipped her head around to look around the park.

"Ha, that's funny coming from you," she replied, taking a piece of the pretzel from his hand and popping it into her mouth. "You never know, he could be out here somewhere."

"He's not going to jump you in the middle of the day with me standing right next to you. That'd be stupid," Matt sighed, rolling his eyes.

"I hate being here," she mumbled, rubbing her arms as if trying to rub something off of them. She rolled her neck and scratched at it and then scratched her arms and her stomach, her eyes darting around all the while. "He's…he's here somewhere I know he is."

"Would you just calm down?" Matt whispered, making sure not to draw attention to the others.

"I didn't say anything, I should have, I'm so stupid," she muttered. "I just ran away. I just ran. I'm a coward."

"No you're not now stop it!" Matt hissed. "You did what you felt was right for you and that's all that you could do. Stop blaming yourself. Besides, Fiona's going to need us in a couple of days. I'm surprised she hasn't gone crazy from the idea of her trail coming up."

"About that, I can't go," Mack said suddenly.

"Wait, what?" Matt demanded. "Mack, that's part of the reason she brought us out here and you're going to abandon her?"

"Hey Matt, Mel Gibson called. He wants his anger back," she quipped. He rolled his eyes and she ran a hand through her hair. "Remember on Sunday when I said that I was at the store getting your meds?" He nodded. "I was but earlier I had to go to the police station.

"What? Why? What'd you do?" he demanded.

"Why do you always assume I did something? Geeze!" She grumbled. "I had to talk to police officers about what I saw during Vegas night. They're trying Fitz on Saturday for attempted manslaughter and I have to go as a witness. It's around the same time as Fi's trial and I can't be in two places at once."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Matt demanded.

She shrugged. "I figured it'd be easy to get away for most of the day without you noticing so I could just get this over with and then we came here and I didn't know when to bring it up," she replied. "I don't know how to tell Fi, though. I wanted to leave today but…"

"Why today of all days?"

"After knowing that Blake is here, I can't be here. I can't be around him knowing that he's here somewhere. I just can't." She started rubbing her arms again. He grabbed a wrist with one hand and held it tight, stopping her. "I'm not running away, I have to leave."

"I know, but you can't stay in the condo by yourself. You'll go nuts."

"I can find someone to stay with."

"Who? You don't really talk to anyone in our class," Matt replied. "Well, Anya maybe but still."

"I'll find someone, ok?" Mack said through clenched teeth and then she put on a smile as she jogged ahead to catch up to Declan and Fiona. "I have an idea. Declan, why don't you show me the Statue of Liberty while these two spend some time together?" She hooked her arm with Declan's and practically shoved him away. "We'll meet back up at your place, around six ok?"

"See you later, Fi," Declan called over his shoulder as Mack pulled him away.

"Why's she in a rush?" Fiona asked.

"She's an impatient person if you haven't learned that yet," Matt replied, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. He smiled when a blush rose on her cheeks. "So what do you want to do now?"

"Wellll," she held out.

"Uh-oh, I know that stalling noise anywhere," Matt said with a chuckle. "What is it?"

"I want you to meet my mom," she replied. "She's coming in today and I think it's about time."

"I think that's a wonderful idea," he replied, kissing her forehead. "Did you think I'd kick and scream or something?" He asked.

"A little, yeah," Fiona replied as they continued walking. "I mean my mom can be…"

"Protective?" Matt suggested. Fiona nodded. "Don't worry about it, if I can deal with my sister I can deal with your mother. How bad could it be?"

"Just you wait." The couple walked around the park for the next half hour, stopping every now and then for Fiona to read her mother's text out loud and for her to quiz him with questions that she might ask. Once Fiona was satisfied she led him into the city and to a nearby café. She waved to her mother through the window who smiled and waved back. "You ready?" She asked, looking at Matt.

"Yup," he replied with an enthusiastic nod.

"You're such a dork," she giggled, tugging him into the café. "Mom! How was your trip?" Fiona asked, dropping Matt's hand and rushing to hug her mother.

"Very relaxing, as always. Your father even had time to enjoy himself," Laura replied. "He's going back to the house. Declan said that you had some friends over. Is this one of them?" She turned her smile to Matt who gave a nervous one in return.

"Yes," Fiona replied taking Matt's hand and yanking him forward. She frowned at the way her mother's smile seemed to freeze on her face when she saw Matt's clothes. She shook her head and smiled again. "This is Matthew Montgomery, he's in my classes and he's my, um…" She didn't know if she should say the word boyfriend. She really wanted to call him that but at the same time it didn't feel right. "…friend. Really good friend," she finished.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Coyne," Matt said politely as he held out his hand.

"You too," Laura replied, shaking his hand. Then she looked at the ring that was on his finger. "What's this?" She asked in a scrutinizing way.

He pulled his hand away and looked at the ring as if it was the first time he's seen it himself. "Abstinence ring," he replied."I don't believe in sex before marriage and my mom and dad kind of scared me out of it so…" his voice trailed off.

"Uh-huh," Laura said before motioning for them to sit down. "So, Matt, how old are you?"

"I just turned eighteen in September," he replied, clasping his hands on top of the table. Fiona studied the side of his face to see if there were any signs of him being nervous but, as usual, his face reflected that he felt calm and in charge. Her mother would love him.

"And you're a twin as well?"

"Yes, I have a twin sister named Mackenzie and an eleven-year-old sister named Maxine, but we call her Max," Matt replied.

"And your parents? Where do they work?"

"They're travel agents however they believe that they only way they could really sell travel is by visiting many different countries and states so they can give their customers a firsthand feel on what it was like and what they can do. Right now they're in Australia," Matt said with a small smile. As the seconds went by his confidence level rose.

"I thought you said they were in California," Fiona said, knitting her eyebrows together.

Matt turned to look at her, startled for a second, before his face relaxed. "I forgot to mention. They sent an e-mail saying that they had gone to Australia for a couple of days." He then turned to Laura. "To promote visiting the Great Barrier Reef," he added.

"Uh huh," Laura said again, squinting slightly. "And how many girlfriends have you had?"

"Mom!" Fiona sighed.

"No, it's ok," Matt told him then turned to Laura. "I have dated a bit but I've only had one serious girlfriend before."

"What happened?"

"She went off to college," he replied simply."We both didn't feel like it wasn't going to work."

"And you never slept with her?"

"Mom!" Fiona wailed but Laura silenced her with a look.

"Well, I still have the ring on my finger now don't I?" Matt replied with a hint of a smirk. Fiona secretly smiled at the look of astonishment that was on her mother's face. That was exactly what she wanted, someone that could shake her mother up, that would make her uncomfortable and Matt did that well.

"Yes you do," Laura agreed, tapping her fingertips against each other. "Tell me, where are you from?"

"Originally Montreal however I've lived in Quebec City, Edmonton, Florida, California, and North Carolina and now we're in Tornoto."

"That's a lot of moving around for a girl as young as Max."

"Max loves to travel so she was excited to go to a new place and embrace the new lifestyle." He shrugged. "We've all gotten used to it and Mom and Dad enjoy it and we wouldn't want to stop them from doing something they love."

"That's nice…will you excuse me for a second." Without waiting for an answer Laura got up from the table.

"How'd I do?" Matt asked.

"You were amazing," Fiona replied. "I think you won her over and made her realize that I've moved on and I'm happy."

"So, do I get some sort of reward?" He asked with a grin. She smiled, nodded and leaned forward, waiting for him to kiss her. His smile faltered slightly and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. She opened her eyes and frowned. "I just…don't like kissing in public," he replied, noticing the hurt in her eyes. Or at all, she wanted to say but she kept her mouth shut and smiled, accepting his answer. "So, I have some bad news," he continued. "Mack can't stay for your trail."

"Why not? I need her here!"

"She has to go to Fitz's trial. She's a witness." Matt hated the way Fiona was pouting. "She has to go, Fi, As a witness, she's pretty important to the case."

"I know," Fiona replied. "I just wished at least one of my friends were here to help me."

Matt put an arm around her shoulder and gave it a squeeze as she buried her face into his neck."I'm here, Fi, I'm here."

"Hey Pete," Mack greeted her boss as she walked into the Dot. After she and Declan had spent their day hanging around the Statue of Liberty they made it back to the Coyne home to find Max and Lillian passed out on the couch, sleeping peacefully. Mack had woke her up and told about what was going on and that she needed help packing to head back out. By the time everything was packed Fiona, Matt and Laura had returned. Mack was quickly introduced to Mrs. Coyne before she was taking to the airport to use the Coyne's jet to take her back to Toronto and she went straight to the Dot. "Do we have any apple cider in stock yet?"

"Brought it out once the weather turned," he replied, turning to get a mug. "But what're you doing here? I thought you were in New York."

"I was but I needed to get back," Mack said as she sat down at the bar. Peter raised his eyebrows as he dried the cup, which she found redundant because he was going to fill it with water anyway. "Remember how I told you about the whole Fitz and Eli war?"

"Yeah, ended up with the police having to be called," Peter replied, filling the mug with hot water. "Why'd they let their little fight escalate so much anyway?"

"Male pride I guess," she shrugged.

"Yeah, but over a parking space?" Peter shook his head. "Anyway, what were you saying?"

"Well, on Saturday I have to go to his trial seeing as I was a witness," she continued, watching him add the cider flavoring to the water and stir it with a spoon. "Which is why I'm here but the problem is my overprotective brother won't let me stay in our condo by myself so now I have to find a place to crash for the next four days."

"I would suggest that apartment I used to have but Spinner and Emma have it now," Peter said as he rested his elbows on the counter. "I still can't believe they got married. It's kind of weird; I never pegged them as a couple."

"Hey Peter, one problem at a time here," Mack said before taking a sip of her cider and smiling widely at the taste.

"Sorry kid. Any friends you could stay with?"

"I don't really have friends at that school," she said slowly. "But thanks. I'll think of something. You should get back to work; I didn't mean to hold you up. How much is this?"

"It's on the house," Peter replied. "Hot chocolate and cider is free," he added, grabbing a notepad and moving around the counter to get to the rest of the shop.

"Nice marketing strategy," she approved. He shrugged and went over to the newest customers that came inside.

Mack picked up the warm mug and took a sip of the brown colored liquid, tapping her fingers against the mug as she tried to think of some place to stay. She would've stayed with Holly J but she didn't want to put her friend out. The house was kind of small and she didn't want her mother fussing over her when she had more important things to worry about. But still, she had no other place to go. She flipped open her phone and dialed a number.

"Hey," Holly J greeted her. "How's New York?"

"It would've been better if you were there. Fiona channeled all of her shopping energy towards me."

Holly J laughed. "You sound like you've been through torture."

"No, that's coming soon with that stupid trial I have to go to. I just have a question, well, a favor really," Mack said as she scratched the back of her head. "Do you think I could stay with you for a couple of days? I had to come back for the trial and Matt's being all weird and won't let me stay by myself so…"

"Yeah, sure, it's fine. Come on over, I can get the guest room ready," Holly J said.

She sighed. "Thanks so much Holly J, I owe you one."

"And I'll be sure to hold it over your head."