Hello all. I want to start by saying thank you to everyone who reviewed this story. All of you are far, far too kind. It would've been 5 years this may since I updated this story so I would be very, very surprised if anyone were actually still reading this or even interested but someone reached out to be recently on PM because they saw that I've been updating my other stories and wanted me to write a little more on this one. Fair warning, I don't think I'll see this story through to an ending and if I do it won't be especially long. I must confess that ever since they took the show off air it's been difficult to find inspiration, especially since my version of events began in the very start of season 1 and things have definitely changed for the personality of both characters since then.
But anyways, I've gotten so much support for this story and I just really wanted to say thank you to everyone who read it and let me know how they felt, it meant the world to me.
"'I see you'? What does that even mean?" Sutton ranted, the paper still clutched in her hands. "What kind of creep would just drop by while we're swimming and leave this ominous note for us to find?"
Needless to say the note had ruined the girls' good mood and they had immediately collected their towels and hustled back behind the safe walls of the mansion. They'd gone back into Sutton's bedroom, quickly changed into lounge wear (well, as quickly as Emma's injuries would allow) and were currently sitting on her bed with the television playing quietly in the background.
Although her sister had only been with her for a short amount of time, Sutton quickly discovered that Emma was soothed by white noise and the TV was the easiest way to accomplish that.
Emma was still thoroughly wrapped up in her fear-driven trance. She'd been in Arizona for just a few days, how could someone already be threatening her? Steeling herself, the injured girl tried to build up her resolve so that she wouldn't be tempted by her sister's impending begging. She had to do the right thing.
"I have to go," Emma declared, her voice was raspy from lack of use.
"What?" Sutton squinted at her sister. "Go where?"
"Back home. If someone really is watching us then I don't want to stir up trouble for you and your family. I'm not worth it," she mumbled.
Sutton was across the room and kneeling in front of her twin in 2 seconds flat.
"First of all, I don't ever want to hear you say that you're not worth it, ever again," her brown eyes pierced the identical ones across from her, demanding their full attention. "And second of all, you are never ever ever going back to that place. I don't care if I have to chain you to this house; this is your home now and whatever is out there, whatever threat we're facing, we will face it together."
When she realized she wasn't going to get a verbal reply from her stubborn sister, the Arizona resident continued, "And we don't even know that it's a threat. It could just be some stupid joke or a prank. Maybe part of a game or something."
"A game?" Emma inquired. "What kind of games do you people play in Arizona because back home, threatening notes aren't just part of a game."
Sutton winced and internally scolded herself. If she had just left it at joke or prank, her sister may have made the same comment but taken her word for it. Now that she has specifically inquired about games, she was forced to make a choice. She could tell her twin about her somewhat checkered past and reputation for playing these kinds of dangerous games or she could gloss over the subject and not address her direct question. Sutton had never really had an issue lying to other people before so she was curious as to why the thought of lying to Emma bothered her so much. Regardless of the fact that they shared blood, she had just met the girl. Normally the rich twin wouldn't think twice about fibbing to keep her reputation intact.
Although she was sure the decision would come back to bite her, probably sooner rather than later, Sutton decided that she wasn't ready for her sister to think less of her based on the kind of person she'd been in the past. Maybe if she had some more time for Emma to get to know her, she wouldn't think that her twin was a bad person because she'd know from her own personal experience that that wasn't the truth.
"I don't know, teenagers are weird," Sutton defended.
Emma nodded, confused by her sister's newfound defensiveness but accepted her answer nonetheless.
"I don't want anything bad happening to you. And bad things…they follow me Sutton and I couldn't bear it if someone tried to hurt you because of me and I," Emma had worked herself up and was now breathing erratically.
Sutton gently pulled her sister into her arms and rubbed a soothing pattern on her back.
"Shh, it's okay Em. Nothing is going to happen. Not to me, not to you, not to my family. We're all gonna be fine."
"Y-you don't kno-ow that," Emma disagreed, trying desperately to regulate her breathing so that she could stop embarrassing herself in front of her seemingly more mature sister.
"I do. I know everything," Sutton teased, give her sister's hair a ruffle. Her gesture had the desired effect and Emma cracked a smile.
"Actually I have been meaning to bring this up. Even if someone is threatening us, my parents and Laurel are coming back tomorrow. Have you thought about how you want to play this?"
"Play this?" Emma repeated, confused.
"This, us. Why you came to Arizona now and why it looks like you've been beaten up by an entire high school football team," Sutton offered. "I'll back you up, no matter what you want to do. I understand if you don't want to tell them the truth but like I told you, my Dad is a doctor and he's going to know something's up. We can tell them you were jumped or something if you want."
"What if your parents tell you that I can't stay?" Emma questioned, panic seeping back into her features.
"Never gonna happen," Sutton assured her. She took her hand and squeezed it in her own. "You're family and they would never turn their backs on you. Honestly if anything they'll want to send me back to wherever you came from since you're more polite."
Emma grinned again, forgetting what she was so upset about.
"I think we should tell them the truth. If they figure out that I'm lying, that's a rough first impression and they might not be very fond of me," Emma decided.
"If you want to tell them the truth, that's what we'll do but Emma; my parents would understand you wanting to keep the details of your…attack private. They're parents to two teenage girls, I'm sure they're no strangers to half-truths."
Emma nodded; she was appreciative of the out Sutton had provided her with but she'd already decided to tell the Mercers the truth.
The rest of the twins' evening went by without much fanfare; they made dinner together – which turned out to be pretty good because Emma was a hell of a cook – and watched the most innocent Disney movies they could find. Sutton was careful to watch Emma for signs that she was in a lot of pain and made sure to avoid any movies she thought could be triggering. She'd insisted that the other girl take some of the Advil she'd been offering her and finally, Emma accepted it. It seemed to be working for her though, she found Emma wincing substantially less than she had become accustomed to the past few days.
Sutton's thoughts never strayed far from the note. Was it one of her annoying friends? Perhaps a scorned frenemy? Or was Emma right and did it have something to do with her? She knew there wasn't much she could do until the note writer struck again so she sat back and enjoyed her night with her sister. After all, from here on out it was just a waiting game.