Chapter One: "Given Up"
Kylie Drake has her pet peeves like every human on this planet, and her older twin brother touching her tousled hair was one of them. In order for her to somehow stick with Nate, she would have to cut her hair and act like a boy. That part wasn't that hard as Kylie has always been a tomboy. But the problem was that she had hit puberty early.
Nate wasabsolutely disturbed when he saw the blood dripping down his sister's leg. Luckily, a nice old Hispanic lady came to their rescue and offered them a home while Kylie dealt with being a lady and the perks of it all. Kylie started to tease Nate that she was maturing much more quickly than he was which caused Nate to fire back some wise ass remark that sent Kylie's fist hurtling to his stomach.
The old lady had laughed, remembering when she was that lively.
Kylie stared at her reflection in the mirror, threading her fingers through her tangled and sloppy hair. On the way back to Sully's hotel room, she had fallen asleep. It was greatly needed in order for her body to heal. Despite that, Kylie was always an early bird, waking up at the crack of dawn when she actually did get some sleep.
And, as if he was psychic, Nate woke up as well, sitting up and massaging his eyelids. Her brother blinked warily before looking at her. He sighed, feeling his twin's distraught and inched closer to her. He brought her into a hug and rocked them both back and forth.
"Can't believe you're such a early riser," Nate flatly mumbled. "I'd rather stay asleep until noon."
Kylie snorted," Yeah, well, not all twins need to be so much alike."
Nate glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, his gray-blue hues glinting in the sunlight. "Kylie, when are you going to tell me?"
Said girl paused, stiffening and looking at him questioningly, but no words were exchanged as Kylie realized what he meant. She scowled, sighing.
"No need to tell you something you already know about," she murmured. Nate sighed, frustrated.
"Yeah, but Kylie, you have had these nightmares for the longest time. Our parents aren't here! Mom isn't here anymore, and Dad-" Nate paused, choking on his words,"- Dad doesn't want us. He gave us up to the government because he didn't want us! He thought we weren't worth the trouble of being a single father for!"
Kylie swallowed the lump in her throat, fearfully staring at her brother whose tears were relentless. The anger, frustration, hatred, despair, everything was all pooling out, the bottle that had been holding it finally shattered. But mostly, the feeling of being abandoned by the only parent, the only father figure he had in his life drove him.
"We weren't worth the trouble, Kylie!" Nate screamed, causing Kylie to flinch.
"I know!" Kylie shouted back on instinct, catching herself and quickly lowering her voice," I know, Nate, I know. And I'm sorry for not telling you because I was afraid you would only treat me more like a baby and constantly baby me! I don't need to be babied, Nate! I can take care of myself!"
"Oh, really? Because it didn't look like that today!"
"I was tired, exhausted beyond belief! Nightmares were constantly plagued by our parents, nightmares of never having a family, a good life for me and you! Being separated from you! EVERYTHING! I despised the very thought of us going to an orphanage and being separated! I JUST DIDN'T WANT TO LOSE YOU, NATE!"
"I KNOW! SO, EXCUSE ME FOR BABYING MY LITTLE SISTER BECAUSE SHE'S THE ONLY FAMILY I HAVE LEFT! EXCUSE ME FOR CARING FOR HER BECAUSE THE VERY THOUGHT OF LOSING HER MADE ME FEEL ALONE, EMPTY, AND BROKEN!"
With that, Nate stormed off, leaving behind a shaken Kylie. She continued to stare even after his back had disappeared from her sight. With a heave of her chest that vaguely sounded like a sob, Kylie curled into a ball, sobbing.
The first thing Sully noticed was how quiet and distant the twins were. Kylie, who had been a ball sunshine, had lost her spark, and Nate, the hot-headed and wise ass one, made no witty comeback to Sully's taunts.
It bothered him.
So, being their guardian, Sully decided to confront one of the twins, and, not at all ashamed, he made to go for the weakest one, the weak link: Nate. The boy was like short-fused bomb. Kylie would just be a pain in the ass to get information out of. Best chance is Nate. Approaching aforementioned boy, Sully kept his movement quiet and cautious, choosing to lean against the space next to the older twin.
"So," Sully stated sheepishly. He hadn't exactly planned out what he was going to say; he wasn't preparing a speech," what's gotten into you and Kylie?"
"Nothing." Came the heated response. Sully rolled his eyes.
"Right. And the sudden distance and no interactions with each other is "nothing"." Sully watched Nate before sighing, "Alright, listen. I know I'm only your legal guardian due to circumstances, but that doesn't mean I don't care about you or your sister. I like seeing you two babble and bicker because you two are siblings. The poor girl looks tormented of whatever happened between the two of you. I most definitely know that until the two of you console each other, Kylie isn't going to be to live with herself and follow her dream."
The flicker of shock across Nate's face didn't escape Sully, who smiled softly.
"Her dream is to become a teacher, a teacher where she has no regrets, nothing to look back on and cry herself to sleep, and can offer the best advice and service to her fellow staff and students. Kylie wants to complete that dream with you supporting her even if the two of you are worlds apart," Sully continued, placing a hand on Nate's bony shoulder. "Nate, you're the reason Kylie has something to dream about, to look forward to."
Nate didn't reply. He ripped himself from Sully's grasp, glaring at Sully, who smiled back at calmly. The older twin took down the hallway, stomping angrily. Sully only chuckled. The boy was just so predictable.
The next morning, at breakfast, Sully was glad to the twins were playfully bickering about Kylie's cooking again.
Author's Notes:
You know, you guys should thank my boyfriend. He gave me the motivation I needed to finish this chapter. Anyway, the argument was inspired by something I imagined and saw on TV, so I hope you guys liked that part. It gave a little insight on the parents of our lovely twins. And yes, Sully is slowly starting to become a father figure to Nate. It's a bumpy start, but surely, it will happen. We'll see a little a bit on that topic.
Now to Kylie's dream of becoming a teacher. The dream does have something to do with Sir Francis Drake's voyage and more, but it mainly focuses on Kylie's fondness for history (and children). Learning about any type of history is something Kylie obviously enjoys and wishes to do more often. She stumbled upon a school field trip and everyone was happy, laughing and smiling together, and something just clicked in Kylie which made her develop the dream of becoming a teacher.
Um, these first two were about Kylie and Nate with some Sully served to the side, but the next chapter - which I can guarantee will come out, longer and more action-packed - is going to focus on Nate without Kylie in present time. It'll show how Nate is without Kylie and then the third one will show how Kylie is without Nate and her life as teacher. And of course, you can figure it out already.
Yes, I plan for the fourth chapter to start kicking everything up and slowly begin to reveal the plot of this story. For those of you who were wondering, this story does indeed take place during Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, and it'll maintain between two sides of the the story: Kylie's and Nate's. I won't reveal everything just yet, but I'll randomly include an A/N to help you guys understand what's going on or what's going to happen (possibly).
So thanks for reading - and I apologize for the short chapter - and please review, favorite, follow, whatever! I appreciate the support!
Until next time,
Shaping Destiny.