Chapter 2

The twins made their way out of the police station quickly after Art finally finished processing all Sarah's paperwork. Both women rolled their eyes countless times at the shocked and confused stares they received from the other cops. It was like they had never seen twin sisters before.

Felix was obediently waiting in Beth's Audi in the side parking lot. He was sitting shotgun but one stern look from Sarah had him huffily moving to the backseat. Beth started the car silently and neither of her siblings bothered to ask where they were headed.

When they arrived in front of Felix's loft shortly after, Beth turned to her foster brother and jerked her head. "Try to stay out of trouble for at least twenty four hours, yeah?"

"No promises, sister," he shrugged unabashedly. He leaned forward between the front seats and planted kisses on the closest cheek of each of his sisters before sliding smoothly out of the car. "Try not to kill each other."

When she noticed Sarah also making a move to leave, Beth smacked the back of the girl's head. "You're not going anywhere."

"Wha? All my shite's in there!"

"I'll have Felix bring it over later. For now, you can borrow some of my clothes."

Sarah snorted at the thought of dressing in Beth's uptight cop's clothes but kept her mouth shut. Any other day she would have commented as such, but she was at least smart enough to realize Beth's patience with her was already very low. She had a few extra things in her backpack still that she had gotten back at the police station. She could make do with those for a little while.

They drove in silence once again and Sarah watched the city pass her by. Ten months was a long time to be gone and yet it seemed like nothing around her had changed at all. The thought oddly disturbed her. She was desperate to know that at least one thing had changed in that time so she cleared her throat in preparation to ask her sister. "So wha's new since I left? How's big dick Paul?"

"Still a dick," Beth commented dryly.

"Not what I was referring to but alrigh," Sarah chuckled lightly and Beth did the same despite her best effort to remain stoic with her sister. "How's Kira? I bet she's gotten so big."

"She has," Beth confirmed with a sigh. "You know I can't let you see her like this, Manning. You've gotta get yourself clean and healthy again before me or Siobhan will let you anywhere near her."

"I know tha, Beth. And I want to do that for Kira. I want a fresh start, I jus need your help getting there."

"I will help you, Sarah. But you have to promise this isn't going to be like last time because I won't go through that bullshit again."

When Sarah was going through withdrawal the first time, to say she was a complete bitch would be an understatement. She started using cocaine when they were in the tenth grade and things had quickly spiralled out of control. Beth had kept her sister's secret at first, not wanting to betray her own twin by telling Siobhan and thinking she would be enough to get Sarah off the drugs. Eventually, things got too out of control and Beth finally revealed to S what was really going on with her sister.

During withdrawal, anyone in the same room as her that refused to provide drugs was immediately the enemy. Sarah would lash out angrily and make them feel like the scum of the earth for doing something that would ultimately heal her. She would yell and scream bloody murder at anyone who even got close to her, often reducing to crying and pleading for a hit shortly after. She was especially vicious to Beth during their encounters because she knew her sister was the one responsible for revealing her addiction. Deep down though she knew she had been out of control and the journey back from rock bottom was hell on their entire family.

"I know, I promise. I wanna be okay again, for Kira."

Beth accepted her sister's words, hearing the raw sincerity in them. She knew the circumstances of Sarah's addiction were completely different now and it was all because of Kira. She means everything to her sister and despite slipping up, every good thing she's done since finding out she was pregnant has been motivated by the little girl's existence. She was by no means a perfect mother, but no one could deny that Sarah would do anything for Kira.

Already, Beth could sense a change in Sarah. The thought of being with Kira again was obviously her twin's motivation to escape the vicious jaws of addiction. It would take some time for her to get back on track and regain her family's trust, but Beth could tell the spark of light that was Kira in Sarah's life would be strong enough to get her through it all.

"So you're going to stay with Paul and I until you can get back on your feet, yeah?"

"Yeah," Sarah affirmed even though she knew her sister wasn't asking her, she was being told how things would be going.

Beth parked her car just around the corner from her front door. She slid out of the driver's seat and listened as Sarah slowly did the same and met her on the sidewalk. Sarah eyed the steps to the home warily but followed her twin up them despite her nerves at what was to come for her in the next days.

"You don't have any coke on you now, right?"

"Nah. Your cop buddies took it all."

"When's the last time you used?" she questioned carefully, needing to know just what to expect when the inevitable withdrawal started.

"This mornin," Sarah replied with a hint of shame in her voice.

Beth sighed, both women aware of the crash to come. She guided Sarah over to the couch and flipped the TV on, not bothering to actually find something to watch. The background noise eased some of the tension from the room as Beth sat down next to her twin with her hands clasped at her chin. "Are you getting hungry? You look like shite, Sar."

Sarah laughed softly at the statement, knowing exactly how true it was. She hadn't seen her reflection much the last ten months, but she caught quite a few glances while at the police station and barely recognized herself. Thin, pale, and unkempt pretty much summed up her look. "Yeah, startin to. Pretty tired, too."

"Yeah, well you know that's typical. Why don't you sleep while I make us some food?"

Sarah nodded in agreement and already began moving so she was laying down on the couch. She situated her head on one of the soft decorative pillows and closed her eyes. Beth flipped the TV back off and remained sitting, watching her sister for a moment in silence. She noticed the goose bumps on Sarah's forearms right away and moved to cover her with the throw blanket next to her. She smiled at Sarah's mumbled thank you and walked over to the kitchen slowly.

She perused her cupboards in search of something to make for them. It was still only mid-afternoon – a little too early to start on dinner but too late to have lunch either. She smiled to herself when she spotted a familiar blue box near the back and pulled it out without a second thought. Putting a pot of water on the stove to boil, Beth took a seat at the island counter and allowed her worry for her sister to consume her for a moment.

She had been living by the motto 'out of sight, out of mind' when it came to Sarah for the last ten months. She couldn't afford to think about her sister often or else the worry and descriptive, horrific scenarios she thought of would consume her. Obviously, the worry was still in the back of her mind but she had been able to suppress it enough to be able to go about her life as normally as possible.

Now though, Sarah was back and every single fear and worry Beth had about her sister was back full force too. It killed her to see Sarah come back to town back on drugs when she had been clean for so long, trying to keep herself straight for Kira. Painful, but unsurprising altogether. Sarah had been balancing on a very fine line for years, Beth had only prayed she wouldn't slip but it hadn't been enough. If she had paid more attention and devoted more time to helping Sarah would things have been different?

It was so easy to put some blame on herself at this point. Their entire lives, she had been the 'good twin' while Sarah was deemed the failure; the disappointment; the low life. She had always hated the comparisons because they only served to put a bitter divide between the sisters during their teenage years. Beth always tried to look out for Sarah and make her better but it only caused her twin to further rebel and feel abandoned by her sister. They had been through so much together through the years and nothing could ever break the bond they shared, but the harsh division between successful high school graduate and low life criminal made it incredibly difficult to maintain a happy, healthy relationship a lot of the time.

When Beth announced she was joining the police academy, things only seemed to get worse in their relationship. Sarah claimed it was a betrayal to the greatest degree and refused to speak to Beth for weeks until Mrs S locked them in their old bedroom together, refusing to let them out until they were on good terms again. Although they resolved their issues with one another at face value, the twins drifted farther apart than they had ever been and really lived their lives separately then. Beth went off to policing school and Sarah amped up her disappearing act, coming in and out of their lives sporadically at best.

To say she was pissed when she found out Sarah had wound up pregnant would be a severe understatement. Beth had always prided herself on being Sarah's biggest support, but also her harshest critic. She knew her sister so well and knew without a doubt that she was so much better than the troubled grifter she had allowed herself to become. She was convinced that adding a baby to the mix would not be a good thing for anybody, but had quickly been shocked to the core to see the immediate shift in Sarah's entire persona when she decided on keeping the baby. Beth had been skeptical at first but fully supported her sister and respected the decision she was making for herself.

After that, the twins slowly began to repair their relationship and became closer again. Sarah needed her entire family's support to help her raise her child and Beth took that responsibility very seriously. She was by Sarah's side throughout the entire pregnancy, even having the honour of being the family member present in the delivery room and cutting the umbilical cord. It was a moment in her life she would never forget. The addition of Kira in the family shifted everything between the sisters in such a fantastic way for both. Beth was so happy to finally see Sarah maturing and getting her life together and Sarah was able to let go of her past to see that her sister only ever just wanted what was best for her.

Although Sarah's restless tendencies still cropped up every so often and caused her to disappear for short periods, she had remained on the straight and narrow since Kira's birth. With the help of Siobhan and Beth she was able to get her high school diploma and support herself and Kira on their own. Beth didn't bother prying into how exactly Sarah was making a living, knowing she had never fully given up her con artist roots. She was still living a shady lifestyle, but as long as she remained a responsible mother and put Kira first then Beth didn't get too involved. Things had been going so well for all of them until a year and a half ago when Sarah met Vic Schmidt and fell off the wagon. Everything went to shit again after that with Sarah disappearing for nearly a year without so much as a word.

The sound of water boiling over out of the pot snapped her from her thoughts. Beth shook her head a couple times to clear her mind and walked over to the stove. She went through the motions of cooking in a relative haze and had two bowls placed on the countertop in no time. As she was moving to the couch to wake up Sarah, she heard the sound of the door unlocking and turned in surprise to see Paul walking through the door.

He was shrugging off his suit jacket before he even managed to close the door behind him. She stared at him in surprised until he looked up and saw her, his face registering the same surprise. "What are you doing home already?"

"What are you?" she replied in the same tone as him.

She watched his figure move further into the room. He noticed the two bowls sitting on the counter and furrowed his brow. "You have company?" he asked, ignoring her counter-question.

"Um yeah, actually," she hesitated slightly and turned to look at the couch. Sarah was clearly stirring at the smell of the hot food and she turned back around to face Paul again.

His eye line was now also focussed on the couch. She watched his eyes widen and brows raise moments later and she knew that Sarah and joined the land of the living again.

"Oi, oi, Paul," the Brit rasped out when she saw him standing in the room.

A smirk spread across his face at the greeting. "Well, well, Sarah Manning," he replied and took a few strides across the room to stand in front of her. He enveloped her in a tight hug and Beth didn't even bother hiding her eye roll.

For some reason ever since they had met, Paul and Sarah had a very easy dynamic between them. Most of the time they acted like immature little kids around each other, loving to bicker and get under each other's skin on purpose. They also had the tendency to throw Beth in the middle of their little arguments and make her referee. She loved them both to no end, but the closeness of their relationship often irritated her completely. She didn't understand how two people with completely opposing personalities, priorities, and interests could be so laidback and friendly with one another.

"So you finally decided to come home, huh?" he questioned when they pulled away from each other.

Sarah flashed a small smile at him and shrugged. "Yeah, guess so."

He seemed to notice that something was off with her and looked back at Beth for answers. "Sarah's gonna be staying with us for a little while, if you don't mind. I can't let her go through withdrawal alone and Felix's flat isn't exactly the best place when trying to stay drug free."

"Yeah of course. You know you're always welcome here, Manning," Paul replied easily and patted her shoulder lightly at the revelation of her addiction. "I'm gonna go take a shower, but save me some of that food."

"Better make it fast, we make no promises," Beth said easily and guided Sarah over to the counter.

She watched her sister's eyes light up at the sight of the food in the bowls. "Tuna casserole?" Sarah chuckled softly. "Man, I haven't had this shite in foreva."

"Me neither. I can't eat it without you."

Sarah frowned at Beth's statement and swallowed thickly. "I'm sorry – for disappearing and all the shit I'm bringin back with me now."

"I don't want your apologies, Sarah. Okay? It sucked for all of us not having you here for so long but you're back now and that's all that matters to me. You don't need to explain yourself either. I'm your twin sister so that basically means I'll always have your back no matter what."

"I love you, ya know?"

"I love you, too, dipshit," Beth replied fondly and ruffled Sarah's hair playfully. "Come on, let's eat before this amazing shit gets cold. We can find a movie to watch and veg out for the rest of the day."

Sarah silently agreed and picked up her food, following Beth back over to the couch she was occupying only minutes before. She ate in silence while watching her sister sift through the channel guide for something to watch. "Beth?"

"Hm?"

"I'm scared."

Beth looked to her sister, quickly swallowing the mouthful of food. She took Sarah's hand in her own and squeezed it tightly. "I know, but you're gonna make it through. I'll be at your side every step of the way, alright?"

"Yeah," Sarah nodded in understanding. She knew Beth was being completely honest with those words. Despite everything the twins had been through, it would always remain true that they'd be at each other's side through thick and thin. They had learned the hard way that they were exponentially better off together than they were apart – both fairly sure they could conquer the world so long as they remained together.