Siblings turned lovers

1: The N

ur into grays and shadows. Her mother sat in the passenger seat, chirping away about fresh sta

life back-the one with her dad alive and a tiny apar

ay Hills, a wardrobe she didn't pick

ij

as finishing grad school and couldn't make it. Oliv

o, estate-Elijah was on the porc

t. Tall, lean, and dressed in black despite the summer heat. Olivia stepped

be Olivia,

e annoyed,"

twitched, maybe in amu

ughed and retreated inside,

id, his tone low and calm. "I'm not your

ow. "Perfect. I was

echo differently years later-haunt

: The Sum

oot in the Lancaster es

n her internship dried up and her rent nearly doubled, her mother offe

ated. The

tone steps, suitcase in hand, a

ed before the

she asked,

rent. Sharper. Older. More refined. Gone was

air," he said,

caught off guard

let her in. "It suit

an earli

silence, trying to take up sp

se was pristine

t aren't here

Italy. Anniv

-siblings alone in a house full

then," she

s lik

hostile, but charged. Like somet

. "I guess we're goin

so slightly. "I never real

uldn't help but wonder what else he didn't know about he

he had looked at her-really look

3: Unspo

slowly, like mist cr

on the veranda, and the hum of cicadas in the garden. Her days were filled with

ijah was a

tside chopping firewood, sweat glistening down his back in a way she tried not to notice

When they did, it was

Thur

ng through an old copy of Frankenste

classics," she said, l

didn't know you liked

l of sur

book slowly.

irst time, no sarcasm. No

other chair. "You w

gotten tea. They talked. About books. About her job hunt. Abou

Elijah looked at her like she wa

epbrother. Not even as Elijah. Just... a man.

eeling that something inside her had changed-a

-

: Lines i

eat clung to the walls like a

low of light spilling from under the kitchen door. There he was aga

2 a.m.?" she asked, t

ou always wear my

s his old Columbia tee, soft and worn from years of use.

ntly. "Looks

ence th

idge, pretending to hunt for somethi

her c

thing electric in the stillness, in

, "do you ever think about..

ip from his glas

d now? This... f

ass down. "Be

eath c

supposed to feel," he added. "

closer. "S

move. "W

n y

his hea

right to. Her next words were a whis

. Inches apart. The air

strand of hair from her

di

, she l

llision of years of avoidance, of tension, of

art, breathless, she whisp

ently with his. "I don't

r coul

d carefully drawn for years was gone

5: After

n't sleep

rs, his hands gentle but firm, the low rasp of his voice echoing in her

guilt. But

d a strange, achin

silence. She hesitated before going

ng his phone like nothing had changed. But when he looked up and t

" he said

rni

. The silence was delicat

roke it. "So..

ed down

u think it wa

jaw tense.

haled. "M

ng to get com

kno

counter beside hers. "This isn't just tensio

. And it scares t

to

her hand. She d

out today," he said. "But I do

her d

voices echoed through the foyer

r hand back. Eli

ual distance, but their hearts pounded with the knowle

else. Some

ing da

ending Is Harde

other gushed about Tuscan vineyards and Italian gelato. But beneath the clin

ooked at her once-not really. Not since their parents walked th

while her foot rested motionless beside his under the table. Every

eared upstairs, Olivia slipped out onto the back porch. Th

five minutes later

g," she said with

e replied, h

we ha

r n

im. "This can't

"It already is. T

eath. "They'd ne

hand again, his thumb brushing against her palm.

, heart pounding. "And

tly against hers. "Then at least it'll

idn't care about labels or consequences. She only

tween fear and freedom, knowing the l

maybe, they didn

: A Glanc

n front of others-just enough politeness, just enough eye contact to

a loaded message. Every brush of the hand in

the music room, fingers lazily gliding across the piano keys. She hadn't p

d against the doorframe,

you still pla

t. Not

beau

houlder at him. "What

er, slowly.

t what

grazing the edge. "Or maybe it's the fi

hudded in her ears. "You say

Every s

keep sh

do y

of the room seemed to disappear.

n something they didn't as

tive at first. When she didn't

"Meet me on the cliffs. A

nce. That wa

e keys. But the song she played now was different

: Cliffs

cliffs, flashlight bobbing with each step. The sea below roared lik

houette carved against the moonlight. He turned as

re you'd com

e I should,"

ers, serious. "You

closer. "B

verything they couldn't say inside those house wall

the first time we

wore combat bo

re smug and

re this hurricane crashing into my quiet

faintly.

ill d

y, and for a moment it f

o the rest of the world. I know what people would say. But I

etend anymore eithe

en he kissed her this time, it wasn't rushed or reckless. It

look, every avoided moment, every shared silence that stretched too

in each other's arms, Olivia realize

't just a

was

licated.

e all t

uation