CHAPTER 4

Jake

As I walked in, I was greeted by an unfamiliar face which was the cause of mom's anger.

A young pretty blond with breasts so big, I instantly knew they were fake.

She had this smug smile on her face as she watched what was going on, like a queen looking down on her subjects.

"What's this bitch doing here?" Mom screeched, jabbing a very pointy nail at Dad's chest. "You called for a family meeting, so why is she here?"

"She is family!" He pointed out, raising his hand to show the gold band on his finger. "I've asked her to marry me and she said yes."

Snorting, Mom walked away, shaking her head in pity. "I don't know who to be more sorry for….you or her."

"Whisky?" Stefan walked up to me, handing me a glass while he drained his in one gulp.

"Whoa, slow down man." I took the glass away from him. "How much have you had to drink?"

His eyes dark and full of long buried secrets, Stefan just stared blankly into the distance. "With them here, I haven't stopped."

Without asking, I knew exactly what he meant.

From the pinched look on his face, I could tell that it wasn't just the sudden family reunion that was getting to him….it was something else.

Probably, just being in this town was bringing back all sorts of horrid memories.

You see, even though most people thought we were twins, the truth is we're just two brothers born quite closely to one another.

I'm two years younger and more friendly while Stefan was more of the dark, mysterious and broofing type.

He kept his walls high and his secrets buried even deeper.

People thought because he did that and could appear cold and aloof meant he didn't have a heart but it's the opposite.

He's very sensitive, which is why most things affected him more than it did me.

"Trust me, I can relate." I say, clapping him on the shoulder while I turned to face Mom and Dad screaming at each other. "Enough!" I yelled, shutting them up instantly. "Dad, you called us here for reason. Now no one wants to be here anymore than I do, so what's the reason?" I say bluntly.

"Ohh, someone's in a rush…" Stefan mumbled, throwing a smirk my way.

I simply rolled my eyes, ignoring him.

He wasn't lying though.

I was eager to get back to the hospital and meet with that beautiful lady I'd helped, interested in knowing her better.

Do I need to have a reason to call for family meeting?" Dad grunted, scratching his beard. "You're my sons and I barely see you anymore."

"You made your choice when you choose her over this family." Stefan's words dripped with disgust, his dark eyes boring a hole into Dad's new wife. "You don't get to have everything, you know?"

"She's got a name!" Dad huffed. "I don't expect you boys to understand the relationship between Alicia and me but I will fucking demand that you respect her."

Stefan bursts into mocking laughter. "If you think I'll sit here and bow to that bitch because you say so, you don't know me at all."

Dad's jaw flexed, a throbbing vein pulsating in his forehead…a sign of anger.

Crap.

I had a feeling that things were going to go south real quick.

"Uh, why don't we-"

"Alicia, can you help me get the champagne from the car?" He said sweetly, cutting me off, staring at Stefan.

"Uh, now?" Her mouth was pursed with displeasure. "Why can't they do it?" She waved those well manicured hands vaguely in our direction.

"Honey for once, can you please not argue with me?" Dad gritted through clenched teeth. "It's important… just get champagne out, okay?"

Alicia grumbled under her breath but nonetheless, she walked out the door after grabbing the keys from the counter.

The door have barely closed behind her when Dad sped over to Stefan, grabbing him by the neck and tossed him across the room, his back slamming against the wall. "Don't you ever speak about Alicia that way!" Dad bellowed.

Under a second, Stefan was back on his feet, a drop of blood running down the side of his face, down to his chin. "Oh, yeah? If I do,what are you gonna do about it?!"

With a maniacal grin toying around his lips, Stefan sped over to Dad, throwing a punch across his midriff.

"Jake, aren't you going to do something?!" Mom screamed at the top of her lungs, her eyes dancing between them, trying to keep up with their movements.

I didn't budge…for several reasons.

One, no matter how much they wanted, they couldn't kill each other.

Two, being vampires who have lived for this long only meant they'd be healed in seconds after fighting with no serious damage done.

It wasn't until my ears perked up, picking up on Alicia's movements outside the door that I moved. "Break it up y'all. Alicia's coming!" I informed.

Of course, Stefen couldn't let it go without having the last word, cupping the back of Dad's neck as he spat out the words.

"You say you love Alicia yet you hide the most crucial part of yourself from her… why?" He taunts. "You don't want her to see you for the savage and brute that you actually are underneath all that charming exterior, huh?"

Alicia walking in through the door saved Dad from explaining but she wasn't dumb, able to spot the tension that had enveloped the room. "Um, what's going on?"

She asked, quickly dashing over to Dad's side based off of the scary looks Stefan's directing her way.

"Nothing." I straightened, setting my glass down. "Your husband was just telling us why he called this meeting." I say with a pointed look his way.

"Fine! You all wanna know? Then I'll say it!" He growled. "I'm dying, okay? I'm fucking dying and I don't know how long I've got left."

My mouth dropped open in shock, as well as the others.

Um, what the fuck?!