A World Apart

So glad to hear you all are enjoying the story! Here\'s the next chapter. *Meow!*



Chapter 30



Our trip back home seemed a lot longer than going to Everton, but I guess that was good, because I was incredibly nervous. What was my family going to say? Was Robin still mad at me? Was Ren still pissed with me and will Rhea totally reject me? And my parents...they\'d probably kick me out or something.



I remember as we had rolled back into Kingsdale by that evening. It was dark already and the old fashioned street lamps illuminated the road. I felt Logan\'s arms around me squeeze gently. He knew I was nervous as well. I was surprised to find that my house was quiet when I arrived. Only one light was on - in the living room. Logan got off the bike first, followed by me. We stood together in my driveway and just stared at each other.



"Do you want me to go with you?" Logan asked softly.



"No...I-I have to do this alone. I need to face this by myself. Anyway...you don\'t want to experience the wrath of my family," I said with a big sigh.



"Are you sure?" He asked with concerned eyes.



I nodded," I\'ll be fine. I\'ll call you later on and tell you how it went, okay?"



"All right Rave. I hope everything goes well for you," He said softly.



I wondered if my brothers were pressed up against the windows, watching us. I wasn\'t sure how exactly I should say goodnight. I debated whether or not to kiss him, or just say goodnight.



As if he answered the question for me, he leaned over and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek,



"Goodnight. Call me."



"Okay, I will."



He waved and I watched him leave. God I didn\'t want him to leave, but I let him. I took the handles of my motorcycle and guided the bike inside the already open garage. They knew I would be coming home soon. I walked around the dark garage after putting my bike away and slowly opened the door that led to the kitchen.



"Been waitin\' for you," Ren said.



He was standing by the side of the door. I had jumped, tripping backwards down the two stairs. I cursed and grabbed a hold of the doorframe, hauling myself inside the house. I watched my little brother. He was sucking on a toothpick and had his arms crossed across his green t-shirt.



"Where did you go?" He asked, not even moving from his position," You were with Logan, right? Because he never came back to school either."



I nodded, figuring it would be pointless to lie to him now.



"Mom and Dad were worried," He said softly and then added," So were we. You looked so...sad when you told us. I hoped you hadn\'t gone off and done something stupid."



"I didn\'t know what to do," I said in a low voice.



"We could have just talked about it, Rave," He said, uncrossing his arms.



My brother threw the toothpick in the trash, but I just shook my head.



"You were all so mad and I was so confused. I had just needed some time to think. I had wanted to talk to you guys then, back at school...but you all acted so angry," I explained.



"Well, we\'ve all talked about it already. We even told mom and dad. They were really surprised. They thought we were lying at first, but then we explained the situation and the rumor and everything...hey, was that rumor true? \'Cause that really is gross-"



"It wasn’t true, Ren" I said in an irritated voice, “Don’t believe everything you hear."



He smiled a little and stepped closer to me," Well, are you alright now? I told everybody I would talk to you first and then you should talk to them. Are you planning on talking to them?"



"I really don\'t have much of a choice."



"You should just tell them the truth. That\'s just what we\'ve wanted the whole time. I had been wondering about you for a while..."



"I can\'t believe I\'m discussing this with my little brother," I said suddenly, cutting him off.



He grinned, “Not so much of a little brother anymore now am I?"



I grabbed a hold of his upper arm, pulling him close to me and wrapping my arms around him. I ruffled his too-long-hair and said, "You\'ll always be my baby brother."



"Umph...great," He muttered against my shoulder, trying to push me away," Logan\'s turned you soft on us."



I slapped him lightly and he laughed.



"Ren, do you think Rhea\'s mad at me? What about Robin?" I asked.



"Rhea thinks Logan\'s using you, but I tried to explain to him how it really was. I think he\'s finally understanding that you guys actually like each other...as for Robin, he\'s still really hurt. I think you need to talk to him. He\'s not really as mad as he was yesterday, but he\'s been really quiet. You really upset him, you know that? And I never like to see him sad," Ren said.



"I know. Neither do I," I replied.



"Robby\'s upstairs. He didn\'t want to come down tonight for dinner. Maybe you should bring him up something. It will give you guys some time to talk. As for mom and dad...tell them soon. They want to hear the truth from you, not us," He advised.



I took a deep breath and turned to the living room where I knew my parents would be. I came up from behind them and sat down in the big recliner, pulling my legs up to my chest in an obviously nervous position. The room was lightly illuminated by only two lamps and the TV set was on. Both of their eyes were on me, but I couldn\'t bear to make eye contact.



"Where did you go?" My mother asked in a quiet voice.



I paused before finally speaking," To Everton."



"Why?" She asked, leaning forward in the couch," Look at me, Baby."



I finally looked her in the eye. Her light brown eyes appeared tired, and I guessed she had been worried about me. Her curly red hair had been pulled back into a thick low ponytail. I felt my ears lower a bit and unconsciously grabbed onto my tail and held it like a baby would a blanket.



"I had to get away," I said in a cracked voice.



I looked away suddenly, feeling the oncoming of tears. I wasn\'t a big cryer, but lately...lately I had been depressed and unsure. I needed to know they supported me. I needed their respect. It was so hard when I didn\'t know what they\'d say next.



I wiped my hands quickly across my eyes and sniffed.



"Why didn\'t you just tell us...it wouldn\'t have been the first time we\'d heard the news," My mom said, and I noticed my father wasn\'t saying anything, although he was sitting right next to her on the couch.



"Because...because I didn\'t want to have that reputation. I didn\'t want people to think down on me. I didn\'t want to be discriminated against. I wanted to be normal, but then this happened!" I cried.



I felt like a stupid little kid when my mom got up from the couch and pulled me out of the chair and into a hug. I was taller than her and easily wrapped my arms around her smaller frame. I needed Logan\'s love, but I needed my family\'s just as much. I couldn\'t help it when I started crying. It had come fast, so there was no use in hiding it.



"And mom...I didn\'t realize I was like this until I met him...until I met Logan," I whispered.



I had been startled when my dad eased my mom off me and pulled me into a hug. He had never been the affectionate type, even for a cat. Cats were naturally affectionate, but he had never been so. He pulled me against him and I was shocked.



"What did you think we would say, Raven?" My dad asked in reference to my startled expression.



"I-I thought you’d hate me," I said in a quiet voice.



"It\'s not how I would have envisioned my kids growing up, but if you\'re happy...then that\'s okay. When Robin told us last year, I took it hard. I had wanted him to grow up, meet a nice girl, have a big wedding, and lots of kids. Now I know that won\'t happen, but he\'s so different now. He\'s happy and that\'s how I want to see you," Dad explained.



"Rave, I\'m not exactly sure what exactly happened between you and Robin, but you really upset him. If you would go talk to him, I think he\'d appreciate it," My mom said.



My dad finally released me and my crying decreased. I was on my way to the kitchen to find something for Robin when my dad stopped me.



"Raven, I think...I think it would be nice to meet this young man that you\'re seeing," My dad said.



I stopped, completely turning around," You want to meet him? Why?"



"I just want to meet him...he must be quite the guy if you fell for him," My dad said, before walking back towards the living room.



Wow, just another thing to add to my list when I call Logan tonight.



I went through the refrigerator, trying to find something for my little brother. On one of the shelves, I found some milk. I stuck a mug of milk in the microwave for a minute and then found some chocolate chip cookies on a shelf. I placed a handful on a plate and made my way carefully upstairs to the twins\' room.



The door was closed and that was unusual. I knocked, but got no response, so I somehow balanced the milk and cookies and opened the door handle. I glanced around the room, not immediately seeing him. He was sitting in the large dormer window above Ren\'s bed with a blanket draped over him, just staring out the window.



I shut the door behind me and took a few steps in the room. He knew I was there, by the way his ears had perked in my direction, but he didn\'t even acknowledge me. I went over to him, hopping up on the bed and situating myself in the window, next to him. I let my tail and left leg dangle down the side while crossing my other leg. I set the milk down and pushed it towards him. He glanced at me quickly with a frown and then turned his head back towards the window.



"Leave me alone, Raven. You\'re only doing this because mom or dad...or Ren told you to," He said softly.



"You\'re right, you know. Ren said it would be a good idea to bring you some food, but I, myself, thought you could use some company."



He was silent.



"Look, Robin. I just came to apologize to you, ok-"



"You\'re going to hurt him, you know that, right? He\'s a person, so don\'t play him on."



I stared with big eyes at him while he shifted to get comfortable, “What are you talking about?"



“You. I\'m talking about you, Raven. I\'ve seen the way he looks at you. He really likes you. I know you won\'t stay with him long. It\'s going to turn out like a little fling, because you\'re hard up for attention. You will hurt him when you break up with him, so don\'t use him!"



I shook my head, “Robin...Robby, you have no idea. You have no idea about our relationship. You think you do, but that\'s only because you think that you know me. Apparently you don\'t know me well enough. You don\'t know me well enough to know that...that I\'m in love with him," I explained softly.



He looked up at me with those bright blue eyes that seemed to be full of sorrow," Love? You\'re admitting this?"



I smiled, "Yes. I am admitting it."



"Are you sure?" He asked curiously.



I nodded, "Definitely. This last week has been...amazing."



"I still don\'t understand why you made me feel so horrible, though. Why\'d you do it?" He asked.



"One, I was being an overprotective ass of a brother. Two, I was jealous. I wanted a relationship, too. I\'ve never been in a serious relationship, you know. Three, I thought if I could make you...un-gay, then you\'d be happier. I was stupid...and wrong, because you were happy with Justin," I said gently.



"You could have just said that. It would have been a lot easier, and a lot nicer," He said, glancing at me, and then taking a cookie off the plate balancing on my knee.



"I know. I\'m sorry, Robin," I said, just wanting his forgiveness, “I was stupid."



I watched him lean over a little a grab a hold of the hot mug. He didn\'t say anything, but stuck part of his cookie in it, letting it absorb the hot milk. He took a bite a second later and went back to his position against the wall.



"It\'s okay," He said after a while," I probably freaked out a little, too. I never, ever thought that you\'d be the gay one out of all of us."



I raised an eyebrow," Who did you think it was, then?"



"Ren," He said easily with a little smile," We\'re twins."



I laughed openly; amazed he had actually said that. Ren would have probably killed him, unless he truly does have something to tell us. But I knew better to think that Ren was gay. I never thought that, even though they are twins. Ren seems to have developed a crush on Sadie, which I find hysterical.



"Well, now that you have a boyfriend...we can go on a double date!" He said happily.



"Oh, Robby...no," I said, shaking my head.



"Yes. Come on! It\'ll be fun! Oh, and we should go shopping! We\'ll have so much fun together. I\'ve always wanted someone to do something with! We can all go swimming together and then out to eat and-"



"Shhh! Geesh...I\'ll think about it," I said, rolling my eyes at his exuberance.