“I’ll have to check it out.”
We look at each other and laugh.
“Hey, you would have been proud of me at the bootcamp me and Cam went to. I only took like… five unapproved breaks.” I smile.
He chuckles. “Just stick to the treadmill, sister, and you’ll be fine.”
I grin, snuggling up again and pulling the fleece blanket up to my chin.
After a few quiet minutes of relaxing in front of the TV, the smile on my face begins to fall.
It’s the small stuff like this I’ll miss most, and it’s a little too heartbreaking to think these times might fade away.
“Hey, Mase?” I ask quietly, my eyes on the TV. “You think we’ll still come here every summer after this?”
He nods absentmindedly, scrolling down to SportsCenter. “Yeah, for sure.”
“Do you really? Like seriously, really?”
He chuckles, his eyes flicking my way. “Like, seriously, really. Why?”
“A lot can change in college.” I shrug against the cushion. “We might be on the same campus, but that’s nothing like all of us living in the same court at home.”
Small creases now frame his eyes. “I’m sure we’ll get busy with life at some point, yeah, but we’ll always make time for each other and this place. I mean, that’s why they gave it to us, right? Keep us linked?”
I nod. “Yeah, but will it really be that simple?”
“I don’t know, Ari. Shit.” He runs his hand over the back of his head, his eyes moving to the TV. He scowls. “It should be.”
I stare at Mason a moment.
The possibility—or likelihood—of change is a topic my brother hates. Plain and simple, it scares him, and when Mason is afraid or sad or anything the like, anger and frustration is what you get. Period. He’s been that way all his life.
I don’t know if all twins feel the same, but me and Mase? We’re a bit codependent. The thought of being alone doesn’t sit well with either of us. It could be because we’ve never really been alone. It could be because we have a large, loving family, one that Cam and Brady have been a part of since birth, and Chase joined when he was twelve.
Mason looks at me, accusation in his eyes. “You think I don’t see, or know, but you’re wrong.” He doesn’t have to say the words, we both know what, or more who, he’s referring to. “I am the way I am for reasons you don’t understand yet. I’m just trying to save you from—”
“From what?”
He sighs. “From a letdown. All our lives, you’ve been by our sides, doing what we do, and you never complain, but what about outside of us, Ari?”
“I tried that in Florida and got shit for it.”
“That’s not what I mean.” He shakes his head. “Maybe I overreacted a little, and that’s because I was caught off guard, but I’m talking about friendships… experiences you haven’t had yet.” My cheeks grow a little pink, but I don’t look away. “There’s more out there outside of us.”
“Maybe I don’t need more.”
His smile is small. “How do you know?”
I pull my knees up, wrapping my arms around them with a shrug. I guess I don’t, but they’ve always been enough. I don’t see that changing.
I understand what he’s saying and he’s not wrong. The five of us, we literally do everything together.
Vacations, holidays, and all the small things in-between.
We shop together, throw birthdays together, and rode to school together every single day since forever. First, we all sat in the same rows on the school bus, and then we piled into Brady’s mom’s van when he got his permit. Mase was the first to pass his driver’s test, so from that day forward, we rode with him. Every. Single. Day.
The five of us, we were inseparable. A unit.
And we loved it. Still do. It’s why we’re all headed to the same school for yet another four years.
Does he want that to change?
“Getting away at Avix, it’s going to be good for you.” He speaks gently. “And I’ll still be right there when you need me. And when you don’t.”
Unease settles over me. “You’re talking like it’s going to be the end of this. Of the five of us.”
“We’re family, and family doesn’t end.” He shakes his head, easing into his next words. “But that’s exactly why it’s important for all of us to stay friends, so things don’t get weird.” Mason faces forward, kicking his leg out. “So things don’t get ruined.”