Chapter 20.


    ***Ray''s Pov***


    Ava stood shakily on her feet, with the help of my hands. We made our way towards the staircase. She


    was still pale and I knew if I let her go she''s fall down on her ass.


    She kept on shaking her head repeatedly, mumbling to herself inaudible words. I wanted to know


    exactly what was going through her head and as if reading my mind Bryson asked.


    ''You know you can tell us anything right? '' Bryson assured her.


    She didn''t speak for a while, instead she looked at him.


    ''Your...mum...she..uh.. '' Ava was a stuttering mess. Whatever she wanted to say felt heavy in her


    tongue.


    Bryson turned to look at me, a certain degree of realisation crossing his features. That is when it finally


    dawned on me.


    ''She uh, she said..that she trusted me to keep a secret. '' Ava finally let the words out.


    How could mum do this to us and to Ava? Didn''t she understand how hard it would be for Ava to keep


    such important information from us? What exactly was the reason for her to keep us in the darkness for


    so long?


    So many questions were crossing my mind at the moment. How did Ava end up seeing the certificates?


    Did she stumble upon them while she was cleaning or had my parents showed her?


    What if Ava never saw them, would we ever find out that we are not rted? Bryson understood my


    inner turmoil and so did I to him. We both knew how each other felt.


    We walked besides Ava, on the wide staircase. Bryson ced his right hand on the small of her back


    to steer her. He whispered sweet nothings to her as constion.


    I knew that keeping that information from us had hurt her, not to mention the kiss she had witnessed


    between Bryson and Ariel.


    Once we were in my parents room, Ava walked straight to my mum''s make up station. She stood there,


    shaking her head repeatedly. Whatever her mind was conjuring, was making it hard for her to make a


    decision.


    She kept on mumbling and chanting to her self. ''I can''t, I can''t do this. ''


    A nod from Bry had us moving towards her slowly. We stood on either side. Bryson put his arm on her


    shoulderfortingly. While I snaked my arm around her tiny waist.


    ''Ava, this is hard for you as it is for us. We understand whatever inner battle you''re having but we


    deserve to see the proof. '' I spoke.


    ''Don''t take it wrongly Ava, we believe you, it''s just that we grew up believing that we were brothers.


    Despite our differences in looks, we never questioned or suspected a thing. '' Bryson added.


    After much needed silence, Ava finally removed the painting from the wall.


    ''A safe? '' I questioned.


    ''Has it been always here? '' Bryson questioned too.


    ''Seems so. '' I mumbled even though I knew his question was rhetorical.


    Meanwhile, Ava pulled her phone from the pocket of her sweat pants. She checked something (I''m


    assuming thebination. ) Then she keyed in thebination to open the safe.


    Once it was opened, she picked a brown envelop amidst other couple of stuff that we couldn''t tell what


    they were. She handed us the envelop silently, with her eyes cast down firmly on the tiled floor.


    We all sat on the bed as Bryson opened the envelop. Peeking through, he pulled out two certificates. I


    knew what to expect but the tiny little hope that I had vanished the moment my eyes saw the words.


    They were boldly written in capital letters obviously confirming what Ava had told us. My mind went


    nk and void in an instant. It refused toprehend the betrayal my heart had been subjected to at


    the moment.


    I couldn''t quite understand why this had been kept from us for this long. What else were my parents


    hiding.


    Bryson pulled me for a much needed embrace. We hugged the shit out of each other. We both


    understood what the other felt.


    We cried together, offering one another a shoulder to lean on. I had always deemed myself a strong


    man, but this was nothing I could control.


    After sometime Bryson pulled back from the embrace.


    ''Do you know what this means Ray? '' He attempted to smile, with red puffy eyes and an equally red


    rimmed nose.


    ''No. '' I simply answered.


    He smiled again.


    ''Stop smiling, you look pathetic with your tear stained face. '' I teased.


    ''As if you look any better. '' He shot back.


    ''At least I''m not attempting to smile. '' I fired back.


    ''Okay, Ray you win. '' He chuckled.


    ''But seriously, this is a good thing Ray. ''


    ''Wtf is wrong with you Bryson, how could you.. ''


    ''Shut up and let me finish. '' He cut me off.


    ''I swear you''re so dense sometimes. '' He didn''t intend for me to hear, but I did nheless.


    ''We can stop hiding what we feel for each other Ray. We can love on each other freely because...''


    ''We are not fucking rted.. '' I finished the statement for him, finally understanding his point.


    Exclusive ? content by N(?)ve/l/Drama.Org.


    ''Damn, of course this is not incest, we aren''t blood rted. Hell, I can do whatever I want to do to you


    without fearing what people will say. '' I eximed happily.


    ''Exactly Ray, now kiss me. '' He didn''t need to ask twice.


    I ced my hand on the back of his head, pulling him towards me. Our lips met ferociously, moving


    against each other in a perfect heat.


    After the deprivation of oxygen, we finally broke the kiss. Only then did we realise Ava was not in there


    with us. She must have slipped away when we were distracted.


    ''Where is she? '' Bryson voiced my thoughts out.


    I could only hope she hadn''t seen us kiss, but then again it didn''t matter cause we weren''t rted.