That was when Star finally got her text back from Sky. Though it was ominous. It simply read “even if we do fix every single person in our lives, we’ll never be able to fix us, will we?”

Star swallowed a bit at his words, and quickly returned her own “what happened?” Though that was all she could type before looking up and seeing Brie just shaking her head in disbelief.

“Are you really gonna sit here and have a text message conversation with your friends right now?” Brie asked angrily as she moved toward the bench, “I mean, really, Star. Are you gonna make me actually take the phone away?”

Star swallowed again, and quickly shot off another message to him, “mom’s gonna take the phone, gotta go” and with that she forced herself to put it back in her purse, as much as she really, really didn’t want to abandon Sky right then. After all, they had already been forced apart that weekend which made them both feel quite lost, alone, and defenseless as it was.

“What is it, mom?” she asked, the worry clear in her voice, though the worry for Sky was somehow outweighing the worry about what her mother had just witnessed a moment before his message.

“What is it?” Brie repeated, scoffing as she sat down, “take a wild guess.”

Star sighed slightly, “I know her from the club that we used to go to” was all she could manage as she glanced at her purse again.

“Well, as long as you know her” Brie returned sarcastically, to which Star just looked downwards. Brie then let out another sigh, “so, is this cause of what happened with Sky?”

Star looked up quickly then, “because of which thing that happened with Sky?” she had to get some clarification then.

“The kiss” Brie stated coolly.

Star was a bit perplexed by the question, “you think I’m kissing her now cause they both look like hot girls?” she offered in confusion.

Brie couldn’t help the slight blush before she continued, “I mean, is this your way of dealing with all of that... fallout from the kiss” she decided on.

“Is what my way?” Star asked slowly.

“So, you just convinced yourself that you like girls now instead? Is that how you’re dealing with all the things these kids have been saying about you and your alleged brother?” Brie managed.

Star shook her head, “mom, I was kissing girls way before any of that even....” she then swallowed as she saw the look on Brie’s face then.

Brie took a long moment to find her voice then, “so, is that what happened? You were worried you liked girls, so you decided to try kissing your br--- Sky instead?” she corrected as she took a quick look around to make sure of no listening ears.

Star let out another sound of disbelief, “mom, maybe you should be a writer with the amount of stuff you can infer from just one little sentence.”

“Well help me understand here Star. What is going on with you, honestly?”

Star scoffed again, “this is a slightly different reaction than when Sky told you he liked both boys and girls” she shook her head again as she averted her eyes.

Brie paled again, “so, now you’re saying that both you and Sky are bisexual?”

Star let out another long breath, “you do know it’s the twenty-first century, right?”

Brie shook her head at that, “you don’t understand” Brie attempted, “my shock isn’t just over the fact that both of you seem to think this about yourselves...”

“Think it?” Star scoffed again.

Brie simply continued, “my shock is over what all you two have done to be so sure that that is what you both are. That’s my real worry here, Star. I mean, you may think you’re almost an adult; but seventeen is still really, really young to have... done enough to... to know something like that about yourselves.”

“I forgot” Star began with sarcasm, “people don’t become bisexual til college, right?”

Brie sighed again, “well that is when most people start doing things like that to discover who they really are” Brie admitted.

“And then it’s just a phase, right? Then they go get jobs, picket fences, and two-point-five kids and forget it ever happened, right?” Star scoffed again.

“Star, you have to understand; this is just me being terrified of what all you two have been doing when we’re not around. Especially after...” Brie couldn’t help glancing at Star’s wrist then.

Star followed her gaze and found that scar. She had noted it since getting to this new world of theirs but she had just written it off as some accident or another, until she heard the despair and worry in Brie’s voice. Then it’s origination become a bit clearer, especially when placed next to the shame the two of them had endured here; and then her breath caught slightly at the realization.

The two cars pulled back into the garage within moments of each other the following Sunday night at around eight. Sky and Star both emerged from their respective passenger seats and still looked rather sullen and somber despite finally being back in one another’s presence after a more than painful weekend apart. Though after the series of texts or whispered phone conversations their parents had been having since the previous day, Brie and Connor looked just as upset.

“You two go inside. Your father and I need to have a discussion” Brie instructed them shortly, which caused rueful sighs in each teen, though they were eager enough to get out of their parents’ presence, so they easily shuffled off inside.

Star and Sky both sighed heavily as they took seats on the couch. “So, is this officially going to be worse than kiss-gate?” Sky mumbled as he moved to lie down on the couch next to her, placing his cheek sadly against the spider web stockings she had worn beneath her short vinyl skirt that day.

“For you probably” Star admitted sadly as she curled her fingers in his hair. “Dad officially knows about the stuff you’ve been doing now; so far, mom’s just imagining that I’ve been doing those things too.”

“And added bonus, we don’t even know what the fuck we actually have done in this world” Sky scoffed as he allowed himself to place a gentle kiss on her knee before returning to the sullen way he was laying his cheek against her legs, making him look even more like a sad and beautiful young girl then.

“Well, we know that we took each other’s virginity” a sad scoff, “crippled a girl, tried to kill ourselves, made out with at least a few randoms at the club, and apparently like blow-jobs in coffee shops from former cheerleaders” she had to add wryly, “that last one was just you... I think.”

“Yeah, thanks, got that” Sky sighed heavily again.

Another heavy sigh as Star continued to play with one of the white streaks he had recently interspersed through his long black locks during the few weeks since arriving in this new reality. “Should we really be quite this cozy with each other when they come back in?” she asked in the same forlorn tone.

Sky scoffed as he brushed a tiny black tear away against her stockings, “does it matter? We’re probably both getting shipped off to boarding school or some shit first thing in the morning” he added with a slight sniffle.

“Though they might be nice and decide to send us to the same one if your mouth’s not an inch from my panties when they come in.”

Sky allowed the tiniest laugh at her statement, but it died quickly. “If they only knew that you were the first of the thousands of notches on my studded belt” he stated sarcastically.

“Wow you hit a thousand already?” Star smirked, though her lips still couldn’t manage an actual smile.

“I don’t know” he sighed, “you’re the only one I ever counted.”

Star closed her eyes against her own emotions then. As much as she had let herself hope that they were going to use their passion to try and make at least one mistake hurt less, it still was quite apparent that life would still be a long way from perfect; just like Sky’s text the previous day had implied.

“Why do we do this though?” Sky asked, “I mean, just why?”

“Why do we do what exactly?” Star had to ask for clarification.

“Give ourselves to every pretty boy or girl that shows any interest” Sky supplied.

“I guess cause it’s the only way we can try to breathe for any moment that we have to spend without you being inside me.”

“So we’re nymphomaniacs, is that it?” he scoffed.

Star shook her head then before answering, “I just think it’s impossible for us to even function when we have to be two instead of one. So, if we can’t be with each other; we just try to bury that need in whoever else smiles at us.”

“I think there’s more to it than that though” Sky sighed again, “I mean, when they had us there; they forced us to be together hundreds of times. And we were miserable, even though we were technically having sex with each other every day; multiple times a day even” he added. “If anything, shouldn’t that have turned us off sex forever?”

Star thought a long moment, “maybe we’re just trying to take it back.”

That’s when Sky rolled onto his back to look up at her then, “take it back?”

“Our ability to control who and when and how we feel desire at all. We just need to have some kind of control again. So we try to find a way to do that, every chance we get, I guess” she sniffled.

Sky thought on her words a moment, finally allowing his frown to soften slightly, “you’re way better at this soul-searching thing than I am.”

“I believe we covered the talents you have that blow mine away” she couldn’t help teasing, before leaning down to gently kiss his lips.

Once the teens disappeared into the house that evening, Connor and Brie both leaned back against the car with a heavy sigh, arms crossed over their chests as they shook their heads at the door that had just closed behind their ‘children.’

Connor was the first to speak though, “making out with other girls, before that party where the kiss supposedly happened? Back when they were only fourteen?” he repeated parts of the conversation with Star that Brie had told him about on the phone.

“And only a blow-job?” Brie scoffed.

Connor continued then, “are we actually gonna stand here and say we buy that the two of them never had sex with each other? Considering how little they actually think of these things they’ve been doing with who knows how many other girls... and boys?” he shook his head again.

“We still have to remember what happened after that party though. Don’t you think that being accused of having sex with your own twin should have at least slowed down any further carnal explorations with said twin since then?” Brie asked.

“Well it sure as hell didn’t slow down his carnal explorations with other girls who bury themselves in tight black clothing and thick black makeup.”

Brie sighed again, “but don’t you think that whole terrible dual suicide attempt shows that they felt more than a little bit guilty about whatever actually happened at that party?”

“About whatever happened?” Connor scoffed loudly, “face it Brie, our kids fucked each other... at least once.”

“We don’t...” she shook her head.

“When he found her there, bleeding out, he sliced open his own wrist, Brie. That is not a brother-sister reaction. He’s in love with her. And probably has been for at least three years” Connor stated quietly. “Guilt or no, how many teenagers are in love with each other, and share a house, and an upstairs bathroom, and only a hallway between their bedrooms, and aren’t fucking every second they can?”

Brie sighed sadly, “so how do we justify punishing them for being in love? And should we even? And...” she shook her head.

“And what?”

“If we tell them they can’t be together... well we know what happened last time they felt like they would never be able to be together again.”