"We were somewhere in Europe at that point when the girl stole Matt's ring."

"Wait. Woah, you and Matt Donavan? As in the sheriff?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"What? You don't see the appeal of dating a normal person?"

"You realize that I am dating a siphoner of a nearly extinct coven who was transplanted to a different woman's womb when the leader who was also her uncle decided he didn't want the twins in the coven."

Her eyes widen a bit and her mouth slacks before her mouth turns up into a bit of a smile.

"You know I have heard that story but the way you tell it is just so compelling." She says in a sarcastic manner.

"Thank you. But I hope you understand now that I have found the farthest thing from normal."

"Seems...complicated."

"Not even close. She's perfect, she is everything anyone could have wished for. I am just lucky I got the privilege of having her in my life in this way. "

"You speak very highly of her."

"Well, I was told that is the only way you should talk about the people you love."

She snorts out a laugh. "I think you and my brother would have gotten along."

"Oh yeah? Which one?"

"All of them. I mean you are going to meet Kol, he is coming for dinner. Don't get me wrong he is a bit crazy but there is nothing he wouldn't do for Davina."

"I'll make sure to make the best impression for a man with such similar values as myself." I say with a hidden smile as I open up the door for Maz and let her back in before I lock it back up.

"Like the first impression you made with me?" She asks with a single eyebrow raised and the action makes her resemble Hope.

"I thought you could tell that was my good impression."

"Well then you might just have to rely on the fact that you buy good weed."

"That works for me." I say with a laugh as we walk back to the door.

Rebekah opens the door and I hold it open for her as we both enter. Josie and Freya are on the couch with a young boy in front of them messing around with toy trucks and there's another woman who is not very far away from them in the kitchen.

Josie and Freya are nose deep in books. Witchy things I can imagine.

"Oh, come on. This all can wait, can't it? Kol and Davina should be here for dinner in about an hour and poor Keelin is doing all the cooking while you two read."

"I will help in the kitchen." I cut in.

"And she can cook. Josie, you better keep a death grip around this one. I had met this one in a different life–"

"Oh, don't let Cypress fool you, she is wrapped around my finger." Josie says without even lifting her gaze from the book.

"Oh, come on, that's not fair." I protest as I am washing my hands and my eyes shoot up as Josie gets up from the couch and starts to walk over.

"It's completely fair because you know I am right." She says as she walks behind me and circles her arms around my waist and rests her chin on my shoulder. "But that's okay, because I am wrapped around yours too." She adds as she kisses my cheek and my eyes flutter closed at the feeling.

"They're giving you two a run for your money." Rebekah chimes in with a bit of a laugh.

"Why? Because we're both gay couples? Josie you can help too if you want, sweetie." Keelin says.

"Well...yeah." Rebekah responds.

"No no. Keep her away from the stove. She can cook but crepes are kind of her limit." I feel a pinch on both of my sides and it makes me jump. "Come on, you love me and you know I am right."

"I do." She says as she gives me a quick kiss while rolling her eyes (kind of hot) before going back to Freya on the couch.

I move over and start chopping the veggies that need to be cut.

My phone starts to ring in my pocket and I pull it out to see the school phone calling.

"I have to get this, I'm sorry Keelin I will get right back to work after."

"You're good kid." She says as she shoos me away.

I speedily walk outside to pick up the phone before it stops ringing and put it up to my ear on the lowest volume knowing there are still vampires around me.

"Hello?"

"Hey Cy!"

"Jed! Hey! How are you? Anything wrong with the pack?"

"No, I am good. Everyone is good. Ms. Forbes is really nice and she let me use the phone to call you. I just wanted to tell you that... that I miss you."

"Aw Jed, don't tell me you're going soft on me."

"No!" He clears his throat before he continues in a lower volume. "Not a chance Cy. I have to take care of the pack when the other leader is out gallivanting with her girlfriend."

I let out a laugh realizing I really did miss his humor. "I miss you too. We'll be back soon enough. You know I can't be late to my own party or I would get killed. You're still coming right?"

"Of course. I will be there, you know I will. So, the pack is all good but I wanted to let you know about something."

"Go on. Don't edge me like that. Continue." I say as I hear him taking a couple swallows on the other line.

"Okay, so I don't think the headmistress wants you to worry about it but Lizzie is gone."

"What do you mean Lizzie is gone? Jed! I thought you just said everything is good."

"Cy, she's gone. We don't know where she is. I wanted to tell you because I thought Josie had a right to know about her twin."

"Thank you. Really. I will go tell her."

"Yeah, she'll probl–"

The words behind the phone become unimportant as I hear a blood curdling scream from in the house. The most terrifying thing about a scream like that is when you know who it came from.

I get goosebumps all over my body as I drop the phone from where I was holding it on the sidewalk and vamp into the house to find Josie on the floor writhing around in pain, groaning, with her neck cocked at a weird angle. 

I immediately run over to her and fall to my knees to gather her curled body onto my lap. Freya, Keelin and Rebekah run towards us in a frantic manor circling around us like worried adults caring after a toddler who fell while running at the park.

"Josie, baby, you gotta tell me what's wrong so I can help you."

"Twin pain." She gets out through a few rugged breaths.

"So, you don't need my blood?"

Instead of answering, I watch as her eyes widen before they fill with tears and she starts uncontrollably sobbing into my chest.

"Do you have a spare room anywhere? If not, I can walk her out to the bus."

"No need for that. We have a spare room upstairs, it should be comfortable enough, please follow me." Freya says as she points to Keelin and the child almost to say keep an eye on him, as she starts to head towards the stairs.

I scoop Jos into my arms and she clings so tightly onto me that I am almost filled with more worry than when I heard her scream. I feel her dig her head deeper into my neck almost as if she blocks out everything except for me, she might be okay.

I would do the exact same thing if I was the one in pain.

I rush to follow Freya and when she opens the room for us, I walk over to the bed and I hear Freya the door close behind us, leaving us alone in a room sensing it is a private matter.

I pull back the covers and lay her down before crawling into bed with her. I know that sometimes her emotions can overwhelm her and she doesn't like to talk about it in the moment.

She likes to just be held and she will talk about it when she is able to gather her thoughts but that doesn't make me feel any better about wondering how much more I could be helping her.

So instead, I just hold her. In moments like these all I can do is wrap her up in my presence enough so that hopefully she feels safe.

I rub up and down her back as her breaths between each sob becomes less and less frequent until finally it stops and her heart grows as steady as her breaths. I am hoping in the serenity of sleep, she is finding some sense of peace.

I can hear everything happening downstairs. I hear that they are getting ready for Kol to arrive by telling Nik that his favorite uncle is only five minutes away.

"How is she?" I hear faintly as Rebekah's accent fills my ears, louder than the rest of the chaos in the house. My guess is that she is standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"She's asleep. That type of emotion drains her quickly, I just wish I could help her more."

"You're helping her in the way she needs right now. Give yourself that credit. In my thousand years of life, I wish someone would have just held me sometimes, you're doing more than you know."

"How do you know?"

"Hope used to tell me about Josie. She used to tell us all about her, how she wished she could deal with her emotions in the same way. But I think they were similar. Sometimes Hope couldn't express herself so she would rather be held. Just give her a little time. She will tell you."

I smile at the reassurance the woman was giving me. "Thank you, Rebekah."

She doesn't respond but I hear her walk away. It takes Josie maybe 10 minutes to wake up and when she does, she has a single tear rolling down her cheek that I quickly wipe away before I circle my arms around her again to hug her.

She's shaking. I can feel it as her body is pressed up against mine. All I can do is hold her before she decides to speak up.

"I saw her."

"Saw who? Lizzie?" She nods her head slightly against my shoulder. "Is she okay?"

"That is what she said. She said not to worry about her but I can't feel her, Cypress." Her voice shakes over my name. "I can't feel my twin."

"Shhhh. She is okay. We will find her, we'll fix all of this."

"No. She doesn't want me to. She said she will come back when she is ready."

"Everything will be okay. You will be okay." I say as I stroke her hair with my hands as her breaths calm. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Just hold me for a little."

"Of course."

We stay there for about another ten minutes before Josie gets up to check her appearance in a mirror and starts fixing some of her makeup before she turns around.

"Do I look okay? I know I look like I have been crying but do I at least look presentable?"

"You look as beautiful as always. You know we don't have to stay if you don't feel like it. Just say the word."

"No. I want to."

I get out of bed and walk to her side with my arm held out for her. "Then please give me the pleasure of escorting you down the stairs my love."

She gives me a snort of a laugh at my efforts to cheer her up and takes my arm anyways. It is like a reward when that smile subsides and she is just left staring into my eyes. I take that as my opportunity to lean in and kiss her. Even if she was stranded on a deserted island, like the girls in The Wilds, she will forever be the girl I find most beautiful.

I lead her out of the room and lean into her ear. "Kol and his wife Davina are here and they are setting the table for dinner."

She gives me a sweet smile as a thank you as we approach the steps and start descending the stairs.

"Ah, looks like the lovely young couple has decided to join us." Kol says as we approach closer and I watch as Davina smiles sweetly at us even though she pinches her husband on the arm.

"I'm sorry, that is my fault." Josie says as she quickly tries to defuse attention even if it wasn't needed.

I lean into her ear. "No, it's not."

"No worries love. We got the table all set up, just take a seat." He says as he crosses the table to pull out two chairs out for us.

I scoot Josie's chair in as she sits and it seems like the right move because I can feel the stares and even see some of the small smiles on the family's lips. I slide into my own chair as the dish is served and the dinner begins.