These Lives Of Ours.

When I finally woke up the next morning I was still in Ryan’s arms, and he was still asleep. I have to admit, he looked pretty cute when he was sleeping. I’m not sure why…but the fact that he soft brown hair was everywhere made him all the more cute. “Morning.” He smiled and I realized that he had woken up to me staring at him. That was smart. “Oh…hey!” And now I was acting like an idiot. That’s nice.

“So are you ready to tell me what’s wrong?” He didn’t make any effort to take his arms off me. “Uhm…no?” I asked more then stated. “I think you are.” He smiled playfully and I shook my head. It wasn’t anything worth talking about so why should I? “Well I think I’m noootttt” I sign-songed, attempting to climb out of Ryan’s bed. “You’re not going anywhere until you tell me.” A worried expression replaced his joyful one and scowled at him. “Fine, then I’ll sleep here for the rest of my life until I die of no food and it’ll be all your fault.” This got a laugh out of him at least.

“Come on Chip, you can trust me. I love you.” I froze. He didn’t just say that did he. “W-w-what?” He looked equally as stunned but did his best to cover it up. “Oh…uh…I meant as uh…a friend. Yeah like…like a sister.” I knew he was lying. He meant it. He meant every word of it. “Ryan…” I didn’t know what to say. What could I say? I mean, I admit to liking him a lot…maybe even loving him, but we have too much to deal with right now. The last thing the two of us need is to be in a relationship. “Ryan I…I can’t…I mean…” But somehow I couldn’t get the words out. “I understand Chip. I know you don’t like me like that.” He got up and pulled on some clothes. I just sat silently. He didn’t understand, but I couldn’t say that. I had to make him think I didn’t love him. Neither of us needed this extra stress right now. When this was all over, we could be together.

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I can’t believe I was so stupid! I shouldn’t have said that. I should have known she could never love me. So why did I say that? “So what are we doing today?” I asked, pulling my shirt on. “Well…we could…uhm…” Oh god don’t tell me things are going to be super awkward now. “Wanna go see the guys?” I asked, suddenly remembering Pete’s theory. Maybe she does have a crush on one of the guys. “How are we going to get there genius?” She smirked and I knew things weren’t going to be awkward. “Driving genius.” “We can’t keep driving around when you only have your learners permit!” I sighed and shook my head. “When are you going to live a little?” She rolled her eyes and gave in. “Give me 10 minutes.” I nodded and started pulling on some jeans.

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We pulled out of the drive way again, on our way to see Spencer, Brendon, and Jon. Ryan had called them and arranged for them to meet at Brendon’s house.

“So are you ready to tell me what’s wrong yet?” I sighed and continued looking out the window. “Sure.” His face lit up for a second but he didn’t let me finish. “When hell freezes over.” I giggled and Ryan pulled up to Brendon’s house. I’d never been there before but Ryan had.

“GUYS!” The three of them pretty much mauled us with hugs the minute we stepped into the house. “We were worried sick. How’ve you been?” We just shrugged as Brendon examined the angry purple bruise on Ryan’s face. “I’m fine really.” He shook of Brendon’s hand and they all turned to me. “What about you?” I blushed, remembering my attempt at taking on Ryan’s dad. “She’s lucky she didn’t get herself killed.” I laughed and gently smacked Ryan over the head. “I didn’t almost get killed.” Ryan explained what had happened and the three of them almost started crying after seeing the bruise he left on my stomach. “It doesn’t hurt I’m fine.” They all nodded and we walked upstairs into the living room.

“Brendon! Hey…who are…?” A girl about my age ran into the room and stopped dead when she saw me. I don’t blame her as I was just as amazed as her. She was my exact match, the hair, eyes, skin, height, even the way she spoke. I was amazed that Brendon never noticed this before. Then again…he never saw us standing right next to each other. “Holy shit.” The four guys stared at us. “Who are you?” She asked, as Brendon slipped an arm around her shoulder. This must be his sister…or girlfriend…or whatever. “That’s Chip. She’s a really good friend of ours. Chip this is my little sister, Andie.” I stared at the two of them. This was way freaky.

“You guys are awfully quiet. What are you…?” Brendon’s mom walked in and dropped he plate she was washing. It hit the floor and smashed into a million pieces. “I…guys…uhm…sorry?” I was speechless. There was no way this could be happening. It’s just a coincidence right? “Who are you?” The familiar question rung in my ears as I stared up at Mrs. Urie. “I’m Chip. I’m a friend of Ryan’s.” She stared at me some more. “What’s your last name?” I blushed and looked down at the ground. “I don’t know. My parents died when I was only a few months old. None of my family wanted me…or maybe they just couldn’t be found. In any case, there were no documents; all they knew is that my first name was Chip. Apparently it was sewn on the tag of the clothes I was wearing.

Suddenly Brendon’s mother started crying. We were all kind of shocked at first. “Mom…are you ok?” Andie and Brendon rushed over and tried to calm her down. “Andie…go get me that box that’s sitting on my dresser ok?” She nodded and rushed upstairs. I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on. Frankly, my head was starting to spin.

“Here mum.” Mrs.Urie sat down and started leafing through the box until she found a green slip of paper and handed it to me. “What’s it say Chip?” Ryan leaned over and I started to read out loud. My hands were shaking and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

“Birth Certificate. Chip Urie, born this 22nd day of August 1991 to parents Mr. And Mrs. Urie.” I looked up at Mrs. Urie, Brendon, and Andie. Could they really be my family? “Here. There’s this one too.” I looked over another certificate. It was the exact same as mine except it was for Andie. We were twins. “They told me…you died.” I managed to spit out. “That’s what they told us.” I started to cry then. This was all just a little much. “Chip…I’m so sorry.” I curled up in Ryan’s arms, he was the only thing that was familiar to me, and he was the only thing that mattered to me. “So…so…you’re my sister?” Andie stared at me like I had just grown a second head. I shrugged and dried up my tears. “Come on guys. I think we should leave.” Ryan, Spencer, and Jon all left and went up to Brendon’s room, leaving us alone.

“So what happened?” I asked, staring at my…my mother. “I guess they got mixed up. I’m not sure how. It’s not important. The important thing is that you’re safe and here now.” I nodded and shakily gave her a hug. “Wow Chip. I would…I mean…I always thought you two looked alike but I never noticed until I saw the two of you in the same room.” I nodded and pulled my legs up to my chest, hugging my knees. I wanted this to be over. “So…so…what do we do?” I asked, not really sure where this was going to lead. “Well obviously you’re going to move in with us! I am your mother after all.” My face fell to one of shock. This was horrible!! I didn’t want to live with Brendon.

The whole thing was just a little much. “Can you excuse me for a moment?” The all nodded and I ran out the door and down the road. “Chip!” Brendon ran after me and someone ran after him. I didn’t really care. I wanted to be alone. I wanted to shut my eyes and wake up next to Ryan on that first night we spent at Pete’s house. I wanted to shut my eyes and wake up on the day we were taken away; only I wanted to stay at Pete’s. I wanted to shut my eyes and have everything be all right.

Life doesn’t work like that.