Promise Me The Stars

Hazel's eyes snapped open when she felt pressure on her mouth and her breathing became labored due to the fact that something was clogging her mouth and nose. When she awoke from her dead sleep and opened her eyes she was staring into her reflection that was slightly adjusted to that of a mans features.

"Hmorst!" She yelled struggling against her twin brother who's hand was over her mouth. Forest let go and stepped back, looking at his sister with raised eyebrows.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" She exclaimed sitting up in bed, "Do you even know what time it is?"

Forest shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets and a lazy grin spreading on his lips, "No, do you?"

Hazel grumbled and looked around for her cell phone, the only thing that would tell her the time.

"No. What do you want?" she questioned after failing at finding her phone.

"Let's go out." Forest said looking over towards the windows that were across the room from them.

Hazel looked over also and she could see stars shining brightly in the sky, moonlight streamed through the halfway opened blinds and she could faintly hear a owl in the silence that the house produced. It was all so calm and peaceful she found herself wanting to go outside.

"Forest it's like three in the morning or something." Hazel grumbled rubbing her eyes as they became dry.

"So? Come on Hazel I don't want to go out alone." Forest whined tugging on the strap of Hazel's tank top.

"We're going to get in trouble." Hazel stated shoving Forest's hand away but getting out of bed anyway.

"By who, Zacky? I practically burnt down the house the other night while he was asleep at the table. I don't think he's going to wake up if we're all the way downstairs and leaving." Forest said trying to convince Hazel to sneak out with him.

"You know, just because I'm your twin doesn't mean I have to do everything with you." Hazel said rummaging through her dresser drawers for a pair of dark pants.

"That's not what I was saying. But we used to sneak out all the time when we were back in Colorado. Go party our asses off on main street. Remember?"

"Of course I remember dragging your drunk ass home Forest." Hazel said sarcastically, "Now turn around so I can change."

Forest smirked and turned to face the wall, looking over the pictures that had been placed on the wall. There were some of the both of them doing various things; Dressed up for Halloween, posing next to a Christmas tree, their first day of junior high after Hazel got gum stuck in her hair so her hair was cut shorter then Forest's at the time.

"I still laugh at junior high." Forest said.

"And I still cringe. I'm decent." Hazel shot back. Forest turned back and saw his sister in black jeans and a dark grey hoodie.

"Jesus Hazel we're sneaking out not going B&E-ing." Forest said raising his eyebrow at her attire.

"You never know." She sang pulling on her shoes.

"Yes, lets go rob somewhere." Forest stated sarcastically. Hazel flipped him off and then they headed for the door.



The crisp night air greeted the teenagers and injected them with a rush of adrenaline. Forest took in a deep breath and sighed, holding his arms out so the air could blanket him completely. It reminded him of the air in Colorado, so clean feeling as it flowed through his lungs.

"Is there a guard on duty at night?" Hazel asked as she looked down the driveway at the guard booth that was currently dark and barely visible in the glow of the moonlight, which gave it an eerie outline in the darkness.

"Yep, but it's shift change and I have a copy of the key to the small gate so it won't be date stamped that the big gate opened." Forest said pulling a silver key out of his pocket.

"You scare me." Hazel stated looking at her brother.

Forest laughed and shrugged at his sister, "That's okay, just know if this whole daddy thing goes to hell I can get us out of here without anyone knowing."

Hazel smiled grimly, somewhat happy that her brother had a plan on how to take care of them if things didn't work out and they had to run. It was bad to think about those things but a small area in her mind was always questioning whether they would have to leave abruptly if something happened with Forest. She would never let Forest run alone, no matter how loyal she was to Zacky and the guys, she was always going to be most loyal to Forest.

"Where are we going?" Hazel asked as they walked quickly down the driveway, not because they were rushed, but because they were excited to be out in the world.

"Don't know." Forest laughed and couldn't help but jump around a little bit, twirl around as they took to a sprint down the driveway. He was just so happy at this exact moment. He felt free for the first time he had arrived in California and he wasn't about to waste that feeling.

The duo reached the gate in record time, slamming their hands into it to stop themselves. The process sent a clanging echo splitting through the air and Forest quickly unlocked the padlock that held the small pedestrian gate closed. It was only used for the guards to get through so there weren't any sensors on it to date stamp every moment it was opened and closed.

"After you m'lady." Forest smirked and held the gate open, bowing a bit as Hazel looked on in amusement.

"Why thank you m'lord." She curtsied and skipped through the open gate out onto the sidewalk. Forest followed suit and re-padlocked the gate before stuffing the key in his pocket and gazing up at the darkened house they had just come from.

"Let's go exploring and try not to get kidnapped." Forest cheerfully exclaimed as he turned from the gate. He grabbed Hazel's hand and broke into a run that she copied to keep up.

The air rushed past their heads, some partaking in filling their lungs as they ran down the street laughing and yelling. They didn't care who they woke up, they didn't care if the cops were called, they were free, they were alive, they were with the the most important person in each other's lives. And they didn't need anyone telling them different.



The twins ended up at the beach on a small cliff that overlooked the quiet waters below. They were the only souls around, could have been the only people left on the Earth, that's how oddly quiet it was in the Californian city where they were.

"Makes you feel alive doesn't it?" Forest asked as he looked out at the endless water that never ceased it's endless travelling.

Hazel let a smile slip onto her lips and she nodded although Forest was still staring out at the water.

"It's beautiful." she murmured her hands in the pockets of her jacket.

"Look," Forest pointed out at the horizon and Hazel followed his finger slowly, "See it?"

Off on the horizon, almost where the sea met the sky and you could barely distinguish the line, there was a large puff of water thrown into the air like mist.

"Whales?" Hazel asked quietly watching as a tail fin lifted into the air and slapped back down onto the water.

"Two of 'em I think." Forest said just as quiet as Hazel.

"I wonder if they're running away." Hazel said, not meaning to say it out loud since it was a silly thing to wonder anyway.

"Maybe, maybe they've been sent to live with some Uncle and they hate him."

"I don't hate dad."

"I do."

"Why Forest?" Hazel asked looking over at him. He stared out at the whales that were slowly disappearing from his view.

He looked down at Hazel, and his eyebrows furrowed slightly. When had he become taller then her? When had they grown up and been forced to deal with adult problems?

"Why shouldn't I?," He cut her off as she opened her mouth to chime in on the conversation that was quickly turning into an argument, "I don't care what you have to say because you're just playing his game! He's got you wrapped around his finger so he doesn't have you hating him. He's telling you those stories so you can hear 'his side'" Forest went on, turning his back to the water and facing Hazel as she tried to cut in again.

It was dark and the moon was slowly sinking behind Hazel so all she could see was the silhouette of her brother against the open air behind him.

"Forest," Hazel's voice grew louder, trying not to get angry as he went on.

"He wasn't there for us Hazel! Why in the hell should I like him? Just because he took us in after mom died? Because he's biologically linked to us because he fucked our mother?" Forest yelled looking down at his sister.

"Forest!" Hazel yelled angrily, pushing Forest to get him to stop his rant.

Forest's feet slipped on the dampened rocks and he went hurtling out over the cliff. A look of surprise frozen on his face as the air started to swallow him and pull him down towards it's raging mouth of water.

"FOREST!" Hazel screeched frantically all anger forgotten as she looked at her brother. Her arms flew out nearly the moment she had pushed him and she grabbed a hold onto his pant leg.

A moment later there was a loud thud and a grunt from Forest as he was left hanging there upside down with Hazel struggling to keep him from slipping from her grasp and hit the rocky waters below.

"Well that escalated quickly." Hazel heard Forest's voice float up from over the cliff.

"Forest." Hazel whimpered as tears cascaded down her cheeks. Her fingers burned as she felt her fingernails ripping against Forest's denim jeans. She barely had a grip of his left leg at the end of the jeans and her grip was sliding fast.

"Just pull as hard as you can, prey my pants don't rip, and then prey I can reach this rock that's cutting my back. Ready?"

"No..." Hazel sniffed.

"Me either. Heave!" He yelled and Hazel pulled as hard as she could on her brother's pant leg. Her shoes on either side of his leg she ground her heels into the rocky dirt to help her pull him up.

"Got it!" Forest yelled nonchalantly and then his foot was slipping from her grip as he pulled.

Hazel couldn't cry out as his foot disappeared from view, her heart was beating too fast and she could barely breath. She was hyperventilating for sure, she looked down at her fingers when she felt something warm and blood was flowing from where a few of her fingernails had been. They had been ripped clean off from struggling to keep her brother alive.

"Oh Hazel," Forest sang, "Please come grab my hand so I don't die a long and horrible death while gaining a watery grave."

At the request Hazel scrambled on her hands and knees over to the rocks, the sharp ones scraping any exposed skin that it came in contact with and banging bruises onto her knees that she took no notice to. Her head peeked over cautiously and she gazed down at Forest with blurred vision and probably more wounds then him.

"Hand." Forest commanded and her hand shot out for him to grab without thinking twice.

After much pulling and twisting this way and that, Forest was securely on the top of the cliff again examining the cuts and scrapes on his arms and fingering the ones on his face. He felt warm blood cooling at the pit of his back where he had hit it on the rock he had in turn used to save himself with the help of his sister.

At the thought of Hazel Forest looked over and watched her as she sobbed into her bloody hands. The knees of her jeans were ripped and her left one was bleeding onto her dark jeans, making it unnoticeable in the darkness.

"Forest, i'm so sorry." Hazel sobbed looking up when she felt his eyes on her. Forest glanced over her hunched over, bruised, and beaten form one more time before he pulled her into a tight hug.

"Me too." he murmured holding her tightly to his chest.

Guilt ate away at him as he stared off at the horizon like some stupid movie. The whales were gone, continuing on their journey to wherever it was they were going. Maybe this was their home, the wide open ocean with it's millions of residents and visitors every day, but this little part of the ocean was theirs and they were just going back to their hideout.

He couldn't believe what he had said to Hazel, that's not what he did. He protected her, didn't dare hurt her any time. And now he had said those things that could make her hate him. Sorry wasn't good enough this time, she had nearly killed him pushing him off the cliff. But she had ripped her fingernails off to save him. He had said those things, whether they be true or not he didn't care anymore, and put his sister through so much hell just in the last twenty minutes.

Sorry just wasn't good enough this time.