The Kaulitz Twins

It took a lot of coaxing, but Georg and I managed to get Tom to agree to come home with us for one night. Bill, on the other hand, was practically in the SUV with the seatbelt on seconds after we made the offer.

I glanced in the rear view mirror at Bill and Tom in the back seat. Bill had a huge smile on his face, probably happy to be out of the cold. But Tom looked grumpy, with his arms crossed.

Georg slid into the passenger seat next to me and glanced over at me, "Blake, you gonna be okay on the drive home?" he asked quietly.

I started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot, "Yeah, I'll be fine." I replied.

The reason why I didn't like to drive at night was because I had a slight problem with nearsightedness. I should probably wear contact lenses or glasses, but contacts make my eyes itch and glasses make me look like a total geek. So in order to deal with my little problem I just try to avoid driving at night when my nearsightedness is at it's worst.

"What the hell is so wrong with driving at night?!" Tom questioned.

"Don't worry about it." Georg replied for me while I kept my eyes on the road.

"Tou-chy." Tom said, dragging out the word. He glanced over at his brother, "Hey Bill, if we end up dead in a ditch somewhere, I reserve the right to tell you I told you so." he joked.

"Tom, you're being so rude!" Bill whisper-scolded.

"No Bill, it's okay. I've heard worse before anyways." I said as I tried to keep a smile on my face.

"What sort of things do people say?" Bill asked.

"It doesn't matter." I said as I shook my head.

"Blake! Watch out!" Georg yelled as a deer jumped out in front of the SUV.

I gasped and slammed on the brakes. I sharply turned the wheel to avoid hitting the deer when the tires locked up and we spun out.

The car came to a rest just off to the side of the road and in the dirt.

"Are we dead?" Bill whispered to his brother.

"No Bill, we're not dead." Tom replied calmly, "We're not dead even though we let a crazy bitch get behind the wheel!" he shouted, letting his attitude flip a 180.

"It was the d-d-d-deer." I managed to stutter. My eyes were wide open and my knuckles were turning white from gripping the steering wheel so tight.

"Blake, it's okay." Georg said soothingly, "We didn't hit the deer or anything else either." he said, reassuring me.

"Yeah, we didn't hit anything THIS TIME." Tom groaned, "But what about next time? She'll kill us for sure!" he yelled.

I started to hyperventilate and tightly shut my eyes.

"Tom, shut up!" Georg shouted as he turned around to glare at the dreaded teen, "Just shut up!" he repeated.

"Don't tell me to shut up!" Tom shot back.

"Well just stop yelling at Blake. You're freakin' her out!" Georg said and I began to whimper from the two of them yelling at each other.

I heard a door open and I thought it was Tom getting out to kick Georg’s ass or vise versa.

But I was surprised when I heard my car door open instead and I opened my eyes to see Bill standing there.

Bill gently set his hand on top of one of mine and gained my attention by moving into my line of vision. "Keep your eyes on me." he instructed.

I slowly nodded and he continued, "Take a deep breath."

I did as he said. I breathed in deeply and let it out slowly. As I exhaled, so did he.

"Now count to ten." Bill said.

"W-One... Two... Three..." I whispered shakily.

"Four... Five... Six... Seven..." Bill counted with me.

"Eight... Nine... Ten." I finished.

"Okay, now take one more deep breath." Bill instructed again and then breathed slowly with me.

"...Do you feel better? Calmer?" Bill asked.

I thought for a moment before I nodded. I did actually feel better.

I realized the rest of the cab was silent and I glanced at Tom to see him staring at me and Georg was staring at Bill.

"What did you just do?" Georg asked Bill.

"Just some relaxation tips I learned a while ago to bring myself out of anxiety attacks." Bill replied.

"But that was so quick! Usually to get Blake out of one of her panic attacks she needs medication and about twenty minutes for it to kick in." Georg said.

"This sort of thing happens often?" Tom asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Things get kind of stressful at home." Georg answered.

"Things get kind of stressful for everyone at home. The difference though is growing a pair of brass balls or thinking you need to medicate yourself in order to survive." Tom said.

Okay... I can't tell if that was an insult or Tom trying to be helpful.

"Do you even know what my family does?" I asked.

"I hear the rumors...and they're not pretty." he said as he smiled.

"I'm sure they're not." I muttered. I sighed and turned to Bill, "Thank you so much for helping me." I said quietly.

Bill nodded, "No problem. Happy to help." he said as he smiled before he got back into the back seat of the SUV.

"We need to get home." I said as I turned over the key to restart the engine, but realized it was already running.

"Are you gonna be okay to drive the rest of the way home?" Georg asked me.

I nodded, "I'll make it." I replied as I pulled back out onto the road and started to drive the rest of the way home.

Tom raised an eyebrow at me, "It looks like you just grew a pair."

I laughed a short, light, and airy laugh, "You'd be surprised at how long I've had my own pair of brass balls."

It took about thirty minutes longer to drive home than usual because of my slow driving. I was afraid something else was going to jump out in front of us or we would spin out again and crash this time.

I'll admit it, I was scared. I was even still shaking a bit.

What made it even worse was from the back seat Tom continued to repeat, "Are we there yet?" every time I turned a corner.

Thank God we were almost home.

I pulled the SUV into the driveway and parked just as Tom asked, "Are we there yet?" for probably the twentieth time.

Georg turned to face Tom and growled, "Yes! We're here!"

Tom sighed irritably, "It's about time."

Georg got out of the SUV, collected the groceries, and walked into the house.

I stayed in the front seat, unmoving, staring straight ahead.

Tom leaned forward to the front seat and calmly asked, "Are you coming?"

I wasn't sure if he was trying to be nice or if he was setting me up for something so I didn't reply.

Tom shook his head and muttered, "Whatever." before he got out of the car and followed Georg into the house.

"Are you okay?" Bill asked quietly.

I took a deep breath and replied, "Yes." to the best of my abilities. I got out of the SUV and motioned for Bill to come with me.

When we entered, I could hear Mom giving Georg the 3rd degree for being late and bringing a friend home. I decided I had better step in before it got any worse.

Bill and I stepped into the kitchen and Mom noticed us. "You brought home two friends? What were you thinking?!" she questioned.

"They didn't have anywhere else to go." I said.

"What are you talking about?" Mom asked.

"They need somewhere to stay for a few days." I clarified.

Mom sighed, "Blake, you know we don't have any more room."

"Yes we do! There's plenty of room!" I almost shouted.

"And where will they sleep?" she questioned.

"In the guest room. Y'know there ARE two beds in there." I replied.

"Yes, but there are also about twenty boxes in that room making it cramped and unavailable." she said.

"So everyone can take a few boxes and stash them in their closets. Problem solved." I said as I shrugged my shoulders.

"We don't have enough food to go around for dinner tonight or breakfast tomorrow." Mom tried to argue.

"Everyone will just have smaller portions." I argued back.

"Your Father won't like feeding and boarding free loaders." she said, trying to put her foot down.

"We're not free loaders." Tom said firmly.

Georg put a hand on Tom's shoulders, silently telling him to be quiet because I was going to bat for the twins and Tom saying the wrong thing could screw it all up.

"They're hard workers." I said.

"Are you sure?" Mom questioned.

I nodded, "Yes, I've seen it myself."

Mom was quiet for a long moment before she finally said, "Alright...they can stay."