Seeing Double

It was time for the boys to do their sound check for their first show since the girls had joined them, and Olivia was happy to get away from Harry and finally be alone with her sister. Her thoughts were reeling after having to spend the afternoon as herself and with Harry, and she needed to talk to Brennan to make sure it wasn’t going to have to happen again.

The two of them were sitting on a sofa in the boys’ dressing room, waiting for them to get back so they could go off and do whatever the boys had planned.

“How was your time with the boys?” Olivia asked, biting her lip while she stared at the blank cream wall in front of them. The room had been silent before then, probably because both of the girls had a lot on their minds.

“It was good,” Brennan said simply. “They’re very nice.”

“They are, aren’t that?”

Brennan nodded, pressing her lips together as she looked at her sister. “How was your time with Harry?”

“It was – it was interesting.”

“Is he the ass you expected him to be?”

Olivia shrugged her shoulders. “It’s too soon to tell.”

The whole reason the girls had done the switch was so Brennan could go through the heartbreak so Olivia wouldn’t have to. In Olivia’s mind, there was little to no chance that things would work out with Harry, which was why she had sent Brennan in her place. In Brennan’s mind, Olivia needed to grow up and take responsibility for her actions, but she still felt the need to protect her sister.

“I’m not going to break it off with him for you, you know.” Brennan turned away from Olivia again and reached for the bowl of trail mix that had been set on the coffee table. “If things don’t work out and he ends up being another dead end, you’re going to have to end it. I won’t do it, Olivia.”

Olivia let out a long, deep breath, shaking her head softly. Brennan said a lot of things that she often didn’t mean, and Olivia still hadn’t figured out if this was one of them. She was almost certain that if she begged enough, Brennan would cut off Harry for her. She could never do that sort of thing herself.

Brennan let out a long breath same as Olivia had – it was one of the identical traits that the two shared. “You never know, Liv. He could be one of the good ones. Just don’t get too close too fast. I’m not gonna pick up the pieces again.”

Sighing, Olivia nodded again. “Yeah, I know.”

Olivia loved her sister more than she loved anyone else, but she needed to take a breather. Not saying anything to Brennan, she stood up from the sofa and walked out of the room, not an inkling of an idea as to where she was going in her brain.

She was walking aimlessly, turning down the eerily similar halls that covered every inch of the area behind the arena’s stage. There was a fairly good chance she wouldn’t be able to find her way back, but she wasn’t ready to admit that just yet.

The only thing she heard for the majority of her walk was the sound of her footsteps, until she heard Harry’s voice behind her.

“Liv,” he said her name, out of breath with one hand running through his hair, which had tousled while he was running. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Oh no, I’m –”

She was just about to lie and say that she was Brennan when he cut her off completely by leaning down and pressing their lips together. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes were wide open as he tried to move his lips against hers, though she was completely unresponsive.

He pulled away quickly, a confused look in his eyes as he ran his fingers through his hair again. “I’m sorry, did I – did I do something wrong?”

Olivia was still just staring at him, her eyes blinking quickly in her full body shock. Her lips felt totally and completely numb, and that overwhelming loss of feeling was the only thing that she could feel at that moment.

Harry was talking again, and Olivia absolutely could not hear him. His lips were moving and there were vibrations in his throat, but none of it traveled to Olivia’s ears because they were just completely full of that hollow echo she got when she was feeling overwhelmed.

The only thing that made sense at that moment was the stupid, idiotic feeling that Olivia had for Harry. Even when she was completely frozen and unsuspecting, he made her feel all these impossible feelings at once. It was the thing that made her absolutely terrified of him and the reason she made Brennan take her place, and it was the same thing that made it next to impossible for her to resist him.

Before Olivia could gather up any one of her logical senses, she was leaning forward, same as Harry, and pressing their lips together. When she did it, though, she ran her fingers through his hair, scratching her nails against his scalp, and held onto every bit of his curls that she could.

He sighed against her lips, leaning forward a bit so their bodies pressed together, and wrapped both his arms around her waist. Nearly every part of them was touching, but they were still separated by their far too thick clothes. All of the memories of the night Olivia had spent with Harry came flooding back to her memory, and it only made her want to kiss him more.

The microphone that was still in Harry’s ear played a bit of static before a voice came through, looking for Harry and telling him to come back on stage. Harry pulled away from Olivia with a groan, pressing their foreheads together before he took a step back.

“I’m sorry, Liv. I’ve gotta go.” He was biting his lip, his hand still wrapped around hers as he looked at her. “I’ll be back to get you soon. Just – uh – just don’t forget where we left off at.”

Olivia nodded her head once before Harry was headed back off in the direction that he came, and she was making her way back to find Brennan again.

At that point, she almost felt like she was more nervous to see Brennan than to see Harry, because she knew she’d have to tell her that she’d done another horrible, awful thing.


Brennan sat on the couch with her feet in the air and her head dangling off the edge, the mess of red hair touching the ground. She had her eyes closed, singing softly to a song stuck in her head.

" You call me up,
It's like a broken record
Saying that your heart hurts
That you never get over him getting over you,
And you end up crying
And I end up lying,
'Cause I'm just a sucker for anything that you do ."

Brennan was in her own little world, that she didn't hear the door opening.

"That was beautiful," the voice said, making Brennan jump a bit but kept her position on the couch.

"Dammit Zayn, you scared me. " she breathed, looking at him upside down. "Don't you have to go wow your fans?"

Zayn chuckled and sat on the floor in front of her face. "Maybe, but I forgot my jacket," he said nonchalantly.

Brennan looked at him with amusement, spotting his jacket on the chair behind him. "Shouldn't you grab it and go?"

He smiled and moved a red curl from her face. "Possibly, but I wanted to ask you something." Zayn let his fingers trace over the little white scar on her forehead.

"And what is that Mr. Malik?" she said, a small smile etched on her face.

He looked at her intently and sighed. "I was wondering after the show if you wanted to hang out?" he asked and she blushed, knowing this was a way of asking her out.

Brennan bit her lip, not knowing what to say. She hadn't ever been asked out before. Guys always wanted the outgoing, popular twin, not shy, nerdy Brennan. She looked at him and nodded slightly before hearing the door open.

Brennan looked up to see Olivia standing in the doorway in a daze.

Zayn looked up before standing and grabbing his jacket. "I gotta go. I'll see you later Bren," he said before going out the door with a small smile.

He passed Olivia and she just stood there. "Did he just call you Bren?" she asked and Brennan nodded before sitting on the couch the right way.

"Yeah, he did. So, what's with the dazed look? You didn't do something stupid, did you?" she asked and watched Olivia have a small worried look on her face.

Olivia just shrugged it off and sat beside Brennan. "Nope, I just went for a walk."

"Liar," Brennan said, looking at Olivia intently. She knew her sister probably did something stupid and she had a pretty good idea what it was.

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek and turned away from Brennan. "I ran into Harry," she said and Brennan sighed deeply.

"You didn't do anything stupid, did you?" she asked and Olivia turned around to look at her twin.

Olivia looked down and Brennan bit the inside of her lip. "You kissed him, didn't you?" Brennan said and Olivia didn't speak. "Liv, I told you that these boys just play you. They break your heart and I pick up the pieces. I'm trying to help you but if you end up breaking it on your own, I'm not going to help anymore. I love you but you're just letting history repeat itself again," she said, knowing it was harsh but Olivia needed to hear it.

Olivia looked up with tears threatening to fall. "I know but what if he's different, Bren?"

Brennan rolled her eyes. "You've said that before, Olivia and then your heartbroken soon after it. Those boys you fall in love with are all the same and every time you get with one, they wrap you around their finger!"

"You seem to be getting close to Zayn. Is he an asshole too? Or is it different because it's you?" Olivia retorted, leaving Brennan in shock.

"I've never fell in love with anyone and you've hurt yourself countless times. So, if you think you're going to bring me into this because I may or may not have feelings for someone, then I'll leave right now and let you deal with your own problems which is what I wanted to do in the first place. The only reason I didn't was because I want to be a good sister!" she yelled. Brennan never yelled and now she felt terrible. "Liv..... I'm sorry-"

"Don't be. You're right, I shouldn't ask you for help, if I don't take it. I know Zayn has nothing to do with it either. I guess I'm just trying to blame someone besides myself which is the only person who needs to be blamed," Olivia said, her voice trembling slightly, threatening to break down.

Brennan scooted over on the couch, closer to Olivia before embracing her. "I'll always be here for you Livvy. We're stuck with each other," she said, letting go of Olivia who smiled.

"Yeah, I remember being five and you asking if you could have a different twin," she said and Brennan laughed with a small smile.
"And she told me that we were sisters by chance."

Olivia sighed deeply and her smile grew. "And friends by choice."

Brennan took her sister's hand in hers. "Best friends."