Seeing Double

When Olivia and Brennan made the deal to switch places, Olivia was under the assumption that they did it so Olivia could have as little contact with the boys as possible, but apparently Brennan had other ideas. Somehow they had managed to switch back just as the show was ending, and when Zayn got off the stage, he walked towards Olivia immediately with a smile on his face.

“Hey, Bren,” Zayn said, smiling as he wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. “I’ve just gotta change real fast and then we can go.”

Olivia’s eyebrows furrowed and she pressed her lips together. “Go where?”

Zayn chuckled, shaking his head. “Hang out, remember?” He laughed again as he curled up his lip. “Don’t tell me you forget.”

Apparently Brennan had forgotten, because she definitely didn’t tell Olivia about it. “Oh, right. I just meant where exactly are we going?”

Zayn shrugged his shoulders as he began walking down the hallway. “That’s a surprise,” he said, smiling back at her. “Now you wait here.”

As soon as Zayn turned the corner, Olivia went into a panic. She had to find Brennan and she had to do it fast, because this was supposed to be Brennan’s date, not hers, and there was no way she was going to suffer through it. Dates were bad enough when you didn’t have to pretend to be someone else.

“Hey, Bren,” Harry’s voice called behind her, making Olivia spin around. “Have you seen your sister? I needed to ask her something.”

Well, shit. Nothing was going quite right for Olivia, because she’d have to find some way to quickly send Harry off to find Brennan disguised Olivia while still getting Brennan to switch back with her to go on her date. The outcome didn’t look good.

“Oh, Harry, hey.” Olivia tucked her hair behind her ear, her lips trembling nervously as she looked at him. “I haven’t seen for a bit. Maybe she’s in the dressing room?”

Harry shook his head as he pressed his lips together. “No, I checked there and didn’t see her.” He looked back and forth for a second before looking back at Olivia. “Bren, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, sure, anything.”

“Liv’s not seeing anyone, is she? It’s just that she seems distant sometimes – like she’s got somewhere better to be. I don’t know. She’s just so different from the first night I met her.” Harry paused, shaking his head as he laughed. “God, it was like magic with her the first time we met, and now I can barely get a peep out of her.”

Olivia shook her head quickly, not even considering that the boyfriend option would be a good way to get Harry out of her hair. “No, Harry, it’s nothing like that all.” She paused and licked her lips, her eyes floating to the ceiling before they landed back down at Harry. “Olivia’s just – she just has a hard time trusting people. It’s nothing you did, Harry, really. She likes you, but she – you scare her, I think.”

“Scare her? What do you mean?”

“Harry, you aren’t trying to steal Brennan from me, are you?” Zayn called from behind Olivia, a smile on his face as he walked towards the two of them. When he reached them, he put his arm casually around Olivia’s shoulder while he looked at Harry. “You can finish your chat later. We’ve got plans.”

Harry laughed, but Olivia knew that wasn’t a genuine one. Harry was probably just as anxious to finish the conversation as Olivia was, and she hoped that she’d be able to be the one to do it instead of Brennan.

The truth was that Olivia would have much rather stayed with Harry and pretended to be Brennan while he confessed all his secrets, but Zayn had other plans, and apparently they involved a movie.

Somehow he’d managed to rent out an entire theater so they could have a private showing of Peabody and Sherman, a kid’s movie which Olivia had been delighted to see.

She was more than nervous about the fact that she’d be alone with Zayn in a romantic, dark space, and the fact that he thought she was her sister. It hadn’t crossed Olivia’s mind until then that maybe Brennan would be angry if Zayn kissed her. Olivia had agreed to share Harry, but there had never been an agreement the other way. She hoped that it would just be an unspoken part of the treaty though, because the last thing she wanted was to have Brennan mad at her.

It was halfway through the movie before either of them spoke again, though they could have done it easily in the empty theater.

“Do you want anymore popcorn?” Zayn asked as he popped a few more pieces into his mouth. “I can go get a refill real fast.”

Shaking her head, Olivia flashed him a quick smile. “No, that’s alright. I’m full, thanks.”

Zayn smiled again and nodded. “No problem.”

There was another long pause while the dog character did a bit of running on screen before Zayn turned back to Olivia again. “Did I tell you how beautiful you look?”

Olivia blushed and pulled her hair out from behind her ear as she kept looking at the screen. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Well, you do,” Zayn said simply, nodding his head once. “You always do.”

Olivia was blushing again, while her blood ran hot. This was supposed to be Brennan’s perfect date, not hers, and she was just ruining yet another thing for her sister by being a little bit irrational.

It was so much easier for Olivia to be out with Zayn than it was with Harry, because with Zayn there were no feelings involved. Sure, his compliments made her blush, but what girl didn’t like to hear that she was beautiful? With Harry, every single time he smiled at her, it was like her heart was doubling over.

There was something so special about Harry, and it was getting harder and harder for Olivia to pretend that there wasn’t.


Brennan sat on the bus, noticing the quiet that took place. She wished that Zayn was there to talk to. It then hit her that she gave up her date with Zayn for Olivia. It always seemed to work out that way. Olivia always would get what she wanted and Brennan would get what was left. She didn't know why she let it happen but Brennan felt that she needed to do whatever it took to make Olivia happy.

"I've been looking for you," Harry said walking on the bus.

Brennan put on her fake smile and scooted over for Harry to take a seat next to her on the couch. "Sorry, I felt tired so, I came on the bus."

Harry sighed and folded his hands on his lap. "I thought that maybe you were mad at me."

"Why would I be mad?" she asked, turning to him, not really knowing what to say.

Harry sat there for a moment before sighing deeply. "Because I kissed you and left because I was told to."

"Harry, it's your job. You can't help that you're doing what you dreamed of doing," she said with a softening gaze. She hadn't expected Harry to be so vulnerable especially towards a girl. It's not how she expected the guys that Olivia had been with to act and Harry genuinely meant it.

Harry let out a deep sigh before a small smile crept up on his face. He grabbed Brennan's hand, rubbing small circles on the back of it. "I don't know what I would've done if you hated me."

Brennan sighed deeply but smiled back at him. "It would take a lot for me to get mad at you."

He smiled and scooted closer to her, their bodies now touching. He then sat their intertwined hands on her leg. "Well, the same goes for you. I don't think anything you could do anything to make me mad at you."

Brennan didn't know why but she was second guessing her view on Harry but then again she didn't know how the horrible guys that Olivia dated usually acted.

Brennan and Harry stayed in that position for about fifteen minutes of comfortable silence which Brennan was grateful to have for once on this trip. It was interrupted though by Niall, Louis, and Liam coming on the bus.

"Oh, Haz, get a room!" Louis yelled jokingly before going to his own bunk.

Brennan blushed slightly. She wasn't used to that kind of playful banter but she kind of grown fond of it.

"You're just mad that your girlfriend is currently in London and mine is here," Harry shot back, not thinking of his words.

Brennan looked at him carefully. She didn't think that him and Olivia were officially a thing at all. "Girlfriend?"

Harry blushed slightly as the realization hit him. "Well, Olivia I've been thinking-" he said being cut off by the bus door opening to reveal Olivia and Zayn.

Brennan's heart fluttered a bit at the sight of Zayn but stayed cool, remembering that she was pretending to be her sister. "Did you have a nice time?" she asked her sister, trying to be polite. In all honesty, she wanted to be the one close to Zayn after god knows what happened or where they went.

"It was great," Olivia said with a small smile, giving Brennan a look saying they needed to talk. "And now I need to change," she said before walking to the back and Brennan got up to follow.

When they got to the back lounge, Brennan let out a loud sigh of frustration. "Liv, I don't know how long I can do this."

"I know and it's not fair to you but I don't know what to do," Olivia said quietly before going to her bag that was sat on the small couch.

Brennan just let out another sigh before sitting on the couch while Olivia changed into her own clothes for once. "So what did you do with Zayn?"

Olivia paused for a moment before shrugging it off. "We went to a movie."

Brennan bit her lip while Olivia was turned around. She always thought that movie dates were romantic. She liked the idea of just being close to someone inside a place that didn't require words. Brennan felt in a way that you got to know a lot more about a person through silence rather than words. She looked up at her sister as she turned around and smiled lightly before grabbing a pair of her own knit shorts that were littered with Batman symbols and a Beatles shirt. "In case it comes up, you and Harry talked about how you guys couldn't be mad at each other. I really don't care at the moment how you perceive it."

Olivia raised an eyebrow at her twin before Brennan ignored it, wanting to go to bed and sleep the headache of life away. She climbed into her bunk and pulled out her iPod, shuffling through the songs until she found an All American Rejects song before slipping one ear bud in her ear. Brennan almost drifted off before feeling her bed shift. She looked up to see Zayn sitting on the edge, peering in.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" he asked and her breath hitched slightly. It seemed to happen often when he was around.

"No, just listening to music," she said scooting over, allowing him to lay beside her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking at her with a soft look.

Brennan looked at him and sighed. "I'm just tired, I guess."

Zayn nodded and leaned a bit closer. "Get some sleep love," he said before pressing his lips softly to hers. It was dark but she swear she saw a light shade of pink on his cheeks. He got up and moved out of the bunk and Brennan still felt the compassion on her lips. She then rolled over but couldn't sleep. She was tired but not the kind of tired to go to bed. In all reality, she was tired of being the problem solver.