Bring on the Wonder Ch. 03

Davis swung his head back to pierce Nate with a stony gaze. "You mean to tell me that you and your sister have been carrying on like a couple in that house? This whole time? Is that why you've never thought of moving out? Is that it?"

Lizzie flinched as her father's voice rose. "No. It hasn't been that long. We didn't... get together until later."

"Jesus Christ." He dropped his head to his hands. "This is not happening."

"Dad, please." Nate stopped and cleared his throat. It was difficult to breathe all of a sudden. "We didn't–"

"Don't you say anything." Davis jerked away from the table and stood up. "Don't you defend yourself in this."

Nate blinked, taken aback. Whatever he might have been expecting, it hadn't been this. "I'm not defending myself. I haven't done anything wrong."

"Nothing wrong? Are you kidding me?" Davis gestured between them. "Taking advantage of your little sister like this doesn't require a defense?"

Lizzie spoke up again. "Dad, it wasn't like that. He didn't take advantage of me. I wanted to be with him the same way he did with me."

"Don't say that." Davis shook his head. "You can't mean it."

"I do, actually." Lizzie stared hard at him when he looked her way. "I'm not a child and I'm not stupid enough to allow someone to take advantage of me."

Davis frowned. "I never said you were stupid."

"No, but you think I'm so naive or... or insecure that I would fall for it." Lizzie lifted her chin. "I'm not stupid or naive, and I'm definitely not insecure. If I was, we wouldn't be here, telling you the truth about us."

"The truth?" This from their mother, who until now had remained mostly silent. She looked up, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "The truth is you two have been carrying on for how long like this?"

"Nine months." Nate looked down. "Almost ten."

Clara stared at him and then shook her head. "Ten months. Ten months and you tell us now? And only because you're moving away."

Lizzie looked at her mother and when she spoke, there was a catch in her voice. "We thought it might be easier this way."

"Easier? To lose both my children in one fell swoop?" Clara covered her mouth with her hand. Nate felt his heart twist when he saw how her fingers trembled. "I don't understand. Why did this happen?" She looked back and forth between her children. "Did we do something wrong?"

"Mom, this isn't your fault." Nate reached for his mother's free hand and she let him take it. "It's no one's fault. There's no one to blame. We fell in love, that's all."

"In love?" Davis let out a dry laugh and turned away from the table. "You're not in love. You're two confused kids who have been living together for over a year and you were... I don't know, bored or something. You got curious and you think it's love." He turned back to face them, pointing a finger at Nate. "You're not moving to Atlanta, Nate. I won't allow it."

Nate stared at his father, his heart sinking with each passing moment. "I'm well past the age when you had any say in my decisions, Dad."

"I do have a say and I say you're not going to Atlanta where you can continue to ruin your sister's life!"

"He's not ruining my life!" Lizzie shot to her feet, the chair clattering on its side behind her. "Nate completes my life, Dad. I can't live without him."

Davis turned pained eyes on her. "You don't know what you're saying."

"Yes, I do." Lizzie straightened and drew her shoulders back. "We decided to come here today and tell you both the truth about our relationship. We knew you'd be upset but we didn't expect insults about our maturity and intelligence."

"Lizzie–"

"No. Let me finish." Lizzie looked down for a second and drew in a breath before proceeding. "First and foremost, you don't have any say in the decisions we make about our own lives. We told you we were moving because that's what you do, you tell your family about the big decisions, but you don't ask permission." She glanced back and forth between her mother and father before speaking again, this time with a catch in her voice. "Nate did not take advantage of me. This was something mutual that we both walked into with open eyes."

She turned, reaching for Nate and he stood up with her, clasping her trembling hand in his. They shared a brief look and faced their parents together. "We are adults, Dad. We're also in love. You don't have to like it but you will have to accept it if you ever want to be a part of our lives from here on out because Nate and I, we're in this for life."

No one spoke. Silence filled the kitchen for a long minute, then another. Clara was stirred to action when the single pot on the stove boiled over. She lifted the pot, turned off the element and faced the rest of the family. Nate saw her glance at Lizzie before focusing her gaze on Davis. Nate looked at his father and was shocked to see how pale the older man looked.

"I think..." Clara cleared her throat. "I think we need some time. I don't know what to think of all this." She finally looked at Nate and gave him a weak smile that made him feel like the biggest jerk in the world. "You caught us a little off guard."

Nate shifted on his feet. "There was no easy way to talk about this."

Davis made a noise and turned away, arms crossed over his chest. Clara went to his side and touched his shoulder. Without looking at their children, she sniffed once before speaking again. "I think it'd be best if you two just went on home for now."

"Mom..." Lizzie's voice was plaintive but when she said nothing else, Nate knew it would be best if they left.

"We'll call before we move." Nate put an arm around Lizzie's shoulders to guide her out of the kitchen. "Or you can call us if you want to talk."

Neither Davis or Clara responded. Nate and Lizzie stopped in the kitchen doorway and faced their parents once more.

"I love you, Mom, Dad."

Lizzie echoed Nate's words and they walked away, no comforting response from either parent.

In the car, Nate started the engine with shaking hands. He managed to back down the driveway and down the block. He didn't realize how far he'd gone until the first sign for the interstate came into view.

Then he started to shake and had to pull over to avoid running into something. As soon as saw the restaurant and the relatively empty lot, he pulled off the road and parked. Lizzie was already reaching for him when he turned to her and for a long time, they clung to each other.

"Oh God, Lizzie. I've never... I didn't think they'd..." Nate shook his head and buried his nose in her hair.

"I know. I didn't think Dad would react like that. Or Mom." Lizzie shook her head.

"I didn't know what to expect." Nate sighed and pulled away so he could look into Lizzie's face. He brushed her hair back from her face, where he'd messed it up because of their embrace. "I didn't expect that."

They stared at each other for a second and then Lizzie started to laugh. Nate blinked, surprised and then he started to laugh as well. It wasn't the kind of laugh you shared over a joke. This was a laugh that seemed to ease some of the nervous tension and energy they'd been carting around all day. The sudden loss of all that energy left them feeling giddy, if not exactly relieved.

Their laughter died and they leaned on one another for a few minutes. Nate pressed kisses to Lizzie's face and hair while she rubbed a hand up and down his arm.

Nate was the one to break the silence. "I guess we should get home."

"Yeah. You're probably right."

They still held on to each other. After another lengthy period, they at last separated, shared a kiss and faced forward. Nate turned the key in the ignition and took a deep breath before putting the car in gear. Once they rolled back into traffic, Nate reached for Lizzie's hand and they laced their fingers together.

"Do you think they'll come around?" Lizzie asked after a few miles.

"I don't know. I hope so." Nate squeezed her fingers. "You did."

Lizzie's head swiveled around and she stared at him. "What are you talking about?"

With a smile, Nate brought her fingers to his lips. "When you moved back home. You just needed to come around."

Lizzie let out a soft laugh. "Did you know that I would?"

"I hoped and prayed that you would." Nate's hand tightened around hers. "I was so scared I'd never see you again."

"Oh, Nate." Now it was Lizzie's turn to kiss his hand. "I can't imagine what it would be like to not have you in my life. I don't even want to imagine it."

"Well, lucky for you, we're stuck with each other."

Lizzie smiled. "Not stuck. Blessed."

"You're right. You're always right."

"Not always." Lizzie shook her head. "I was wrong to run away." Her face colored. "I was wrong to sleep with Lance."

"Sweetie, it doesn't matter now." He jiggled her hand in his until she looked at him again, her cheeks still pink with remembered shame. "What happened before you came home doesn't matter. We were both surprised by what happened between us and neither of us knew how to deal with it."

"That's true. It was a surprise." A beat of silence passed. "I guess I can understand Dad's reaction then. It's not like I handled it well at first."

Nate chuckled. "Neither did I. But you came home, Lizzie. That's all that matters now. That and the fact that we'll always be together."

She nodded in agreement and kissed his hand again. "You're right again, my love." She smiled. "God, I wish you could have seen your face when I came home."

Nate chuckled. "Was it something like this?" He pasted an exaggerated expression of shock on his face and Lizzie laughed.

"Close. Were you really so shocked to see me home?"

"Like I said, I'd hoped and prayed that I'd see you again but wishing for something and having it actually happen are two different things."

"I suppose so. Once you got over your surprise you seemed better."

"Did I? I think I was still in shock for a couple weeks."

Lizzie grinned and squeezed his fingers. "I couldn't tell."

Nate turned to look at her and gave her an identical grin in response. "No?"

"I was so lost in love with you that you could have grown a second head and I might not have noticed."

Nate couldn't speak for the sudden emotion clogging his throat. He pressed Lizzie's fingers and she returned the gesture. They didn't speak again for the rest of the drive home, words no longer required for now.

****

EIGHT MONTHS AGO

Nate came home from work at his usual time and Lizzie spent the remaining ten minutes before that pacing through the main floor of the house. When she'd arrived back at the house, she'd had a momentary panic that her key wouldn't work but Nate hadn't changed the locks. She let herself in, dropped her suitcases in her old room and commenced with the pacing.

When she heard the garage door opening, she hurried to the kitchen and waited for Nate to walk in. He did, carrying his briefcase in one hand and a newspaper in the other. He didn't notice her at first, his gaze on the newspaper. He turned, locked the door and tossed his keys on the counter before looking up.

"Lizzie."

The way he said her name, with no inflection in it, not even surprise, though his face showed a crazy mixture of emotion, made her heart twist.

"Hello Nate."

They stood there, looking at one another. Lizzie twisted her fingers together and glanced down. As their gaze broke, Nate walked to the kitchen table and set his briefcase and newspaper on its surface.

"Where have you been?"

"Lance's."

He winced at the sound of the man's name. "Does he know you're here now?"

Lizzie shook her head. "He knows I'm out but he doesn't know I came here."

Nate pinned her with a hard look. "Does he know why you left in the first place?"

"No." Lizzie could hardly speak for the tension in her body. "He doesn't know anything except that I needed a place to stay."

"And now?"

"Now what?" Lizzie could understand why he was so upset with her but she didn't know what to say to turn this around. She could throw herself at his feet and beg for forgiveness or she could speak to him like an adult until he understood.

Nate frowned. "Now you want to move back in? Like nothing happened?"

"No, Nate. I'm not..." Lizzie stopped and drew in a deep breath before continuing. "I would like to move back in, if you'll let me, but I'm not pretending that nothing happened."

Nate's face relaxed a fraction as she spoke. Lizzie took it as a good sign and took a few steps closer. He didn't step away when she moved close enough to touch. But she didn't touch him.

"Nate, I'm sorry I ran away without talking to you." She cleared her throat. "It was stupid but what happened was so... unexpected that I didn't know what to do."

"I was shocked by what happened too, Lizzie, but I didn't want to run away."

"I know. I'm so sorry." Lizzie did reach for him then, putting her hand on his arm. "I never meant to hurt you."

"I thought we were closer than that."

Lizzie's eyes widened and she bit her lip. Nate flushed, as if he'd just heard his words.

"I didn't mean... That's not what I meant. What I mean is, we were friends. Before. You and I have always been able to talk."

"I agree. That's why I'm here now. We need to talk."

Nate shook his head. "We needed to talk a month ago."

Lizzie blinked and let her hand fall from his arm. "Are you saying you don't want to talk now?"

Nate looked at her. Lizzie met his gaze, feeling the heat rise higher up her neck to her face with each passing second. She gasped and turned to walk away, to put some distance between them. Nate grabbed her wrist and spun her around. They stepped together then, with Nate backing Lizzie up until she felt the wall at her back.

"I don't want you to talk." Nate leaned so close, Lizzie tipped her chin up, expecting his kiss. His breath washed over her lips and he tilted his head to one side. "I want you to listen." He moved his head again and his next exhalation tickled her ear. She shuddered. "I love you, Lizzie. I don't know when or how it happened but I fell in love with you. Not my sister, but the woman in my arms."

Lizzie blinked, tears stinging her eyes. She opened her mouth but no words came out.

Nate kissed her ear before speaking again. "When you left, it felt like you'd walked off with my heart. I could barely function without you. I was out of my mind with worry. But I didn't stop loving you, or wanting you."

"Nate..."

He drew back far enough to meet her gaze. "Lizzie, please don't leave me again. If you do, you might as well kill me before you go because it'll have the same effect."

Lizzie looked into his eyes, his beautiful brown eyes, and nodded. "I'll never leave. As long as you want me here, I'm yours, Nate."

He squeezed his eyes shut and rested his forehead against hers. His next breath was weak and shaky and Lizzie put her hands on his shoulders, desperate to touch him.

"Do you mean that, Lizzie? Really?"

"Yes."

He shook his head and Lizzie reached up to cup his face in her hands.

"Nate, open your eyes."

He didn't.

"Look at me."

After another second, he did as she asked and her heart squeezed at the tears she saw glistening in his eyes.

"Nate, I fell in love with you, too. I knew it that night and that scared me more than anything." She blinked back tears of her own, forging on ahead to get the words out before emotion overcame her. "I've never been in love before, Nate. Falling in love with you felt... right. So right. As if I'd been waiting all this time to feel that thing and I was meant to feel it with you."

She paused, drawing on her inner reserves of strength before she went on. "But you are my brother. I'm your sister."

"Half-sister," he corrected in a weak voice.

Lizzie smiled and the tears slipped out of the corners of her eyes. "Nate. We can't have a relationship."

His grip on her arms tightened and she winced. He kissed her then, just the quick pressure of his lips on hers. "We can't not have a relationship." He kissed her again, lingering a few seconds longer this time. "I can't not be with you, Lizzie."

"Nate..."

He kissed her to silence whatever protest she'd been about to voice. She couldn't even say for certain what it was she'd been about to say. The heat and softness of Nate's lips on hers erased every thought but one.

"I love you, Nate." The words were muffled by the way his mouth covered hers but he heard her and understood.

Their kiss lasted another several minutes, long, lovely minutes of quick breaths and tight grasps. At last, Nate pulled away and pressed his cheek to Lizzie's. She kept her eyes closed and smiled, enjoying the feel of his body heat, letting it warm her.

"We need to talk."

Lizzie's eyes popped open and let her head fall back with a dull thud against the wall. "Talk? About what?"

Nate gave her a gentle smile and touched her chin. He raised his fingers to stroke the curve of her cheekbone. He traced the outline of her brow and brought his finger down the other side of her face, stopping in the middle of her bottom lip. "Talk about all the ways this can't work."

Her heart gave a horrid thump against her ribs. She swallowed and looked down at his hand. She blinked a few times, desperate to keep tears at bay. Nate hooked his finger under her chin and lifted her face back to his.

"And all the ways we're going to make this work."

Lizzie's bottom lip started to tremble and Nate pulled her into the circle of his arms. He held her close as the tears spilled over and she wrapped weak arms around his middle.

After a time, he moved with her into the living room and they sat on the couch. Nate kept his arms around her and she settled against his chest with a shaky sigh. He stroked his hands up and down her sides and back, soothing her, and eventually her tears subsided and her breathing evened out.

She rested her head on his arm, meeting his warm gaze. "So what did you want to talk about?"

Nate smiled. "Where to even begin?"

They fell silent. Lizzie shifted beside him and spoke.

"I didn't know, when I moved in here, that we... that I would..."

Nate nodded. "I didn't either. When you started spending time with Lance though, it almost drove me out of my mind."

Lizzie glanced up in time to see him shake his head.

"I still can't believe how badly I lost it."

"Me either," she murmured, remembering their fight that night. The night before she'd come back early from her date and–

"I don't regret it though, since it seemed to have been the turning point."

"I agree." Lizzie squirmed beside him as the memories heated her blood. "I'm sorry for running away."

Nate squeezed his arms around her. "I know. Not knowing where you'd gone was awful."

Lizzie shut her eyes, wanting to take back the last month of their lives. She should have stayed, talked to him after they'd broken that familial law. They could have figured things out on that very night.

She shook her head. It wouldn't have happened that way. There was no chance she'd have been in a calm enough state of mind to handle that kind of conversation.

"I promise I'll never take off like that again, Nate. I'm so sorry for worrying you so much."

When Nate didn't speak, Lizzie sat up beside him to look into his eyes. She touched his face. "Nate, I'm sorry."

His dark eyes scanned her face and he nodded once. "I know you are and I know you won't do it again. You know now how it would hurt me."

"I never wanted to hurt you." She hung her head, her hand falling from his face. "I still don't. Nate, how can we do this? How can this ever work?" Hope was dimming with every passing word.

"Hey, Lizzie, sweetie. Don't cry, please. Look at me."

She lifted her face and blinked tears from her eyes. They slid over her cheeks. "Be honest, Nate. Do you really see us having any kind of real relationship? Or having any chance at a normal life together?"