Lost and Crowned

Chapter 16

Aella's POV:

A few days earlier

He stood in the doorway, fidgeting nervously, his eyes darting around the room as if searching for an escape route.

"Um, hey," he stammered, his voice barely above a whisper. "I, uh, didn't mean to startle you or anything. I just... I wanted to say hi."

Arlo's words hung in the air, awkward and uncertain, like a fragile thread threatening to snap at any moment. I regarded him with a cool detachment, my gaze betraying none of the tumultuous emotions swirling within me.

"Hi," I replied, my tone neutral.

Arlo took a hesitant step forward, his hands wringing together in a nervous gesture. "So, um, how's it going?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at his awkward attempts at conversation, instead offering a curt nod in response. "Fine," I replied, my voice clipped.

Arlo's eyes widened with a mixture of relief and apprehension, as if he couldn't quite believe he was having this conversation with me. "That's, uh, good," he said, his words rushed and stumbling over each other. "I mean, it's good that you're... fine."

He fell into an uneasy silence, the tension in the room thickening with each passing moment. I could feel the weight of his nervous energy pressing down on me, suffocating in its intensity.

"What do you want?" I asked, my voice betraying none of the turmoil raging within me.

He took a step forward, his smile unwavering despite my coldness. "I just want to get to know you," he said, his tone gentle and earnest. "I've spent so long wondering about the sister I never knew I had."

I felt a pang of guilt at his words, a reminder of the pain our separation had caused him. But I couldn't allow myself to let down my guard, not when the stakes were so high, not when my very nature demanded that I protect myself at all costs.

"So, um," He tried to make conversation again, "did you know that, uh, butterflies taste with their feet?" Arlo blurted out suddenly, his words tumbling out in a desperate attempt to fill the silence.

I blinked in surprise at the random fact, a hint of amusement flickering in the depths of my icy exterior. Despite myself, I found the absurdity of his ramblings oddly endearing.

"No, I didn't know that," I replied, a ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of my lips.

Arlo's face lit up with a mixture of relief and excitement, as if my acknowledgment of his trivia had lifted a weight off his shoulders. "Yeah, it's pretty cool, right?" he said, a nervous laugh bubbling up from within him.

As Arlo continued to ramble on, his words tumbling out in a chaotic jumble, I couldn't help but feel a flicker of warmth in the cold darkness of my heart. Despite his nervous energy and awkward demeanor, there was something undeniably endearing about him, something that made me want to let him in, if only for a moment.

==========-_-============

I hear the sound of footsteps long before I see him slam open the door of my bedroom. I sigh. This has been the 4th time this day that he has done this.  I turned slowly, ready to confront whatever intrusion had dared to disrupt my solitude.

"Hi! Hi! Hi! It's been soooo long since I've seen you. 20 mins too long! And I just had this instinct to come and maybe talk with you, you know? I never knew I had a sister, let alone a twin! The amount of shock I went through when I saw you was unreal. Absolutely unreal. Can you imagine it? A poor innocent boy like me, getting to know he had a sister?! Wow. Sureal. Also, what should I call you? I don't want to call you by your name. Thats bad. Wait I don't mean that your name's bad. I mean that me calling you by your name is bad. Like which brother calls their sister by their name? Oh my goddd" He squealed. This humongous pile of flesh just squealed. "I can't believe I have someone that I can call a sister! A sister! I am a brother to a sister!-" Arlo rambled on and on about how he still cant believe that he had a sister. This was the 4th time he was in my room and still found new topics to speak about each and every time.