As JD closed the door, the door to the hotel's staircases flung open. When he opened it, Andrew's shoes banged and rattled on the metal staircases quickly and heavily.

"Drew, wait!"

Andrew didn't stop, forcing JD to climb up as fast as possible to catch his brother.

Though he was athletic and had trained for most of his childhood, JD's heart still raced and begged for a halt, breath still unable to follow through as quickly as he wished.

Not looking away, Andrew flung the door of the rooftop and vanished. He reached the area close to the solid white railings where JD's luggage sat. He bent down and touched them with a finger, his blue eyes glowing and data processing into his mind.

"Drew!" JD yelled, breathing heavily right after entering the open-view rooftop.

"Your luggage was untouched."

"Huh?" JD sauntered towards Andrew, one hand on his waist as he caught his breath. "Oh, psychometry magic?"

With no reply, JD's breathing and the distant ruffles of wind on the trees beyond the hotel filled their senses. JD's heart pounded, not only at regaining his stable breathing but also at the seemingly darkening aura from Andrew.

As his brother stood, his back faced JD with a few meters between them. At that moment, fear etched into JD's soul as the invisible distance between them somewhat grew in size. He reached out a hand and took slow steps but then flinched and stopped.

"You want to take him on alone? You want to do this on your own again?"

JD opened his mouth, but no words came out as his lips trembled against the warm air.

When he did find his voice, it came out short. "D-Drew... I-"

"You!" Andrew yelled as his fists clenched so tight his knuckles hurt. "You have no idea!"

"What are you-"

"You have no idea." His voice and mouth shook with his hands, but venom poisoned his tone as his jaw clenched tight. "About anything."

"Then tell me." JD evened his voice, but as soon as Andrew sniffed, JD's mind went blank.

With Andrew's low sniffing and back shaking in suppressed cries and emotions filling the silence, JD fell deaf. He tried to reach out a hand, and his hands trembled, like his view of the world. As if it was crumbling.

"Answer me, then. You want to leave me out of this and take on the enemy alone?"

JD cleared his throat. "Drew, I'll be fine. Besides, what if Zedekiah is Aven? He would know who I am, and he wouldn't hurt me."

Andrew scoffed.

"Look, I know I'm not as powerful as you, but I'm not... weak." JD bit his lower lip, finding it hard to say things to Andrew he didn't mean.

He was weak. He knew that. He believed that. But right now, he had to prove he believed otherwise.

"I can handle this, okay?" His voice softened, but a vibration remained from JD's growing anxiety. He forced a smile. "I'll survive this just fine, okay, Drew?"

But then, when Andrew spoke again, JD stayed frozen on the spot with no sane thought coming to save him.

"You're doing it again." Andrew turned around, pain screaming from his wet eyes and shrill voice. "You think I'm a fool?"

Surprise showered over JD's expression, and then it transformed into guilt.

"It's just like back then!" Andrew yelled and clutched his chest. "You keep reassuring me that you will be fine! That nothing will happen to you! And then what happened? You died! You lie to my face with a smile but then come back to me with your corpse!"

"... I'm sorry, Drew." JD balled his fists. "I'm really sorry."

"You died in front of my eyes!" His vision blurred, his brother blurred, and so Andrew shut his eyes tight. "Do you have a single damn clue how that made me feel? No!"

Andrew forced his head down, tears raining down on his shoes. As if the world felt the same despair, dark clouds gathered and left the world gray. Thunder resounded in the distant skies, and droplets of Garnet's tears met Julisie.

"You don't understand anything! How hard it was, and how scary it was!" Both his hands clutched onto his shirt, an obscure and dark hint of something peeking through his pained gaze. "You don't understand how much you mean to me. How little the world is in my eyes compared to how I see you, how I was willing to destroy everything Garnet has ever made if it meant bringing you back!

"You don't know anything! You don't know how I couldn't go on a day without crying when I recovered my memories, wondering if you were even nearby or still alive in this new life, wondering if you'd even recognize me—my soul."

His voice toned down as he diverted his eyes to the floor where the tiles had grown soaked enough for him to see his glistening eyes.

"When we did meet, we didn't recognize each other." He laughed dryly. "But you don't know how relieved and happy I was then. All the suffering I had gone through since centuries ago was suddenly worth it."

A loving smile and gaze drowning in a different complex shot through JD. Then Andrew's eyes drooped as disdain and guilt replaced his expression.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"I shouldn't have listened to you." Rainwater and new tears trickled Andrew's face. "I shouldn't have let you face Eve alone. I... prioritized the people—our people—and lost the only person I really cared about."

Andrew looked back at JD, their hair and clothes bathing in Garnet's tears that grew aggressive by the second. Every step on small puddles splashed water on himself as he barely carried himself forward with how heavy his body felt from the wet clothes sticking and adding weight to his clothes.

"You can't do this to me again. You can't leave me like that again." He shook his head violently. "I won't let you."

When Andrew felt the murky world get heavier and heavier, recollections of his last ounce of consciousness overcame his mind. This was precisely how the world looked and how his body felt, minus the physical pain before he succumbed to nothingness.

Assuming he'd fall on the floor and splat on the puddles, Andrew closed his eyes. But someone caught him, and when he opened his eyes, his heart leaped at the sight of JD.

His fingers reached JD's jacket and gripped it as if it was his lifeline. JD stepped closer to support his posture, their shoes not even an inch away. He wiped Andrew's face, hands on his cheeks as they stared.

With heavy hearts and scarred souls, the right thing to say didn't make sense. Rather, it didn't make sense what the right thing was anymore. All that occupied JD's mind was to redeem himself, forget his façade for a moment, and relieve Andrew of the hurt he caused.

JD dropped half of the invisible glass that hid his real feelings away in a blink. Staring at him, a glimpse of something unusual and dark yet fascinating peered through JD's gaze.

"I love you, Drew." JD breathed, barely saying it, but their intimate distance didn't fail to deliver the message. "I love you so much it hurts to see you like this, to see you hurt because of my miscalculations—because of me."

While what JD said was true, he couldn't hide the fact that he liked it, too. Andrew's vulnerable and unfiltered feelings for no one but JD fed something murky dwelling inside him.

"Please. Please just trust me one more time." JD took hold of one of Andrew's hands, squeezing it. "I won't leave you. I promise. Please, Drew."

"You're not fair." Andrew's eyes watered once more. "You're unfair, brother."

Their eyes wore the same hue and the same fascination towards one another's deep-rooted truths in their minds. And the more they stared, the more the facades over it all disappeared. Both their minds submerged in a pool of pitch black with nothing but their twin brother occupying the space—occupying all their reason.

"But what if he's Eve, brother?" Andrew leaned his face over to JD's hold. "What if it's not Aven but Eve or someone else we don't know?"

JD's forehead creased, and his eyes shot away from Andrew's gaze. Andrew clutched onto JD's collar, a surge of hatred and vengeance widening JD's eyes.

"What if it's the one who killed us, huh?" Andrew snarled.

"I know." JD gritted his teeth and shot Andrew a slight frown. "Still, we can't just...."

"We can't what? Kill him?" Andrew's voice screeched lowly. "How will we avenge our deaths, then? How will I avenge your death in their hands, then?"

Vengeance drove in JD's head, and for a moment, the forgotten feeling reached out to resurface. But like always, JD shoved it back to the pits of his soul.

"What if you find out he's the one who killed me? Wouldn't you be angry and displeased?"

"...I would."

JD tried. He was still trying. The words Andrew threw pulled the sense of vengeance buried into the back of his soul, but his logical side was strong enough to continue repelling the tempting idea of revenge.

JD closed his eyes. "But... I don't want to think he's the one who did it right away. Because what if he's not?"

"And what if he is?"

"...I thought you only wanted to find out who or what killed us."

"Of course." Andrew squinted. "For retribution."

"Then, won't we be any different?"

"Why? Do you not wish to avenge your death?" Andrew tilted his head, the lightning that passed by giving his side profile a pale and chilling tone. "My death?"

JD took a deep breath. "We're not sure Zedekiah was the one who ended us."

Silence befell them, and the fire in Andrew's eyes slowly died down along with his head on even level with JD.

"Drew," JD held his face again with both hands, forcing him to raise his head. "Look at me."

After a brief staring contest, Andrew blinked, tears obscuring his vision once more.

"I just want to be at peace." He whispered.

"I know." JD tightened his hold. "I know."

Andrew shook his head in response. JD's mind had gone cluttered with all the overwhelming feelings Andrew kept making him feel. But the one that won over everything else was to reassure himself and his brother.

"Drew, I'm right here. I'm right here with you." JD pressed his forehead on Andrew's. "I'm here. I'm not going to die on you again."

Andrew kept crying, and JD's hold and mouth started to shake from the sight and the coldness of the rain.

"Drew." His low voice quivered as their noises touched. "Please. Please. Please."

Make it stop.

It was all that filled JD's mind as his own vision blurred.

"I..." Andrew closed his eyes. "... can't live a life without you, brother."

"I'm sorry for being weak." JD's voice cracked as his true beliefs of how he viewed himself finally dashed out of his system. "I'm sorry I was too weak to protect myself."

"I was too slow." Andrew shook his head lightly, his own natural feelings shining through and rendering all his words against JD earlier useless. "I failed to protect you."

"Drew, no-"

"If I made it in time, would you have died? Would I have protected you?"

"Drew, it's done. It's over. I'm right here."

"The blame belongs to me, but I directed it to the world when I lost you."

"I'm right here, Drew, please."

"It's all because I was too late—because I didn't make it in time."

"Please don't blame yourself." JD took Andrew's trembling hands and intertwined their fingers. "Please don't... do anything rash and impulsive. I-I don't want to lose you, too."

Andrew leaned towards JD slightly, the sides of their noses gracing against one another, then he opened his eyes.

"...Say it again," Andrew said in a low voice, almost pleading as if asking JD to seal this messy argument with the words he wanted to hear.

"Which one?" JD whispered with a loving tone, eyes closing partially.

At that moment, light shone upon them from the departing storm. Andrew calmed down, and so did Garnet. JD could laugh and make fun of Garnet for empathizing and loving his brother so much that he'd move the world according to how Andrew felt. And by the end of it, Andrew would still prefer JD even over the god of creation himself. The thought of rubbing that off on Garnet hindered JD's thoughts briefly.

"...The first one."

JD raked his thoughts of all he had said earlier. He said a handful of things, and the first one most likely wasn't what Andrew was referring to. As he came to a conclusion, he smiled as he kissed Andrew's nose, earning a light blush from the latter.

He raised his head further and stuck his lips on Andrew's forehead. When he parted, his lips still graced Andrew's skin.

"...I love you."

Andrew nodded lightly and buried his face in JD's neck, his arms wrapping around his brother comfortably.

"Okay." He pulled JD closer to him if that was still possible. "I won't do anything reckless. Just... don't, too."

JD hugged back and whispered in Andrew's ear, "I won't."

"You swear?"

JD smiled uncontrollably. "...I vow it."

"That's too extreme...."

"I vow to never die on you ever again."

And he meant it. All previous thoughts of possibly sacrificing himself yet again vanished. If it was going to hurt Andrew, JD found it was not an option.

"...Okay. I believe you, brother."

One of JD's hands dipped inside Andrew's wet and messy hair while the other wrapped around him securely. Relief washed over him at the newfound motivation to stay alive for his other half's sake and at the rekindled intimacy everyone, but Garnet always seemed to disapprove of.

"Thank you, Drew."