Summary: MC (Charlotte) receives a visit from her twin, Kaitlyn, who orchestrates a movie marathon night at the cabin.
Ana sat on the wooden bench in Cole’s back garden, reading a book in the late afternoon sun. She glanced up, her eyes shielded by her dark sunglasses and watched as Cole worked in his garden. He paused, wiping the sweat from the summer heat off of his brow. Ana bit her lip as he pulled off his shirt, hard muscles rippling in the warm, honeyed light. She felt the heat within her grow as she watched Cole, completely oblivious to her gaze.
“How much more do you have?” she asked. Cole looked up, smiling at her.
“I can be done if you want,” he said, pulling off his gloves and dropping them at the edge of the flower bed.
“No, no, that’s not what I meant,” Ana said quickly. However, Cole ignored her as he walked over and sat beside her on the bench.
“It’s okay, I see something I’d rather tend to than my garden,” he said.
Ana immediately burst out laughing.
“Oh my god, you can’t be serious,” she said between giggles. “That was so cheesy!”
Cole grinned and leaned over, capturing her lips in a kiss.
“Admit it though,” he said. “You kind of liked it.”
Charlotte was about to continue the scene when she heard the distant blaring of a car horn. It sounded like it was getting closer, like someone was lying on the horn as they drove up the cabin’s long dirt drive. She grinned; only one person she knew would announce herself like that.
Charlotte hit save, closed her laptop, and hurried out to the front porch in time to see her sister park in front of the cabin.
“Twin!” Kaitlyn shouted when she hopped out of the car, finally releasing the horn. Her bright purple hair flashed in the sun. “Are you glad to see me?!”
“I’m glad I don’t have neighbors,” Charlotte called back as she headed down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, Kaitlyn wrapped her in a tight hug and Charlotte grinned as she returned her sister’s embrace. No one ever made her feel more like herself than Kaitlyn did.
“That reminds me, I brought a bunch of movies with me so we could have a movie night,” Kaitlyn said. “The Strangers, Wrong Turn, Cabin in the Woods …”
“You know that once you leave, I’ll still be here alone in the woods with only my nightmares to keep me company, right?” Charlotte said as she opened the trunk of her sister’s car and grabbed Kaitlyn’s duffle bag. Kaitlyn rolled her eyes as she retrieved her guitar case from the backseat and the two of them headed up towards the front door.
“Yeah, you sound really alone out here,” Kaitlyn said. “I don’t think you’ve gotten laid this much in years.”
“Hey!” Charlotte protested. “That’s … okay, maybe that’s a little accurate.” She opened the front door and escorted Kaitlyn inside.
“Wow,” Kaitlyn said as she surveyed the house. “I knew James’s family had money, but this is ridiculous.”
“The 1% are not like us,” Charlotte said as she led Kaitlyn down the hall to the guest room.
“I think I’m already spoiled. I don’t know how I’ll ever go back to our apartment,” Kaitlyn said.
“Hey, I just remembered … weren’t you going to bring Annisa with you?” Charlotte asked. Kaitlyn shook her head.
“No, I figured we needed some twin time,” she said. “Plus … I don’t know.”
“You don’t know what?”
“I don’t know. I like Annisa, but things are … moving a little fast.”
“Did she bring a moving truck to the second date?” Charlotte asked with a raise eyebrow.
“Not quite, but she has brought up the subject of living together,” Kaitlyn said.
“Oh,” Charlotte said. “Do you–”
“Let’s talk about that later,” Kaitlyn said, quickly changing the subject. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
“I guess that depends, what do you want to do?”
“First and foremost, I think I need to take a shower,” Kaitlyn said. “I don’t think I smell very good after that drive.”
“I was gonna say …”
Kaitlyn smacked Charlotte playfully in the arm. “What about you? Did I interrupt you while you were writing?”
“You didn’t interrupt, but I was writing,” Charlotte said.
“Who’d you fuck for this chapter?”
“I don’t sleep with people just for writing fodder!” Charlotte protested, a little offended.
“No, not expressly for writing, but you do tend to … draw from experience,” Kaitlyn said with exaggerated air quotes. “So which one were you writing about?”
“… Chris,” she admitted. Kaitlyn laughed and, despite wanting to be mad at her sister, Charlotte smiled.
“He’s the flower guy, right?” Kaitlyn asked.
“Indeed he is,” Charlotte said. “In fact, he knew you were arriving today, so he gave me those for you.” She pointed to the top of the dresser where a beautiful bouquet of vibrant yellow and deep purple flowers sat.
“Wow, flowers for your sister? That dude is smooth,” Kaitlyn said as she walked over to take a closer look. The flowers were fragrant, but not aggressively so.
“You have no idea,” Charlotte said. “Those flowers aren’t from his shop, they’re from his personal garden.”
Kaitlyn stopped and turned to look at her sister.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” she asked. “Why are you even still hanging onto James at all when you have someone like that? Even at his best, James was never that good to you.”
“He’s the only one who’s ever lent me a house …” Charlotte said weakly. Kaitlyn narrowed her eyes at her. “Okay, fine. Whatever. Don’t you have a shower to take?”
“Oh, it seems someone suddenly isn’t quite so happy to see me …” Kaitlyn singsonged as she leaned over to open her duffle bag. “Go write your smut. I’ll get less gross and then we can hang out.”
Charlotte affectionately rolled her eyes and left the guest room. She headed back to the dining room where her laptop waited quietly for her.
Cole leaned in and kissed her again, letting his lips linger–
Charlotte stopped typing. Was it fair to use people like this in her stories? The old adage said write what you know, but this was the first time it’d felt invasive. Should she just scrap the book and start over? No, Zack would kill her if she failed another deadline.
It’ll be fine, she told herself. The Freshman had started out the same way, but Zack had managed to alter everything so it didn’t feel quite like she was just writing her diary. Then again, if Charlotte was writing from a diary now, maybe she’d have some kind of idea as to how she felt about anyone. Chris felt so safe and playful and she could see a white picket fence kind of life with him. But did she want a white picket fence kind of life? She didn’t want to leave Maine yet, but committing to Chris in any real kind of way meant making a more or less permanent decision to stay in Hull for the foreseeable future. Charlotte barely knew what she was doing from one minute to the next and Chris’s life just seemed so … set. So figured out. Then again, maybe a little organization and routine would be good for her.
Then there was Zig. Every time she thought about him, her stomach flipped over. He was so sexy and kind and there was so much more to him than she had initially expected. Plus he always seemed to be there when she needed saving. But at a certain point, shouldn’t she be able to save herself? At what point was she going to take control of her own life instead of letting other people decide for her?
And then there was James. He was always there, hovering in the background, whether she liked it or not.
“Christ, I really have to get out of this house,” Charlotte said aloud.
“Yes, you do.”
Charlotte nearly fell out of her chair from surprise at the sound of Kaitlyn’s voice startling her. “Jesus, Kait! You can’t just sneak up on me like that!”
Kaitlyn shrugged and sat down in the chair beside her, still toweling off her wet hair. “Sorry,” she said, not sounding sorry in the least. “What part are you working on?” she asked, leaning over to look at Charlotte’s computer screen. “Ugh, hetero sex. Alright, let me know when you’re ready for a break and then you can give me a grand tour of the town.”
“I’m ready now,” Charlotte said as she closed her computer. “I can’t focus right now anyway.”
“Well, don’t I feel special,” Kaitlyn said. “Now, for this tour … why don’t we start with a certain flower shop?”
Later that night, at the Hull Hole, Kaitlyn and Charlotte sat at the bar. Chris and AJ were both working the unusually crowded room, probably due to the 4th of July celebrations that were scheduled for the following day.
“Seriously, twin, what’s going on with you and Annisa?” Charlotte asked. “Last time I checked, you said things were good. Really good, in fact.”
Kaitlyn sighed. “I don’t know. They are good. I just … I don’t know if I’m ready to take some kind of next step with her, like moving in.”
“Did you tell her that?”
“Yeah, and she was just … fine with it.”
Charlotte stared at her sister curiously. “So you’re upset that she wanted to move in with you and now you’re upset that she respects that you’re not ready? Wow, that does sound terrible.”
“I know, I know,” Kaitlyn said. “But I don’t know if I’m ever going to be ready for a big commitment like that. I like being single, I like having my life the way I want it. And if I don’t know if I ever want that kind of thing, I feel like I should let her go and let her find someone who is just as excited about picking out china patterns as she is.”
“Twin, that is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard,” Charlotte said. “I mean, I get what you’re saying, but it sounds like you’re trying to push her away because you may or may not love her enough at some hypothetical point in the future. Why not just keep going and see how things progress? She knows how you feel; let her make her own decisions about whether or not she gives that big of a shit about china patterns.”
“You’re right,” Kaitlyn said with a sigh as she took another sip of her beer. “I know you’re right. Although, for the life of me, I can’t figure out how you got so smart about relationships when you do nothing but create clusterfucks for yourself.”
“I’m really good at pointing out the splinters in other people’s eyes while ignoring the beams in my own,” Charlotte said as she finished off her beer. She let her eyes wander around the bar and, at that moment, she saw someone in a familiar leather jacket enter the bar. “Hey,” she said, nudging Kaitlyn. She nodded with her head and Kaitlyn turned around to follow Charlotte’s gaze.
“Holy shit, is that Zig?” Kaitlyn hissed at her. Charlotte nodded. “Okay, yeah, I get it.”
Zig surveyed the crowd and his eyes met Charlotte’s. His mouth angled into his usual half smile and Charlotte felt the familiar flame in her abdomen. Zig made his way over through the crowd and sidled up beside them at the bar.
“Hey,” he said, briefly placing a hand on Charlotte’s lower back. She was already warm from the crowded bar, but his hands were warmer, leaving her skin heated and sorry to lose his touch when he dropped his hand.
“Zig, this is my sister,” Charlotte said, gesturing to Kaitlyn.
“Kaitlyn, right?” he asked as he offered his hand. Kaitlyn shook it with a grin.
“The one and only,” she said. “Nice to meet you.”
“Zig, do you want your usual?” Chris called from behind the bar while filling up two glasses at the taps.
“Sure, thanks,” he called back. He pointed to Charlotte and Kaitlyn, who both nodded. “Another round for them, too.”
Chris nodded and turned back to his job.
“I hope I’m not interrupting,” Zig said.
“Not at all,” Kaitlyn said brightly, straightening up on her bar stool. Charlotte eyed her suspiciously. “So, Zig, I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Oh yeah?” he said as Chris dropped off their beers. Zig picked his up and took a sip. “Hopefully all good things.”
“Oh, yes,” Kaitlyn said. “I heard you had to listen to my sister sing a drunken Beyonce medley.”
Charlotte had been taking a drink of her beer when Kaitlyn said that and beer nearly shot out of her nose.
“You okay?” Zig asked, concerned.
“Yup, great,” Charlotte said as she scrunched up her nose, trying to make the burning sensation of the carbonation go away. She kicked half-heartedly at Kaitlyn who grinned mischievously.
“I did hear a couple songs, but luckily Charlotte has a great voice,” Zig said. He hooked a finger through her empty belt loop and tugged gently, smiling at Charlotte.
“You’re very nice to lie like that,” Kaitlyn said.
“Actually, Kaitlyn is the musician in the family,” Charlotte said, desperately trying to change the subject.
“Oh yeah, I think you said something about a band?” Zig asked.
“Yup, the Trash Pandas,” Kaitlyn said. “We’re a punk band.”
“What do you play?” he asked.
“Guitar and I do the lead vocals,” she said, sitting up a little straighter. As annoyed as she was with her sister, Charlotte always enjoyed watching the way Kaitlyn seemed to glow a little brighter when the band came up in conversation.
“That’s awesome,” Zig said. “I always wanted to sing, but I can’t carry a tune to save my life. Unlike some people,” he teased gently, tugging on Charlotte’s belt loop again.
“Just when I think I’ve changed the subject …” Charlotte said with a sigh. Kaitlyn laughed and clinked her beer against her sister’s.
“Hey, will you two excuse me for a minute?” Zig asked, looking at someone across the bar. “I see one of the other rangers and I need to talk to him about the fireworks tomorrow.”
“Yeah, no problem,” Charlotte said. Zig smiled and turned to make his way through the crowd. Once she was sure he was out of earshot, Charlotte kicked Kaitlyn in the shin.
“Ouch!” Kaitlyn exclaimed.
“You suck,” Charlotte said.
Kaitlyn grinned. “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Uh-huh.”
Chris headed down to their end of the bar carrying two tall stacks of glasses. He deposited them on the counter and started to quickly wash glasses in the sudsy sink behind the bar.
“Busy night,” Kaitlyn said.
“Somehow I always manage to block out exactly how busy 4th of July is here,” Chris said. “By the way, thank you both for not being high maintenance customers.”
“I swear to fucking god, if one more person orders a fucking Bloody Mary, I’m going to punch them in their dumb faces,” AJ swore as she hurried down to grab one of the glasses Chris had just washed.
“What kind of asshole orders a Bloody Mary at night?” Charlotte asked.
“Clearly, the kind who deserve a punch in the face,” Kaitlyn countered.
AJ grinned. “You’re not wrong.” She hurried off to the other end of the bar to make the drink and Chris followed to take the orders of a group of new arrivals.
“Hey, I just had an idea!” Kaitlyn exclaimed.
“What?” Charlotte asked slowly.
“You know how we’re going to watch those movies when we get back to the house?” Kaitlyn asked.
“I haven’t fully agreed to the horror movie marathon, but yes,” Charlotte said.
“Let’s invite everyone over! Horror movies are always way better in a group,” Kaitlyn said.
“You want to invite Zig and Chris over?” Charlotte asked slowly.
“AJ, too. That way it won’t be weird. Come on, Zig and Chris already know each other.”
“Yes, but I’m not sure they know I’m seeing both of them,” Charlotte said. “I mean, I talked to both of them about not being exclusive and keeping things casual so everyone is on the same page. But … I don’t know, won’t that be weird?”
“Only if you make it weird,” Kaitlyn said. “Come on, it’ll be fun! I want to get to know your friends while I’m here.”
Charlotte sighed, resigned. “Okay, yeah, maybe that would be fun.”
“Hey, Chris,” Kaitlyn said when he came back down to their end of the bar to grab more glasses. “What’re you doing after work?”
“I don’t know, why?” he asked. “You have a lead on a good after party?”
“Only the best after party,” Kaitlyn said. “Charlotte and I are going to watch a bunch of movies at her house, want to come? AJ, too.”
“I’d love to, but …” he looked conflicted. “We probably won’t get out of here until close to 3AM and I’ll probably just need to go to bed. But if you guys are going to be around at the festival tomorrow, I’d love to meet up then.”
“Sure, I’d like that,” Charlotte said. Chris smiled at her, his beautiful grin stretching across his beautiful, all-American face, before he headed off again to grab more orders.
“Hey, sorry about that,” Zig said. “This is my first year managing the fireworks display so I had to check on a couple things.”
“No worries,” Charlotte said.
“After this, we’re going to go watch some movies at Charlotte’s,” Kaitlyn said. “You in?”
Zig glanced at Charlotte and smiled at her. “Sure, I’m in.”
“So, did she purposely pick horror movies that feature isolated cabins?” Zig whispered. They’d made it through The Strangers and Wrong Turn before Kaitlyn had fallen asleep halfway through The Blair Witch Project.
“Yup,” Charlotte whispered back. “My sister loves horror movies and has a sick sense of humor.”
Zig grinned and threaded his hand into hers. “She’s a lot of fun though.”
“Yeah, I guess I’ll keep her,” Charlotte whispered, glancing over at her sleeping sister.
“What time is it?” Zig asked, digging into his pocket for his phone.
“Really late,” Charlotte replied.
“I should probably get going,” he said. He stood up and Charlotte followed suit. She paused the movie and took a blanket from the back of the couch, spreading it over her sister. Then she turned off the TV and she and Zig quietly made their way towards the front door. Moonlight streamed in through the front windows, illuminating them as Zig’s fingers caught hers again.
“Thanks for having me,” Zig said, leaning in to kiss her cheek. Charlotte felt his lips brush her skin and when they hesitated there, she turned her face and caught his lips with hers. Zig pulled her close, pressing her to him.
“You know …” Charlotte said. “If you don’t want to drive home right now when it’s so late, you could stay here. If you want. After all, if the movies tonight taught me anything, it’s that the woods are full of scary things. It’d be safer if you were here.”
“Oh yeah?” Zig said. Charlotte could see him smirk in the moonlight. “Well, if you insist. You know, for safety.”
“Had to twist your arm really hard there, didn’t I?” she asked. She suppressed a squeal when Zig playfully pinched her side.
Charlotte double checked the locks on the doors and then peeked in at her sister one more time. Kaitlyn still slept soundly on the couch, snoring slightly. Charlotte led Zig down the hall to her bedroom and closed the door behind them. She reached for the light switch but Zig’s hand stilled hers. Charlotte couldn’t help but smile as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck, his warm breath sending shivers down her spine.
“Feeling safer?” he asked.
“Oh yes,” she said. “But we’re not actually in bed yet and for all I know, there’s a boogeyman under there.”
Zig chuckled. “When I was a kid, I used to take a running leap at the bed so nothing could reach out from beneath my bed and grab my ankle.”
“Me, too!” Charlotte exclaimed. “Although, in my case, sometimes Kaitlyn was under there waiting to scare the shit out of me.”
Zig laughed again, louder this time.
“Shh, the monsters will hear you,” Charlotte whispered.
“Oh, right, I’m sorry.”
They both began to undress. Zig took off his shirt and was about to drop it to the floor when Charlotte caught it. After she took off her own clothes, she slid Zig’s white t-shirt on.
“I might like you in that,” Zig said as he pulled her to him. She let her hands drift over his body in the dark and was pleased to find that he’d removed everything but his boxer briefs. “We should probably get you under the covers,” he murmured as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “You know, for protection from the monsters.”
Charlotte laughed and they climbed into bed. Zig reached for her immediately, pulling her close to him. She rested her head on his chest, listening to the comforting metronome of his heartbeat.
“Now how safe do you feel?” he asked, his fingers tracing lazy circles on her shoulder and back.
“Honestly … I think I’m feeling a little more dangerous,” she said. Charlotte felt Zig pull back to look at her and she tilted her face towards his. She kissed him and relaxed into the way his lips always seemed to melt into hers.
“Strange … I think I am, too,” he murmured.
Charlotte hooked her leg over his hip and Zig slowly ran a firm hand up her thigh, fingers digging into her soft skin. She pressed her hips against his and could feel him already hardening between them. Charlotte slid a hand between them, taking her time as her fingers tripped over his abs, before hooking her fingertips inside the waistband of his boxer briefs. She kept her hand there as they kissed before she let her fingers slide a little lower, brushing through his hair. Zig sighed as he kissed her deeper, his tongue folding against hers. His hand curled around the elastic waistband of her panties, but he only grabbed them, didn’t pull them down, not yet, his hand curled around the fabric.
When Charlotte finally slid her hand all the way into his boxers, he was fully hard and straining against the fabric. She took his cock in her hand, massaging her hand up and down his length. He moaned softly into her mouth, hips rocking into her hand. Charlotte let go of him and tugged at his boxers, pulling them down enough so that he could kick them away, lost in the depths of the blankets. He sat up and pushed the covers away, kneeling over her as he tugged at her panties. He slid them down, taking his time to caress each curve of her legs before he finally pulled them from her ankles and tossed them away into the darkness. Zig then urged her legs apart, taking his time as he crossed the landscape of her skin.
When Zig reached the center of her legs, he ran his fingertips through her hair, already slick with desire. Charlotte felt him kiss her inner thighs, his lips drawing closer as his fingers traced her already sensitive skin. When he finally slid his tongue inside of her, Charlotte desperately wanted him to go fast but instead he went slow, and she felt like his tongue was savoring her, taking his time so as to not miss a single spot that might cause her to shiver or shudder under his touch. Zig settled on his stomach and caressed her hips as he tasted her. Each time she sighed or moved under his mouth, he seemed to notice and stayed there for a few moments, causing her breath to hitch and her hips to squirm before he moved on. Charlotte had a fleeting thought that he was trying to memorize her, to learn every way he could touch her and make her melt.
Eventually, Charlotte found it difficult to stay still and her hips moved more and more under Zig’s mouth. Then and only then did his tongue begin to circle her clit, flitting across it until her body convulsed with pleasure, her voice lost in desperate breaths that gave way to wordless cries as her shoulders arched off the bed. Charlotte collapsed against the pillows, weak with the feel of pleasure still rolling through her as Zig began to kiss his way up her stomach, pausing to push his t-shirt up so he could trace her breasts with his tongue, sucking on each of her hardened nipples in turn as her chest heaved with desire.
Charlotte cradled his face in her hands and kissed him deeply, her mouth desperate to consume his. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him to her. The tip of his cock teased at her wet entrance and Charlotte knew she couldn’t wait any longer. She pulled away long enough to fumble in the nightstand for a condom. She handed the foil packet to Zig who tore it open with his teeth, blowing away the tiny foil remnant from his lips as he pulled out the condom and rolled it on. Then he slid inside of her, setting a slow pace. Charlotte kissed him, pulling him closer so that she could feel his skin on hers as he moved in and out, in and out.
Charlotte wrapped her legs around Zig’s waist and he thrust deeper, faster now. Each push hit her spot, and she dug her nails into his back, his skin slick with sweat. He braced himself above her with his arms and Charlotte clutched at his biceps, feeling the swell of pleasure in her body as she drew closer and closer. Finally she fell over the edge, her nails raking down his arms as she came undone, her body undulating under his. Charlotte clenched tightly around Zig as she came and pulled him into his own release. He groaned, dropping down and burying his face in her neck as her name fell from his lips.
After taking a moment to ensure he wouldn’t fully collapse on her, Zig rolled onto his side and pulled Charlotte close. He brushed the sweaty hair from her face and kissed her forehead, her cheek, her ear, her chin, her nose, and then her lips.
“That was …” Charlotte said, her words trailing off as she continues to catch her breath.
“Yeah,” Zig agreed. “It was.”
He excused himself to go into the bathroom to take care of the condom and when he came back, Charlotte was delighted that he didn’t bother to look for his boxers when he slid back under the covers beside her. He pressed his chest to her back, curling his body around hers.
“Goodnight,” he said, kissing her shoulder through the t-shirt she still wore.
“Don’t let the bedbugs bite,” she murmured, already beginning to drift off into a satisfied sleep. Charlotte jerked suddenly when she felt Zig lightly bite at her shoulder and she laughed.
“Oops, sorry,” Zig said. “Thought that was an invitation.”
Charlotte grinned as Zig rested his hand against her heart and she wove her fingers through his. As she finally fell asleep, one of the last fleeting thoughts she had was how entirely safe she felt in that moment, in his arms.
