13 Home Sweet Home

Amy is abruptly woken to screeching tires. At some point, she had passed out in the front seat. The car starts to vibrate as it rolls over a gravel driveway. The shaking was enough to rattle her awake.

"Oh sorry, did my breaks wake you up?" Dustin's words fly right past Amy.

She was too busy staring at a large white church. The white painting looked dull and chipped, although the windows were brand new and sturdy. Amy could see the new framing around the house. It was obvious the house was still under construction, but that didn't matter. It was surrounded with farm land. She couldn't see any sign of city life, or frankly any life for that matter.

The farm stuck out like a sore thumb. It looked MUCH worst than the church. It was worn down and standing on its last legs. The red paint was almost grey, probably dude to years of weather.

"I promise it looks a lot better inside!" Dustin quickly interjects, watching her expressions.

He pulls up to the church, wasting no time to open the car door. The last thing he wanted was to see her disappointed. Amy opens the door and pulls out some of her bags.

Dustin's face drops, almost looking offended. "No no! I got the bags!" He takes her belongings away from her hands, "Head on in and take a look around. I'll be in a bit."

"Are you sure?" For the first time, Amy felt uncomfortable.

Maybe it was because of her new strange surroundings. Amy had never been a country girl. More like a city girl, or at least a townie?

"Yeah! I'll be fine!" Dustin shuffles around the van, pulling out the most heavy stuff first.

Not wanting to be a bother, Amy starts to head inside the church.

"Oh! Wait!" Dustin's head pops out of the van, "You're gonna need this!"

In a light jog, he hands her a key card. Amy's face now puzzled, takes it from him.

A keycard? What??

"I'm kinda really picky about the locks around the house. The front door needs a keycard to open. It's a little weird, but you'll get use to it." With that last odd statement, he heads back towards the van.

For a moment Amy doesn't move. Her eyes locked on the plastic square. She never figured Dustin to be the paranoid type, but she was finding out new things about him all day.

Not wanting to stand there, she heads to the church once again. To her surprise the doors were bright red and just like Dustin told her, a blocky card slider right next to it.  It definitely stood out...

The card slides in perfectly. A beep is quickly followed, indicating the doors were now unlocked. This was very strange. Had someone broken into Dustin's home before? Amy felt like she was unlocking an evidence locker. She tried to shake off the weird feeling, and goes ahead and opens the door.

She's greeted with red brick walls. Surprisingly the inside of the house was extremely homey. It felt like a high class living room. Everything so tidy, clean, organized, and fancy!! A tan globe sat in the middle of the coffee table, surrounded with books. The amount of books was overwhelming! It felt like a scholar lived here.

"Oh wow.." Amy whispers to herself, excited to call this her new home.

Sure the outside looked rough, but it was the inside that counts!!!

"Oh. Hello, you must be Amy." A deep voice slithers behind her.

Amy jumps and lets out a small squeal. She instinctively whips around, confronting the strange voice.

A lengthy man stood behind her, with a shocked expression. He looked identical to Dustin. Amy blinks astonished by his appearance. She was completely flabbergasted. Her eyelids flutter multiple times, making sure she was seeing things straight and not double.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." He walks around Amy, peeking out the front door and gives a friendly wave at Dustin.

He was much thinner than Dustin, although his height matched. His muscles mass was nothing compared to her brother, but his face was strikingly similar.  The same jawline, hair, and oddly the same smile. Everything Amy found unique in Dustin was instantaneously was demolished.

Realizing she had been staring at him, her face flushes. "Your fine! I'm a scaredy cat."

He turns back around to face her. Even though his smile was friendly, something seemed off. The small winkles in his face showed signs of possible stress.

"I believed Dustin mention something about you being jumpy." His quick responds made Amy look down at her feet.

The fact that Dustin had been talking about her to someone, was slightly frustrating. She didn't like to be the center of attention, much less talked about.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?"

His shoulders tense up, noticing he hadn't he hadn't introduced himself or showed any sort of hospitality.

"I'm Dustin's brother, Jacob." He reaches for her hand. Amy is too caught off guard by the word 'brother' to muscle up interest in the handshake.

"Brother? I don't think he's mentioned you.."

This was so surreal. Amy was discovering a whole side of Dustin she did not know about.

"His biologic brother. We've been living together for about two years.." he pauses and scratches underneath his chin, "He's never mention me before?"

Amy wanted to be excited to meet Dustin's real brother, but she was too ripped away from reality.

How long had he been communicating to his real family?

Does this put distress on their relationship?

A glimmer of jealousy poisons her heart strings. In a way,  Amy felt somewhat betrayed,  but she couldn't explain why. It's a great thing that he was able to find his family. Still, she finds herself questioning his secretive side. She half expected him to have a child at this point.

"He's never mentioned you or the church." Amy's eyebrows crinkle up.

Why was she so conflicted? Why is this something Dustin wouldn't tell  her? She tries to throw logic in her thoughts.

Maybe he felt I would feel replaced...?

Amy understands that she cannot compete with Jacob. They were blood related, something that would be impossible to change.

Jacob could see her conflictive thoughts in the reflection of her worried eyes. He soon realized how he made the atmosphere tense and quickly tries to lighten up the mood.

"Do you wanna see your room?" His question is soften by a following smile.

Usually it was Amy to break awkward conversations. Unfortunately, this time she finds herself sinking in a jealous filled hole.

She quietly shakes her head, picturing all the negative thoughts being flung out of her skull.

"I would love too!" She forced herself to sound excited.

Jacob heads down to the nearest hallway, flickering a few lights on. Amy was too busy staring at her own feet, to take in the beauty of the artistic wallpaper.

"Your room is right across from Dustin's." He opens a medium size brown door, "This was the guest room, but now we can actually put it to good use."

It was just like any regular room, except it was chock-full of dressers, bookshelves, and closets. Each piece of furniture had covered up most of the windows. The bed had took up a great portion of the floor. It was immensely large and had pink curtains hanging around it. 

The bed itself looked like slipped out the pages of a fantasy book.

Not caring to examine every little detail, she places her handbag on top of the bed. Jacob walks around the room.

He seemed pleased with himself, "Dustin and I both rearrange some furniture for you."

You think? I can barely see the walls...  

"It's lovely! The bed is much bigger than my old one. You didn't have to do all this for me." Amy traces her fingers against the silky sheets.

"It was no problem. Dustin actually built that bed a few weeks ago." He catches himself, "He builds furniture on his spare time. Hobby of his I guess."

Amy just nods her head. Today should of been a day of excitement. A moment in her life she should remember forever, instead it had been washed over with foreign feelings. The room made things a little better, but the pressure of gloom sat heavy on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry to hear about your father." Jacob confused the look of depression with grief, "It was terrible what happened to him, but Dustin will always be here for you. I'm sure over time we'll get to know each other and if you need me, my door is always open."

"Thank you. I've gotten over my dad's death pretty fast." She conceals her lie with a smile.

Jacob was trying to lead the conversation. Amy just wasn't having it. It doesn't take long until a awkward silence shimmed its way in the room. Jacob goes to open his mouth, but Dustin had poked his head into the bedroom. The sensation of relief was expressed by Jacob's sudden spike of a sigh.

"You already showed her the room?" He walks in, hands full of suitcases. "I wanted to do that."