Chapter 3: The End Before the Beginning

We pull back from out brief, yet thorough first kiss at the same time. We're both left breathless, not from the lack of oxygen, but from the sparks from such a simple contact. His hands are at my waist and mine are holding his upper arms securely. I'm afraid that if I try to move my legs will turn to jello and I'll fall straight to the ground.

"Wow," I whisper unconsciously. My eyes widen and one of my hands flies to cover my mouth as I look up at him with embarrassment written across my features. I can't believe I just said that.

"I was thinking the same thing." He smiles sweetly, pulling my hand from my mouth to hold in his. He gently brushes his lips over mine again in a feather soft kiss. He stays close, nuzzling his nose against mine and whispers against my lips, "Wow."

I giggle softly and force myself to pull away from him. I turn my body from his and silently unlock my apartment door. After those kisses I'm seriously rethinking this not inviting him in thing. I turn back to him with a shy smile, not really knowing what to say. "Uh-do you want to come in?" I hear myself ask.

He smiles that famous crooked smile of his and shakes his head sadly. "I really shouldn't."

"Oh." I answer in disappointment. I wasn't asking for him to sleep with me or anything. I just don't want this night to end yet.

"Don't get me wrong," He interrupts just as I was about to open the door and run inside to hide from my embarrassment. "I would love to go inside, but I just don't trust myself to leave before we...move too fast."

"Oh," I echo, but this time with a tone of understanding and appreciation.

"Do you think I could get your number?" He asks hopefully. "I'd really like to see you again."

"Sure." I smile widely and he pulls his tiny cell phone out of his pocket. I rattle off my number and he stores it into the memory of his phone. "Well, goodnight then."

He leans in and kisses me one last time before moving down to the bottom of the four steps to my front door. "Goodnight Madison."

I force a smile and pull my eyes away from him and step inside. He called me Madison. The whole time he thought I was Madison; I led him to believe that I as Madison. God, and I gave him my friggin phone number. I can't ever see him again. It would be wrong of me to pretend to be her and start a relationship on such a monumental lie.

I just want to forget about all that drama for right now and enjoy the memories of tonight and how wonderful it felt to be in his arms. I drop my purse to the floor and lean back against the door with a light sigh. My lips still feel all tingly. I smile and bring my finger to trace my lips.

"If I didn't know any better I would have mistaken you for Madison in that get-up."

I yelp at the sound of the male voice and jump away from the door. "Bobby! Ahhh!" I yell in excitement, running towards him. "What are you doing here?"

I literally jump into his open arms and hug him tightly to me. "I came to visit my baby sister." He smiles.

"How the hell did you get in here?" I ask, after he releases me, slapping his shoulder for scaring me.

"You should really find a better place to hide your spare key," He teases holding the key up to my face and then pulling it back over his head when I reach for it. "The first place you're stalker will look is under the doormat and then they always go for the flower pots, which is where I found yours."

"I'll remember that." I smile largely. I haven't seen my brother in nearly three months. We've talked on the phone and written some letters, but that wasn't very often. We've always been really close, almost closer than I am with Madison.

My relationship with Madison is completely different though. We're connected just because of the fact that we're twins, but Bobby and I have this connections. I don't know, we just have always gotten along really well. I think it may be because of our similar attitudes.

"Where were you that you were dressed like that?" He asks looking over my clothes in scrutiny. My too short skirt and too tight halter top was all Madison's idea and her clothes. The heavy make-up and pin straight hair was her idea too.

I roll my eyes at his comment and brush past him to enter the kitchen/dining room area. I motion for him to sit at the table as I grab two bottles of water from the fridge. "I went out to a club with Madison and some of my friends from work."

He nods with a curious smirk and accepts my water. I walk back from him and over the sink where I flick on the water and turn it to hot. I hold my fingers beneath the running water and wait for it to slowly warm up-it takes forever in this crappy apartment. I have to turn the shower on, literally, and hour before I want to get it.

"So Maddy's responsible for this." He chuckles, motion his finger in a zigzag line up and down my body. I roll my eyes and give up on the water so I dip a dishcloth under the water until it's completely soaked. I turn the water back off and ring out the rag just enough to that it won't drip all over the floor before walking back over to sit across from my brother. "How do you let her talk you into this stuff?"

I laugh and shake my head with a shrug when I realize that I don't really have an answer to his question, but that it's one I've asked myself many times before. I bring the cold rag to my face and gently start rubbing the layers and layers of makeup off.

"So did you have fun?"

"More fun then the last time I went." I mumble under the dishcloth.

"This wasn't the first time?" He laughs haughtily.

With a sigh I lower the towel from my face. "Last time her and Patrick tried to set me up with some guy that already had a girlfriend." Bobby snorts in laughter at that one. "Apparently they were on a ‘break' but he was planning to win her back."

"Wow, that really sucks." I nod in agreement and shrug my shoulders in apparent indifference. "So did you spend the whole time ogling at Patrick or are you finally over him?"

I scoff and toss the wet dishcloth into his smirking face. I can't believe he just said that. Bobby is the only person I've ever told about my crush on Patrick. At first he teased me about it, but then when he realized how upsetting it was for me he stopped. This teasing is new and I don't think I like it. I know he's just trying to get me riled up though, so I'm not going to let that comment get to me...too much.

"I did not ogle him." I defend myself while trying to unscrew my water bottle. Bobby takes the bottle from my grasp and easily unscrews it for me before handing back to me.

"But you still have a thing for him."

I wrinkle my nose at him. "A little, but I'm getting over him." I answer, my mind drifting back to my wonderful night with Justin. You know, the guy I can never see again.

"Does this have anything to do with the guy who dropped you off?"

"Where are you staying while you're here?" I ask trying to take the focus off me and onto another topic. I really don't want to tell Bobby about pretending to be Madison. Let's just say that he would not be too happy with me. "And how long are you staying?"

"With you and I'm not sure yet." He answers back quickly. "And don't change the subject."

"You realized that if you stay with me you're gonna have to sleep on the couch." I reply, still trying to change the subject even thought I know it won't work with him. "You should ask Madison. She has like fifty spare bedrooms."

"I don't mind the couch and you know I would much rather stay with you." He smiles sincerely though I can tell he's annoyed by the fact that I still have yet to answer his question. "Now who was that guy?"

"Just a guy I met at the club." I shrug nonchalantly, barely able to suppress my smile at the mere thought of him.

"Just a guy I met at the club," He mocks teasingly, batting his eyelashes dramatically and speaking with what he thinks is a tone similar to mine. I glare at his antics, but can't help but laugh a little. "I saw the look on your face when you first came in and I know he's not just some guy. You like him."

"He was nice, I'll admit that, but I'm not gonna see him again." I answer back with sadness lacing my voice and frown adorning my face. What were the chances that I would finally meet a really sweet guy that l like and he likes me back, and now I can't see him because he thinks I'm my sister. I know that if I were to tell him the truth now he would be angry, understandably so and I'm sure I wouldn't ever see him again after that. So I might as well just end it now and save us both the embarrassment.

"So what's his name?" Bobby asks in a ‘gay voice' crossing his legs in a feminine fashion and scooting his chair closer to mine. I laugh loudly at him, bringing me out of my sort-of-depression. "Was he gorgeous, darling?"

"He was very good looking and his name is Justin."

"So what's the problem?" He asks, speaking in his normal voice now.

I sigh heavily and stomp my foot under the table in frustration. "You're gonna be really mad when I tell you this." I warn. He gives me what I call his parent eyes and wills me to continue. I open and close my mouth a few times as I try to think of the best way to tell him this. "I sort of-uh pretended to be someone I'm not."

"Care to expand on that?"

Not really.

"I told Justin that I was Madison." I spit out quickly, wincing as I wait for him to explode. He used to lecture Madison and I all the time when we switched during school. He was always way worse then mom and dad ever were.

"Why?" He asks in an eerily calm voice at give me the heebie-jeebies.

"Did I mention that Justin's last name is Timberlake?"

He stares at me in silence with an unreadable expression for at least two minutes before he finally opens his mouth to speak again. Here we go... "You went out with Justin Timberlake? The boy band pansy?"

Did I mention that Bobby thinks that just about every good-looking man in Hollywood is a ‘pansy' or ‘gay?' He especially hates boy bands; just my luck right?

"He's not a pansy." I defend with a roll of my eyes. "He was really sweet."

"You still haven't answered why you pretended to be Madison."

"She told me to." I answer in what is probably the more adult version of she made me do it. "Maddy said that Justin only dated celebrities so I should just pretend to be her and enjoy the night with him because he would never go for someone like me."

"Is that true?" He asks. "That he only dates celebrities?"

"That's what she said." I shrug.

"She's freakin something else for telling you something like that." He says angrily, tightly clenching his fists. "Mel, you can get any damn guy on this plant. She's just too stuck on herself to realize that."

Isn't my brother a sweetheart?

"It doesn't matter. What's done is done and I can't see him again after this."

"You should see him and tell him the truth." He suggests, but I take it more as an order. I shake my head no. I'm not telling him and Bobby can't make me. He gives me that parent look again and I growl at him in response.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"I told you, I came to visit my baby sister." He grins, rising from his chart and tossing his now empty water bottle into the garbage. I follow his footsteps and move the bottle to the recycling bin instead and put my half empty one back in the fridge. We take the few steps to the family room and Bobby makes himself comfortable on the couch. I quickly run to my bedroom and change into my comfy lounge around pants and a sweatshirt before going back to join him.

"You want to tell my why you really came?" I ask, adjusting my body so that my feet are tucked up under me.

"Dad fired me."

"He what?!"

"He fired me." He repeats just as casually as the first time.

I can't believe he got fired. Bobby's like dad's prize child because he went to work for him. My dad always resented the fact that I didn't become a ‘real doctor.' But Bobby went through all the years of medical school and became a highly acclaimed surgeon under my dad. I can't imagine what must have happened.

"Why did he fire you?"

"He said that my heart wasn't in it anymore." He shrugs. "I think I just need a change of scenery."

"Are you gonna move out here?"

"I've been thinking about it." He answers. "How do you like county?"

"You don't get paid squat, but I love it." I answer with a wistful smile. "I'll talk to my supervisor tomorrow and see if head of surgery can meet with you."

"Thanks Mel."

Before I'm able to respond my phone rings. I lean to the right and grab the cordless of the side table. Glancing at the caller ID I see that it is Madison. Great. I bet she's calling to get all the details from my night with Justin. I sigh, flashing the caller ID at Bobby before pressing the ‘talk' button and raising the phone to my ear.

TBC.....