Page 105 of The Obedient Lie
Becausethatwas Vince. Calm on the surface. Rage underneath.
“Regardless of the consequences,”his tone changed,“No one fucks with your head. Not while I’m breathing. Hear me.”
My lips twitched up, slightly.
And that was the part that stayed with me.
Because when it came to us? He meant it.
And then the line went dead.
I stayed where I was for another second, jaw locked.
Bastion hadn’t moved. Not even a little.
His fingers were still pressed to the side of her waist. His eyes locked on her face like she might disappear if he looked away.
I sat on the edge of the couch beside them.
“You can’t keep pretending with him,” I said quietly.
Bastion’s shoulders tensed slightly. But he didn’t look up.
“Vince. You’ve been pulling off this act for a while now. The calm brother. The easy one. The version of yourself that laughs at everything and makes everything light.”
His jaw shifted slightly. He pressed the ice harder to his hand.
I hated that Bastion did it. I hated that every time we wentto Villain, he faked a personality, as if Vince would be mad with him.
We’re brothers. We’re all alike it. Its like me trying to hide that I have traits like Nik.
But Bastion, kept fighting it. Didn’t want Vince to see himself in him.
It drove me mad, watching my twin twist into someone else every time we arrived home. The act never lasts long, only long enough in front of them.
I watched him from the corner of the couch, that same hand pressing the ice harder like it might erase whatever emotion was threatening to show.
I hated that he felt like he had to play that role to keep the peace. Though what I hated more. Thathe got to be the peace,while I inherited the rest. The mess. The weight. The temper. The fucking rage.
Because when Bastion became someone else, someone lighter—someone easier to swallow—he left me.
“I don’t need you to be the calm one,” I said softly, more to myself than him.
He still didn’t look at me. Still clung to the act like if he let it go, he might snap.
“You don’t have to carry it like it doesn’t hurt,” I added. “Because every time you do, I feel it. Every time you pretend, you’re not angry… I get angrier. Like it gets passed to me.”
That was the worst part—because we were always halves of the same thing. And when one half hides the damage, the other bleeds twice as hard.
“I’d rather you show it,” I said. I watched him grip the edge of his rage like it might explode if he let go.
“How are you going to keep this up?” I asked. “Seriously.”
His eyes flicked toward me, just once.
“When we’re back in Villain… working next to them. Running their deals. Standing beside Vince and Nik like nothing inside you’s about to snap.”
He didn’t answer.
