Closed Doors - epilogue
“The trouble with love is, it doesn’t care how fast you fall”
December 25th, late afternoon
Mackenzie shut the kitchen door quietly and glanced at Megan who had already started to clear the dishwasher. “They’re gone?”
Mackenzie nodded. “They went for a walk, to clear their heads.”
“I’m sorry about your momma,” Megan told her and stopped her actions to show Jensen’s sister that she really meant it. “She took it really hard.”
“Thanks.” Mackenzie smiled weakly at her. “She’ll get over it, eventually.” She moved over to the other girl and started helping, collecting the dishes out of the washer and putting them back into the cupboard.
“I spoke to the private investigator,” she announced after several minutes.
Megan looked up, curious and slightly nervous.
“He said his job is done. He had come to a dead end anyway and he told me it had always been a fifty-fifty chance that my mom and your dad would be related.”
Megan let out a sigh of relief. “So he won’t be a problem, then?” she stated and Mackenzie shook her head.
“No he won’t be.”
“Do you know the results? The real ones?” Mackenzie asked and Megan stopped again, looking up.
“Not yet. I asked him to call me when I’m sure the family is out of the house.” They looked quietly at each other before Megan asked, almost as an afterthought. “Do you wanna know?”
Mackenzie shook her head. “No. I don’t need to know. For me, what was announced earlier today is real, nothing else. It’s just ... I’m impressed. I mean, how can you fake a blood test so no one notices?”
“You can if you know a guy who knows people and has the money to arrange it, that’s how,” Megan replied and the girls shared a secret grin.
“I see,” Mackenzie laughed at her friend. But there was something slightly off about it.
“You okay?” The other girl frowned at her.
Mackenzie waited before she answered, thinking, and when she nodded, it was sure and firm. “It’s serious, what we did though.”
“You regret it?”
“No,” Mackenzie answered honestly and without hesitation. “Besides the really weird experience of watching my brother kiss a guy in the kitchen in the middle of the night,” she made a face and Megan laughed at that, “you haven’t seen them kiss. That was ... there was so much love. We’ve done the right thing. Not being able to be together, it would have destroyed them eventually. We’ve done the right thing,” she repeated.
“But?” Megan asked her, sensing that there still was something troubling the other girl.
“But I’m worried, scared, I guess. I mean, just a little. What does God think about this? Will he judge us? Them? I mean, I would do exactly the same thing all over again if I had to, but it still worries me a little. I know it’s stupid.” She rolled her eyes, trying to hide the blush on her cheeks.
“No, it’s not stupid and I don’t ... it’s not that I don’t care about what God thinks of this,” Megan answered honestly, “‘Cause I really do. I love God. But you know who I love even more? My brother. And no one can ask me to stand by and watch my own brother suffer like that.”
Mackenzie didn’t feel intimidated by the determined look on the other girl’s face, it was just a mirror of how she felt herself. She had seen her brother suffer, seen it with her own two eyes, even when Jensen was an expert at hiding his feelings. She had talked to Megan about this and they had guessed for a while that there were stronger feelings between their brothers than just friendship. Watching them kiss the other night had eliminated every last doubt.
“So, this is over. The three of us are the only people who know the truth?”
Megan nodded reassuringly. “Yes. Just the three of us. The secret’s safe.”
“Good.” Mackenzie smiled at the other girl, a real, relieved smile, and when they were done with the dishwasher, she left the kitchen, hearing the ringtone of Megan’s phone just in time when she closed the door.
“Yeah?”
“Hey, it’s me,” the guy on the other end of the line announced and Megan had to laugh, because really? They hadn’t known each other for long enough to answer the phone that way, but Megan knew who he was anyway.
“Hi.”
“Can you talk?”
“Yes. I’m alone in the kitchen right now.”
“How did it go?”
“Alright. Could have been worse, I guess. Momma Ackles cried and Dad didn’t look happy either.”
“I’m sorry,” he said and Megan could hear that he meant it.
“It was worth it, though. For Jared and Jensen. The look in their eyes when they thought nobody would pay them attention. It was worth it,” she confirmed.
She heard a deep intake of breath on the other end. And then, the voice said, “You wanna know it?”
“Yeah.” Megan felt nervousness flutter through her stomach, just for a second and then it was gone.
“There’s no takeback now,” the voice warned. “We can’t undo what we did. If anyone ever hears what we did, we’re gonna be in a whole lot of trouble, girl.”
Despite the serious situation, a smile spread on Megan’s face. “I know, okay? I’m not gonna take back anything. I want my brother to be happy. Everything else, I can live with. So, what are the real results?”
“They’re positive.”
There was a moment of silence before Megan whistled through her teeth. “Oh my god.”
“You okay, girl?” He sounded concerned and Megan hurried to answer.
“Yeah, I am. Just ... wow. Jensen’s my cousin. Mac is my cousin! Wow.”
“You can live with that?”
“Yes!” she replied, annoyance in her tone. “They could be brothers for all I care. I just want my brother to be happy, and there’s no person in the world who could achieve that better than Jensen.”
“Not even me?” The voice on the other end muttered and Megan laughed out loud.
“I’m sorry, but, no. Not even you.”
“Okay,” he started. “Maybe we should never ever mention this again, huh?”
“I agree.”
“Great. Okay, bye, girl.”
“Bye, and ... Merry Christmas, Chad.”
“Merry Christmas, Megan.”
the end.
author's note: Thanks for going on this ride with me and thank you for reading! ;D