Damien was already outside, soaring up from below the window ledge. He caught Wayne securely by the back of his collar, holding him suspended mid-air like a perpetually annoyed kitten.
Damien met Wayne's gaze. "Never."
Wayne sighed. "Fine. You win, as always."
Damien stepped back inside and gently lowered his twin to the worn carpet.
"Now let's go have breakfast," Damien urged, clapping him lightly on the shoulder. "Or we'll be too late to pass by Tina's house."
Wayne dragged a hand down his face. "C'mon, bro. How many times does she have to tell you she doesn't want you?"
"Of course she does," Damien countered, already halfway out the door. "We were together before, remember? First love."
"That was in grade school," Wayne muttered, following his brother into the hallway.
"Don't be so negative," Damien said. "Just follow me."
Downstairs, the kitchen was still settling after the morning skirmish. Damien and Wayne sat side-by-side. Wayne gave a respectful nod to Mandy and a soft "Good morning, Dexter." He didn't spare a word for Wess, who sat across the table. Wess met Wayne's silent dismissal with a hard glare that lasted until the boys finished their quick meal.
Soon after, the twins headed out toward the sprawling public high school. Their route took them on their required detour past Tina's house.
Outside the two-story house, Damien called out to her, his voice carrying with unnatural clarity. Wayne stood hunched beside him.
Tina's curtain twitched. She yelled down from her second-floor window. "I'm not ready! Give me five more minutes!"
Damien smiled easily. "Okay, take your time!"
The deep, aggressive roar of an engine swallowed the quiet street. A midnight-blue muscle car slammed to a stop at the curb. Inside sat Tyrone, a guy their age but noticeably taller and more muscular than Damien. He leaned on the horn, letting out a blast designed to startle the neighborhood.
Damien spun around. "Hey, she said she's not done!"
Tyrone leaned out the window. "Nonsense. Hey, Tina! Get your ass down here! Now!"
Damien took a step forward. "Is that how you talk to a lady? Tina deserves better than being bossed around."
Tyrone's smile widened. "Butt out of it, pip-squeak. I'm getting tired of seeing you with my girl. She's waiting for me, not your charity."
Tina hurried out, slipping a final earring into her lobe as she practically hopped down the front steps. She avoided Damien's gaze and quickly got into Tyrone's car.
"See you, Damien," she called out, already clicking her seatbelt.
Tyrone didn't wait for her to close the door. With a deliberate snarl of his engine, he accelerated, spinning his rear wheels and coating the twins in a blinding cloud of hot dust and gravel.
As the dust settled, Wayne stood still, hacking into his elbow.
"You see?" Wayne asked, brushing the grit from his hair.
Damien was already looking past the insult. "Yes, it's obvious," he said, his voice hard. "He bosses her around. She deserves better. We need to get a car. A good one. Fast. That way, she won't have to ride with that inconsiderate jerk anymore."
Wayne blinked. "You're incredibly judgmental for a guy practically made of positive energy. You spend all your time mediating fights and protecting people, but you're blind to your own judgment."
The twins hurried off toward their high school, a low-slung building buzzing with hundreds of students.
As Damien walked through the main hall, a path seemed to open up before him. Students offered enthusiastic greetings: "Yo, Damien! Morning!" "Hey, Damien, how's training?" "Looking good, D!"
Wayne followed two steps behind, perpetually hunched in his brother's shadow. He was invisible. It was a necessary comfort.