Loose Ends

Chapters

A real flare for excuses
It could be just what we need
But these loose ends still have its uses

A real flare for excuses

“It’s official now.”

Starlight didn’t answer and he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Her gaze was downcast, legs crossed by the ankles and bare feet dangling over the pier, a soft breeze came in and ruffled her hair and clothes slightly. Sunburst sighed, the heavy lump in his throat making it hard to breathe.

“I think…” Sunburst trailed off, running a shaky hand through his red hair, his eyes staring vacantly ahead at the sun over the water. “I think we should tell them about us.”

Her head snapped up, her blue eyes blazing, and he was kind of glad for that. She had been so eerily quiet and stoic for the past hour that it worried him. He expected her to scream at him, loud and shrill, in a way that would match the fire in her eyes, but when she spoke her voice was soft, defeated.

“And tell them what? That we were secretly dating before they decided to get married and that they should call off the wedding because of it?” She snorted loudly, disdain rolling from her in waves. “I can’t—I haven’t seen him this happy since my mom died. Your mom makes him happy, Sunburst. I can’t do that to him. We’re going to be brother and sister now; we might as well get used to it.”

He wanted to argue, let his bitterness and sarcasm taint his every word, but he couldn’t find his voice at the moment. As much as he hated to admit it, Starlight was right. His mother was genuinely happy and, despite them being at odds more often than not, he couldn’t ruin her joy by admitting that he had the hots for his stepsister. He was the “good son” after all, at least compared to his hardheaded (blood-related) sister, Sunset Shimmer. He couldn’t hurt his mother in this way.

“What should we do then?”

It was a stupid question; he knew the answer even before she spoke up. But he wanted to delay the inevitable for a little longer, hold on to their shaky relationship even though there was nothing they could do to salvage it. He held on this long, what was a few seconds more?

She tensed up, her breath hissing sharply in between clenched teeth. “What do you think? We break up.”

Her answer hurt him more than he was willing to admit. He hated to feel this way, so helpless and crushed, would it had hurt less if she had minced her words somehow? Probably, but Starlight wasn’t that kind of girl, she had always been direct and truthful to him, it was one of the reasons he…He took a shaky breath, squeezing his eyes shut, his shoulders slumping dejectedly. “Okay, then.”

He stood up. There was nothing more to say, and he feared that if he stayed longer, he would burst into tears or do something equally embarrassing. He pushed his glasses up his nose and without looking back, said. “I guess I’ll be seeing you around,” he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his sweater, fists clenched tightly, nails digging into the skin of his palms. “Later.”

“Wait!”

He made the mistake of listening to her. He made the mistake of turning around and meeting her teary eyes. He groaned. What did she want him to do? Hold her and comfort her like he had when her mother died a few years ago? It would break him. It was going to be hell seeing her every day and pretend that he doesn’t love her with every fiber of his being, that nothing had happened between them, tossing the most important and meaningful relationship he ever had like it was trash.

“What do you want?”

He didn’t mean for his words to come out as harshly as it did, and he regretted it when she flinched at his tone. He felt like a monster, for he forgot that this took a toll on her as well. Maybe things would have been different if they had told their parents what was going on much sooner, but it didn’t matter; it was too late to dwell on it now.

She was shaking as she spoke; he wasn’t sure if it was from the chill afternoon air or something else. “Maybe one last kiss?”

He should say no, kissing her would make this goodbye even more difficult. That was what he told himself, but he was no match to her big, blue, beautiful, teary eyes.

He relented, gathering her in his arms and pouring everything he had into this last kiss. One of her hands took off his glasses and while the other fisted his hair, making him groan and deepen the kiss. They were being careless, someone could see them, and maybe that was why he prolonged the kiss. Deep down he hoped someone saw them, so he could push the responsibility of bringing their relationship to the light on someone else, he was selfish like that.

In the end, when they parted with one last hug and said their goodbyes, they went their separate ways. They both knew that their respite would be brief, for in the coming days they wouldn’t be able to escape each other, that they would soon be forced to live together and ignore their shared history.

Everyone was stressed with the wedding, his mother especially, being the bride and all. She had to make sure that everything was perfect, according to her plan, anything less was unacceptable; ironically her eye for details had overlooked just how especially miserable her son had looked during rehearsals or at home. She didn’t ask and Sunburst didn’t bother to tell her, too busy picking up the pieces of his shattered heart that would only crumble whenever he saw Starlight.

He barely held it together during the reception, since his mother had forced them to stick together to greet and thank the guests. Starlight looked much better than he did, she had a talent for looking happy when she wasn’t—at least to an outsider. Sunburst knew her well enough to read her like a book. Her smile was definitely fake, not reaching her dull and blank eyes. Whenever she smiled truly, her eyes would shine, and his heart would flutter because her smile would enrapture him.

He grimaced. He sounded like a lovesick idiot…then again, whether he liked to admit it or not, he was a lovesick idiot, probably the biggest one of them all. Next to him, his sister elbowed him sharply on his side, a pleasant smile plastered on her face as always.

“What the hell, Sunset?” Sunburst said, trying to jab her back.

“Would you quit it? At least pretend to look happy for mom.”

“Huh?”

“You look like someone ran over your cat.”

Sunburst grumbled under his breath about stupid nosy sisters and stupid weddings and stupid stepfathers, which only earned him a smack on the back of his head and a disapproving scowl.

“Behave, little brother,” she said, her scowl transforming into a charming smile when another wave of guests passed them by. “Look, I know that our parent's divorce was a long and messy one, it’s probably difficult seeing mom with someone else so soon.”

Her tone was so harsh that Sunburst looked at her but chose not to comment on it, though he did feel a sting of guilt at her words. He hadn’t spared a thought for anyone else but himself, too busy moping over his break up like the teenager he was. It never occurred to him how his mother’s sudden remarriage would affect others, maybe he should ask Sunset how she was feeling about this, maybe call his dad once this was over and see how he was doing, he should try to be a little less selfish—

“But at least try to be happy for her, okay? Mom deserves this,” Sunset cut him off before he could say something. “And before you start, you are going to dance with mom and our new sister.”

His spine stiffened but he nodded. Making a scene would do him no good, and he tried to think of himself and Starlight as part of a bigger picture. It wasn’t like this was the end of the world, he could date other girls; he was still young and had a whole life ahead of him and—

One glance at Starlight dancing clumsily with her dad made his thoughts crumble and fall like sandcastles. Their eyes met for a moment and the prospect of dating other people was no more. He hung his head and downed a glass of wine in three gulps, much to the disgust of his older relatives, and nearly spit it out when Sunset elbowed him again and yelled at him for drinking when he was still underage.

The evening dragged on to the point he thought he was in some kind of purgatory. He did what he was told and danced with Starlight, but only once, for he couldn’t handle her proximity, and it seemed that the feeling was mutual, for she made sure to avoid him for the rest of the evening.

His stepfather was a nice man and unlike his dad, was very open with his emotions and compliments. It made him happy that he seemed genuinely interested in his passion for history, not many people were, and it certainly helped that Firelight was a historian and avid collector of books and antiques. It looked like he cared for the people around him and was not afraid to show it. At least, that was the first impression he got. The more he talked with Firelight, the more Sunburst felt that he was being judged; there was a calculating glint in his eyes, and he swore he was sizing him up without even showing it. His dad was a very blunt person, never one for passive-aggressiveness, always speaking his mind in that cool, detached way of his.

Sunburst couldn’t shake the feeling that his stepfather was a ticking bomb—a dormant volcano, that would explode at any moment without warning and cover everything in its path with ash and lava.

It was only a matter of time.

With Sunset back in college and their parents—no, not their parents, but his mother and her father—off to their honeymoon, leaving them alone in the large house, it was as if fate had ordained for this to happen.

Maybe he shouldn’t have joined her at the pool, not when she was wearing that skimpy green bikini. Well, her bikini wasn’t skimpier than the usual bikinis sold at stores, but either way, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. His libido was at an all-time high and he noticed almost immediately that she had already been on a swim, the green garment clinging to her breasts in the most distracting manner.

He cleared his throat, looking at the clear sky. “Have you started on your presentation yet?”

Starlight looked up from her phone, clearly surprised that he was talking to her. He was too, part of him expecting their time together to pass in eternal silence. She shrugged and tossed her damp hair over her shoulder.

“Nah, I still got time.”

“I’m not letting you copy my work this time around.”

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, I’ll get it done eventually.”

He snorted. “I bet you’re going to start on the day before it’s due.”

“And I bet I’ll get a higher grade than you either way,” she grinned lazily, fixing him with a mocking look.

He glanced away with a roll of his eyes, and he felt his cheeks grow warm in a way that had nothing to do with the sun. He could feel her stare and tried very hard not to turn and face her. He failed and snuck a look from the corner of his eyes, but could you blame him? Starlight had a really hot body. Though she was lacking in the cleavage department compared to other girls at school, she made up for it with a pair of long legs that always made his blood boil, her flat stomach, her strong arms, her tiny waist, the curve of her hips, her elegant neck which he loved to nip or kiss playfully…

Gah! Bad Sunburst! If he kept this up, he was going to end up with a boner. He sighed, letting his head hang in defeat. If just being next to her made him this wild, it was probably for the best if he avoided her altogether for the next fourteen days. He should start by going inside and lock himself in his room…but since he was already here maybe he should go for a swim instead; the cold water would clear his mind from his dirty thoughts.

With a running leap, he jumped into the pool, and the shock of the cold water definitely made any unwanted boners impossible. He emerged with a gasp and pushed his wet hair away from his forehead and eyes. His gaze settled on Starlight again, only to find her pushing a pair of sunglasses hastily over her eyes, staring intently at her smartphone.

He couldn’t stop the smirk when he noticed the hint of pink on her cheeks, but he dove underwater not a moment later and opened his eyes, the sting of chlorine unpleasant but expected. He swam a few laps before he grew tired of it, thoughts of sex being the last thing on his mind.

But then he heard a splash and damned it, Starlight was next to him in the water, her phone and sunglasses forgotten in the chair she had been occupying before.

“You up for a race?” She grinned cheekily.

He should say no, he knew that something was bound to happen the longer they stayed together like this, alone and with so little clothing. He should definitely say no.

“Bring it on.”

He was a dumbass.

Their race had lasted longer than he had expected and they only stopped when they ended up arguing if it was a tie or not, only to realize how close they were standing to each other. He froze, his brain screamed at him to retreat—to leave the pool and avoid her until his mother and his stepfather returned from their honeymoon—but his body wasn’t listening and he stayed where he was, standing in the shallow water as he gazed down at her.

He could feel the warmth of her body, he found himself mesmerized by the rise and fall of her chest and the way her breast pushed against the wet, clingy fabric of her bikini with each intake of breath. He watched as the water trailed down her hair and her face and neck and fuck, she was beautiful and he was the biggest dumbass for thinking he could keep his hands to himself for the rest of his days.

He wanted her. He wanted her so much that he couldn’t think straight. He hated his mom for marrying her dad, hated how something out of their control broke them apart, hated his dad for going through the divorce, hated the disease that took Starlight’s mother away from them.

He gulped, his mind a jumbled mess, desperation running in his veins, throat tight with a searing ache that rendered him mute. He raised his hand and ran it down her bare arm, licking his lips as the goosebumps followed the trail of his fingers. Her breath hitched, her eyes wide and impossibly blue and lovely. She was so beautiful, so fucking beautiful that he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Sunburst?”

He couldn’t speak, couldn’t talk even if he tried, words didn’t begin to describe what he was feeling and all he could do was aim a pathetic, stricken look at her, and tighten his hold on her elbow.

“Sunburst, no, we can’t…”

“I don’t care.”

And he could tell that she didn’t care either, could see the longing in her eyes, and that she had probably thought about it too, of them, together, not giving a flying fuck for their parents’ marriage.

“Two weeks,” he found himself saying, pressing himself against her and shuddering in a way that had nothing to do with the cold. “They’re gone for two weeks. Nobody will be in the house but us.”

He dropped his hands and kept them to himself like the gentleman he was, let her ponder over this, and waited for her decision like the good little lapdog he was. For a moment, he thought she was going to push him away, her eyes clouded with indecision; but even if that were the case, he would take it like a man and accept her choice because as much as he wanted her, craved her touch, her voice, her presence, her everything, he wanted her to be happy above all else. If she didn’t want this, for whatever reason, then he would respect that, even if his heart would be torn to shreds in the process.

She met his eyes and, ever so slowly, she nodded. He thought his heart might as well melted out of his chest cavity, for his breath caught when she unfastened the strings of her bikini top and threw it away. She looked at him with glazed eyes, an expression so familiar that he recalled every intimate moment they shared together with vivid detail.

“Two weeks,” she said, her voice soft as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed her wet, naked chest against his. She nuzzled his nose, their lips barely apart as she mumbled. “Two weeks and then…”

They had done this before, twice, perhaps more depending on the technicalities.

They weren’t an official couple when they began to fool around—kiss, make out, gone to third base, etc.—and sure, it had been a little strange at first, but they knew each other for so long that such a small thing like oral sex didn’t disrupt the balance of their bond. They hadn’t been concerned about putting a label on their relationship until many months later, and even then, it took them another month before they agreed to go all the way.

Their first time hadn’t been as awkward as he feared it would be, maybe all the heavy petting and skipping around from base to base had helped in that regard. It took place in his house, in the living room, on the soft rug next to the fireplace. His parents (still married, but their marriage clearly on the rocks) left for a charity event that weekend, and Starlight told her grandmother that she’d be staying over at Trixie’s

It hadn’t been his intention to tick off every romantic movie cliché when he prepared for their evening together. He cleaned the room from top to bottom, carefully selected the music that would play through the night, even decorated the living room with as many decorative candles he could fit without causing a fire hazard. It hadn’t even crossed his mind how sappy and uncool he was being and only stopped short of surprising her with a bouquet of roses. But at the time he couldn't care less, for he wanted the night to be perfect, to show her how much he loved her, to prove to her how serious he was about them, and if doing all that labeled him whipped or simp or whatever then so be it. He had grown as the skinny, anemic kid with vitiligo and glasses, he could deal with a little name-calling.

And it all had been worth it in the end, and not just for the sex, but by the way her face had lighted up, her radiant smile and her laugh as she gently teased him for being such a sap. He even played the piano for her; played the song he composed just for her.

Yeah, he’d really ticked off every romantic cliché that night.

Their first time had been sweet, gentle, and slow, and he made sure that she felt good. There was no sweetness or gentleness this time, but there sure was a hell of a lot of passion.

He pulled his swimming trunks to his knees, doing the same to her bikini bottoms as he thrust into her from behind with little warning. He clutched her hips close to him and Starlight could barely hold on to the edges of the chaise longue, moaning his name, screaming, and begging for more and he made damn sure that she got it.

His pace was quick and unrelenting, and his ego soared when her climax came fast and hard. He wasn’t done yet and turned her around to appreciate her dazed face, the blush that went from her cheeks to her chest, and the need in her eyes before he entered her again. Her sinful legs wound around his hips tightly, making him groan as she pressed herself tightly against him. His muscles clenched and he could barely move, but there was no need as Starlight did all the moving. The sinewy grinding of her hips brought his arousal to a whole new level, and when her hand went down to rub her clit, he felt his brain short circuit for a moment before he decided that this wasn’t fair. He was supposed to make her feel good. In the end, he let her touched herself because it was amazingly hot to watch, but he was the one doing all the grinding.

He let out a sharp breath through his clenched teeth and buried his face against her neck, licking the sweat he found there, nipping at her skin, and smiled when she trembled underneath him. He asked if it felt good, and she let out a whimper as her second orgasm tore through her. Her nails dug into his shoulder blades and she hid her face in his shoulder, moaning as Sunburst kept rocking into her over-sensitive body. His pace had slowed and though his thrusts weren’t any less intense, he knew he couldn’t keep this up much longer, not with the way she was whispering for him to let go and to give to her and that she loved him and—

He called out her name with a raspy cry as he came, closing his eyes so tightly that white stars exploded in his vision, his back arching with pleasure as he pushed his hips against hers until he could go no further. He barely caught himself on his elbows when the pleasure ebbed away, not wanting to crush her small body or hurt her in any way. His blood burned for her, his heart racing as they remained tangled in each other. He kissed her forehead, her nose, her cheek, her lips; whispered that he loved her and other sappy words that he meant from the bottom of his heart. She giggled and told him he was heavy, and laughed out loud when he refused to move, she huffed playfully and simply shoved him aside, flipping their positions so she was the one lying on top of him.

Their heartbeats slowed and their breathing even and for a brief moment they forgot that this togetherness was only a stolen moment of happiness, short-lived but no less sweet. Starlight raised her head and looked at him imploringly before she sighed. “Two weeks, Sunburst. Two weeks and then we…”

She let her words trail off like before, and Sunburst kissed her, knowing that she had no intention of finishing that fatalistic sentence. They could afford to put reality on hold for fourteen days before they had to face the fact that they were brother and sister by law. They only had a short amount of time to enjoy each other, and he wasn’t going to waste it on moping.

The light in Sunburst’s room was dim, the warm glow of his night lamp accentuating the curve of Starlight’s hip. Her soft fingers lazily traced the edges of the patches on his arms caused by his vitiligo.

“They’re coming back tomorrow,” she mumbled and the hand on her waist tightened. Her heart clenched at the gesture, but she knew it would be for the best. She knew for a fact that she shouldn’t have given into his touches and kisses, though it had been a moment of weakness from her part, she couldn’t bring herself to regret it.

After all, how could she have ignored him when he was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and dripping wet, his strong chest bared to her eyes? She bit her lip, feeling her body heating up at the memory, and she released it with a shaky sigh. She was selfish by nature and had done her fair share of stupid teenage things, but even she feared what would happen if her father ever found out about them.

She gently traced his left collarbone and smiled when he quivered and his breath hitch by such a small touch. She admired the way the shadows played on his chest, bringing out the shape of his light muscles. How was she supposed to live in the same house with him and go on without touching him? And wasn’t even about the sex; she wouldn’t be able to hold his hand or have his arm wrapped around her shoulders or cuddle as they watched movies and make fun of the cheesy dialogue.

What they were doing wasn’t technically wrong, they weren’t blood-related, they weren’t raised together, and they had been a couple of way before her dad decided to marry Sunburst’s mom, but she knew that her dad and her stepmom would have a fit if she admitted that she was in a relationship with her stepbrother. Stellar Flare was a well-known architect and constantly rubbed elbows with higher society, her reputation would be shattered if word got out that her brilliant son had been seduced by her unruly stepdaughter, she would hate them for making people more interested in the gossip than her designs.

Her dad…well, he was a wild card. He was usually very lenient with her, sometimes borderline unconcerned for what she did, but he wouldn’t be able to ignore this. His temper rarely erupted, but when it did…

She closed her eyes when she felt him shift a little. He brought a hand to her cheek and ran his long, beautiful fingers through her ruffled hair. The small smile he gave her caught her off guard, and she felt her heart breaking just a little more. She kissed him back gently when his mouth slanted over hers.

“I love you.” He mumbled against her lips.

And what little resolution she had to stay away from him after this shattered.

Author's Note

I hoped you enjoy this chapter! It's been a while since I wrote anything about the Equestria Girls universe or humans in general. This story is not going to be too long, just two more chapters and it's done, but I hope it'll be an entertaining one.

It could be just what we need

It was surprisingly easy to keep the others in the dark about what he and Starlight did behind closed doors. Whenever their parents weren’t working, they just had to blurt out some half-baked excuse about having to do homework together and Starlight insisting that they should not be interrupted because this semester was especially brutal. It was almost perfect. They saw each other every day, talk in private more often and have the most amazing sex behind closed doors. Yes, it was almost perfect, except for one thing.

“Sunburst, be a dear and call your sister downstairs, dinner is almost ready.”

“Sunset left for college two weeks ago.”

Stellar Flare sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she closed her laptop. “Sunburst,” she began, serious tone and all, and Sunburst rolled his eyes because he heard this lecture a thousand times already. “I know this is all new to us, but at least try to get along with your new sister.”

“Oh, we get along just fine—” he bit back a smirk, “—I just don’t need to call her my sister. Heck, Sunset is already high-maintenance enough as it is, she occupies all my brotherly feelings and stuff.”

He was met with a look of exasperation as his mother waved her hand dismissively. “Fine, just tell Starlight that dinner is ready.”

Sunburst grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”

His mom and his stepfather really like to refer to them as ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ any chance they got. It never failed to make him cringe because what he and Starlight had was nowhere near sibling affection—at least healthy sibling affection, he thought with a grimace.

She was in her room, sitting on her desk as she worked on her newest art project, headphones on and music blasting to a volume that was definitely not healthy. He smiled fondly and closed the door behind him, closing the distance in a few steps until he stood behind her, he placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned in to kiss her cheek, startling her slightly.

“Dinner’s ready,” he said when she took her headphones off.

Starlight perked up, shooting him one of her absurdly adorable smiles that would have made him freeze on the spot with a big, goofy grin if he weren’t already used to them. He carefully pushed her sketchbook aside as he leaned in to kiss her properly, one hand gripping the back of her chair while the other grasp her desk, these small pecks were never enough, for either of them. She moaned into his mouth and pushed him back a little, her eyes dazed and cheeks blazing.

“Sunburst, this is dangerous. Someone could walk in…”

He huffed, letting his head drop to her shoulder. “Screw them.”

Her breath was soft and warm against the skin of his cheek. “I know this is annoying.” She sighed, petting his hair and he nearly melted, wondering if she felt this good when he ran his fingers through her hair. “Maybe I shouldn’t have insisted on keeping our relationship a secret, maybe it could have—”

“Hey,” he looked up, placing his fingers under her chin so she would meet his eyes. “What’s done is done, so stop beating yourself over it. Even if they had known, there’s no guarantee they would have changed their minds. Who knows? They would’ve probably forced us to break up or something.”

She let an agitated huff, pushing him away as she stood up and flopped on her bed. “It’s weird. I insisted that we keep this a secret and now I hate all the hiding, I’m such a hypocrite.”

“We can still go on dates,” he said, laying on the bed next to her and taking her hand. “We just need to go somewhere no one recognizes us.”

She smiled and crawled closer to him, resting her head on his chest and his arm automatically wrapping around her waist. He stared at her ceiling for a moment before closing his eyes, feeling like he would fall asleep at any moment with how comfortable he was at the moment.

After a brief pause, Starlight spoke up again, her voice slightly muffled. “You know, I’ve been thinking…we’ll be graduating this year, and we have to start looking for universities and applying and stuff, I was thinking that maybe we could…”

He perked up, hope bubbling in his chest. “Go to the same university?”

She nodded slowly, playing with the buttons of his shirt. “Yeah, I mean, once our parents aren’t hovering over us, we can basically do whatever we want.”

“And…” he took a deep breath, willing his stuttering heart to stay calm. “We could tell them, then?”

She sighed, sounding exhausted and sinking deeper into him. “I don’t know but…we can’t keep this from them forever, can we? I just think…maybe they won't take it so bad if we don’t live with them anymore, and you’re eighteen already and I’ll be too in a month so…”

“They couldn’t tell us what to do, we’ll be basically adults.”

“Yes, but we need to apply to the same schools and get accepted first and…and…”

He stroked her head before he pressed his lips against her forehead. “Sounds like a plan.”

Sunset was just glad to be back. She was tired as hell, but it had been her choice to take the early morning flight, besides that it was one of the cheapest flights she could get. Her mom and stepfather had been invited to some exposition in Chicago by one of their friends, so she didn’t bother to knock or announce herself as she approached the silent house.

It was hard to imagine that half a year had passed since her mom’s remarriage; well, she hadn’t really been paying attention though, with her studying on the other side of the country it was hard to be part of her family's "quality time", which—according to her brother’s messages—consisted on a lot of senseless talking and awkward family activities. She sometimes felt bad for Starlight and Sunburst, they probably rather be left alone than forced to spend time with each other.

Sunset wouldn’t have tempted fate if she knew she would be eating her words a few minutes later.

At first, she was too busy struggling with her keys and trying not to drag her beaten suitcase too much—fearing that it would break open if she dropped it—to notice anything strange. Then it got a little weird when she entered the foyer, thinking of making herself a cup of coffee before heading to bed, and heard the mishmash of piano keys.

Sunset knew that Sunburst didn’t play if he could avoid it, maybe he was sneaking some practice now that their mother wasn’t hovering over his shoulder. But even then, it didn’t sound like Sunburst’s playing at all, in fact, it sounded like a five-year-old was smashing the keys to his heart’s desire. She was mildly curious, but mostly tired and dreaming of her warm, fluffy bed when she glanced at the living room to see what it was. All thoughts of her bed flew out the window when she saw what was going on.

There was Sunburst, sitting on the piano bench, and it wasn’t a five-year-old pressing the white and black keys, but Sunburst’s elbows. He wasn’t even facing the piano, he was…oh, there was Starlight…sitting on his lap, her legs on either side of him, moving and grinding against him and they were making these weird noises—

Oh.

Oh!

She wrenched her eyes away from the mentally scarring sight because she knew what they were doing, she knew what it looked like when a girl and a boy were making out. Holy shit! At least they had been mercifully clothed, and Starlight still had her pants on and she hadn’t ended up seeing her little brother’s penis—oh god, she was going to throw up, she…she had to erase the image somehow, scratch that, she would have to pour bleach over her eyes and drink a whole bottle of absinthe along with some pills and pray she would drop dead because she couldn’t fucking deal with this goddamn nightmare!

Her brother was screwing her stepsister!

She didn’t even bother gathering her suitcase where she left it near the door, she didn’t even know how she got to her room, feeling like she was on an acid trip gone bad. She collapsed on her bed and thought about curling up in a fetal position and rock back and forth like a patient in a mental ward from a bad, inaccurate horror film. Instead, she fell asleep, only to wake up an hour later and remembering why she was feeling so sick in the first place.

She wouldn’t be drinking any coffee tonight for sure, she needed something way stronger than caffeine. Luckily, she had a secret whiskey bottle she kept under her bed, expertly hidden from prying eyes. Some booze and lots and lots of episodes of her favorite soap opera—she backpedaled from that thought, because she wanted to forget what she just saw, not be reminded of it while watching a show that was the breeding ground for complicated romantic relations.

She settled for watching Sofia the first instead.

Two hours later a thoroughly satisfied Sunburst walked up the stairs, not having realized that Sunset was home until he passed by her slightly open door, stopping when he saw that his sister looked like a mix between a zombie with a junkie while watching a bunch of children’s cartoons on her bed. He knocked on her door gently and peered inside.

“Hey, when did you get back?”

He nearly jumped when Sunset looked at him with bloodshot eyes.

“Ssssssuuunnbursttt.” His sister slurred.

Sunburst blinked; his eyes drawn to the whiskey bottle. “Sunset, are you drunk?” His voice was flat and exasperated as he took the bottle from his sister’s loose grip.

“’m not drunk.”

He snorted. “I feel like I’ll get intoxicated just by standing near you.”

“Shut up, is your fault.”

“I’m not the one who bought you this,” he wiggled the bottle in her face and raised an eyebrow when he read the brand. “Apparently, dad did, hope he won’t be too mad that you know where his secret stash is.”

She didn’t reply and Sunburst assumed it was due to her intoxication, instead of a sincere wish to stay quiet. The muted voices from the laptop made the silence less awkward. When Sunset spoke up again, he was surprised by how sober she sounded.

“Sunburst, I…you know, you can tell me anything, right?”

Sunburst gave her a strange look. What the hell was she saying?

“Just go to sleep Sunset, and don’t complain to me in the morning about your hangover.”

“I’m going to feel like shit tomorrow with or without the booze.”

“Then take an aspirin or something.”

“I saw you.”

Sunburst perked up. “Huh? What are you talk—?”

“I saw you!” Sunset stood up. Her feet were shaky but her voice was firm enough to shatter his carefully constructed world of secrecy into dust. “I saw you having sex with Starlight!”

The bottle slipped from his fingers and fell with a thud on the carpet, rolling away out of sight. No one paid it any heed as Sunset grasped his forearms tightly, shaking him a little. “Look, I don’t care what those animes and comics or whatever told you, this is reality! That shit is not okay! Screwing your stepsister is not okay! Just…What is wrong with you!? You better stop it before mom finds out!”

Sunburst was so dumbstruck that he couldn’t speak or stop her from shaking him so roughly. Dread gripped his heart so tightly that he couldn’t breathe. Stop? Stop being with Starlight? What would Sunset do if he didn’t? Would she tell them? He swallowed his anger and clenched his fists, leveling his sister with a cold stare. “No.”

Sunset met his gaze with her own fiery glare, fingers digging painfully into his skin. “Sunburst,” she started slowly. “I’m not telling you to stop having sex, sex is great, you can have as much sex as you want, with anyone you want, as long as it’s not with someone from our family!”

Sunburst pushed her away, fingers twitching with the urge to break something. “You think this is just about sex!? Fuck you, Sunset, I’m not like you! I…I actually love Starlight.”

Sunset snorted loudly and waved her hand dismissively while looking at him with sisterly disdain. “Oh please, you’re what, eighteen? What do you know about love? You barely know her, besides there are plenty of girls out there you could be dating—”

“I’ve known Starlight since middle school and…we’ve been together for two years!”

“W-Wait,” Sunset’s eyes were wide. “This means…before, before mom married…you were…”

Sunburst nodded, his voice strained as he answered. “Yes.”

Another silence followed his words and the theme from Sofia the First might have ended, he wasn’t sure. He just knew that he was in deep trouble and in his frenzied state considered hunting down the whisky bottle and smashed it over Sunset’s head or himself or something.

“Are you going to tell mom?” he asked, feeling like a little kid with his head down and his bangs covering his eyes.

“Fuck if I know.” Sunset sat on her bed, burying her hands in her red and blond hair like she was about to rip it out, letting out an agitated groan. “Okay, so…you love Starlight?”

Sunburst nodded.

“Okay…” Sunset let go of her hair and buried her face in her palms. “Just…just make sure you keep it down and be careful, and don’t ever let me walk in on you again, okay?”

“Man, this really sucks, you know?” Trixie sighed, resting her chin on her hand with heavily lidded eyes. “Trixie played wingman for you two for years and now this.”

Starlight perked up; her fingers curled against the novel her grandmother had gotten her. The old lady had a knack for getting her the best gifts, ever since she was a baby her grandmother’s gifts never disappointed, while her dad’s presents always ended on the back of her closet, collecting dust.

“It’s so unfair. You had…no, you have so much chemistry,” Trixie continued, not bothering to look at the waiter that brought them their drinks. Starlight thanked him quietly. “But you have to admit, living in the same house would make it easier for you two to hook up…wink,” Trixie smirked.

Starlight gasped, pretended to be disgusted and shocked, and spluttered excuses about Sunburst being her stepbrother and how she would never—

She stopped in the middle of her speech. Starlight was tired of pretending, tired of hiding what she and Sunburst have; she felt like she was suffocated by the weight of her secret. She was stuck in limbo, not being able to do anything about it, she wanted…she needed to…to talk.

And the truth streamed out of her like a busted pipe, spilling her guts out to her best friend. She might have cried near the end, or already cried in the middle, she wasn’t entirely sure, so she pretended that her face wasn’t drenched and blotchy from crying as she braced herself for Trixie’s judgment.

Trixie blinked, took about five seconds to process the news, and grinned. “AHA! Trixie was right all along! Maud owns me twenty bucks now!” She pumped her fist in the air, startling a bored couple sitting on the table behind them, and Trixie gave her a million-watt smile. “There was no way you two could have so much unresolved sexual tension going on without snapping. So, tell me how it happened, and don’t spare the details!”

Starlight sniffed, utterly confused—kind of happy, but still confused. “Huh…” When did it happen? What sexual act had been the ‘snapping point’ for them? Was it that kiss they shared when she got fed up with him and when he insisted on tutoring her on every subject? Or that one time when she gave him a blowjob just because she could and he had been more than receptive to her advances? “It happened some time ago before dad remarried and…yeah…”

Trixie’s eyes grew wide, letting out a loud gasp before she grinned quite manically.

“Oh, Trixie can’t believe you,” she threw her head back with a laugh. “You little slut,” she said, sounding proud and teasing at the same time. Starlight wasn’t offended, but she was highly embarrassed and hoped that the couple behind them wasn’t listening to their conversation. “I feared that you would become a prude ever since you started hanging out with Twilight and her goody-two-shoes friends, but look at you! Sexing up your stepbrother like a pro! Oh my gosh, Trixie’s so proud of you!”

“Trixie! How can you, I mean why are you…just…ugh!”

“I’m guessing your dad has no idea,” Trixie continue as if nothing was wrong, as though they were talking about the weather. “Does anyone know?”

“No, we haven’t told anyone…but Sunset knows b-because shekindofwalkedinonus.”

“Oh? You should have invited her over.”

“Trixie! This is serious!”

“So am I! Sunset is a total babe; I couldn’t be more serious.” She cackled and Starlight found herself wondering how they became friends in the first place. “Okay, since you’re here and not in some nunnery, I’m guessing Sunset hasn’t told anyone else.”

“No, she hasn’t,” Starlight mumbled, her cheeks red. Nothing had been more off-putting than the knowledge that Sunset had seen them going at it. When Sunburst told her about it, she had been close to breaking everything off with him in a fit of hysterical panic.

“What are you going to do now?” Trixie asked, her expression serious for once. “Do you plan on keeping this a secret forever?”

Starlight sighed. “I don’t know, we were thinking of telling them once we moved out for college, but I just know that my dad will explode if he finds out.”

“Oh, please. You’re almost eighteen, it’s high time your dad realized that you’re not a little girl anymore. He’s in no position to tell you what to do—”

“Trixie, he’s my dad, I don’t want to hurt him.”

Her friend gave a loud snort, scowling heavily. “He just came back to tell you he’s getting married to your boyfriend’s mother after traveling through Europe, even though he technically had custody of you and left you with your grandmother.”

“Well, we did keep in touch—” at Trixie’s incredulous look, Starlight heave another sigh, “—okay, maybe we didn’t talk every day, but he’s still my dad.”

She hung her head, unable to meet Trixie’s gaze anymore, her fingers playing with the straw of her drink. She gulped, feeling a knot tightly lodged in her throat. She was happy that her dad was back, but it wasn’t the same...and probably would never be the same. As much as she hated to admit it, Starlight couldn’t shake the feeling of distance between them. When her mother died, they both dealt with their grief in their own ways, while she lashed out at the world (and would have probably gone down the deep end if it weren’t for Sunburst, her friends, and her grandmother) her father had retreated from it. He used the job offer in Europe as an excuse to escape from his grief, from everything that reminded him of his late wife, escaping from the world when it got too much for him.

Sometimes she wished she could live with her grandmother again. She kind of missed her messy house filled with books and cats, even though the cat hair had been the bane of existence during her punk face. Maybe…maybe if she moved in back with her, her dad would be more receptive to the idea of her and Sunburst being an item.

“Look,” Trixie said, and Starlight perked up at the seriousness of her tone. “If you want to be with Sunburst, stay with him. I’m not going to judge, Maud and Twilight won’t either. If something happens, you can count on me.”

Starlight smiled faintly, feeling lighter than she had in weeks and gratitude swelling her heart. “Thank you, Trixie.”

While summer break was a much welcome respite from school, it also meant that he and Starlight were running out of excuses to lock themselves in one of their rooms to fuck. Well, they did come up with the excuse of summer homework and an assignment they had to do over break, but other than that, nothing much. And they clung to that excuse for all they were worth.

“You’re such a tease, you know that?” He groaned lowly, watching her eyes practically shine as her lips curled into a devious smile, her hands running up and down his chest and shoulders. She rolled her hips into him again, and they both let out a series of needy moans.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Sunburst.” She practically purred his name, flashing him a sultry smile as she set up a steady but slow—far too slow—pace with her hips.

His hands roamed up her body, marveled at the softness of her skin, stroked her back, her sides, her shoulders, and cupped her breasts roughly, enjoying the soft sighs she let out as she continued to grind against his dick. He thought about looking down, to the place where they were joined, but that would mean he would have to look away from her face, twisted in such wonderful expressions of pure pleasure and love.

Ah, decisions, decisions. He wished all of his dilemmas were like this.

Sunburst firmly placed his hands on her hips, guiding their movements with the languid rocking of his hips until she threw her head back with a cry. He was entranced by her hair, the way the purple strands were plastered to her forehead, and the messiness of it because he loved running his fingers through it. He wouldn’t mind spending the rest of his days like this, just him and Starlight naked on his bed. Gathering the last of wits, he brought a hand between her legs and stroked her clit with his thumb. She jerked and mewled throatily, gasped out his name in that raspy, sensual way of hers that always made his limbs feel weak and his brain melt into a puddle of mush inside his skull.

He panted as he thrust into her, whispered his love for her, and kissed her gently as she came undone in his lap. His blood roar in his ears, his nerves endings on fire as she rode him to his orgasm.

They cuddled a little in the aftermath, shared kisses, and talked about random things until it was time for dinner. They took their time getting ready since the whole family would be there.

Dinner was filled with the chatter of his stepfather and his mom as it usually was the case. Sunset was far less talkative ever since their parents divorced and she usually spent her time in their father’s house. Perhaps it was her way of showing their mom what she thought about this sudden remarriage…or maybe she was simply avoiding him and Starlight.

“So, Sunburst,” his mother, Stellar Flare, asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. “What is your biology assignment specifically about?”

Sunburst tried to be discreet when he looked at Starlight, or at least that was what he told himself. “Anatomy.”

Starlight tried to covered her reddening cheeks, gulping down a tall glass of water. Sunset choked on her food and went for her wine instead.

His mom remained oblivious. “Oh, sounds interesting I guess? Don’t work too hard and just enjoy yourselves.”

Sunset choked on her wine.

Author's Note

One more chapter to go! Feedback is very much appreciated since the dislike bar doesn't tell me much :unsuresweetie:

But these loose ends still have its uses

Firelight became suspicious when his daughter snapped at the neighbor’s fifteen-year-old daughter. He faintly understood his daughter’s ire; their front yard was no place to flirt with Sunburst when he was supposed to be cutting grass and handling machinery, but Starlight’s reaction had been quite…volatile to say the least.

“Starlight, honey,” he said softly, putting a hand on his daughter’s shoulder as he eyed her warily. “Calm down, there’s no need to make a fuss.”

Starlight’s shoulders were shaking, her eyes blazing as she gritted her teeth forcefully. “The nerve of that bit—girl!”

He focused on calming his daughter down and tried not to think about her outburst; she might be having a bad day, it could be hormones or a combination of both. He knew his child—his sweet, innocent Starlight was a good girl and sweet, innocent Starlight didn’t act impulsively, she was smart and would never do anything silly (never mind that he spent more time overseas in Italy, Spain, Germany, Norway, and England than in America with his daughter to properly judge her character).

No, he really knew Starlight. He trusted his daughter. His child was a perfect angel. She was his pride and joy—the most precious gift that Aurora ever gave him before she departed from this world nine years ago. He saw so much of Aurora in her…and yet the seed of suspicion had been planted, and began to grow when he started paying closer attention to his daughter.

And he promptly felt like a fool.

He started noticing everything, all the things he overlooked out of sheer stubbornness, all the subtle and not so subtle ways Sunburst and Starlight interacted. It was all there, plain as day—the lingering looks, the blushes, the cocky grins, the suggestive winks, the casual touches. Oh, how could he had not seen the way their hands lingered on one another, or the way they rested too low on the back, the clap on the shoulder that was more of a pat, the far too intimate cheek-pinching, the light-hearted punches that transformed into gentle caresses down the forearm, and the downright flirting!

He refused to acknowledge the fact that he should have seen this coming, having a teenage boy and girl living in close quarters was bound to lead to more than friendly relations. No, he rebuffed the possibility when his Starlight was concerned! And he wouldn’t have imagined his stepson to be this irresponsible either. He was a good lad, a straight-A student, he would never have expected this from either of them…but with the pile of evidence…the thought that his daughter and his stepson would…

He didn’t tell his wife about his suspicions—and he didn’t plan to—not until he was certain of what their children were doing behind those closed doors. He didn’t want to jeopardize his marriage by throwing accusations around, but most of all, he didn’t want to jump to conclusions too soon. If Starlight and Sunburst were indeed together…he wouldn’t know what to do.

He didn’t want Starlight to throw her life away for some boy, to fall for someone so deeply in her juvenile naivety, to build her life around a boy that would just let her down in the end, to let go of her hopes and dreams because this relationship took priority now, and dear god, what if she got pregnant!? Eighteen or not, she was far too young for such a responsibility. No, Starlight had a bright future ahead of her and he refused to let her turn away from it. Starlight didn’t need the influence of a man, much less from one who was her stepbrother!

It was a day in December, with Christmas quite close, that Firelight finally cracked under the mountain of evidence on top of him.

His wife was out, shopping for presents, while Sunset was in her room, tired from her late-night flight and most likely sleeping. He, Starlight, and Sunburst were watching reruns of a sitcom from the seventies, and everything was well until Sunburst excused himself to his room. He was relieved when Starlight stayed with him, and they started talking like they always did, talking about her friends and about how she was looking forward to university.

The thought of his daughter leaving in a few months broke his heart. A part of him deeply regretted ever leaving the country and his daughter behind for all these years, and now it was Starlight’s turn to leave, so soon after they had finally reunited and gotten used to having her so near. He had subtly—and perhaps selfishly—tried to persuade Starlight to attend a university close to their city, and even though Starlight applied here and got accepted, she also applied to other schools outside of the state and got accepted as well, and it was to one of those faraway universities that she decided to go.

He didn’t share his wife’s relief that their kids would be going to the same university, having a sneaking suspicion that they had planned this from the start. It was with this thought that he shot down the idea of Starlight and Sunburst sharing an apartment after living in the dorms for their first year.

Dread coated his throat when Starlight excused herself an hour later. He watched his daughter leave and clenched his shaking hands, trying to swallow his panic, and forced himself to remain seated, watching the television with unseeing eyes. He waited until the next commercial break before he made his way upstairs, standing in front of Sunburst’s room first since it was closest, leaning his head softly against the wood and listening intently. His heart fell when he heard hushed voices on the other side.

His hand was clammy with sweat when he twisted the doorknob.

“Dad, I can explain!”

Her words fell on deaf years, no matter how much she yelled and called for her father’s attention. Starlight realized too late that she had grown careless, let her guard down, and had given her father a reason to barge into Sunburst’s room, catching them in the middle of a make-out session.

The blankness in her father’s eyes disturbed her. There had been no explosion of anger like she expected, just silence so profound she thought she had gone deaf for a second. When she and Sunburst jumped apart, for the briefest of moments, Starlight was the focus of her father’s hateful glare, the darkest expression she ever seen on her father’s usually calm and loving features. It was gone before she could process it and his eyes were schooled in careful blankness as he left the room, his steps robotic and heavy.

Sunburst and Starlight ran after him, talking loudly, trying to explain, to make him stop and listen, because it wasn’t supposed to happen like this! She had really wanted to tell him the truth, never wanted him to find out like this, there simply had never been a right time to tell them and why was he going to her room?

“Dad, please listen to me!” Starlight paused as her father wrenched open her closet door. “Dad, what are you doing?”

“Packing your things, I’ll call your grandmother to come pick you up,” he said, his voice eerily calm, and Starlight was momentarily stunned as she tried to grasp the meaning of his words.

“W-What? No, you can’t do that!”

“You’re going to send Starlight away?” Sunburst said lowly, anger and panic barely contained in his voice. He scoffed, blue eyes flashing with disdain and for a moment Starlight thought he might actually throw a punch at her dad. “Classic.”

Her father turned around and fixed them both with a contemptuous glare. “You don’t have a say in this young man, so don’t paint me as the villain here. Did you think you could get away with this irresponsible behavior forever? Well, not anymore, I’m putting my foot down. Starlight, you are going to stay with your grandmother until I’ve decided what to do from here. Do you understand?”

Starlight’s hands were shaking. She couldn’t believe this. She was going to be sent away…just like that? Without a real confrontation? Her heart leaped into her throat as she tried not to burst into tears right then and there. She took a shuddery breath and looked at her father straight in the eye.

“If you want me to go then I will. To be honest, I’d rather live with grandma than with you. At least she wanted me close and never ran away to Europe when things got bad. She was always there for me, unlike you,” she spat, her rage getting the better of her, her control slipping from her shaky grasp.

She reached for Sunburst’s hand blindly, pointedly ignoring her father’s disapproving glare, and squeezed it reassuringly, showing him that no matter where her father sent her, her feelings for Sunburst would not change. She sought out his gaze, and her heart swelled at his small smile and his warm eyes. She knew she could count on him.

“Don’t be stupid, Starlight. You have no idea what you’re talking about,” her father said, closing his eyes as he rubbed his temple. “I did not run away to Europe; I went there to provide you a better future! Do you think this house and your schooling were cheap? I’m not the one who’s irresponsible here, you’re the one who fucked your stepbrother—”

“Oh, screw you! I was fucking him before you married his mom!”

Her father visibly recoiled, face paling and twisting into disbelief. But before Starlight could get her hopes up, before she could think that she’d finally reached him, that they could solve this in a peaceful manner, her father grabbed a handful of her clothes and tossed them on the bed.

“Pack your things. Now.”

Starlight’s heart shattered.

Firelight was as stubborn as mule, Sunburst realized, he simply refused to listen to anything they had to say; it didn’t help that Starlight seemed to have given up, and he felt his heart breaking when the tears started rolling down her face. He grasped her hand firmly and pulled her along with him, following his stepfather after he threw some of Starlight’s clothes haphazardly into a suitcase, still deaf to their pleas and plowing ahead like a loose bull down the stairs. Sunburst growled under his breath, terrified and yet determined to get his way; he wouldn’t let Starlight go again.

“You can’t send Starlight away just because you can’t deal with this shit!” He hurried after Firelight, trying to grab his shoulder to get his attention but he just shrugged him off wordlessly. The suitcase clattered loudly as he carelessly pulled it down the stairs behind him, making them flinch at the noise. “Listen to me! Sending her away won’t solve anything, I won’t let you!”

He threw him a withering look over his shoulder. “You best keep your mouth shut Sunburst, and from now on I forbid you from seeing my daughter!”

“I would like to see—”

“What is going on here?”

Relief and absolute terror flowed in Sunburst’s veins when he heard his mother’s voice. He didn’t get his hopes up when he saw his mom standing in the doorway, or expected any support from her as she looked at them with a concerned look, but he let himself faintly believe that she would be the level headed voice they desperately needed to sort out this mess. He watched with hard eyes as Firelight walked up to his mom, explaining what had happened with a calm voice and the crudest language.

And Sunburst knew that even a level-headed conversation was too much to ask for at this point. He had never seen his mother so pissed, but at least the weight of Starlight’s hand in his was a silent comfort.

Sunset liked to start her mornings with a simple cup of coffee, but since today she felt especially well-rested, she considered indulging herself with a cappuccino or a latte macchiato. She hummed quietly as she walked down the stairs, confident in the feeling that today would be a good day. This Christmas would be a nice one, she was sure since her mother had invited her father over for Christmas dinner in an effort to get along and Sunset was excited. Besides, she had already purchased all the presents she needed, so all that was left to do was to kick back and enjoy her vacation.

Then she stepped into the living room and everything came crashing down.

Her mother was shouting at Sunburst, her stepfather looked like he would strangle anyone that stepped too close to him, Starlight’s face was drenched with tears, and her brother looked torn between wanting to brawl or ripping someone’s head off, the only thing holding him back was Starlight’s hand in his.

“How could you do this!? What made you think you could get away with this Sunburst!” Her mother yelled, her face red and green eyes flashing, for a moment she was sure that steam would be pouring out of her ears at any moment. “Sleeping with your stepsister, are you out of your mind!?”

Oh.

They found out, huh?

She backed away slowly, edging away from the commotion, and tried to slip by unnoticed into the kitchen. It was too early to deal with this shit, she needed her coffee first, at the very least. She couldn’t start her day, or deal with this drama, without the blackest coffee she could get her hands on.

“Sunset!”

Sunset closed her eyes with a groan. So much for that plan.

“Hey mom,” she smiled groggily, hoping that if she played dumb, she could get away from this because nopenopenopenope, she would not get involved with this.

“Come over here, now,” her mom said, running a hand through her hair in agitation.

“Uh, okay, just let me get my coffee and—”

“Sunset Shimmer Flare, get over here right now!”

Okay, if her mom used her full name like that it meant that shit was about to go down. Sunset didn’t even try to hide her disdain as she made her way to the couch and flopped down with a miserable groan. “Urgh, fuck my life.”

Starlight didn’t even listen as her stepmother dragged poor Sunset into this. She hadn’t even done anything. She sighed and looked at her father pitifully, nearly shrinking away at the disdain in his eyes.

“Did you know what Starlight and Sunburst were doing, Sunset?” Her stepmother asked, a little calmer than before, though depending on Sunset’s answer, her calm demeanor might not be for long.

A tense silence followed, and Starlight felt like she would faint and she clutched Sunburst’s hand tighter for support. After what felt like hours, Sunset sighed. “Yeah, I knew.” She looked at them sharply, blue eyes dark and impenetrable.

Stellar was seething. “Then…why didn’t you tell us?” she asked between gritted teeth, her fists clenched in a white-knuckled grip.

Sunset seemed to ponder this a little, cocking her head to the side. “Uh, because it was none of my business?”

“How can it not be your business when your brother and sister are having sex?!”

Starlight winced at her loud voice, but Sunset didn’t even bat an eye at her mother’s outburst.

“Because they can do whatever they want. They’re not related, no matter how much you try to stress the opposite, they are nearly adults and they been together longer than you two,” she said and motioned towards her father and stepmother with a lazy hand.

Stellar paused, looking bewildered for a moment. “They…what?”

“It’s true,” Starlight chimed in, pushing her dread aside as she clutched Sunburst's hand for courage. “Sunburst and I were together before you decided to get married.”

She looked at her incredulously and then turned to her husband. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“It doesn’t matter, does it? They kept this a secret and—”

“But we wanted to tell you! We just…we weren’t sure when,” Starlight mumbled, looking down at her shoes.

“Even if we had told you, what would you have done? Not marry? Would you have been okay with us being together?” Sunburst cut in; his voice leveled.

Stellar Flare looked uneasily from her husband to Sunburst to Starlight before she turned to her husband again. “We…we could have figured something out. If you had told us sooner, we could have talked about it and—”

“Break us up so it wouldn’t be awkward for you two to get hitched?” Sunburst said snidely.

“No! I wouldn’t have forced you apart, Sunburst. Who do you take me for?”

Sunburst looked away, grumbling something under his breath. Her father remained unfazed and Starlight knew better than feeling confident with Stellar’s hesitation.

“Starlight,” he began and Starlight felt like a small, stupid child again, a child that needed guidance, a child too naïve to make her own choices. “What if you two break up in the future? Would all this awkwardness be worth it then?”

“If I’m not mistaken, you were pretty young when you married Starlight’s mom, and it turned out alright,” Sunset said nonchalantly, making her chest flutter with gratitude. Sunburst hid a snicker with a well-placed fake cough and her father glowered at the oldest sibling as if he was ready to strangle her before he turned back to his daughter.

“Honey, I’m sure you feel like he is the one and that you’ll live happily ever after, but you are so young, there are so many things you don’t know about yourself or the world…I know I didn’t,” he finished quietly, not quite meeting Starlight’s gaze. “I was only nineteen when I married your mother and had you, I don’t regret it, but it was the hardest thing I have ever done and we both missed out on a lot of things. I don’t want the same to happen to you.”

“But Starlight’s not pregnant,” Sunburst said, offended and angry.

“And I’m not like you, dad,” Starlight whispered, and then continued louder and with more determination. “Because I actually deal with my mistakes instead of running away like you.”

She almost regretted her words. Almost. The stricken look on her father’s face broke her heart, she was close to forgetting everything, wanting to hug her dad and apologize, because even if he made mistakes, Starlight loved her father and loathed to see him so hurt. The air was full of uneasiness, everyone at loss for words. Sunset was the first to move, shuffling awkwardly from the couch and muttering something about coffee under her breath.

The doorbell rang, and after a brief moment, Sunset peeked back into the living room and mumbled. “Goldie is here.”

Starlight sucked in a breath, her eyes burning as she helplessly looked from her father to Sunburst. She swallowed hard. “Okay, I’ll just…get going then,” she said quietly, giving Sunburst one last hug and discreetly kissed him on the cheek before she withdrew with a sad smile. He looked unsure for a moment before he finally let her go. She glanced briefly at her father as she took her suitcase, and bid farewell to her stepmother, who returned the gesture uneasily.

She was so stupid, hoping that her father would change his mind, but Starlight knew that he needed time. Maybe leaving for a while would do her some good. She smiled bitterly and came to a stop at the kitchen door, seeing Sunset sitting at the small dining table, no cup of coffee in her hands as she stared forlornly at the wall.

She cleared her throat, catching her attention. “Hey, um, thanks—” she blushed, pushing through her embarrassment as she spoke, “—for sticking up for us, I mean. And I’m sorry we dragged you into this mess.”

She blinked, tilting her head to the side before she smiled a little. “It’s alright, that’s what big sisters are for.”

Starlight’s throat felt too tight all of the sudden. She nodded weakly, muttered a quiet goodbye before making a mad dash for the door, running into her grandmother’s embrace. Goldie grunted a little, taken aback by her granddaughter’s enthusiasm, but for the moment she ignored her tear-stained cheeks and guided her to the car, knowing that whatever had happened could wait until they were home with an apple pie between them.

Firelight sighed as he stepped into the park, the bright sunny day at odds with his dark mood. It didn’t lessen when he saw his mother, white curly hair shining in the sunlight and her customary pink shawl over her shoulders, sitting on the park bench like nothing was wrong. She had called him the same day he sent Starlight away, trying to talk sense into him. He hung up on her because he was a grown man and knew what was best for his child.

And yet there he was, he somehow agreed to meet her so they could talk about Starlight. He didn’t know what was there to talk about, he was a grown man and Starlight was his child, he had the final say.

“Mother,” he greeted her curtly, nodding as he sat on the bench next to her. He wanted to get this over with, for he had work to do later on.

Goldie smiled and asked simple questions. How was work? Had he been eating well? How was Stellar doing? All in that same gentle tone that he heard since childhood, though weathered from the years, and some of his anxiety left him, for he could never stay angry at his mother for long. They spoke a little more as the pigeons watched them curiously from the ground, and then flew away when they didn’t offer them seeds or bread crumbs. His mother offered him an apple and he took it, rolling it around in his hands pensively, knowing what was coming.

“About Starlight,” she began uneasily, sighing loudly as her green eyes were focused on the apple she was peeling. “She told me everything.”

Firelight sighed. “Then you know that I won’t change my mind, she can hate me all she wants, but this is for her own good.”

“You have always been a stubborn man, but this isn’t about you this time, my granddaughter is miserable.”

“She should have thought of this before she decided to sleep with her stepbrother,” he gritted out, fists clenching.

Goldie grimaced but stayed quiet, and Firelight felt a pang of sympathetic pain. The last thing a parent wants to think about is their child having sex with anyone, much less with their stepsibling.

“It wasn’t easy to accept,” Goldie said slowly, “it really wasn’t, the first thing I wanted to do when Starlight told me was to hunt the boy down and make sure he couldn’t touch her again.” She sighed before she continued. “But then I thought, Starlight’s all grown up now and this boy makes her happy, what right do I have to stand in their way?”

He snorted. “Please, she told you that? Did she made you come here so she can get back at me through you?”

“She has no idea about this meeting, and I wanted it to keep it that way.”

“Mom, you can’t be seriously condoning this…relationship, don’t be ridiculous. She’ll end up unhappy and alone. She is too young to—”

“Starlight’s a smart girl, and what makes her happy doesn’t necessarily make me happy. It’s her choice to be with whoever she wants to be, and as her grandmother, I’ll support her however I can.”

Firelight gulped, his hands shaking. He hated how right she sounded, hated how he was being treated like a villain just for protecting his daughter. “She thinks that everything’s okay now, but she is so inexperienced and sheltered, I just want what’s best for her and she can’t just…I don’t want her to have the same experience I had. I was too young, I got Aurora pregnant and we rushed into things, thinking that marriage would solve everything.”

Goldie gave him a long, hard look, he couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but for a moment he was reminded of the time when he was a boy and he had said something stupid in her presence. Goldie would give him a look very similar to this one, waiting for him to catch up on the stupidity of his statement.

“I’m sure she will be careful, I raised her to be more sensible than that,” Goldie said slowly. “And if their relationship doesn’t last…well, that’s just life. As for Aurora, she wouldn’t have married you if she didn’t love you, pregnant or not.”

His breath hitched and he closed his eyes for a moment, powerless against the avalanche of memories of his late wife, a woman who been so fiercely independent that he wondered how he ever even caught her eye, much less convince her to give him a chance. He tried not to think about the happy times, of the moment she held Starlight in her arms after fourteen excruciating hours of labor, of her smile, of her little jokes and flippant attitude towards anything that didn’t interest her. For as much as he had loved her, there had been times she had driven him up the wall with her impulsiveness and her selfishness, many were the fights they had when Starlight was a baby. They had been so young when they married and started their family, way over their heads, and yet when the time came and she died, he wished they had had more time to figure things out.

“Do you think she would have been okay with this?” Firelight said, staring at the apple, trying to steer the conversation back to the topic at hand.

They were here to talk about Starlight, not about his dead wife. A part of him felt guilty for thinking about her with so much longing when he had a new wife waiting at home, who was endearing and beautiful and special in her own ways, who shared his tastes in many things and whose companionship meant the world to him.

Goldie sighed. “I think she would just want for you two to be happy.”

Her words gave him a pause. It was obvious that she talking about him and Starlight, but part of him wondered if her words could apply for him and Stellar.

“I should go,” he said but made no move to do so. He pocketed the apple and looked at his mother, her green eyes full of understanding. “Mom, I’m sorry for snapping at you.”

“It’s fine son, I know that Starlight can be a handful sometimes.” She chuckled. “I’m sorry for calling you all the way here, but it was important that we talk about this in person.”

“It was the right call…are you busy? I feel we haven’t talked like this in a long time.”

“Don’t you have work?”

“It can wait," he offered his arm and his mother took it, walking leisurely towards a café not far from where they were sitting. "I think I’ve neglected my family enough as it is.”

Sunburst was miserable. He wanted to scoff at that, wanted to bask in his irritation and tell him to get over it and stay away from his daughter. He wished he could say that his misery was fake, but his stepson was never one to wear his emotions on his sleeve, and this time was no different. But sometimes he would catch him staring sadly ahead, his eyes painfully expressive, and it made him feel pity for the lad.

Firelight gave him as much space as he could, and Sunburst took to locking himself in his room as much as possible. Sunset was the only one who could coax him out of his den, but she wasn’t always successful.

He and his wife had talked this over, discussed their options—from keeping them apart indefinitely to letting them just be. And after some time, he had to agree that he couldn’t keep them separate forever. Their feelings for each other seemed genuine, and not something born out of stupidity and hormones. He was shocked to find out how long they been together, how long they kept this a secret, and it made him question if he truly failed as a father if his daughter refused to confide in him.

It made him realized just how much things had changed; how much Starlight had changed. She was no longer the shy, demure little girl he once knew. She had grown, she had transformed, found someone who loved and respected her, and here he was, being the evil patriarch wreaking havoc in her life. He wished Starlight had told him about her relationship with Sunburst. Just like his wife had said, perhaps things would have turned out differently, they could have figured something out, made appropriate arrangements, and what not…

He sighed.

As a parent, he wanted what was best for his child, but he hadn’t spared too much thought for her happiness, assuming that those things went hand in hand. He still wanted the best for her, but overall, he wanted her to be happy, and if Starlight’s happiness was with Sunburst, then he would learn to tolerate it. He still thought she was too young to tie herself to one boy, he still feared that all would be for nothing in the long run, but now he knew it had to be her choice. If those two broke apart or stayed together it would be on their terms.

But for now, this was about his daughter, and her happiness was of the utmost importance. He knew he made a lot of mistakes in his lifetime, and now he would do the right thing and put Starlight first.

He pulled out his phone and tapped a few numbers. He had a lot of apologizing to do.

Starlight stayed with her grandmother for a week, and it was the longest week of Sunburst’s life. It took every ounce of his control not to rush over when he saw her standing at the doorway, and to her credit, she did not fall into his arms when she stepped into the house, instead, she went and embraced her father tightly.

“I’m sorry for keeping this a secret, dad,” Starlight said, holding back a sob as her dad rubbed her back soothingly.

“I’m the one who’s sorry, I overreacted and pushed you away. But next time, if it’s something this important, just tell me and we’ll work on a solution together, okay?” They pulled back at the same time and shared a teary smile before Firelight let her go.

Starlight turned to him and smiled softly. “Hey,” she said, her eyes slightly puffy, her hair down and so beautiful that he couldn’t stand it as he smiled back. She looked back, giving her dad an uncertain look, but he merely shrugged and patted Starlight on the head. It was all the permission she needed, and she threw herself at Sunburst, nearly choking him in the process with the strength of her embrace. He eventually managed to return it, and she giggled, her arms tight around his neck.

He looked at his stepfather over Starlight’s shoulder, his mouth was curved into a small smile—a resigned and yet happy smile. The relief he felt was so immediate that he felt his knees go weak, he didn’t fall fortunately and he simply closed his eyes, basking in Starlight’s presence, elated that he didn’t have to hide anything anymore, happy that his parents were okay with this. In the future though, he thought of maybe sparing their parents the awkwardness and not be so affectionate in their presence, he wasn’t sure though and just grinned. He had plenty of time to decide, they had all the time they needed to make good on their promises and the missed opportunities, once they were in college and a thousand miles away from this awkward household.

Sunset smiled, patting her mom on the shoulder before walking away from the tender scene. Now that the drama had settled, she didn’t have to worry about being driven to the border of alcoholism or being forced to watch more of Princess Sofia. It would be awkward for a while, for sure, but she could live with it and get used to it with time.

She was a sucker for happily ever after’s, and what better way to celebrate it than to kick back with a Caffe macchiato and bag of her favorite cookies? She went to her room and booted up her laptop, thinking about what she should watch as she munched her dessert thoughtfully.

Now that she thought about it, the last episode of Princess Sofia might have ended on a cliffhanger…Okay, she’ll watch this episode and be done with it.

Author's Note

And this concludes my most controversial story on this site. As always, comments are greatly appreciated.