Twin Scars.

♚ Angel ♚

We lay in the darkness of our bedroom, the chill of the air conditioner held at bay by the warm cocoon of blankets draped over us.

Raul's head rested on my thighs, his dark curls soft under my fingers as I played with them.

There was something so childlike about the way he rested on me, something so raw in his silence.

The silence between us was heavy, not with tension but with the weight of truths about to spill.

Then he began to speak—low, heavy, like a man finally letting old ghosts crawl out of his chest.

"Nikolai and I were inseparable growing up," he started, his voice low, raw, carrying a nostalgia tinged with pain.

"As twins, we were two halves of a whole in high school—heartthrobs, they called us, always together, untouchable. Then I met Alfreda. She was the girl every guy wanted, the kind who turned heads and fueled fantasies. But I didn't want her like that. I thought I'd found the love of my life."

A lump rose in my throat as I stroked his hair in silence.

"I w