Run baby run!
Don't ever look back;
They'll tear us apart if you give them the chance!
Don't tell your heart, don't say we're not meant to be,
Run baby run,
Forever we'll be, you and me!!

*Clap clap*

Erin rolled over. Her alarm clock was singing to her favorite song, Check yes, Juliet, by We the Kings. She smiled, and landed her palm on the ovular button on the top and sighed. Today was her last morning at home. At one, she would be leaving for summer camp until the week before school started.

She threw off her covers and grabbed her clothes, rushing to the bathroom before Andrew, her brother could get it. She laughed as he opened the door and ran after her, but was too slow, and ended up with a slammed door in his face.

Erin looked at herself in the mirror. The night before, she'd gone to her friend's party, and the signs were on her face. Glow in the dark liquid covered her neck and chest in pinks, neon yellows and a whitish color that was once blue. Mascara and eyeliner edged her eyes, making them look bed-head fierce. She sighed, and grabbed the make-up remover off of her shelf when Andrew started banging on the door.

"I got to pee!" he screamed at her.
"Too much information!" Erin screamed back, and continued.

Annoyed, Erin squirted a little of the liquid onto a cotton ball, and put it back on the shelf. "Go take a whizz outside on a tree," she added calmly, and stared at her reflection over the counter, wiping off the excess make-up.

Erin smiled when she heard Andrew walk off, muttering something about how girls were ridiculous and stupid. She finished wiping off her make-up, washed her face, and applied new material to her face, this time, less, and more fresh-looking.

She finished in the bathroom, after changing, brushing her hair and teeth, and putting on deodorant, and walked out of the bathroom, seeing Andrew on the floor against the wall opposite the bathroom. She smiled. "Done," she replied.

Andrew rolled his eyes. "Can't wait 'till you're gone," he grumbled, getting up.
Girls were so annoying sometimes, taking up massive amounts of time in the bathroom.
He could get everything done in fifteen if he didn't have to take a constitutional.

Erin eyed him. "You really ought to put a shirt on. You're going to poke my eye out one day," she added with a smirk

Andrew mocked her, making faces that she hadn't for emphasis, and pushed her shoulder gently, then let himself into the bathroom, and locked the door.

Erin rolled her eyes, tossed her dirty clothes in the hamper, and walked into her bedroom to clean it before she left. Sometimes, she thought she liked having a twin brother. He'd been there when she'd had guy problems, and stuck up for her a lot at school. Other times, she didn't understand why he didn't build a new bathroom for himself.

Erin made her bed and tidied her dresser before stuffing her perfume and make-up bag into her suitcase that was sitting on her floor behind her door.
Then, she went to her closet and put all the shoes that her scattered around the house in order and hung up all the clothes that she'd decided not to bring.

She picked up a red shirt that was a low scoop neck and had a hole in the back, connected at the neck with a tie and studied it.
After a moment, she threw it into her extremely unorganized suitcase that still wasn't completely packed yet.

She finished her closet, and moved onto her dresser.
She wrapped her perfume in bubble-wrap and put it next to her suitcase alongside a small collection of her make-up.
She grabbed her iron-supplement pills and tossed those in too.

Finally, she looked around her room for something that she might have missed.
It felt like she missed everything.
She thought about her just folding her room up in quarters and bringing it with her, and she smirked at herself.
She compromised for a teddy bear that she could put on her bed to remind her of home.

She went to the linen closet and grabbed some sheets, queen sized just in case, and put that in her overfilling suitcase too.
She contemplated stuffing her pillow it, but decided she'd just put it in the backseat in case she wanted to take a rest during her drive.

A knock on her door startled her. "Sorry," Andrew apologized, but the grin splayed across his face gave away his amusement.
Erin made a face at him. "What are you doing??" she asked him, lifting an eyebrow.
Andrew never came into her room.

Andrew leaned up against the door frame, crossing his arms. His man-boobs bulged out between the space, and Erin made another face at him.
Gross!
"Just wanted to tell you that I hate you and can't wait for you to leave, and hope you never come home," he replied casually, shrugging.

Erin laughed sarcastically and pulled her suitcase onto her bed, stuffing even more necessity items into pockets. "I'll miss you too, jerk-face," she replied, pulling on the zipper. The suitcase wasn't closing.
She groaned and set to work folding clothes, making them neat and organized, knowing it wouldn't last a week. She found a place for everything, and still didn't see how she was going to close it.
The bag was stretched to its limit, every pocket was bulging with items.
She stepped back, and analyzed it before looking to Andrew.
"Help please?" she asked him.

Andrew snickered at her, but walked forward and leaned on the top of the suitcase while Erin pulled the zipper around the three sides of the baggage.
She grinned at him. "Thanks," she replied, and patted him high on the shoulder to avoid touching his man-boob.
Gross.

He looked at his sister with a questioning look and rolled his eyes. Then he opened his arms and enveloped her in a hug.. "You can always call, and you're only a day's drive away," he reminded her.
Erin smiled. "You're such a wuss," she told him.
All men were wusses. They liked to think that they were tough and manly, never cried and only swore when something hurt, but when they were alone, Erin was convinced that they cried like babies.

Even so, she hugged him back

"Oh, and I want pictures and other souvenirs," he added with a nod.
"Stuff like cups and pictures of you falling on your face and stuff."

Erin sighed. Boys were impossible.
"Yes, and then you'll get mad when I tell you it's a boy that did it." She replied.
Andrew smiled sheepishly. "Well, how else am I supposed to badger you?"
There was a moment of awkward silence before Andrew filled it with, "But you should stay away from boys. It would make me worry less." He added pointedly.

She remembered the year before when she went to sports camp with Andrew.
It had been a nightmare. He tormented her, and by the end of the first week, boys refused to look at her.
Those were the times when she wished she didn't have a twin brother. Or an older brother. Either one would work.

Erin punched him playfully in the chest. "Shut up, would you? You sound like mom,"

"Who sounds like mom?" a voice came from the doorway.

The two looked and saw their mother, Adrienne, in the doorway, wearing an apron over a t-shirt and shorts.
Her short cropped hair was brought back into a half pony-tail to get the hair out of her face while she cooked, and her apron was covered from top to bottom in flour and water.

"Andrew is blubbering, asking me not to go," Erin teased, giving him a look out of the corner of her eye.

"Am not!" Andrew retorted. "I can't wait! I get the bathroom to myself!"
He crossed his arms and pouted.

The three laughed. Then, Adrienne looked at her daughter.

In her mind, she remembered when her children were three years old, playing together on the floor. Andrew would build the castle for Erin to play with, and would faithfully fix it every time Erin would start crying because it fell apart, and when Andrew would carry Erin home from the playground a block away because Erin, the dramatic little girl she'd become, had fallen and scraped her knee.

Tears flooded her eyes as she thought about the past, and she grabbed Erin's hand.
Erin gave her a look that said, 'Mom, what's wrong?'

"My baby girl is leaving..." she whimpered, her bottom lip quivering.

Erin, trying to lighten the mood, laughed. "Mother, I'm going to camp. I'll be back in three months. I have one more year before I leave for good. No worries," she said, and hugged her mom.
Over her shoulder, Andrew was laughing and pointing at her. Erin stuck her tongue out at him, and then kissed her mother's cheek.

"Alright," her mother sniffled. "I uhm..." Adrienne wiped her face with her floury apron. "I baked you cookies for the trip up and I packed your lunch." she told them, absent-mindedly walking out of her room towards her ever-beloved kitchen.

Erin smiled at Andrew with knowing eyes. Both of Adrienne's children knew that their mother wasn't going to take Erin's leaving very lightly, even if she was coming back in three months and going to be going to their high school for her senior year. Their father had died a year back in the war, and so Adrienne took anyone's leaving really hard.

"I want some cookies," Andrew grumbled, following the two girls into the main area of the house.

Erin smiled back victoriously. "Ask mom to make some for you," she replied sarcastically, and went into the kitchen.
She knew Adrienne wouldn't make another batch for at least another week or so, and Andrew would probably blow up the kitchen if he tried to make them.

When they got to the kitchen, Erin was welcomed by a giant box of cookies, enough to last her two days, even if she sat on the couch all day and vegged on them. Her eyeballs popped out of her head. "Mom!! Wow!! Thanks!! But…how am I going to fit all this?" she asked, looking at her nearly over-stuffed lunch-box.

Her mom shrugged. "You'll fit it somehow," she said with a knowing smile and a sniffle, and wiped off her hands satisfactorily on her apron.

Over an hour later, Erin was all packed up in her small silver car.
She left it running, and got out to say her good-byes.

Her mother, eyes now flooded with a fresh load of tears, opened her arms and rushed forward to hug the young woman that stood in front of her. "I remember," she said. "When you were still playing with Barbies and bubbles in the front yard. Now, you're all packed up in a car, leaving me," She mumbled through her tears.

"Mom!" Erin exclaimed, trying to look at her mom in the eyes, but Adrienne wouldn't release her vice-like grip on Erin. "I'll be back! I promise! In three months, I'll be standing right here in this spot, and you'll run out to hug me, and welcome me home! I promise!"

Adrienne sighed, and sniffled again, her eyes starting to stop leaking already. "Alright. I love you, Erin Rhiannon Daniels." she said, holding her daughter at arm's length. Then, "I've got to go," she said. "Or I'll never let you leave."

Adrienne kissed her daughter on the forehead and cheeks, and then left abruptly for her house with her head down.
She really didn't want her to leave. Erin was her baby girl, the more fragile of her twins.
The more delicate.
The more precious.

Of course, Adrienne loved her son just as much as she loved her daughter, but not having a husband to bond with her son left him to find another 'dad' figure, while Erin and Adrienne bonded more close.

Adrienne would miss her daughters company at night when they sat down and watched a chick flick that Andrew refused to watch. She would miss the fashion critique that her daughter willingly offered before she left the house.

But she could still call. That was the only up side to the situation that she could see at the moment.
With another sniffle, she walked inside, and shut the door behind her.

Andrew watched his mom leave. Then, he turned to Erin, and tucked his hands into his pockets. "Well, I'll see you later, baby sis," he said.
Erin moaned. "How many times have I asked you not to call me that?" she asked him with a scowl.
Andrew looked around and puckered his lips. "Uhmmm…" he thought outloud. "About…fourteen million, forty seven and six." He told her.
Erin laughed, pushing blond hair out of her eyes. "That's not even a real number." She said.
Andrew nodded. "No, but six is, and it's the number of minutes older than you I am," he said proudly, offering a hand to Erin.

But Erin didn't take it. She launched herself into her brother's arms, and hugged him tight. Andrew closed his hands around her waist, and lightly kissed her hair.
"Be good," he said. "No boys," he added. "I don't want to have to take a day out of my work schedule and bathroom lounging to come and beat some pervert up for you," he said casually.
"But if you really need me to, I will," he added just in case.
Erin laughed, and let Andrew walk her to her car. "Don't worry about me. You can blow the bathroom up for three months." she said.
"Yes!" Andrew hissed.
"But when I come back, all war on the bathroom toilet ceases." She warned with a finger.
Andrew gave her a look. "I'll work on an air-freshener strong enough for me while you're gone." He promise.

Erin made a face. "You're so gross!" she told him.
Andrew shrugged. "I'm your brother," he said, kissed his fingers and slapped her forehead.
Erin scowled at him, but he'd already shut her door.
He had his pinky and thumb open on his closed fingers, and he put it to his ear.
"Call me," he mouthed to her.

Erin stuck her tongue out, but nodded, put the car in reverse, and backed out of her driveway and headed down along the road, waving briefly.

Andrew stared at the car, waving until he couldn't see it anymore, and set off for the house to consol his mother with a dreaded chick-flick.