Two brothers, Asher and Demi, a year apart, but they looked exactly alike. Two men, twenty and twenty-one, beautiful, and wonderful, and almost perfect…almost. I made the mistake of loving them both. I could go all day about how much it wasn’t my fault. I could give you some form of b--------, telling you how I was seduced by them; how I couldn’t possibly make a choice, but that would be a lie. I could have chosen at any given moment when I realized what was going on, but instead I chose to be selfish and a coward. I didn’t want to have to choose between the two.
Demi, the oldest, was the one I loved the most. Had I chosen like I should have, he would have been my one and only choice. Asher was the charmer. He could charm a bear into vegetarianism and the bear would have no choice other than to listen. He was my temptation, and I was extremely tempted. I unknowingly put myself in the middle of a war, and in doing so, I started another one.

   I was eighteen and my life literally sucked.  My days since graduation consisted of working morning to evening at my Aunt May’s handcrafted jewelry store. Sure, it was high paying, but only because I got family privileges. Most people wouldn’t complain about getting off whenever they want, not having to worry about being fired, $10.95 an hour, and free s*** galore, but then again, most people haven’t met my Aunt May.
    Aunt May, really my grandmother, is as gaudy as they come. I mean, I love my Aunt May, but she has some serious issues. Every time I would walk into that little store on the main street, my first thought would be somewhere along the line of “what in the h--- is she wearing?”  May Percy is also more than annoying. She’s old and graying, and all she can do is talk about all the s*** we young people are doing wrong with our lives. She keeps telling me I should be married with kids by now. Did I mention that I’m only eighteen? Aunt May never seemed to understand that in today’s society, women don’t get married and pregnant at fifteen anymore… Someone needed to get her up with the times, and I would gladly pass my job of to anybody who thinks they have a chance.
    Let’s just say that by the end of the summer, I was more than happy to get the h--- away from her. She drove me absolutely crazy. Not that I didn’t still have to work for her doing the school year, but I’ll be honest here, college life was freaking awesome. The homework and projects sucked, but anything that could get me out of her grasp was amazing, and loved. Seriously. She’s nuts.
    My life sucked, and it was boring, true, but it didn’t really take a turn for the worse until around Halloween. I was decorating at Aunt May’s shop, rushing around, trying not to mess anything up too badly. I was clumsy. Like, really clumsy. So much so, that in fact, walking was a dangerous sport for me. I could trip over anything really, air, water, me, etc. Anyway, I was decorating when Aunt May stuck her head in from her office.
    “Emma, dear,” she motioned for me to come here when I finished with the customer. After handing Anna, an old friend, or associate rather, from high school, her receipt I headed for the back office. Aunt May was sitting behind her giant mahogany desk pulling her wallet from her disgustingly pink purse. “Be a dear and run down to your mother’s diner for me?” She handed me forty dollars knowing full well that I wouldn’t have to pay for a thing. “Bring back some lunch will ya?”
    Now, had I been as mean as I wanted to, and said the words I wanted to say about always running May’s errands and doing everything for her, I wouldn’t have met the reasons my life changed. My home town is really small. The main street if full of small businesses. We don’t even have a Wal-Mart. I’d have to go by Carter’s Grocer to get anything I needed, and God forbid I actually need to buy clothes… I just make my own. Putting my headphones in, I made the short walk to my mother’s diner. Holding on to You by Twenty One Pilots was playing as loud as my phone would let it play. From the looks on the faces of everyone around me, they could hear it too.
    Five short minutes later, I was standing outside of Ellie’s, my mother’s diner, looking at myself in the window. Still the ugly duckling of the family, I stood five feet and three inches tall. My frame was small, but I wasn’t. Not really. I wasn’t fat, but I wasn’t skinny either. I could’ve used a couple of days at the gym. My blue jean shorts were too short and my loose green shirt with the giant pink flower was too long. I wasn’t really leaving much to the imagination, because my black lace bra was showing from under my shirt. So that must have been what May’s whole deal with me was. She was riding me hard about my outfit. She barely even looked at me when she handed me the money. My mother was definitely going to hate it, so I decided to not even take my earphones out. She’d just yell at me anyway; it wouldn’t hurt if I couldn’t actually hear her.
     Walking into the diner, no one but Sterling, our cashier, even noticed me. He was a year younger than me, I think, seventeen. He was still in high school, also an outcast. How else would I know him right? He donned his usual apparel of lip rings and tattoos on his arms; if it wasn’t for me he wouldn’t have even got the job. Mom hated my piercings and I only had four. There was no way she was going to accept his and tattoos. She had no idea I even had one, which, judging by her reaction to Sterling’s, was a great thing.
    Sterling nodded towards me, the only form of recognition he’d ever given me, as I walked behind the counter and started towards the mini fridge under the counter. Grabbing a bottle of water, I nodded back and began putting soup in a bowl for my aunt. For myself I grabbed a box of donuts, the reason I wasn’t skinny, and another bottle of water before I headed back towards my aunt’s store. I took a sharp right once I exited my mom’s shop, and ran face first into a wall. Or should I say of couple of walls with an uncanny resemblance to Sam and Dean Winchester from Supernatural. No, but seriously, they looked like Sam and Dean… exactly. Let me just say, that if freaking hurt.
    Everything in my hands hit the ground, along with my body, thank goodness my donut box was taped close, or I would have actually been p-----. Standing, I started to pick up my aunt’s lunch. “S***,” I cursed under my breath. It wasn’t their faults; honestly, it was mine, but still. The next thing I know, the Dean look-a-like was kneeling to help me.
    “Sorry,” he said smiling, and my goodness his voice like audible chocolate, and not the cheap stuff, the German chocolate that melts in your mouth before you have a chance to actually eat it. Realizing that I could actually hear him, I started looking around for my phone and earphones. I’d always end up yanking them out whenever I did anything remotely clumsy. I caught sight of the Sam look-a-like picking it up.
    “It’s totally my fault,” I sighed. “I’m like a total klutz; I should have been looking where I was going.”
    “No worries,” the Sam look-a-like said. They were both pretty beautiful, like sunshine or something else cheesy. I don’t really know how to explain it. “I’m Asher,” he motioned to the other man, “this is my big brother Demi.” He handed me my phone and ear buds, causing my skin to tingle when he touched my hand.
    I could feel the heat rushing to my face, so I turned my head to look across the street. “Cool,” I muttered, as Sterling, came out the door behind me. He must have seen me fall and came to help. “So, were you guys headed into Ellie’s, because I kind of feel obligated to give you lunch,” I hesitated. “You know, I feel kind of bad for face planting into you guys. Other people aren’t really the target of my clumsiness. Mostly, I only run into me, but there’s a first time for everything.” I laughed nervously as Sterling picked up my box of donuts and turned and went back inside.
    “Yea,” Demi said, still smiling, “but don’t worry about it. I’m pretty sure we hurt you more than you hurt us.”
    What could I say, it was the truth. They did pretty much just bruise my forehead. It was like their chests were packed with bricks or something. I led them inside, once again walking behind the counter. “So,” I held the word as long as I could while leaning on the counter, “You guys hungry or what?” They were both looking at me with an unknown emotion in their eyes. “What?” I asked, turning to look at my reflection in the toaster behind me. “Okay, so I don’t have anything in my teeth, or my hair for that matter, and I definitely don’t smell funny. So, you guys can stop staring at me and order anytime you like. It’s on the house.”
    Just then my mother’s voice rang from the back kitchen, “What the h--- do you mean on the house? Who did you injure this time?” she entered from around the corner even shorter than me. Noticing the two men in front of me who had yet to cease their staring she spoke again, “Really, Emma? I’m gonna need you to be a little more careful. You give out more free food than anyone I’ve ever met.”
    “I know right? So mom, this is Asher and Demi. I’m pretty sure their not injured on account of the brick walls under their shirts, but it’s still and inconvenience to be ran into.”
Both of the brothers raised their eyebrows simultaneously as I tried to hide the heat creeping from my shoulders to my face. It honestly didn’t register what I was saying until I actually said it. Unfortunately, I still have a problem with that brain and mouth thing. “I see,” Ellie almost whispered. “You boys can have anything you want. On the house, of course,” she turned to me. “You, missy, will stop running into people, and getting ran into or over by people,” Sterling tried to hold in his laughter, “and falling, and tripping, and just being clumsy all together. We’re losing business.” She smiled. I knew she was just teasing, especially since she had absolutely no room to talk in any of those categories.
      After turning and smiling at the boys once more, she walked back around to the kitchen. Usually, she made the meals herself, so this was none other than a case of boyfriend-on-the-phone.  “..Ran over…” Demi repeated when his brother finished giving Sterling their order.
    “In my defense,” I said trying not to smile, “that accident was not my fault, okay? I was clearly on the sidewalk. How was I supposed to know that Sterling over there is incapable of driving?”
    “You were in the middle of the road!” Sterling spoke up, defending himself and not even attempting to hide his laughter.
“I was not! You were totally stoned bro, how is that my fault?”
      “We got high together genius, only difference is I got in the car, and you ran down the street naked singing Marina and the Diamonds ‘Numb’. Honestly, I thought you were long gone; you came out of nowhere!” We were both laughing as the two brothers looked on with amusement in their eyes. “If it makes you feel any better,” he whispered, suddenly right next to my ear, “I am completely, and utterly, and eternally sorry.” He gave me a big hug from behind. “But in my defense, Jaden was driving.”