(Y/n) couldn't believe it.

She had spent so much time and energy looking for Grey, trying to run after every hint and every lead that could maybe guide her over to her sister. She never thought Grey would have been the one to find her instead, and take her away to the gardens of the mayor's mansion, the two of them cloaked in darkness and hidden from sight behind tall bushes.

But there was no mistaking it, the woman standing in front of her was indeed Grey, and she looked more like herself than ever, in spite of the obvious concern and disapproval in her hazel eyes. She probably didn't like the idea of (Y/n) in the Infected city, she'd always seen (Y/n) as weak and vulnerable after all, as someone she needed to protect from the outside world.

But Grey would have to get used to the thought of (Y/n) living in the city, because she wasn't leaving any time soon.

(Y/n) wouldn't be returning to the Uninfected Community. Never. Not now that she had built a life for herself in the city and had gotten a taste of sweet freedom. The very same freedom she had always been denied by both their mother and Grey herself.

Grey heaved a heavy sigh and flung her arms around (Y/n) in a tight embrace.

"I knew it was you the moment I saw you." Grey said in the crook of her sister's neck, squeezing her tighter still to compensate for all the times she had missed (Y/n).

Leaving the Uninfected Community hadn't been an easy decision to make. Truly, it had been the most heart wrenching choice she had ever made for herself. Leaving (Y/n) behind had been the hardest part of her escape.

But even so, Grey knew she had made the right decision. The Uninfected Community wasn't a place for her, it had never been home. Both herself and their mother knew it.

Running away had become her only option. That much had become abundantly clear when Grey had met Zeynep, her current girlfriend and the love of her life, the only person who had ever understood her and seen her for who she really was without hating her for it.

Still, this hadn't made abandoning (Y/n) any easier.

"What are you doing here?" Grey continued, stepping away from their embrace to hold (Y/n)'s forearms instead. "Do you know how dangerous the city is for you?"

When (Y/n) had imagined her reunion with Grey, she had always imagined the both of them hugging each other tight, crying into each other's arms and reassuring one another that everything would be alright from then on. But the scene currently unfolding in front of her was miles apart from that.

"I came for you." (Y/n) clarified, stepping away from their embrace to instead hold onto Grey's forearms. "I came because I thought you needed me."

Grey's brows furrowed with incomprehension. "Needed you?"

(Y/n) swallowed back the lump of apprehension in the back of her throat.

"You never came back. Mom and I thought something must have happened to you and- I just couldn't live with myself knowing that you were out there all alone and possibly in danger." (Y/n) continued, rubbing soothing circles on Grey's smooth skin, though she didn't know whether it was to reassure Grey or herself.

"(Y/n)..." Grey softened, understanding dawning on her. "I-I'm really, really sorry."

A comfortable silence stretched between the two of them, until Grey continued.

"You shouldn't have come." Grey said, "It's dangerous for you here. I'm fine, really. I promise. I'm sorry for worrying you and disappearing like this but I'm alright. You need to go back home."

At those words, any happiness and relief (Y/n) had previously felt from reuniting with her sister vanished from her system, replaced by hot and flaming anger, the kind that simmered low at her core and burned her from the inside out.

She swapped Grey's hands away and took a step back.

She needed space. She needed space or she'd probably combust from the heat prickling at her skin and the lack of oxygen. Her dress, which had been such a comfortable fit beforehand, now felt stifling and way too tight against her heaving ribcage.

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

No, she didn't need to breathe. What she needed was to lash out, to let Grey know just how angry she was now that she knew the truth.

Grey hadn't been abducted or led to the city against her will. She had come there willingly.

"What do you mean 'you shouldn't have come'? You went missing, Grey! I came here because I was freaking worried about you!" She let out, "Do you have any idea how scared I was that something might have happened to you?! So please, don't hit me with the same old speech about how much of a threat the city is. You lead me here."

Grey's eyes widened and she averted her eyes to the side, chewing on the inside of her cheek much like she did when the two of them were kids and she felt guilty. It had always been a reaction to their mother's scolding though, never had she made such a face because of something (Y/n) had said.

Which only confirmed (Y/n)'s thoughts that Grey had really left of her own accord.

She had really left her behind on purpose, without giving her as much as a goodbye or a heads up as to what she was planning.

"I-I know you're angry at me. And you have every right to be." Grey started, idly scratching at her arm, looking more than ever like a child who had just been caught by her parents with her hand in the cookie jar. "I meant to tell you, but I didn't know how. I-I really tried, you know?"

"Bullshit." (Y/n) spat, hot tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. There was no describing the intense betrayal piercing through her chest at this moment. All along she had thought something terrible had happened to Grey, only for Grey to confirm that she had in fact left by choice, leaving (Y/n) and their mother to fester in worry and fear.

"(Y/n)-"

"You didn't try. You just left like you always do, when you should have told me. You-You should have told me you were leaving for good." (Y/n) said, voice breaking mid sentence. "You have no idea how worried I was, Grey! All along I felt so freaking guilty for not being able to find you when I thought you needed me the most. And you-...you were just out there living life like nothing was the matter? Just how could you?!"

"I-I didn't want you to follow me or tag along!" Now it was Grey's turn to cry and struggle to shape correct words. "The city's dangerous for you! I didn't think you'd make it here-"

(Y/n) let out an exasperated cry of frustration.

"Why do you always treat me like a child!" She lashed out, "You and mother both. You always treat me like I'm some kind of helpless child who can't fend for herself! I am fucking tired of it!"

A sob tore from her throat, hot tears now running down her cheeks, and she struggled to wipe them all away with the back of her hand.

"I-I'm not a kid anymore. I'm old enough to make my own choices and decide what's best for me." She continued through sniffles, "You should have told me. Maybe I wouldn't have followed you all the way here. But the least you could have done was to tell me."

Grey kept silent, features riddled with an even mix of guilt and sadness.

"I was scared of coming here at first. Because mother and you had always made me feel like I wouldn't be able to survive on my own. But it turns out I'm perfectly able to handle myself. Without either of you. I'm not that much weaker than you." (Y/n) said, "I don't resent you for leaving home and coming here, I get it. But I do resent you for not telling me about it and stripping me of the ability to choose for myself."

Grey shook her head in disapproval. "(Y/n).. You don't understand."

"Help me understand then! Because I don't get it. I don't get why you were so reluctant to tell me about your plan to leave, or why you were so adamant on me not tagging along. You made it in the city, why couldn't I?"

"Because we are not the same!" Grey let out matter of factly in a frustrated tone. "We are not the same, (Y/n). In ways you cannot understand." She heaved a resigned sigh. "The city is where I belong. It's my home, more than it will ever be yours."

(Y/n) stared at Grey, her patience running dangerously thin. She was tired of feeling like she was missing something, like there was something that both her mother and Grey knew of that she hadn't been privy of.

She was tired of the secrets. Tired of having to try and decipher the relationship between her mother and Grey, of bearing the weight of something that had seemingly been kept from her for years now.

Of not knowing the truth.

Though, if she was honest with herself, maybe the signs had always been there. Maybe she should have seen the signs and guessed what was the matter herself. But she hadn't.

All along, there had been signs, (Y/n) had just chosen not to see them for what they were.

She had just chosen not to see that Grey was indeed different, and had always been.

Even now, she refused to see it, refused to admit it. Which is why she needed Grey to free her from her torment, to tell her the truth and finally shed light on what had remained in the shadows of their family up until now.

She needed Grey to say it.

"Why?" (Y/n) said, crossing her arms over her chest, "What's so different about you, Grey? Why is mom never worried about your safety and wellbeing? Why doesn't she care about your whereabouts nearly as much as she cares about mine? Why is she so stern with you and won't let us spend time together? Why does she constantly treat you as a stranger?"

The more questions left her mouth, the more sense it all made to (Y/n). But Grey was about to confirm it for her.

"(Y/n)... Please, don't make me-"

"Say it." (Y/n) cut off, shaking with impatience. "Please, say it. I'm sick and tired of the secrets."

Grey exhaled a shaky sigh, fidgeting with the tip of her nails. She didn't know where to start, she never thought (Y/n) would learn about this, much less from her own mouth. No one knew about this, apart from their mother.

Even the Uninfected Community had no idea that they had housed a wolf in sheep's clothing amongst their walls all these years.

"When I was ten, I got tested for the Infection." Grey started, the words heavy on her tongue and hard to process even for herself. "The results came back positive. Mom tried to conceal the real results and switched them for mock ones that presented me as Uninfected. I was just a child at the time, she wanted to protect me from being kicked out of the Community, like they had done for the other kid."

The tension in (Y/n)'s shoulders dropped, her brain slowly putting the pieces back together.

"But how is this possible? Father wasn't-"

"We don't have the same father, peanut." Grey gave her a sad smile. "Mom never told you because she didn't see the point, as to her we were sisters, beyond blood."

(Y/n) didn't have to ask Grey to know that this had changed when their mother had learned that Grey was Infected. Grey, who had previously been a constitutive part of the family and (Y/n)'s sister, had been cast aside as a threat and a foreigner even to her own mother.

"My father was apparently an Infected whom mother fell in love with when she was a teenager. She used to sneak out of the Uninfected Community too back then." Grey let out a humorless chuckle at the irony. "She hadn't planned for me, but she kept me anyways and decided to love me in spite of-"

Grey stopped to clear her throat. Probably because finishing her sentence was too hard, even for herself. But she didn't have to, for (Y/n) to understand.

Their mother had been raped, and she had decided to keep the child.

To keep Grey.

Their mother, better than anyone, knew the risks of venturing out of the Community and into the Infected world. She had learnt it the hard way, which is why she had been so adamant on (Y/n) staying home and not following Grey in her adventures.

All along, Amelia had been trying to protect her daughters from what she knew all too well. And (Y/n) had run off without even telling her where she was going.

Just like Grey had done to (Y/n) herself.

(Y/n) felt terrible, a pang of guilt weighing down on her chest as she thought about their mother who must have been horrified the morning she woke up to find both her daughters gone. And so much time had passed now, that Amelia must have come to the conclusion that (Y/n) was dead.

I'm so sorry, mom.

"I tried to keep my Protective instincts at bay, but it was hard sometimes, especially when it came to you." Grey continued, giving (Y/n) a pointed look.

(Y/n) could indeed remember Grey punching a few guys who had been bothering her in the face on various occasions. They'd always leave with a bloody nose and beaten up beyond recognition.

"It became impossible to contain when I fell in love with someone from the city." Grey finally revealed. "That's why I-"

"That's why you left." (Y/n) completed with an understanding nod.

"Yeah." Grey said, giving (Y/n) a brief look before glancing back down at her fidgeting hands. "I had no choice from then on."

(Y/n) wasn't an Infected, so there was no way for her to possibly relate to Grey's predicament. But she could at least understand it from a purely theoretical point of view. Love was the most important thing for most Infected, some spent a lifetime finding their Darling, and when they did it was actually impossible for them to stay away from their lover.

Some Infected actually took their own life because they couldn't be with their Darling, or after their Darling passed away.

Grey couldn't have stayed home even if she had wanted to, because the Infection was stronger than anything else she might have loved.

Even (Y/n) herself.

Grey really had no choice but to leave.

Still, this didn't mean (Y/n) forgave Grey for not telling her about all of this sooner.

"I'm really sorry, peanut." Grey said again, softly this time, gently taking (Y/n)'s hands in her own. "I didn't mean to abandon you, or force you into an adventure you didn't want for yourself."

(Y/n) heaved a tired sigh. Admittedly, coming to the city hadn't been her choice at first. The very reason she had left home had been to find Grey and find out whatever had happened to her. Her first days in the city had been agonizing and filled with anxiety, fear for her life and plenty of doubts. But overtime, (Y/n) had come to enjoy her life in the city, to enjoy the freedom it granted her.

She had come to like the city so much that she couldn't imagine herself possibly going back to the Uninfected Community. The city had become her home, a part of her identity in the way it had shaped the person she was today and helped her in discovering who she was.

There was no going back for (Y/n).

She had found her path, and no matter what had led her here, it had been worth it.

"I know that, now." (Y/n) answered, squeezing Grey's hand in her own. She had missed her sister's touch, and even now that she knew Grey was Infected, she couldn't find it in herself to see her as anything else other than the other half of her.

The older sister who had always watched out for her, cared for her, spent time with her when no one else had. The same older sister who had spent nights reassuring her and soothing her cries after a bad nightmare, who had played with her for hours on end when they were children...

Infected Grey, was still Grey. And nothing could ever make (Y/n) hate her sister.

"And," She continued, looking into Grey's eyes. "I understand why you like the city so much. I don't think the Uninfected Community was a good place for either of us."

Maybe if (Y/n)'s family context had been different she wouldn't have felt that way about the Uninfected Community. But she had been so trapped in her own family home and all the rules their mother had crafted for them that she hadn't ever gotten a real taste of what the Uninfected Community truly was.

But it didn't matter now, she had found her place in the city, and she wouldn't be leaving.

"Peanut..." Grey started, concern sharpening the edges of her features. "I know how you feel, but the city isn't safe for you. You need to go back home-"

(Y/n) stiffened at her sister's words. She really didn't feel like having this conversation again.

"I know the city's dangerous. I know what they do to people like me, here. But I'm willing to take the risk. I know others who've made it here without ever getting caught!" (Y/n) continued, trying to convince her sister. Of what exactly? She didn't really know. It's not like Grey had any authority over (Y/n)'s choices anymore.

Grey seemed to know that too, because she only heaved a resigned sigh in response.

"Do you even have a place to stay? Friends you can trust? An ID-"

"(Y/n)?!"

If (Y/n) had thought her evening to be full of surprises, she wasn't done. As the very last person she had expected to shout her name was certainly Tobias.

Gosh, what have I done this time? (Y/n) thought and rolled her eyes, turning in Tobias's directions to see him running at full speed towards her.

Honestly, (Y/n) was way too exhausted to deal with whatever Tobias had to say, even more so considering the fact that based on his facial expression he looked...

Worried?

What exactly was going on? And just why were Jasper and Penelope trailing behind him, looking just as disheveled and alarmed?





A/N:

Hey guys! So the MC finally found Grey and got the answers she needed! I'm sorry for the length of this chapter and I know it was kinda heavy information wise, I promise the next chapters won't be as overwhelming! Thank you so much for reading and take care of yourself!

We are slowly nearing the endings of this book and I know a lot of you have asked me if Artty would be a love interest. I didn't plan for him to be, but considering how much some of you seem to like him, he might get a special ending (if you're interested).

I also changed the covers of my books and the overall aesthetic of my page, hope you like it as much as I do!