It didn’t seem like a year could go by that fast. Ty and I, or should I say Kenny? That is what his name was changed to when we went into Witness Protection together. Mine, you ask? My name was changed to Chelsea. It was difficult for the both of us to make the change. Ty, I mean Kenny would slip up and occasionally call my Evelyn, Evie, or Ev causing us both to look at each other in a panic.

            We never knew if we were under watch or in danger. We never knew if someone was lurking behind a corner or if someone had bugged our apartment we were staying in just to catch parts of our conversations. We were constantly walking on eggshells this past year, even now, and we both hated it. But now we only had a few days left and we were going to be moving back to the states.

            I walked through the apartment. It was quiet and not the good kind of quiet. It was an eerie quiet. It was late. I knew it was just from how dark it was throughout the apartment. There wasn’t a single light on in it. I walked into the living room and saw the sliding glass door open that went out to the balcony. That’s where I found Ty sitting in one of the deck chairs.

            I quietly took the one beside him and propped my feet up on the stool in front of me. Aran Islands, Ireland. That’s where they had placed us under the Witness Protection Program. It was absolutely beautiful. Ty was sitting in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt while sipping what I assumed was coffee or hot chocolate out of a mug. He was making me want some.

            Before I could even get up and think about getting any, Ty silently handed me another mug. I gave him a small smile before taking a small cautious sip of what I found out to be hot chocolate. The waves were slowing sweeping in higher and higher. I could get used to a place like this. Ty sighed and I looked over at him. The look on his face said it all. He was thinking the same thing.

            “Is it bad that I actually don’t want to leave?” he asked me softly while still staring out at the water. I let out a huffed chuckle as I sat my mug down on the small table between us. “I was just thinking the same thing,” I said in return. Though we were undercover and it was basically like our lives were a huge lie, part of it was actually quite relaxing.

            We really didn’t have to worry about anything here. We got to sit back, do what we wanted, and someone would call and check in with us or they would put a random amount of money into our bank account to live off of. It seemed like we had the perfect life except we weren’t who we wanted to be. I knew secretly Ty missed working on new tattoos for everyone and though it may sound completely wrong, in a sick and twisted way I missed going on my missions and killing.

            “It’s just nice here. Peaceful,” Ty said. I gave a short nod and turned my attention to the water in front of us. “Yeah, it definitely is,” I said while picking up my mug of hot chocolate to take another small sip. “Do we really have to go back?” he asked me. I set my mug back down and looked over at him while folding my hands in my lap. It was a good question. Did we really have to go back? It was nice here. Maybe we could stay here, but then again we would still be living a lie.

            “Let me ask you this, why do you want to stay?” I asked him curiously. He turned to face me at this point. He grabbed my face in his hands gently and turned my head slightly so I was looking at the water. “Why wouldn’t you want to stay here?” he asked me in return. He was right. It was absolutely beautiful here, but it definitely didn’t feel like home.

            “I could think of a few reasons as to why I don’t want to stay here,” I said. Ty cocked an eyebrow curiously at me. “Fine then, give me one,” he said. “How about the fact that there is not any normalcy?” I asked him in a slightly annoyed tone. By the look on his face I could tell he knew that I was telling the truth. “It could be normal though,” he said as he pulled his hands back.

            I felt my eyebrows pull together in confusion. “How is that even possible?” I asked him. It fell silent for a few seconds as I watched his face contort as he was thinking. “It wouldn’t be hard,” he said. I scoffed and rolled my eyes as I crossed my arms over my chest. “Give me an example as to how it wouldn’t be hard for us to make this somewhat normal,” I said maybe a little too harshly.

            Ty placed his head in his hands and tugged on his hair lightly before running his hands over his face. He let out an aggravated sigh. “I can’t think of one,” he said softly. I let out a small disgusted laugh. “See, that’s the problem. There’s no way we could make this work. We are living a lie. Do you not realize that? Our names, ages, hair color, eye color, our lives, it’s all just one hugelie. There is, nor will there ever be anything normal about this,” I said.

            I could tell at this point that I was getting more irritated than what I needed to be. This wasn’t Ty’s fault and I was taking it out on him when I shouldn’t have been. “I’m sorry,” I said softly as I sat back in my chair slightly. Ty reached over and squeezed my hand gently. “No, it’s alright, sis. You have nothing to be sorry about. I know that this is hard on you,” he said.

            I nodded my head slightly. “It is, but it’s hard on you too,” Ty let out a small laugh. “Don’t do that,” I said while squeezing his hand back. Ty looked up at me with a slightly confused look. “Don’t do what?” he asked me. I could hear the slight confusion in his voice. “Don’t try to act tough. You can try all you want around everyone else, but around me, I know better,” I said.

            Ty let out a small laugh. “I know, I know. But I have to be the brave, strong, protective older brother. It’s my job,” he said while puffing out his chest jokingly. I laugh escaped deep from my throat as I pushed him back in his chair. “Please, I don’t need your head growing anymore. It’s already big enough,” I said. Ty placed his hands on his head and looked over at me.

            “That is not true. My head is not big,” he said while patting it lightly, almost as if he was trying to make it shrink a little. “Actually, it’s actually a little small for your body,” I said teasingly. Ty looked over at me. I could see it. His eyes were wide and full of panic before they glared in my direction. “I hate you,” he said. I felt more laughs escaping. “That’s the biggest lie you have ever told,” I said.

            Ty rolled his eyes and flipped me the bird as his other hand rubbed his eye tiredly. “We should probably get some sleep,” Ty said as he stood up and stretched. He looked down at me as he picked up his now empty hot chocolate mug. “Are you coming?” he asked as he made his way back towards the sliding glass door. I shook my head and sat back in my chair getting comfortable again.

            “No that’s okay, you go ahead. I think I’m going to sit out here just a little bit longer,” I said. Ty gave me a small smile and nodded his head before reaching down and giving my shoulder a squeeze. I reached my hand up and patted his lightly while giving him a small smile in return. “Goodnight Kenny,” I said, using his fake name. Ty removed his hand at that point.

            “Goodnight, Ev,” he said while walking into the house. I was surprised that he had used my real name. I thought we were trying to be careful, but I guess that didn’t matter to him anymore. I sighed and let my chin rest on my hands as I watched the waves in front of me. It was peaceful out here, definitely different from living in the office and working in the city.

            I sat back in the chair and looked up at the bright moon in the sky. All the stars were out too. I felt a small smile ghosting across my face. Who knew, maybe we could actually live here, make a life for ourselves. Or maybe we could move back home and try to get our lives back to some sort of normalcy. Though we were done with being in hiding here in a few days, we would be moving back into the states and going right into hiding all over again.

            We would most likely change names, hair color, eye color, and tattoos all over again just to make sure that we looked completely different than who we really are. I shook my head slightly trying to clear my thoughts. I didn’t even want to be thinking about any of that right now. I stifled a yawn. I knew that I should probably get some sleep because tomorrow we were going to start packing up the apartment. Then in two days we were moving back to that states.

            I stood up and grabbed my mug from the small table between the two deck chairs. I glanced at the water one more time and smiled as a soft breeze blew through before walking into the living room and shutting the sliding glass door behind me. I clicked the locks and then pulled the curtains before walking into the kitchen where I placed my mug in the sink along with Ty’s knowing that he was going to get them in the morning like he always did.

            Another yawn escaped my mouth as I walked into my bedroom seeing my bed was exactly how I left it. One pillow was on the floor and the blankets were pushed to the foot of the bed. I crawled into the bed and pulled the blankets up to my chin. I laid on my side and faced the window where the moon was shining through the windows and the curtains. I let out a content sigh before shutting my eyes letting myself fall into a deep sleep.