Neil wondered if he would disappear so easily.

He left his duffel on his dresser and went back into the living room. Matt and Dan were sitting pressed together on the couch. Matt was looking at the wall where Seth's desk used to be. Dan studied Neil's face but said nothing. Maybe she knew he didn't need her comfort, or maybe there was just nothing to say.

Kevin and Nicky weren't long in joining them. Nicky brought a handle of rum and an open bottle of cola, so Kevin collected glasses from the kitchen cabinets. Nicky tore his gaze away from the open space in the room with obvious effort. He set the drinks down on the coffee table before kneeling across from Dan and Matt. Kevin set five glasses on the table and sat at Nicky's side.

Neil took his cup off the table before Nicky could serve him anything and sat at one end of the coffee table where he could see everyone. Nicky poured their drinks, passed them out, and raised his glass in silent toast to the room. No one joined him, but Nicky didn't wait. He downed half his drink without coming up for air. Nicky topped it off with more rum and looked across the room again to the gap where Seth's desk once stood.

"So," Nicky started, sounding more than a little uncomfortable. "This is, uh."

Matt didn't give him time to figure it out. The look on his face said he wasn't ready to talk about Seth yet, especially not with Nicky. He dragged Nicky's attention back to a safer topic by saying, "Why didn't Aaron know he had a brother?"

Nicky winced, but Neil didn't know what bothered him more: the question or the rough edge in Matt's voice.

"They're twins," Nicky said. He waited for them to catch on, looked from one blank face to another, and frowned disbelief. "Think about it for a sec, would you? Imagine you're my Aunt Tilda. How eager would you be to tell Aaron you gave up his brother at birth? She hoped that secret would stay buried forever."

"But Aaron found out," Neil said.

Nicky flashed Neil a tight-lipped smile. "Yeah, and that's why I believe in fate. See, Aaron was born and raised in San Jose. Apparently Aunt Tilda got bored of dating locally and started going to online matching sites. Right after Aaron turned thirteen Aunt Tilda hooked up with this new guy up in Oakland. Her boyfriend thought they should meet at a Raiders game, something nice and public and fun, so she stuffed Aaron in the car and off they went.

"Aaron said he was at the concession stand when this cop walked up, calling him Andrew and talking like they knew each other. Aaron thought he was either crazy or confused, but it didn't take the cop long to figure out something was wrong."

"Higgins," Matt guessed.

"Yeah. Soon as Higgins figured out he had the wrong brother he made Aaron take him back to where Aunt Tilda was. See, Higgins thought Aunt Tilda was another foster mother and that Aaron and Andrew had somehow gotten split up in the system. Higgins wanted to reunite them, so Aunt Tilda gave him her phone number to pass along and took Aaron home again.