The movie room's ambient lighting cast soft shadows across the walls, the screen a dark rectangle of potential rather than actual entertainment. Lily sat on the edge of the couch, fingers drumming against her thigh, then stopping, then starting again. The air conditioning hummed quietly—the only sound in the otherwise silent bunker. Everyone else was elsewhere: Jason and her mother in their private moment, her father secluded as always.
Lily took a deep breath. "I don't actually want to watch a movie. There's something special I need to talk to you about."
"Okay... you're being weird. What is it" she asked, her smile fading as she registered Lily's serious expression.
Lily's hands clasped together, knuckles whitening as she leaned forward. Her eyes, wide and earnest, locked onto her sister's.
"I need to tell you something important," she said. "And I need you to just listen first, okay?"
Marissa nodded slowly, concern blooming across her features.
"I love you," Lily began, her voice soft but clear. "You're my sister, and that means everything to me. I would never want to hurt you or come between us. That's why this is so hard."
She paused, swallowing hard.
"I'm afraid of how this might change things between us, but we can't keep hiding it." Her voice trembled slightly. "I promise I'll be completely honest with you. All I ask is that you try not to judge until I've finished."
Marissa's brow furrowed, her body tensing. "You're scaring me a little, Lil. What's going on?"
Lily's fingers twisted together, betraying her nervousness despite her determined expression.
"It's about Jason," she said finally. "I've had feelings for him for years. Not just sisterly feelings. Real ones."
Marissa's eyes widened, but she remained silent as promised.
"It started when I was thirteen," Lily continued, her eyes dropping for a moment as if reliving the memory. "You know how Jason and I were always so close. We confided in each other about everything. He truly listened to me in a way that those boys at school never did."
Her gaze lifted, connecting with Marissa's astonished face.
"I kept silent all this time. What else could I do? He was my twin, and my feelings were supposed to be... something else entirely. I pushed everything down, yet avoided relationships with other boys, just acted like these emotions didn't exist. But they persisted, never fading."
Her voice grew quieter. "Then the world ended, and suddenly we were all trapped here together. And those feelings just... intensified."
Lily hesitated, studying her sister's face. "Marissa, I need to ask you something. Do you have those kinds of feelings for Jason too?"
Marissa blinked several times, her lips parting but no words emerging. She leaned back against the couch, exhaling a long, measured breath. The silence stretched between them, taut with unspoken thoughts.
"Wow," she finally said. "That's... not what I expected to hear tonight."
She ran a hand through her hair, gathering her thoughts.
"You know about what happened to me in high school," she said quietly. "With Tyler."
Lily nodded. Her family was aware of the general details—how a boy from high school, Tyler, had lured Marissa to his house on the pretext of studying together, and then attempted to drug her. But fate had intervened; in a turn of events that felt like karmic justice, Tyler had accidentally ingested the spiked drink himself.
"What I never told anyone was how it changed me," Marissa continued. "After that, I couldn't trust guys. Any guy. I'd see them looking at me, and all I could think was—what are they planning? What do they want from me?"
She pulled her knees up to her chest, making herself smaller.
"Jason was different. He never looked at me like that. He was just... safe." Her voice caught slightly. "Even before the collapse and we came here, he was the only man I didn't have to fear"
Marissa's eyes met Lily's. "So do I have feelings for him? I don't know. Sometimes I catch myself watching him and feeling something more than just... sisterly affection. But I don't know if it's love or just that he's literally the last safe man on Earth."
Lily reached across the space between them, taking Marissa's hand in hers. Their fingers intertwined, a physical connection bridging the emotional revelations passing between them.
"I understand," Lily said softly. "And I'm so sorry about what happened to you. I should have been a better sister back then."
Marissa squeezed her hand. "You were fourteen, Lil. What could you have done?"
They sat in silence for a moment, the weight of shared confidences settling around them like a blanket—uncomfortable but somehow comforting in its honesty.
"There's more," Lily said finally. "And this is the real bombshell."
Marissa's eyebrows rose. "More than you being in love with our brother?"
Lily nodded, taking another steadying breath.
"Dad called Jason into his office a few days ago," she began. "He told Jason that since we might be the last people alive, Jason needed to... to father children. With all of us. Me, you, and Mom."
Marissa's jaw dropped. "What the actual—"
"I know," Lily cut in. "It gets worse. Dad has been developing some compound to prevent genetic problems. He's only made enough for one person—Jason."
Lily's grip on Marissa's hand tightened. "Jason was horrified. He told me everything, and then... well, we've become close. Very close."
She met Marissa's widening eyes directly. "And so have Mom and Jason."
"Mom?" Marissa whispered.
"She found out about Jason and me, and instead of being angry, she understood. She told us about her past with Aunt Ashley."
"With Aunt—" Marissa shook her head in disbelief.
"We've been talking, the three of us, about how to handle everything. About Dad's manipulation, about our feelings." Lily paused. "And about you."
Marissa stiffened. "About me?"
"We don't want you to feel excluded or pressured. We care about you too much for that." Lily's voice grew softer. "That's why I wanted to suggest something. If you're curious but not ready to participate... maybe you could be present. When Jason and I are together for the first time."
Lily's cheeks flushed deep red. "You could see how it feels, without any pressure. It was my idea, actually. And Jason agreed, don't worry"
She fell silent, her confession complete, her hands trembling slightly as she waited for Marissa's response.
For several long seconds, Marissa simply stared, her expression completely blank. Then, without warning, she burst into laughter.
"Holy shit," she gasped between fits of giggles. "Holy fucking shit. Our father wants us to repopulate the Earth, our mother is sleeping with our brother, you're in love with him, and I'm sitting here wondering if I am too?"
She wiped tears from her eyes. "And your solution is for me to watch you two have sex? Like some kind of incestuous training wheels?"
Lily's face burned hotter. "When you put it that way..."
Marissa's laughter softened, her expression shifting from shock to something almost mischievous.
"So what, I'm supposed to sit in the corner and hold your hands while he deflowers you?" she teased, making air quotes around the old-fashioned word.
"Stop it," Lily groaned, burying her face in her hands. "This is embarrassing enough."
"Oh, sweetie," Marissa said, her voice gentler now. "Our whole lives have become embarrassing. Might as well embrace the weird."
She leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to Lily's cheek. "Tell him I said yes. Call me when you're ready, and I'll be there. But I need a little time to process all this first."
She stood up, stretching casually as if they'd just finished discussing a movie plot rather than a complete reconfiguration of their family dynamics.
"Good night, Lil," she said, her tone almost normal. "Sweet dreams about our brother...unless you'd rather save yourself for the real thing tomorrow."
With a wink that somehow managed to be both teasing and supportive, Marissa left the room, her footsteps fading down the corridor.
Alone in the dimly lit room, Lily exhaled a breath she felt like she'd been holding for hours. "Holy shit," she whispered, echoing her sister's sentiment. "That went better than I expected."
A nervous laugh escaped her lips, echoing strangely in the empty room. She sat back against the couch cushions, staring at the blank screen, trying to process what had just happened—and what would happen next.