Andrew and Nicole had barely sat down for ten seconds before Nicole blurted something else out.

"You're older than me." Nicole told him, before slapping a hand over her mouth again. Andrew stared at her, barely sat down, and began to realise that while Nicole presented a well put together woman, stoic. Noble. She was, in fact, a rather nervous girl who had probably been told to remain silent.

Andrew just gave her a slight smile.

"Am I? Do you know how much more?" Andrew asked. Nicole, surprised that he didn't get angry at her, nodded slowly.

"Yeah. A few years. I think three? I'm not sure since your birthday hasn't been released to the public." Nicole said slowly, and Andrew chuckled. She had looked him up, researched him. Andrew should have been a little freaked out, but now that he knew that she was his little sister?

That seemed to change something inside of him fundamentally.

"How long have you been a true alpha, Nicole?" Andrew asked casually, and watched as her shoulders stiffen and she seemed to curl in on herself slightly. The tea that she'd ordered, on Andrew's suggestion, sitting in the cup in front of her. Untouched.

She was still wearing her gloves and jacket as well. Andrew wanted to nudge her to take them off, get more comfortable, but she was too stiff. Andrew wanted to comfort her, tell her it was okay, she could relax, but also remembered that they were in the public eye.

They were siblings, but on different sides. Andrew didn't consider that the case, not anymore, but he knew how the media would view it. Andrew had a feeling that she viewed the jacket and gloves as a shield.

A shield against Andrew.

Andrew's chest hurt to think that, but that was her right. Andrew didn't know what questions he would ask that would hurt her. The same way she could guess what could hurt him, but didn't fully know the truth. This was a first meeting, in truth, and they were just going to have to feel this out.

"I've been a true alpha for about two years now. I'm still not good at it." She said, and that last little added bit made Andrew confused.

"Not good at it? Is there a way to be good at it?" Andrew asked and watched as Nicole shrugged. Her gaze was down, staring at the table, and Andrew stared at her. "Is your…Mom aware that you aren't good at it?" Andrew asked carefully and watched as Nicole flinched. She nodded, looking miserable again.

She sniffed, loudly, and Andrew waited. She finally spoke.

"He's the one who told me that I'm not good enough to be an Abraham. A true alpha." it shocked Andrew to hear that. To hear that Nicole's Mom considered her lacking.

"Did your Mom…always want you to be a true alpha?" Andrew asked carefully. He felt like he was pulling back the skin of an orange, revealing a rotten core that he wasn't sure he wanted to look at. Nicole nodded quickly.

"Not all Mom's were like yours." She whispered softly, so quietly that it nearly broke Andrew's heart. Andrew couldn't stop himself from reaching out to this girl. There was no way he would be able to see someone hurting as much as Nicole was and not do anything.

"Oh Nicole. It's okay." Andrew told her softly. "I'm sorry we were raised so differently." He told her and watched as Nicole's head snapped up, her eyes watering, spilling over as she wiped her eyes with the back of her fur gloves.

"And I'm sorry your Mom's dead." She said brokenly. "It's not fair that someone that nice is gone while-" She cut off, closing her eyes and looking like she was in deep pain. Andrew stood up, grabbed his chair and shifted over so that they weren't across from each other and instead sat next to each other.

Andrew wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her against him and the smaller, but not by much, woman leaned into him. Her shoulders quietly shaking as Andrew stared down at a woman who revealed a truth that Andrew felt conflicted about.

Omegas who wanted to be married to the Abraham family. Omegas who wanted their blood, wanted to expand the family line. Who saw value in being true alphas. Omegas who didn't care about their children.

Andrew knew those people existed, he just didn't like to look at them that much. He didn't like it. It was partially due to the fact that his Mom had loved him so completely, and also because he had a bias towards omegas. He thought they were always lovely, always sweet, even when they were sour.

They were such complicated people, with unique bodies that people still had bad opinions about. Still thought that they couldn't do as much as others because of their heats. Andrew didn't believe the same. He had drunk so hard and deep of the respect omegas juice that he had a hard time fathoming that omegas could do bad things.

He knew it was possible. Tracey existed, but Andrew had probably disassociated Tracey from the fact that she was omega. He just considered her a scientist. An evil one, but a female scientist. He forgot that she was also an omega.

Andrew calmed himself down, more because it wouldn't do well for two true alphas to be in a terrible mood, and comforted Nicole as she slowly gained control of herself again.

She pushed away on his arm, putting some distance between them as she wiped at her eyes. They were slightly puffy now, a little bloodshot, but back to being brown again. Upon staring at her like this, Andrew could see that they both had the same nose, and the same ears.

It was a little jarring to see it, but at the same time…Andrew didn't hate it. He hadn't been looking at Noah when he'd first met him to see what they had in common, but now he was curious to see what he would notice.

"We have the same nose." Andrew told her, and watched as Nicole's eyes widened, she scanned his face, and a small, wobbly smile touched her lips.

"We do?" She asked, and Andrew nodded in confirmation.

"My Mom always said she liked my nose, so she would have liked yours too." Andrew told her, and watched as Nicole took a few shaky breaths. She seemed to relax, as if being told that had changed something inside of her.

"You can go back to the other side." Nicole told him, a little embarrassed. "I'm fine now." Andrew did move to the other side, more because he wanted to be able to see her face clearly as they spoke.

From that moment on, things were easier.

Nicole was a sweet girl. A little nervous, very anxious, and clearly, still managing being a true alpha. She was engaged, to an omega, and it seemed that she actually quite liked him. She showed Andrew a photo of her fiancé and when she spoke of him her face relaxed and her eyes warmed. She had a soft smile on her face, and she told Andrew that while their father had selected him and told both of them that he would be her first fiancé, Nicole had no intentions of taking on another omega after.

She'd also told her fiancé that in confidence, and the man had simply glowed at the thought. They were planning to take the little nest egg of a dowry and escape the city, maybe even the country.

Andrew was surprised that she was telling him this, and he even asked her why. She stared at him, quiet for a long moment before she quietly said,

"I don't know why, but I just know you won't say anything, and who would you tell? I'm not asking for help, we've got this figured out, but I just…I want to tell someone who I know will be excited for me." Andrew couldn't argue with that.

Andrew was excited for her. He was thrilled that she was going out on her own, forging her own path, but he was also worried. He was already trying to think of a way that he could help her, because Nicole? While she knew that Andrew was excited for her for pursuing her own life and love, she didn't know something important about Andrew.

Andrew was stubborn, and he liked to help.

When Nicole went to the bathroom to go pee, Andrew pulled out his phone and looked up how to open a bank account for someone else. He then, discretely, got some of the answers he needed to his question from Nicole when she got back after her pee break, and then sent a message off to Kim with said information.

He let her know what he wanted to do, who Nicole was, and what she planned to do.

Kim wanted to meet her, which was fair. Andrew let Nicole know that his aunt wanted to meet her but didn't tell her why and watched as Nicole turned pale. She was a darker shade than Andrew, so it was strange to see the colour drain from her face, but she agreed.

When Kim came downstairs, stoic, just like Nicole had been when she'd first come in, Andrew watched as the Nicole he had begun to know of, froze and grew rigid.

Until Kim spoke of Jenny, her wife, and how she was indisposed but she would have liked to meet Andrew's half sibling as well. As soon as Nicole was referred to as Andrew's half sibling, it seemed that Nicole relaxed. Something in her changed, like she was happy with that familial relationship. Kim slid her gaze to Andrew, her gaze to Nicole, and then back.

She gave a subtle nod to Andrew, showing off her agreement as she spoke a little bit to Nicole, just a few pleasantries, but it was clear that Kim was happy with her responses.

Kim invited her, and her fiancé to dinner later down the line. Nicole glowed at the inclusion of her fiancé, and Andrew realised that the world probably knew that she was engaged. Andrew was late to the party, and with a start, he realised that when he had decided to not know anything about his father, he had also excluded his family.

His potential family.

Andrew now knew that he was going to have to change that.

Nicole had to leave shortly after meeting Kim. They were getting to the hour and a half point, and she had another meeting after this. She hesitated, before she hugged Andrew, she confirmed that Andrew had her number, and thanked him for meeting with her.

Andrew told her not to be a stranger and text him whenever she wanted to. Even said that they should meet up. Nicole had smiled wide at that suggestion before hesitatingly, she waved, and left the building.

Now Andrew waited for the true stranger to show up.