✳ 𝒮𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓅𝒾𝓉𝓎 ✳ 𝒲𝒾𝓁𝒷𝓊𝓇 𝒮𝑜𝑜𝓉 𝓍 𝑅𝑒𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓇 ✳

₁

TW: We're starting early with the angst, boys. Get ready. Also, mentions of death. Yeah, I wasn't kidding.

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You fumbled to catch your keys which had fallen from your clumsy grip, catching them before they hit the floor. You breathed a sigh of relief, and took your coat from where it hung by the front door. You slipped it on, feeling the heat of the clothing warm your body. You opened the front door, checking that your shoes were tied. 

"Mason, when I get back, you'd better not have set the house on fire!" You call to your 16 year old younger brother. "I'm working! Leave me alone!" You heard him yell at you in reply. You scoffed, shaking your head with disapproval. Mason had been streaming on twitch for about a year and a half now, having gained about 6 thousand followers on the app. On YouTube, however, the self-proclaimed 'rising star' had acquired about 1 and a half million subscribers. You never really kept up with those things, focusing mainly on your own job. 

You breathed in the September air, relishing the feeling of the fresh, cool air in your lungs. You exhaled with a heavy sigh as you stepped out of your one story house, closing the door behind you.  You always had enjoyed the month, as it marked the official beginning of your favorite season; Autumn. The color of the decaying leaves had always interested you, as they were so elegant and natural. You enjoyed taking walks, more so in the season. Not only because of the leaves, but because of the weather as well. It was never to hot, nor too cold for you. 

You began your walk, clearing your mind of the stress and worries that followed when having to support yourself and your teenage brother. You had been rather concerned with the rent ever since you inherited your parent's house, being the older sibling, but even more so with the cut in employees your job had gone through recently. You now did twice the work for a smaller amount of pay.

You never thought that working as a pharmacist could get so stressful. At least your brother was bringing in his social media earnings, helping to keep everything that you both had so far; food, electricity, the house. 

You took a deep breath, holding it in your lungs. Now wasn't the time to worry about that stuff. Now was the time to destress. You walked around the dark streets of London, the lampposts guiding your path due to the hazy clouds that blocked the moon. You glanced upwards, hoping to see stars, but you were met with a cloudy gray mass. You frowned.

 You looked back down, watching your feet as they stepped, one in front of the other. You decided you your going to ask your boss to work extra shifts to earn any extra pay, that way you and your brother could afford necessities and have a little money left over. You weighed the pros and cons of working late, making a long list of each in your already crowded head. You decided to follow through with the idea, though you would be coming home quite a few hours later then you usually do. 

You pulled your phone out of the pocket of your jacket, staring at the lock-screen for a little while. It was an old photo of you and your brother; though he was a nuisance most times, you still loved him. You unlocked your phone and reached into your other pocket, taking out some tangled earbuds. You fumbled with the wires in your hand, unknotting all of the wires before plugging them into your phone and turning on your music playlist.

You allowed a small smile to cross your face as the happy melodies washed over you. They made you feel safe. They always reminded you of your mother, how she had loved these kinds of slow, happy songs. She always seemed like the kind of person that would. She was a kind lady, always looking on the bright side of things.

You never thought anyone could smile like she did, full of hope of getting better on their hospital bed.

You pushed away the thought of her passing, and focused more on the tune that played in through your earbuds, unknowingly blocking the guitar chords that were being played down the street. Oblivious to the other music, you hummed along to the song that you were listening to, letting your brain empty itself of all other thoughts. 

---

You unlocked the front door, smelling something burning.

 "Bloody hell, Mason! I give you one simple rule-" You begin to yell, frustrated and concerned about the scent. Your brother interrupted you, walking into your field of vision, holding a piece of burnt toast. 

"Upupup- Hush, Y/N. How come you always get onto me for my language? Its just a piece of fucking toast, asshole." He fussed at you, teasingly throwing in the cusses. You gave him a hard glare, hanging your keys on one of the coat hangers by the door, shrugging off your jacket and hanging it on the coat hanger beside them. "I'm going to slap the fire out of you if you don't shut up, you gremlin." You warned him. He just laughed. "Well. Hello to you, too." He spoke, a shit-eating grin appearing on his face.

 You just scoffed, mocking annoyance as you took your hand and aggressively ruffled his hair. "Hey!" He yelped, ducking away after a few moments of torment, courtesy of you. Now you laughed. "You are so mean to me-" he whined in a playful manner as you crouched down to untie your shoes. "Yeah, its my job as the older sibling. Who else is going to do it?" You joked, standing back up and stepping out of your shoes. "Touché." He admitted his defeat, crossing his arms, still holding his burnt toast. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be in my room." You told him, softly punching his shoulder as you passed him. He responded with a "Hey!-" before you were down the hall and secluded in your bedroom. 

As soon as you were in your room, you shut the door and collapsed, face first, into your bed. You laid for a moment, before rolling over and sitting up, grapping your phone and unlocking it. You liked being in your room, as you had spent most of your childhood years sleeping in it. It had a nice, nostalgic feeling to it. It was home, and you didn't want to picture yourself anywhere else but inside the baby blue walls of your room.

 You went onto messages, selecting the thread with 'Hopey Dopey 👀🥺😳'. You knew she had some weird nickname in her phone as well. You tapped 'call', and moved the phone to sit in between your head and your shoulder, listening to the ringing before she picked up.

You grabbed your laptop, opening it and sitting it on your lap as you opened it, powering it on.

"Hey my bae!" A voice rung in your ears. This brought a grin to your face. "Hey to you, my boo." You replied, sending you and Hope into a fit of laughter. "How ya' been? Anything interesting happen?" Hope asked you, talking fast like she usually does. You could imagine her talking to you through her wireless earbuds as she did her nails.

"Nope, not today." You replied. "However, Mason almost caught the house on fire with a piece of toast." You informed your best friend. She laughed. "What's new?" She asked, making you laugh with her. 

"Well, on a more serious note, and the reason I called you, .." You began, trailing off to build suspense. The other line was quiet. "I'm going to be working more, hopefully starting tomorrow." You finished. The other line stayed quiet. 

"Hope? You there?" You asked, trying to grab her attention. "Yeah, yeah. But don't you work enough as it is? I mean, you have Mason, and your job, and-" You cut Hope off. "I know, I know. But money is tight, and I actually would like to do something with my life, and nowadays to do anything, you need money." You said, your voice less happy and carefree than it was a moment ago, when you and Hope were playfully laughing at each other's jokes. "I wont argue with that.." Hope decided, sighing. You could hear her put something down. 

"Just- Do me a favor, will you?" She asked, her tone soft. "Yeah? What is it?" you asked, curious. "Don't overwork yourself. Okay?" You now realized the softness to her tone was concern. "Oh. Um. Well, I suppose I can try." "Babes, I don't need you to try. I need you to do." She said. You nodded, though she couldn't see it. "Yeah. Okay. I can do that." You said, though you weren't sure if that was the truth. You both sat in a comfortable silence for a moment.

 The sound of a door opening and closing on the other line interrupted you and your best friend. "Whoops- Sorry. Gotta go. Love you! Bye!" Hope said, sounding like she was trying to hurry. She sounded like someone really important just came through that door. 

Before you could respond, the soft beeping of the phone letting you know that she hung up had plunged you into a lonely silence. You realized your laptop had powered on, and so you opened it, getting started on an email to your boss to request extra hours. 

"Lets see how this goes." You mumbled to yourself, pressing send after a long few minutes of careful consideration of word choice and spelling. You just hoped he accepted your offer.