ORPHANED

:: one hundred five ::

with really nothing to do but think and theorize and overthink and exhaust himself he spent a majority of him time with his sister. bothering her the same way she had bothered him before, as much as he wished for it to annoy her, she enjoyed spending time with him. her company helped him forget about the problem at hand and the days seemed to pass faster when he spent his time with her.

today she sat at his desk trying to finish her homework while he provided absolutely no help at all. he sang to the music playing as background noise and it did nothing but distract her.

"three of these questions are the same and i can't find different answers for them." she whined over the music slamming her head down onto the desk.

he sighed from where he laid comfortably on his bed, sitting up to present an obvious idea. "then wouldn't all three have the same answer?"

his response earned him a groan and a sarcastic, "why didn't i think of that." she lifted her head and pointed at the paper. "no, because the lines are different lengths."

he shrugged and felt an ingenious idea come to mind. a smirk reached his face as he could see her progressively grow more and more frustrated. "write the words bigger to fit the line." that had just about been the end of her asking him for help.

she spun around in the chair and threw her pencil at him. "you are so dumb, what's the point in having an older brother if he's not going to help me with my homework."

he felt himself laugh as the pencil hit the wall behind him, one point for dream. both of them paused when there was a knock at the door. his sister stood from her seat and paused the music, turning to watch their mom peek into the room. she smiled at them, a laundry basket resting on her hip.

"yeah pause the music, mom is coming in. i see how it is, having fun without me? ill remember that." her grin grew from where she peeked into the room, inspecting how much fun they were having without her.

his sister shook her head with too much enthusiasm. "it's not like that, i'm trying to do my homework, but dingus over here isn't helping at all." she pointed at him with an accusing finger and both dream and his mom spoke at the same time.

"don't point, it's rude."

her eyes found his and her smile widened when she came to realize dream had picked up a few mannerisms from her.

"i have a feeling none of the teachers over here know what they're teaching, three of these questions are exactly the same." the attention turned back to his sister who stood at the desk with still no answer as to what to do.

his mom stepped farther into the room to scan to page to see if there was anything she could do to help. "then wouldn't they all have the same answer?"

another point for dream, he smiled as his sister glared at him, falling to her knees to enhance the dramatics of the situation.

"that's what i said." he filled his mom in as to why her daughter was now wiggling around on the ground, defeated.

"ah." they waited for her to continue, knowing she'd be well on her way if that was all she had wanted to say. "it seems you guys aren't taking too well to this new place..." at that moment, time froze for both the man on the bed and and girl on the floor, neither of them wanting to hear the words that would follow. "what if we go back home for christmas?"

the blonde turned to the neglected phone beside his bed, knowing all too well that his sister had been practically daring him to accept that offer. her eyes stabbing into him with the same betrayal she had voiced not that long ago.

but really, was there anything left for him here?

"you have plenty of time to think about it, i just wanted to get it out into the air." she stepped back out of the room, pausing before closing the door. "try not to have too much fun without me?"

dream could imagine his sister speaking up to say 'no promises' or 'don't get your hopes up,' but instead her eyes never left his. the door closing was her sign to get up from the floor and resume her spot at the desk. the mood of the room taking a turn for the worse.

they sat in silence and his eyes wandered back over to the phone he had set down and made no effort to pick back up. he began reaching for it, but stopped when he heard his sister's voice pipe back up.

"i don't know what happened between you two, but i know you aren't trying to leave without talking to him first."

he watched her movements, seeing that instead of writing on the paper she had started to gather her things. she made her way to the door, avoiding looking at him and linking their eyes.

"i do hope you work it out, i miss seeing you smile like an idiot when you see him." and with that she left the room, flicking off the light to leave him in the silent dark to rethink every decision he had ever made so far in his entire life.

he sighed, reaching a hand up to pull at the skin of his lips. he laid back on the bed. it had been a while since he had seriously thought about talking to the brunette and it seemed with every passing day he avoided it the result that george would understand when he finally did follow through would decrease.

he blinked but it didn't do too much, the darkness in the room mirroring the black behind his eyelids.

—

i have a genuine fear of dying before this book is done, because first of all who's gonna tell you all, and second of all, how am i supposed to end it if i'm dead???