Chapter 2

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(Wednesday upload pog?)

"Jimmy?" A knock on the door paired with his name being called told him that Joel was outside.

He whimpered, pulling his knees to his chest.

"I know you are in there!" His sing-song voice chimed in the room. "Lizzie said you didn't know how to turn on the computer so if you want, I can turn it on for you." Jimmy perked up a little bit at that. He wanted to talk to his brother desperately.

But, he deflated.

His parents were upset with Grian and they were mad at each other. What if Jimmy makes them more mad by talking to Grian?

The door creaked open, Joel laughing.

"Jeez, with everything being replaced in your palace yearly, you would have thought that they would replace these loud hinges." He partially spoke to himself, closing the door again. Jimmy could hear Joel make his way across the room. "Jimmy?" He called, looking into his pillow fort. The five year old could see the instant that Joel saw his tears.

Quietly, he crawled into the fort as well, a small smile on his face.

"What wrong, Jim?" He spoke softly, taking one of his small hands. "Did something happen?"

Jimmy tried to forget the yelling he heard. He tried to forget how his mother called Grian an idiotic commoner. He tried to forget how desperate his dad was to keep them together.

He sniffled, wiping his sleeves against his face. "L-Lizzie was watching a scary movie yesterday... it scared me." He whispered quietly. He wasn't lying completely, Lizzie had watched a scary movie the night before. He caught a scene when he walked in to ask for a snack but it was nothing that scared him. The only reason he cried after seeing it was because he wanted to watch one of his cartoons on the TV. Lizzie thought it had scared him though.

Joel didn't laugh or taunt him. He just gave him a reassured smile and squeezed his hand. "Oh, Jim." Jimmy found himself crawling towards the teen, curling up against him. Joel wrapped him in a comforting hug. "No need to be scared, the palace is the most safe place you can be." Jimmy didn't feel that way. "Your sister probably didn't mean to scare you and if she did, let me know next time and I will beat her in Mario Kart." Jimmy giggled at that, knowing that Lizzie was an awful Mario Kart player so Joel often just let her win. The tightness in his chest evened out. "Alright, do you still want to speak to Grian?" Jimmy nodded his head, standing up and running out of the fort.

"Come on! Come on!" He urged, pulling on Joel's arm.

"Slow down! I'm a bit too big for your fort!" Joel laughed, crawling out as best as he could without knocking it down. As soon as he got out, he was immediately pulled by Jimmy out the creaking door.

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Jimmy's feet swung as he waited for Joel to open it up for him.

"And... there! It's ready!" Joel gave the mouse to Jimmy, letting him move it around. "Would you like me to stay in here with you?"

Jimmy turned to him with a big smile. "Nope! Brother conversation is personal!" He joked, pushing Joel towards the door. The teen laughed.

"Alright, yell if you need anything! I will be just outside with Lizzie." Joel left and closed the door behind him, this one silent.

Jimmy turned back to the monitor, the light hurting his eyes. He didn't care as he blissfully pulled up the messaging app they used. He found the picture of Grian smiling brightly in the gardens with his friends.

Clicking on it, he opened the conversation to talk to Grian.

<Lizzie> Are you ready?

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