Why am I here? (Sequel to the meet-up!)

⍀⏃⋏⏚⍜⍜ ⏁⍀⏃⎍⋔⏃⏁⟟⌇⟒⎅. ⌇⍜ ⟟⌇ ⟒☊⌰⟟⌿⌇⟒. ⏃⋏⎅ ⌇⍜⌰⏃⍀... ⏃⋔ ⟟ ⍜☍?

I'm so excited right now because I'm gonna write about Eclipse's and Solar's backstory soon and that's depressing as fuck. But at the same time I'm this close (🤏) to crying because exams are super soon and I understand nothing about math

Mention of past sexual assault.

Just as I had expected, less than an hour after we got back, I was on the floor, Eclipse having stolen the couch from me.

But since I had expected it, I had grabbed a bunch of extra blankets which I arranged in a comfortable way and laid down, pulling the heaviest blanket over me. Eclipse looked down at me from the couch, watching as I finally got comfortable.

"Do you like it here?" Eclipse suddenly whispers, their voice so silent that if I hadn't been paying attention I would have missed the question.

I take their hand from where it hung slightly over the couch, squeezing it tightly between my hands. "I do. But do you?" They stayed quiet after that, but I know they're still awake.

"Are you scared this will turn out like Florida?" They finally ask, and I jump slightly, not expecting them to speak.

"What do you mean by that?" I ask them, my voice as quiet as theirs.

"It's- it's nothing" They decide, and try to take their hand from my grip, only for me to tighten my hold on them.

"What do you mean by that?"

Finally they respond, "I'm scared this place will end up with Florida, where everything just gets worse for you. Like Halloween or your birthday. I don't want that to happen to you again." They stop for just a second "I miss seeing you happy. You've changed since then"

I wasn't sure how to respond. So I stayed quiet, holding their hand gently until their breathing gets slower and their hand goes limp. Then I let go of their hand, letting it limply fall back into place on the couch.

I should have tried to sleep. But the mention of Halloween last year brought back bad memories, which is probably why Eclipse attempted to not tell me.

It wasn't even just memories from last Halloween. I could feel different hands on my legs and arms, touching me slowly, aiming to touch uncomfortable places. I heard an older voice, whispering at me about how I looked so much like my mother, and how he had never been able to do this to her.

I didn't sleep that night.

The next day, when the others woke, I was in the kitchen, a plate of pancakes made and waiting for someone to eat. They seemed concerned that I had woken so early but took their pancakes without a problem.

Then, after Eclipse got ready, we left to meet the people who were selling us the house, giving Tubbo the opportunity to stream while we were gone.

Eclipse seemed so excited about everything around us. It was so new to them, and they were so excited to live here. They had been planning all of this for months it turns out, and everything was finally going to work out.

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get what they said to leave my mind. Why were they running from their past? I thought that I had known everything about them, but now I wasn't sure if I did.

I didn't bring it up to them. I was too tired to deal with a long upsetting conversation.

We took the bus to the new house. It wasn't too far from Tubbo's house, but since neither me nor Eclipse had a british drivers license, the bus was the only way to get there on time.

I could tell a few people recognised me while we were on the bus, so I tried my hardest to stay slightly away from Eclipse, pretending like we didn't know each other. Eclipse wasn't upset by that, because a while back, before the meet-up ever happened, they suggested we do this while we were together on public transit so that it didn't cause any drama.

When we finally reached the house, Eclipse was practically vibrating with excitement. They did all the talking with the old owners, a nice old lady who was moving into a retirement home after the recent death of her husband. I, on the other hand, was allowed to walk around the home. Since the retirement home that the old lady was going to provided furniture, the lady was leaving all her old furniture, which included three beds, two of which belonged to her past children.

Eclipse planned to have someone come in and get the place professionally cleaned before we moved in, but I was confused why. The entire house was already extremely clean. There was no paint peeling, no stains on the carpet or walls, no rough patches of carpet, no random crumbs or disgusting things on the floor, nothing unsanitary or bad. Of course, it was still better to be safe and get the house cleaned, but I was confused on how an old lady who relied heavily on a cane and had three cats could manage to get the house so clean. There wasn't even a piece of cat hair anywhere.

Then I entered my room, or at least the one that they had decided would be mine. It wasn't exactly the biggest, but it wasn't small either. It was across from the room they decided would be my office, and was connected to a private bathroom so I could cover the mirror if needed.

I entered the room and sat down on the dusty mattress, coughing as dust flew into the air and into my lungs. I don't think this room has been used for a long time. I stood back up again, wanting out of the dusty room, so instead I went to where my office was going to be.

There was already a desk in there, so all I would have to deal with was getting a chair. But what I liked the most about the room was the fact that the walls had been painted to look like a galaxy. It wasn't even wallpaper. It had fully been painted like this.

I spent the next hour with a sheet of paper, planning out my office. Eclipse and some others came in earlier, but I didn't know what they were doing until Eclipse came back later, a super excited smile on their face.

"Ranboo! Ranboo!" They said, leaning on me from where I was sitting on the floor.

"Yes Eclipse?" I say, looking into their silvery blue eyes that were practically glowing with excitement.

"I own a house"