WALLFLOWER // B.E

fifty

billie

about an hour or so later, both juniper and archer have fallen asleep. it's nearing eight p.m. right now, so they probably shouldn't be napping, but they both really seem like they need it, so i'm not going to wake them up.

i laid with them while they slept, not wanting to leave them. for a while, junie had been sleeping peacefully, but now she kept tossing and turning as her brows occasionally knitted together. this would last ten or so minutes before she went back to sleeping peacefully.

as junie slept, she always made sure to be in some kind of contact with me. she either had an arm around my waist, her legs tangled with mine, or she even held my hand, like she's doing right now. archer, on the other hand, stayed switching between burying his face in mine and june's chest, depending on if he was laying on his left or right side.

once the two of them were sleeping well and archer had cuddled into june's chest, i carefully got out of the bed. i quietly made my way out of the room, and i shut the door behind myself.

i walked to finneas's room, and i knocked lightly. when he said i could come in, i did. i spotted michael in here as well, but he was passed out in one of fin's beanbags.

finneas looked at me, and he tilted his head slightly. "are juniper and archer still here?" he asked.

i nodded. "yeah, they're both asleep in my bed."

"do you know what happened? they both seemed pretty upset," he frowned.

"no, junie couldn't even tell me before she broke down," i frowned as well. "she cried herself to sleep, and not too long after that, archer came in there, and he fell asleep too."

he pursed his lips, and he leaned back in his chair. "i don't know... archer told me something about a 'scary woman' who came to their house?" he made a face. "he said that he didn't see her long, because juniper made him go back to her room."

my brows knitted together. "a scary woman?" i echoed in a mumble. "i can't think of anyone that would be... well, unless it's— no, it couldn't be. it better not be," i rephrased.

his brows furrowed. "huh? what do you mean?"

"i don't know if it was her, but i think it could be their mom," i told her. "but it's not my place to tell you why that would be bad."

"yeah, i get that. you don't need to tell me," he dismissed me. "i don't know; i just hope they'll be okay, because again, they both seemed really upset."

"they are," i sighed as i slouched into fin's other bean bag. "whatever it is they're going through, i'm going to help out anyway i can."

"i'll help too. if you or they need anything, you know you can always ask me," he gave a small smile.

"thank you," i let out a breath.

i continued to talk to him for a while. eventually, i started to head back to my room. on the way there, i stopped as i saw that june had woken up and was walking down the hallway, towards me.

she rubbed at her eyes. "why did you leave?" she asked quietly.

"i was just in finny's room for a little bit, baby; i didn't leave," i assured as i stepped closer to her. "do you need anything?"

she silently brought me into a hug, and she held me close to her for a few moments. "come back to bed," she mumbled.

"okay, i will," i murmured. "but do you need anything else? are you hungry, pretty girl? i can cook you something."

she let out a muffled "nuh-uh," before she said "bed."

"alright, let's go back to bed then," i took her hand in mine, and i brought our hands up to kiss her knuckles. "i love you, okay?"