bracelets | ranboo x nb!oc

11

Artemisia's annoying voice is, of course, the first thing I want to hear when I get home. As soon as I walk in the door, she's on my case. "Dei!" She's dramatically leaning against the wall opposite the front door. I raise an eyebrow and study her expression as I lock the door behind me.

"Were you waiting for me to get home?"
"You forgot your lunch today."

wow, don't you love it when your point gets completely ignored?

She's holding up a brown paper bag, looking exasperated. I scoff, snatch the bag and walk into the kitchen. "I'm not three, Mia. I don't need you packing my lunch for me."
"I don't care what you need, Dei. It's my way of making sure you're eating enough during the day."
"I'm eating just fine." I reply dismissively, putting the paper bag down on the counter next to the stove.

My head is still spinning from my shitty day, and the fact that Mia starting her daily berating session now is not helping.

"You're not 'just fine', Dei, you aren't eating enough."
"I'm buying stuff from the canteen."
"With what money? I know for a fact that you're saving everything you have right now. Why are you lying to me?" My sister's eyes are tired and she looks exhausted. A sliver of guilt worms its way into my heart, and I sigh, a flurry of emotions whirling through my head. I lean on the counter, staring blankly at the marble countertop.

"Dei," Mia snaps, her expression now undeniably frustrated, "seriously. Why aren't you taking your food?"
"I just forgot it today."
"And every other day this week, no? You leave it on the bench. And not just this week, either." The concern that's practically radiating off of her is making me want to shrivel up in a hole and die. "Please, kiddo. why won't you eat? What's going on?"
"It's nothing."
"But it's not nothing. This isn't like you. Last time this happened was when.." her words trail off, but we both know when she meant. "Was in 2021." Mia clears her throat and straightens her posture. "I'm worried about you, alright?"

I know that my sister cares. She truly does. I don't doubt that for a second, and I care about her, too. My head turns her way. "Don't worry too much, okay? I've just.. I-I'm having some issues," I pause, swallowing a forming lump in my throat with determination.

I refuse to cry over this.

"Um.. with Paige and stuff."
"And stuff?" Artemisia repeats, raising her eyebrows with a tone I can't quite place. "We broke up."
"You what?" the sadness swirling in her chocolate brown eyes is making my heart ache. I nod, "yeah. A few days ago."
my voice is that soft, low tone you get when you try to keep the tension to a minimum, but quite frankly, that idea was out the window I saw Artemisia's annoying face when I walked through the door. Purely based on what I can gather from her miserable expression, she's not exactly pleased with me just completely neglecting to tell her that I broke up with my girlfriend — whom, of which, she adores (well, adored, I suppose).

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?"
"I couldnt. didn't feel real." I mumble, standing up straight and lightly grasping the paper bag I've been not-so-subtly avoiding for the past week. My thought process is to put it in my bag and just dump it in the bin at school tomorrow (which is a very effective way to get rid of food you don't want to eat). I turn to leave, but my sister is unfortunately holding me hostage in our marble-countered kitchen by gripping my wrist tightly and very obviously not planning on letting go.

The frown plastered on her face is quickly muted as she opens her mouth to yap at me some more. "What about Avery?"
"Not much better." I roll my eyes and mutter. My mood when I walked inside was a very antisocial one, and right now my brain is practically screaming 'GTFO BRO' at me, so I'm trying to slip away. She frowns, and nods. "Okay. Well, if you ever need to talk, remember that im here." The corner of her lips tug up into a soft smile, and before I can stop her, she's pulled me into a tight hug, kissing the top of my head.

"I love you, kiddo. Don't forget that."
"Love you too."
"Dei Daylesford, your eyes are going to get stuck in the back of your head if you roll them that aggressively."

With a scoff and a chuckle, I pull away, and begin making my way up the stairs towards my room. Im exhausted, extremely excited to flop on to my bed and snooze for 17 years straight when, much to my dismay, Mia calls out again. "Oh, Dei, one last thing."
"What's up?"
"No more forgetting lunch. And I'm ordering takeout for dinner, so let me know what you want when you've decided."