𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐘𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇- spencer reid ✔️

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄

"𝐖𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐊," Celia's brother told her ominously over the phone. Her stomach dropped, and her mind immediately went to the darkest corners possible. Nothing ever good could come of a conversation that started with those four words. "I know it's not the best time, Cece, but I'm afraid that time is of the essence here."

"What's wrong?" She questioned. She tucked her knees in close to her chest and glanced out Spencer's living room window. Despite his insistence on being with her, he had been called in to work today. It wasn't his fault that serial killers seemed to strike at the most inconvenient of times, but Celia wasn't going to stop him from going out there and saving someones life. "Are you okay, Seb?"

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" He asked her a little too quickly. If Celia thought that she was good at hiding her feelings, then Sebastian Clairmont was the king. She never could get a read on her brother, despite knowing him for her entire life. 

"It's a hard day," she reminded him. Although Celia had been the one to find her parents, Sebastian had been there to witness it all as well. He had to live with the sound of her anguished cries as she realized she'd never see her parents again. He also had to live with the fact that he was now the heir apparent to the entire Clairmont empire, which to him, meant that he had to step up to plate and take care of everyone else. That also meant that he wouldn't dare let someone else carry the burden for him, because he felt the need to ensure everyone but himself was constantly okay, even if he had a funny way of showing it. "I just- I want to make sure that you have someone, Seb. It doesn't have to be me, but I just hope you have someone you could talk to."

Celia had Spencer, and Nathan had Margot. Who did her brother have? As far as she knew, her brother didn't have anyone to rely on outside of his immediate family. He always kept that part of himself under lock and key. The closest thing that her brother had to a friend (from what Celia could tell) was Riley Carter, and even then, he kept most of it to himself. 

"I think I do," he replied, and that was about the closest thing that Celia would get to a confirmation with her brother. "But that's not why I called."

"Ah, so there is a catch?" She questioned, confirming what she already knew. Sebastian wasn't one for small talk, despite the date on the calendar. "I thought you just wanted to catch up with your sister."

"It's about the house," he said, cutting right to the chase. "Granddad's house," he clarified, since they technically had two houses. "Someone wants to buy it."

Celia's eyes widened in shock. Her and her brother had discussed the possibility of putting the house on the market, but nothing was set in stone. After all, the renovations had just been declared complete, and the house was brand new, and never been lived in by anyone now that it had been rebuilt. "I didn't even know that you had listed it already." She felt uneasy knowing that her brother had gone behind her back without talking to her. He might usually be the one in charge, but Celia also owned that house. That meant she got a say in what happened to it. 

All she had wanted was to be kept in the loop of things. 

"I didn't," Sebastian replied calmly, as if he had sensed what Celia was about to imply. "But you know how these people are. Everything is for sale, for the right price, of course."

Oh. 

"How much?" She asked. Her brother spit out a number, and Celia would have done a spit take if she had anything in her mouth. Her eyes widened, wondering if she had heard him right. "Seb. That's like way over any asking price for a property like that."

"I know," her brother replied, seemingly unbothered by the insanely large number he had just spit out. He worked in real estate, after all. "Apparently they're really interested in the place. They want it. Badly."

Celia paused for a moment, pondering her choices here. The house had been dear to her growing up, but the memories that she had in there were gone now. It was no longer a second home to Celia, just another house. "Do you think that maybe it's some kind of sign or something?" Sebastian didn't believe in signs from the universe. He believed in logic, and the facts that were presented to him. Celia, however, liked to believe that everything happened for a reason, and that the universe often worked in mysterious ways. She also believed that everything was intentional, and that there was a plan set in place for everyone. "That maybe it's time we finally move on and just... let it all go?"

It didn't feel like a coincidence that this phone call came on today of all days. It could have same yesterday, or even tomorrow, but it happened today, marking a year exactly after Celia's perception of the house became forever changed. 

"I'm leaving the choice to you," he told her, avoiding her question entirely. 

"Who wants to buy it?" She didn't want to sell the house to someone she thought wouldn't enjoy it. If she was going to agree to sell the house, she wanted to sell it to someone who would live there and make it a home. Maybe someone new could make the house lively again, the same as it was when Celia was a child and everything was normal, and she was happy. She didn't want to sell it to some mogul who was going to buy it as some kind of investment. She wanted to give a family a new opportunity to make memories there, like it would somehow heal Celia's inner child after everything she went through there. "A family," her brother answered. "Everything's gone through the realtor so far, but all I know is that they have two children. Twins."

"I think it's time, Seb," she whispered. Dr. Patel had given her a lengthy talk about moving on in order to let herself to be happy, and she thought that maybe it was time she took that advice. The house was tied to one of the things in her life that was making her unhappy, and she had a chance to turn it around to make someone else happy. "Sell it."

"Are you sure?"

Yes, she was. This might be the first thing that she was sure of in a long time. She was ready to leave that part of her life behind her. A part of Celia had died that night in the fire, and it was time she embraced that. "I am," she assured her brother, not feeling an ounce of doubt about her choice. "But I have one condition."

"Me too," he told her, surprising her. "You first."

"I want one night at the house," Celia stated. It might not be the same house, but she wanted her last memory there to be a positive one. "The three of us, just like old times. No work, no business, nothing. Just one last night together before it's gone." That was all she wanted. "Your turn."

"I know that the house is technically ours," he started. "And that the mom and dad's will stated for our assets to be split in half, but I wanted to pass something by you first." Sebastian paused, and Celia had an idea of where he might be going with this. "I want to split the money from the house into three. Me, you, and Nathan. It's just as much his home as it is ours, and I don't want us to be like our parents. It only seems fair."

"I agree." They were already well off in terms of money, so whatever money she got from the house wasn't going to make her or break her. Nathan deserved a cut of the house just as much as her and her brother did. She wasn't going to deprive him of that. "I think that's a good choice." It felt right. 

"It's all going to happen pretty fast," Seb warned her. He informed her that the buyer was interested in getting possession of the house as quickly as possible, since they were hoping to get the house before someone else put an offer in. They were hellbent on getting this house, apparently."

The two of them went over a few more terms and stipulations, but after that, the siblings wrapped up their phone call, with the promise of a visit and a phone call soon. They'd pick a day, and satisfy Celia's wish of having one final night in the house, and then the three of them would say goodbye and finally part with it. 

Celia wasn't as sad about it as she would have expected to be. There was a part of her that felt good about her choice to move on and leave the house behind her. With the house still around, it felt like a physical anchor that would always tie Celia to her trauma. Perhaps if it was out of the picture, she could finally move on from the past and give herself a future. 

She didn't want to speak too soon, but it felt as though Celia Clairmont was finally starting to heal, and it only took a year for her to realize it. 

A/N:
short chapter today...oopsie