⌞ long live ⌝

⌞ twelve : family ⌝

"Come on, Lu. Come on! Answer me, for fucks sake!"

___

I leaned against the wall as I waited to see my family. Jules was next to me, standing. I had tried to get him to relax a bit but he just stood there, as he had been doing for the past hour. I had asked him why we got here so early but he just said we needed to be punctual. And I understood. Father would throw a fit if we weren't here when they landed. 

I pulled out my phone to scroll through Instagram, my boredom finally winning. But, as my luck always seems to play out, I heard someone yell my name. I looked up and saw Arty running at me, leaving his suitcase behind for Lore to pick up. I smiled, tucking my phone into my pocket and walking over to meet him. He almost tackled me in a hug and I let out a breathy chuckle.

"Did you really miss me that much?" 

He pulled back. "Duh! Charlie and Lore don't play with me." 

I gasped, throwing a glare at my brothers who only rolled their eyes as they caught up with us. "How dare they!" 

He chuckled, still holding onto me but sidestepping so I could hug Charlie as well. He gave me a quick one, before pulling away to look at me. "Lula." 

"Charlie." 

"You look decent." 

I snorted which caused him to break out into a smile. "Yeah, yeah. How was the flight?" 

"Awful. I had to deal with Art." 

"Oh, it couldn't have been that bad." I looked down at my little brother who only shrugged, giving me a mischievous smile. I gave him a quick wink to let him know I knew what he was up to. 

"Well, that's the game." 

Charlie rolled his eyes but he was still smiling which told me he knew this was going to be another inside joke. I gave him a soft shove towards Jules who was just watching everything play out. I made eye contact with Lore who gave me a nod, my smile dropped and I gave him one back before looking down at Arty. 

"Where's Father and Mother?" 

"Talking with someone. They said to just come to meet you guys so you didn't get worried." 

"Ah." 

He nodded and I gave him a light shove towards Jules. He looked up at me and I nodded. Art had some separation issues and I respected that. Not that anyone would admit it but I practically raised him. It didn't hit me that I had been his parent until he had invited me to a parent's breakfast instead of our mother. I went and it felt a little wrong but Arty was happy and that was all that mattered. Plus, we had a great time doing all the stupid games and crafts. 

Lore came to stand next to me and I was slightly surprised. I shifted a bit, to give him some room and he chuckled. 

"I'm not going to bite you, Lu." 

"I know that." 

He smirked. "But you moved away from me." 

"Because you never just stand next to me." 

I saw something flash in his expression but it was too quick for me to place. He reached out and I flinched back a bit. That's when I saw the expression. Hurt.