You Broke Me First (A Wings of Fire Human AU)

Lovely chat, dear sister.

Winter's POV

"This wasn't an accident." Those four words chilled me to the bone.

"Icicle..." I start slowly, cautiously. How could she know it wasn't an accident? Unless... 

"Icicle, how do you know it wasn't an accident? Only one chandelier fell, it could've just been someone was a shitty chandelier installer." I numbly try to reason with her. I swear, if it's a shitty installer, I will kill them. No one, and I mean no one, hurts my girlfriend and gets away with it.

Icicle hesitates before answering, and I have a sinking feeling in my stomach. As much as I hate the chandelier installer, something tells me it's not their fault. 

She leans into me, hugging me tighter. She 'sniffles', then starts 'sobbing' in my shoulder.

"Icicle!" I hiss. "Shut up." This is no time for my sister's theatrics, her attention seeking ways.

Icicle leans into my ear, and I feel her warm breath tickle my hair. The hair that isn't slick with blood, that is. I look over her shoulder and see Snowfall, and fuck. She looks terrible. 

Mascara's running down her face, and if looks could kill, everyone in this room would be dead ten times over.

"Meet me outside alone by the bushes. Under no circumstances is anyone allowed to come with you." My attention is brought back to my sister, and she untangles her limbs from mine, the look in her eyes fierce. "If you bring anyone, you will regret it."

She then leaves abruptly, head held high, as if nothing happened. She ignores all the whispers, and even Snowfall looks confused about our... ah... interaction. She gives  me a quizzical look, softening her glare temporarily, and I just shrug blankly. Her eyes widen, then narrow, closing in on my sister suspiciously. Oh, dam, her glare just got ten times worse. 

My sister just looks back at me, motioning to me with her hand. It's a simple gesture, but her message is clear. 

'Come'. I'm tempted to roll my eyes. I get up, and the room starts spinning, and I'm tempted to just fall over and collapse. My heads pounding, and fuck. I must look pretty bad, cause now people are looking at me, concerned. Even Snowfall's stopped glaring daggers at Icicle, and is looking at me. 

Icicle just rolls her eyes. 'Weak', she mouths, and I glare at her. Fuck her.

Qibli rushes over to help me up, and I groan. 

"Thanks, man." I say gratefully. He's a great friend; I need to stop taking him for granted. 

"No problem," He replies, and warmth comes rushing through my body. I keep forgetting how genuine people can be. Call me a dweeb, but these small acts of kindness melt my heart. 

My parents suck. I'm not insulting them, I'm just stating facts. They are absolute trash. They hate me, I hate them, no big deal. They're cold, calculating bags of shit, who use and abuse what ever they can get their filthy hand on. That includes people. And my sister, Icicle, is just as cold and calculating as them. My older brother, Hailstorm, as cold as his name. We used to be kinda close, but something happened, and we just... fell apart. My grandparents are dead, but that's a good thing; they were worse than my parents. 

Anyway, because I grew up with such... shitty parents (that's putting it nicely), I never really... knew warmth. So, when I became best friends with Qibli (best friend is kinda a stretch. More like... we were assigned as lab partners in middle school and he hasn't stopped bothering me since), and he invited me to his house, I was amazed. He family was so warm. He only had a mom and step sister (he is adopted and his mom isn't married; long story), but they were so... nice.

His (adoptive) mom, Thorn Caddell, or 'Ms. Caddell', is an amazing woman. Super kind, and she's the kind of woman who... just... gets it. She's one of those parents who is cool with out even trying. And his step sister, Sunny Caddell, she's so... sunny. Literally, that's the one word you can use to describe her personality. She goes to Jade academy too, and she always says 'hi'. She's pretty and popular too, but she's popular because she's that nice.

And Thorn's boyfriend (We're pretty much on first name terms), Smolder Asher, is pretty chill too. They're so  much different than my... family. Note the heavy sarcasm. 

"You good?" Qibli asks, and I blink. What was I doing? Ah yes, going to talk to my lovely... sister. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," I hesitate, then decide to continue. "Just... in shock, I guess. And super tired."

Kinkajou rushes over, concern written on her face, and Turtle trails after her. 

"Hey Kink," I say, then ruffle her hair. She looks up at me indignantly, but her glare (if you could even call it that) softens.

"What happened?" Turtle asks from behind, standing behind her like a body guard.

"I don't even know," I reply, and look at where Icicle's standing. She's no longer there, and I see a shadow exiting out the back door. Icicle. 

I look back at my friends, making a decision. 

"Hey guys, I'll catch up with you all later." Kinkajou starts to protest, but Qibli whispers something to her, and she reluctantly stops. Turtle nods, looking more solemn that I've ever seen him. Qibli gives me a calculating look, and I squirm under his gaze. Something in his eyes in his eyes hardens, and he nods too, though there's something different about his eyes.

Grateful, I practically run outside to the exit, and gulp the fresh air. I didn't even realize I was on the edge of having a panic attack until I did, and I did what the school nurse taught me. Breath in, breath out. Breath in, breath out. What are three things I see, two things I feel, one thing I smell. 

Slowly and gradually, my head stops pounding; the ground stops spinning. Black recedes from the edges of my eyes, and I can breath normally again.

"About time." A sharp, cold voice interrupts my 'ritual', and I practically jump, glaring at the source of the voice. Ah yes, my dear sister. 

"What do you want?" I snap, and she tuts, shaking her head and crossing her arms.

"You are going to need to learn your place, dear brother. There's a reason our parents like me better than they like you. Even Hailstorm's better than you." There's an edge to her voice that's different, and I take notice; her voice isn't just... taunting. There's some strain in it too; strain, stress, concern. But... concern for... what? Cause I know it isn't me.

"What's wrong, dear sister? Concerned? About what?" Ah shit, did I just say that out loud? So much for my edge. Icicle's eyes narrow, and I take that to mean I'm right.

"Yes, I know you're concerned about something. What? Worried you'll be caught and seen with me?" Her eyes stay narrowed, trying to assess what I know. Truthfully? I'm bluffing; I don't know anything, but she seems to think I do. 

"No, not really." She seems satisfied, putting on her icy mask that is known as her resting bitch face. 

"When we go back to school next week, during fifth period meet me in the garden on Tuesday. I'll tell you everything." 

"Didn't you already say you'd tell me everything?" I ask, annoyed. She just brushes past me, and goes back to the 'party', if you could even call it that. 

I roll my eyes. Wow. Lovely chat, dear sister.