𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐒. klaus mikaelson

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

┏━━━━⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪━━━━┓

MASK ON

MASON LOCKWOOD SKIPPED TOWN, AND IT FELT LIKE CHARLOTTE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO FOUND THAT A LITTLE STRANGE.

Okay, was it in Mason's character to skip town for a surfing adventure? Sure, but the timing was off. Richard had just died, so in her mind, there was no way he would up and leave Tyler during a time like this.

Tyler held his own opinion on the matter when they'd spoken about it on the phone, but agreed that it was unusual for him to say goodbye to his mother over a mere text. He thought they were all closer than that, given recent events, but perhaps he was wrong.

Though, she could tell that deep down, Tyler was beyond upset over the situation.

"Do you think I'm being crazy?" she asked her brother, the girl straightening her hair while she sat at her vanity.

The boy, who'd been listening to her rant over the situation for the last thirty minutes, shrugged. "I think I'm the wrong brother to ask," Joshua answered. "Nate knows the dude better than anyone."

Her shoulders deflated at the mention of their older brother, the one off doing yet another year of graduate studies all the way out in Boston. "I don't wanna bother him with this sort of thing," Charlotte sighed, putting the straightening iron down in front of her. "You know how he is... besides, he's always busy."

Nathaniel Henry, or Nate as they called him most of the time, had been an attentive older brother when Joshua and Charlotte had been younger. There was quite the age gap between him and them, but that didn't stop him from having a strong bond with his siblings.

Yet, the minute he left town for college the first time around, both of the youngest Henrys noticed that he grew distant. He stopped coming home on most weekends unless it was a holiday, and phone calls with him only lasted a few minutes if you were lucky.

He was being prepped to take over their father's business, after all, so could they really fault him?

Joshua scoffed out a noise of agreement. "I'm lucky if I get a text once a week."

"Try once every two weeks," she said with a shake of the head. "It doesn't matter, because who's to say that the Mason he knew in high school is the same one we saw last week?"

"True," Joshua hummed. "Still, I don't think it's something you need to worry about, Charlie."

"If Tyler's worried about it, that means I am automatically worried about it," she quipped back, standing from the vanity to migrate over to the closet where her dress was awaiting her.

Joshua had a lopsided grin on his face when she emerged, dress in hand. "That's definitely dedication," he said, clearly a statement made from his own observations.

"I do the same when it comes to you, don't think I don't know your tells," she responded with a raised brow, setting the dress down onto her bed and reaching across to ruffle the top of his head. "I can read you both like the back of my hand."

He tried swatting her hand away with a grumble. "You make it sound like it's some kind of talent you have."

"Uh— that's 'cause it is," she snarked in response. She went to her vanity and plucked two different bracelets, showing them to her brother. "Does masquerade scream family heirloom or ninth grade charm bracelet to you?"

Joshua looked between the two, pursing his lips before pointing to the bracelet that had once belonged to their great grandmother. "Heirloom for sure."