Sibling spotlight - billie and Finneas story

The past

the Past

The darkness settled back over the house like a heavy blanket as Y/N lay alone in her room, the only sounds her own breaths and the faint hum of the distant street lights outside. The house felt quieter than usual, and the silence pressed in on her. She squeezed Mr. Fluffington tightly, trying to will away the creeping unease that had settled over her ever since she returned home. Each shadow seemed to carry traces of her past few weeks—the memories refusing to stay buried.

Sleep didn’t come easily tonight. Every time she closed her eyes, images flashed behind her eyelids—faces, dark streets, a looming presence that she couldn’t shake. She tried to remind herself that she was safe here, but her own mind was playing tricks on her, dredging up things she’d tried so hard to forget. Her breaths grew quicker, turning ragged, and her fingers tightened around the bear.

The door creaked open just slightly, and she jolted up in bed, eyes wide and pulse racing.

“It’s just me,” Finneas whispered, stepping into her room softly, sensing her fear. “I couldn’t sleep either.”

He sat down beside her, his presence grounding, but even his familiar warmth couldn’t fully push away the fear that clung to her. She didn’t say anything, just looked at him, and he could see it in her eyes—how lost and haunted she was.

“Do you…want to talk?” Finneas asked gently, though he wasn’t sure she’d want to revisit the memories that hurt her most.

Y/N looked away, her lips trembling as she tried to summon the words, but they felt too big, too heavy to say aloud. She shook her head, trying to keep it all inside, but the silence between them grew thick with all the things left unsaid. The walls she had built around herself began to crack.

“I don’t want to remember it, Finneas. But it…it’s there,” she finally whispered, her voice breaking as she spoke. “It’s everywhere, all the time. And I don’t know how to stop it.”

Finneas felt his heart clench, his chest tightening with an anger he couldn’t voice. He wanted to protect her, to make her whole again, but he couldn’t reach the places where she hurt the most. “I’m here for you,” he said, his voice low and steady. “Whenever you need me. You don’t have to carry this alone.”

A single tear slipped down Y/N’s cheek, and she quickly wiped it away, looking embarrassed. “I’m trying to be okay… for you and Billie. I don’t want to be this broken mess that needs fixing all the time.”

Finneas shook his head, reaching out to gently take her hand. “You’re not broken, Y/N. You’ve been through something terrible, but you’re still here. And that’s… that’s everything to us.”

They sat there, lost in the quietness of their shared grief. Neither knew how to fill the silence, and that was okay. Finneas didn’t let go of her hand, just held it as the minutes ticked by.

A little later, Billie joined them, drawn by the quiet murmur of voices. She took one look at Y/N’s face, at the exhaustion in her eyes, and felt her heart break a little more. Sitting on the other side of her, she wrapped her arms around Y/N, pulling her into a gentle hug, and Y/N sank into her embrace, grateful for the warmth of her sister’s arms.

“I don’t know how to stop being scared,” Y/N whispered, her voice barely audible. “Even here, with you two. I keep feeling like… like it’s not over, like they’re still there.”

Billie tightened her hold, resting her chin on Y/N’s head. “We’re not going to let anything happen to you,” she murmured. “You’re safe with us. And whatever you’re feeling, we’ll go through it with you. Every step.”

For the rest of the night, they stayed there, close together, trying to banish the shadows that lingered in Y/N’s mind. But even with their love surrounding her, Y/N knew this journey was one she would have to face, piece by painful piece. And though she couldn’t see it now, she held onto the smallest spark of hope that maybe one day, the nightmares wouldn’t have so much power over her.