The Hanging Tree. *ON HOLD*

Chapter Twenty One ~ Promises

Chapter Twenty One ~ Promises 

‘No!’ I sobbed, ‘Finn, no! What did you do!?’ I shrieked, my hands on either side of his face, shaking him. His grey eyes stared at me unresponsive. I grabbed at the rope, trying to tug it off of his neck. His head lolled, as I pulled the cord from his head. His body fell into my arms, the weight causing me to stumble. I gripped his body to me, wailing his name. ‘You can’t be dead, little brother. Don’t be dead.’ I whispered, tears streaming down my face. I stroked his hair, running my fingers through his short blonde locks. ‘I’m sorry Finny, god I’m so sorry.’ I breathed.

The sun poured through the trees, casting a luminous green glow on the crackly orange leaves on the forest floor. Across the wide expanse of trees, there was a small clearing, with primroses of all different colours sprouting from the lush green grass. It was a rarity to see them at this time of year. I had a blue flower tucked behind my ear that my best friend, Ollie, had given to me. He said it matched my eyes.
I could feel the heat warming the woods, and I grinned pressing myself even further against the tree.
“Prim!” I heard my younger brother cry. “Please come out Prim!” His voice had an edge of nervousness to it. He hated being alone, especially in the forest.
I could see him out of the corner of my eye, wandering around. Every time a twig snapped, or a bird squawked, he would jump. “Ollie! Prim! Come on out, the games over!” He cried. I saw him pass my tree and I gently edged to the other side of the trunk so that I was right behind him.
“Rah!” I screamed, jumping out and grabbing his bony shoulders.
“AH!” He cried, jumping out his skin and whirling around. “Not funny Prim!” He cried, swiping at me. I giggled and ducked.
“Sorry little brother,” I winked,
“Don’t call me little!” He said glaring at me, “I’m 13!”
“Doesn’t change the fact that you’re still tiny.” I teased, ruffling his hair, and skipping away.
“Prim!” He whined, running after me. I spun around and grabbed his hands, before twirling the both of us around. He chuckled and I couldn’t help but smile at the way his eyes lit up. I tripped on a log and went flying onto the soft leaved floor, Finn landing on top of me. He was small and scrawny for his age, but that didn’t change the fact that he was still pretty heavy.
“Oof,” I cried, as he scrambled up, his elbow lodging in my stomach. I sat up, leaning against the log, watching as he started to whirl around the woods, so carefree, so content, and so happy. I felt soft hands on my shoulders and I started.
“Hey.” Ollie said, sliding down next to me.
“Hey,” I breathed. I felt his calloused fingers intertwine with my soft, thin ones. I caught my breath, still not used to him being more than just a friend.
“Prim and Ollie, sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g,” Finn sang loudly and out of tune. I narrowed my eyes and Ollie and I stood up at the same time, running towards my little brother. He saw us coming for him and the teasing gleam in his eyes disappeared. He started to run away, Ollie and I close on his tail.
“I’d run if I were you buddy!” Ollie cried after him. We burst out of the trees right into the primrose field. There was no way out for Finn. The only way to get out was by coming back the way we had come, as there was a long stream running in the middle of the valley. He spun around just as Ollie and I tackled him to the floor. Ollie held him down as I tickled him until tears streamed down his face.
“Stop, please stop!” He said whenever he could. After a while, I was panting after having avoided many kicks and scratches. We let him go, and he caught his breath, cursing us the whole time. “I need a drink.” He mumbled, going over to the stream and cupping the cold water in his hands. I crawled over to Ollie who was lying down hands behind his head, eyes shut. I leaned over him on all fours, before gently kissing his lips. His eyes shot open and I felt him smile. I lay next to him, grabbing his hand and squeezing gently before shutting my eyes again. Suddenly a rush of cold water slammed me in the face and I heard someone chortle.
“Oh, you’re so dead!” I screamed, getting up and grabbing Finn by the waist and spinning him around. He was still laughing, and I felt the water slid down my back. He managed to get away from my grasp but I launched myself towards him grabbing his ankles. I dragged him over to the water, with him screaming for help as Ollie watched on smirking. He tried to grab onto the grass, but it just broke between his fingers. I hauled him into the water, kicking off my sandals and wading into the water. Finn went under and I let go of his feet, satisfied with my revenge. He came back up for air spluttering and spitting out water. He stood up, giving me a death glare as he scooped up more water. My eyes widened as I saw what he was going to do.
“No, Finn, don’t even think about it,” I warned as he winked at my cheekily. I saw the water arc from his hands, and felt as it drenched me, the cold making me shiver. He smirked as I hurled water at him. We got into a massive water fight and at some point Ollie joined in with Finn, ganging up on me and ducking me under.

*~

I pulled my t-shirt over my body and peeked behind me to make sure that neither of the boys was peeking. I quickly grabbed the picnic blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders before pulling off my shorts underneath. I laid my clothes on a rock and left them there to dry, before going back to sit with my two favourite people.
“Nice outfit.” Finn joked, gesturing to my makeshift cover-up.
“Thanks,” I replied, grabbing a sandwich from the basket, keeping one hand clutched tightly on the blanket. I bit into it and sighed contently. Finn was pelting Ollie with grapes, supposedly aiming for his mouth. I smiled, at them and realised that I never wanted to forget this day. With the sun shining, me wrapped up in my ridiculous picnic blanket, Ollie his wet hair sticking up in all directions and Finn with a constant grin on his face, this was a moment I never wanted to forget. It was too perfect, forgetting all the wrongs of the world with my best friends.
“Promise we’ll always be together?” I said, gently. The grapes stopped flying and the boys looked at me in bewilderment. “Promise?” I asked again wanting them, needing them, to say yes.
“Of course Primmy, you know we’ll always be here,” Ollie said, lightly running his fingers down my arm. I glanced at Finn and he glanced back. The smile was gone from his face, but warmth was in his eyes.
“Promise, we’ll be together forever. Just like families are supposed to be.” He said. The word family made me smile, because that’s exactly what the three of us were; a family, a small crazy little family.
“And we’ll always protect each other?” I asked, locking eyes with Finn.
“You sound like you’re saying your wedding vows,” Ollie teased, but Finn understood.
“Always and forever, until the day we die.” He said. I glanced pointedly at Ollie and he sighed, but repeated the words.
“And we can’t ever let the others do something dangerous without doing it with them, agreed?” I said. They both nodded.
“And we have to always be there for the other one.” Ollie said.
“And we have to give all the desserts to Finnick.” Finn piped up.
“And we have to give all the chocolate to Prim.” I said, grinning.
“And we have to do all of Ollie’s homework.” Ollie cried.
The demands could stupider and stupider, and we ended up in tears of laughter. The sun was starting to go down casting a fiery red glow over the trees, and the boys gathered up the picnic and I quickly threw some clothes on. We had laughed the day away, and as we walked home I had never felt closer to my brother. Even though the promises had taken a bizarre twist, I knew that I would always follow them, and what made me even happier was knowing that Finn and Ollie would too.

The memory came flooding back to me and I just made me sob harder. I had broken all of the promises of that day, even the unspoken ones. We had been ripped apart, and I couldn’t protect Finn. I had let him do something dangerous by even allowing him out of my sight, and look where that got me.  I had kissed Caden, when Ollie was obviously in love with me, and I had ruined the biggest unspoken promise of all.
To, never, ever allow myself to break those promises.

A/N
not the best chapter I know, I apologise! And sorry for how short it is! I hope you liked it anyway and comment your thoughts! Thanks for everything guys!