Attention Seeker // Luke Hemmings au

Chapter Fifteen // Diana

"Are you ready for this?" Percy asks hesitantly, pausing at the front door of Ciel's parent's house. He'd been floating around for a while, so it made sense that he didn't have much things with him. A lot of the time, he snuck into the house when his parents weren't home to retrieve a new set of clothes.

"No," I answer honestly, staring at the welcome mat below our feet. Staring at it feels like a bad joke. Welcome? Welcome? There was nothing welcoming about this house, not by a long shot. But we have to do this, so I look back to my brother and nod. "Let's go."

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Ciel lives--lived-- in a lovely home a few blocks from mine, so it's still in the upper, rich part of town. It's tall and white and has about three stories. When we enter, Mrs. Winters makes us take off our shoes by the door so we pad barefoot down to Ciel's old bedroom.

 The house smells vaguely of chamomile tea, but the scent of Ciel is so strong I have to hold on to my brother's arm as we walk down the long hallway. He glances at me with concern, and I shake my head. 

I just feel so... selfish. When I mention Ciel around my brother now that I know how much... closer he was to my friend, it's like I'm being inconsiderate. I don't know how to get around it, though. And now, as I gently open the door to Ciel's room, I hate myself as the tears threaten to spill.

I almost expect to see Ciel in his room, sitting at his desk, drawing in a sketchbook. Old drawings and pictures hang on the walls and the bed was messy as if he'd just rolled out of it. My stomach sinks as I realize that although this all feels like a bad dream, it's one hundred percent real. 

"Percy? Diana?" a voice that sounds so much like Ciel used to calls out so suddenly I almost jump out of my skin, but when I spin around, I see Ciel's little brother, Finny.

Unlike his brother, Finny is shorter and somewhat muscular. His hair is the same jet black and gelled into a quiff, but he has the sharp brown eyes. He's handsome, not that Ciel wasn't. It just feels like a different type of handsome knowing that he, unlike his sibling, likes girls and previously even me. 

"Finny," I sigh, my heart rate gradually slowing back to normal. "Oh my God, come here." I hug him, and his embrace is so warm and Ciel-like, I can't help the tears that begin to pour.

"Sssh, Diana, it's okay," he mumbles into my hair. He smells so much like my old best friend, I just... I can't handle it. 

When I finally pull away, I wipe my eyes in embarrassment. "I haven't seen you in forever. Gee, when did you get taller than me?" I try not to think about how similar his features are to Ciel. I try not to think about the fact I basically soaked his t-shirt in tears. Wait a second--

"Is that one of Ciel's shirts?" Percy asks before I get the chance.

Finny reddens a bit like he's embarrassed, a gesture so much like old best friend I have to look away. "Yeah," he admits. "I just... miss him. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and knock on his door to get him up for school and stand there for a few minutes before my mom's like, What are you doing? And I'm like, Getting Ciel up! before I realize that he won't be waking up." 

He swipes at his eyes and smiles. "He hasn't even been home in so long, but... I guess I'm just so used to it." He shakes his head. 

I always forget that Finny is two years younger than me. He's just always acted so tough and mature, it's easy to let it slip your mind that the boy is only fifteen.

He runs a hand through his hair and walks over to Ciel's desk. "It's a shame to mess up his stuff, but we have to move on, you know?" He pushes three pencils into alignment and sighs. "So, I guess you guys are gonna take a lot of it?" 

Before I can speak, Percy says in a faltering voice, "His shirts. I'll take 'em." He avoids my gaze as Finny gestures to the dressers. 

"My mom put some boxes over there," Finny says, something off in his voice, and motions to a stack of cardboard boxes by the closet. "You can put whatever you want in there and just... take it." His voice cracks, but then he turns so I can't see his expression. 

"Finny--" I start to say, but he stops me.

"Just take it and leave." Then, without another word, he leaves the room, slamming the door behind him.

The hell was that? I think, but then I shake my head. I guess I understand. I hand Percy a box to store Ciel's t-shirts and then wander off to his bookshelves to look for anything that I would want to keep. 

Honestly, I want to keep all of it. I don't want anything in this room to move because then his scent will fade and soon enough, so will he. I don't want to forget him. He was and always will be my best friend, but it looked like for now the only way I could really connect with him was through his things.

"Maybe we can just have a little room dedicated to Ciel back home," I joke as I pick up a picture on his nightstand. Ciel and I on my sixteenth birthday. 

"Maybe," Percy agrees.

I glance at all of his pictures, pictures of he and I. It never occurred to me how big of a role I had in his life. I squint at a few pictures as my brother sorts through the last of Ciel's t-shirts.

Then, finally, I turn the pictures over. 

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Howdy hey. Author type person here. I'm not going to write for a while, I think, and if I do, updates will be hella slow. I'm sorry for those of you that liked the story...

But hopefully I'll be back? Maybe not. I don't really know if I can keep taking on such serious topics. It's not good for me.

Thanks for reading. Vote, comment, and share this around. 

Until next time,

Jamie ♥