Katherine is excited to be back from Germany after seven years. During her vacation, she's going to be living with her brother, Phil, and his roommate, Dan. After a month, she's expected back in Germany for her work. But there might just be someone...
Breathe, I tell myself. He's your brother. There's nothing to be worried about. And yet isn't there?
When I told Phil that I was coming back to England for a month, he insisted that I stay with him, seeing as our parents probably wouldn't be that thrilled to see me. Of course, at some point, I'm going to have to see them. It's been seven years. But I'm not ready for that yet.
I look at the address on the slip of paper that I'm holding, then at the building that the cab is stopped in front of. This is it. I thank my driver, pay, and grab my luggage. I have just one oversized suitcase that I drag across the pavement.
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I pull out my phone and look at myself in the camera. I look well enough, I suppose. I shouldn't be so concerned. Phil is my older brother, I've known him for all of my life. Just because I haven't seen him in seven years doesn't mean he's changed.
I text Phil that I'm here, then ring the bell. In less than a second, Phil stands smiling in the doorway.
"KATHERINE!" He yells, pulling me into a giant hug.
"PHILLIP!" I try to match his enthusiasm. Of course he's the same. I had nothing to worry about.
"Here, let me get this for you." He takes the suitcase from me, pulling it into the flat. I follow.
"I'm glad you're back. Seven years is waaaay too long." He smiles back at me. Surprisingly, he seems to have no trouble dragging my case up the stairs.
"Yeah. I know I should have come sooner, I just..." I pause. Why didn't I come sooner? "I guess I just wasn't ready."
"It's okay, I understand. I'm just glad you're here now." He pauses for a second, then continues. "Anyway, it's pretty quiet around here. Except for certain times of the day, when you will hear Dan and I screaming at each other and a computer screen. Otherwise, you'll have a nice time here."
At the top of the stairs, Phil stops and turns around to look at me. His face goes dead serious. "There is one more thing, though. If you walk into the kitchen and Dan is sitting under the refrigerator, crying, eating, or doing anything, just walk away. Go back later."
"Umm, okay?" I reply, not really sure that it's okay.
Phil just blinks and smiles, then turns around and leads me down a hallway.
"We just moved into this flat a couple of weeks ago, so you get your very own bedroom! I know, it's rather exciting." He says, pushing open a door.
"Yes, this is very exciting." The room is blank for the most part, besides some furniture. There's a bed, dresser, mirror, shoe rack, and some chairs.
"We were going to decorate this room a bit more, but when we heard you were coming, we decided to just let you do that on your own. Just don't paint the walls or anything, because I'm pretty sure we aren't supposed to do that."
"Brilliant."
"Oh, before you do anything else, I'll give you the flat tour and introduce you to Dan." Phil heads out the door, and I follow.
"So, this is the hallway. It's a very luxurious hallway, if I do say so myself." Phil makes a grand sweeping motion around the hallway, and I giggle.
"This is my room." He pushes open the door to the right to reveal a cozy looking room. "It's not much, but it's something."
"It's lovely." I say, patting him on the back. "Good job, Philly."
He smiles and leads me out of the room. "That's Dan's room. He probably wouldn't want me to show you because he's a total wreck, so we'll move on." I laugh, but he's honestly probably not joking.
He points out the bathroom, kitchen, and lounge, then leads me to another room. "This is where we record videos for the internet. I know, we have a very prestigious job. Oh and this is Dan." Phil motions to Dan, who is slumped over on a couch.
"Dan, this is Katherine." Phil tells him. Dan looks up at me and smiles. "Hello."
"Hi." I mentally curse myself for being socially awkward.
"Well, this is nice and all, but I'm sure you have plenty of unpacking to do."
I nod. "Yeah."
"Well then, we'll leave you to it! If you need anything, just ask." Phil walks me back to my door, then goes back down the hall. I smile to myself as I walk into the room. Even though it's been seven years since I've seen him last, it's like I was never gone. I'm glad Phil hasn't changed.
