Right There || Dylan O'Brien

chapter twenty-six; rebels

The wall that she had built around her was slowly breaking down. She was freaking out of her mind, groaning every minute when she went to look back through the paintings she had made when she was younger, a teenager trying to survive high school.

Memories came back into her mind; she remembered she loved hanging out with her best friend, who she hadn't seen since she graduated. She remembered enjoying learning so much, she didn't even want to think about stopping. It didn't change. She remembered crushing on a guy who seemed to like her back and she had no idea. When he asked her out, she said no.

High school had been... interesting but upsetting.

She planned to show Dylan the paintings today, tell the stories behind it and answer the questions he seemed to want to know desperately. She had to, she knew he deserved it. He had kept quiet for so long, he had been waiting for so long and you had to see his face when she said she wanted to tell him. His smile, his eyes, the way he sighed deeply against her hair.

He had gotten so, so far in so little time.

Clara sighed deeply, standing up and went to her room along with the paintings. She put them down on her bed before walking to the mirror. She looked like a mess; she had just woken up, didn't bother to make herself look  socially acceptable yet until now.

She took a shower, washing her hair and rubbing the makeup off with her hands. It was a simple morning routine, but not like usual. She didn't like showering in the morning. The thought of having to put on a jeans and shirt after showering, no. She liked putting on her pajamas  at those moments a lot more.

"Clara, are you ready?"

"Yeah, I am," she quickly braided her wet hair and then opened the bedroom door, seeing Sandra standing there with a smile on her face. Chris' voice was heard downstairs, probably cursing at the TV for not working like he wanted it to.

"Hey, sister," the brunette gestured her to come with her, walking away from her when Clara nodded. "How old are you again? 21?"

"Yeah, I can drink alcohol in cafes now. I can go to the club. Isn't it exciting?"

"Now you can't be a rebel anymore," they walked to the kitchen, cutting a piece of the homemade cake. It was a chocolate cake, something she craved the moment she put it in the oven.

"Isn't that really sad?" she faked a frown, taking a bite of the delicious food. "It makes me so sad. I can't stop crying."

"We can still be rebels. We can rob a bank."

They looked at one another for a moment as they sat down, Chris blinking at his girlfriend. He wasn't surprised just like their mom sitting in the living room; the sisters both had weird humor, laughing about things he had no clue such sweet, small and adorable women could joke about.

"We can break into rich people's houses."

"We can-..."

"Basically just take over the world," Sandra ended her sentence as she pushed a button  to start the movie, shrugging her shoulders. "It should be easy for us."

"Why would it be easier for us?"

"Come on, Clara. We've got a strong man to help us," she snuggled up to Chris, kissing his cheek with a smile on her face.

Clara automatically smiled by seeing her sister so happy. It were these little moments that she liked the most. There was cake, there were people she loved and there was a movie to watch. There was absolutely nothing to worry about. Well, if this was normal birthday.

 ----

"Are you ready?"

"I'm fine."

Dylan texted he would be almost at her house, causing her to panic. She was pacing the room, back and forth, back and forth as she tried to avoid talking to people. There was no need to talk, why would she want to talk?  

"What are you going to do?"

"Not much and that's the point." She was going to show him her paintings, tell about them. Happy things, she especially wanted to show him the fun paintings she made. But that was nothing. He obviously wanted to know more and that was all what he was going to get. "I'm stupid."

"You're not stupid-..."

The doorbell rang at the same time she stopped to throw her hands in the air, glaring at Sandra because she didn't understand. It was probably better that she didn't have time to do so, because if someone understood her it was her sister. And her mom. And Chris. They were all in the same room, trying to help her but she didn't them to. This was one of the reasons she was stupid.

"Good luck."

She nodded at her mom, walking out of the living room to open the front door. Dylan was standing there with his hands in his pockets with a wide smile on his face. No present... not yet. That was good, right? Yeah. "Happy birthday."

"Hmhm, okay-..."

"Thank you, Dylan. It's no nice of you to come, you didn't have to." He cut her off, sarcasm dripping off while sending her a wink. He then replied to himself. "Oh, Clara. I had to. There's no way I can't go and see you on this special day."

She stepped aside for him to come in, chuckling softly when he kissed her forehead. "I was going to tell you the exact same-..."

"But then you wouldn't really mean it, right?"

"No, I'm happy you're here."

They walked back and Chris was the first one to stand up and give him a hand. Then there was Sandra, hugging him quickly before her mom could finally meet him. It caused her to hide her excited smile behind her hands, watching them introduce themselves to one another.

"So, you want cake?" Chris smirked, patting the boy's shoulder as a gesture to follow him to the kitchen. Turning to the blonde one more time, he did and they were gone.

"How did you like him? He is handsome, isn't he?" she sat down next to her mom, looking at her in curiosity. She only smiled, nodding her head.

"He seems like a nice guy."

"He is."

"If you think so, then I believe you."

It was like now he was here, she couldn't think of anything else. He was here for her on her birthday, she was going to show him the paintings, there was enough time. A freaking lifetime. And there was nothing that was going to go wrong.