Capes

Chapter Thirty

| HERE, ALWAYS |

WIND whipped through the garden, tossing Nox's shoulder length dark hair back and forth. His hazel eyes scanned the shrubbery and clusters of colourful flowers for his sister. He found her sooner than expected, sitting on the ground.

Milana sat against one of the shrubs and her curly hair was as tangled as the thorny branches that made up the plant. Milana had likely tugged at her hair out of frustration, getting it tangled and knotted as a result. Her long legs were pulled into her chest and her arms were wrapped around, keeping all of the things she wanted to do and say in- where she thought it was safe.

Nox approached cautiously. Milana didn't look like she was going to strike but his sister never did. She didn't like to be predictable. Milana said nothing as he walked over, she didn't look up, and when Nox dropped down to the grass beside her, she still remained mute. Her frowning face trained itself on the ground.

Nox was left not knowing what to say. He wasn't usually the one to take on difficult, emotional, conflicts. He liked a challenge, certainly, but where emotion was involved, Nox wasn't. It was a rule of his that he had loved to follow, up until now it seemed like.

Nox knew he couldn't leave Milana here alone to brood in the gardens. He had witnessed the fight Greer and Milana had just unleashed on each other, as had the rest of their siblings. She wasn't doing well, and Nox knew exactly what happened when Milana got close to shutting down.

If Milana didn't have someone to talk to, she would close off forever and lose the chance she had in front of her. The opportunity to finally become who she really was, without fear of being accepted or not.

"You know," Nox started out nervously, "there's nothing wrong with you."

Milana didn't look at him.

Nox glanced at his sister and continued, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Lana, look at me."

She didn't.

Nox was losing the battle. He didn't know how to reach Milana, he wasn't sure if he could reach her when she was so close but somehow still so far away, captured in her own mind where she could protect herself from everything she thought was bad.

"No one is going to pry into what happened between you and Greer. Not until you want to talk about it-"

"But they know now, don't they?" Milana snapped and her pale green eyes finally looked up to Nox. They were burning. "They know."

"I think most of us have always known," Nox said as gently as he could. Milana glared down at the grass and her look alone probably could've set the ground on fire. "And you have too."

Milana's reply was nothing if not blunt. "That I'm gay? Yeah, I've known. Now with Greer everyone else is aware."

"Lana-"

"We kissed." Milana blurted.

Nox didn't let his surprise take him over for long. "Do you like her?" Nox asked and he laid a hand over Milana's to stop her from tugging at the knotted ends of her hair. "Because I'm pretty sure she just declared she likes you during that shouting match you two had."