Escape Route | ✓

16

Carrie's throat was dry, her lips parched and she couldn't say a word. 

She stared at Sebastian for a moment, before exhaling loudly. She got herself a glass of water and drank the whole thing, trying to calm her nerves. 

The truth was, she wanted answers, she truly did, but she was terrified of what they would be. She was absolutely scared witless of what they would mean. 

Once she had drunk the glass of water, she found it a little easier to speak. 'I'm so scared,' she mumbled, running a hand through her hair. 

Sebastian crossed the kitchen and pulled her against his chest into a hug. 'It's going to be fine, Carrie,' he whispered softly in her ear. 'It's going to be fine.'

'I don't know,' she wailed into his chest. 'I don't know what's going to happen and I'm not really sure if I want to know the answers! What if I just don't go? What if I just don't turn up and then I-'

'Carrie,' her brother interrupted her. 'Don't say that. You do want to know, you know you want to. You just have to take a deep breath and do this, because there's no other way to find out. You know that, too.'

'I know,' she exhaled slowly. 'I'm just absolutely terrified.'

He kissed the top of her head lightly. 'You've got this,' he promised. 'I know you do.'

She laughed lightly. 'You're the best,' she informed her older brother, clinging to him. 'You're the best.'

Sebastian grinned. 'Of course I am,' he said, pulling back. 'Now, shall I make you some pancakes before you go and meet Dad?'

'You really are the best,' she laughed again. 'Yes, please, that would be absolutely amazing. Your pancakes are the bomb.'

A cocky smirk appeared on his face. 'Of course they are, they're made by me, of course.'

She rolled her eyes, turning on the tap and pouring herself another glass of water. 'You're ridiculous,' she muttered under her breath as he began to make her pancakes. 

Carrie bit her lip, staring at the ground. She was truly terrified about seeing her father. They had never gotten on well, for many reasons, but she had particularly strayed from him since her mother's death. She had always wondered if he had actually been sad about her mother's death, but she had no evidence to back up that she wasn't.

Sebastian, on the other hand, was still close with their father, despite Carrie's shattered relationship with him. They just didn't bring him up often, and their close sibling relationship was left undisturbed by the bitter feelings she harboured for her father.

Her brother grinned at her. 'Here, your pancakes are ready,' he held out a plate with four delicious looking pankcakes on them. He'd always been an excellent cook - something he'd inherited from their mother. 

She reached forward and took the plate from him, smiling gratefully. 'Thank you,' she murmured, placing it on the table, before reaching into the cupboard and pulling out the golden syrup. She refused to have her pancakes any other way - it was a family tradition her grandfather had started. 

Once she'd devoured her four pancakes, she glanced at the clock nervously. 

It was time. 

Sebastian also looked at the clock and clenched his jaw. 'Come on, it's time to go,' he murmured softly. 'I need to be getting to work and you need to go and see Dad. If you're late, he won't see you,' he reminded her. 

Their father had always been a punctual and organised man. Carrie was well aware that if she wasn't on time, he would just kick her out and claim that he was 'too busy' to see her.