Finding Solace - An AU Winter x M!Reader book (Split Remnant AU)

Chapter 2

The phone rang again. "Pick up..." she muttered irritably as it rang again and again.

"Give up, Punk!" the man sounded. A few giggles and whispers were heard in the background before an addendum followed, "or leave a message!" Winter sighed as a beep signalled the end of the recording. She put away her scroll and tossed it onto the couch before running her hand through her hair in frustration.

He must be mad, she thought to herself. It had been a week since she left (y/n)'s place, and since then, the man had been avoiding her at every opportunity. He stopped answering his scroll and at work, his tone would be flat and impersonal the few times they were forced to speak to each other. Most of the time though, he made sure there was work to be done so he'd be too busy to involve himself with Winter.

It was infuriating. That man could be so stubborn.

New strategy, she thought to herself. Winter picked up the scroll again and dialled in a different number. 

It rang twice before the perky younger sister answered. "Hey, Winter! How are you?"

"Terrible. Jamie, have you talked with (y/n) lately?"

Jamie hesitated on the other end of the line before speaking. "Well... no, not really. I've been pretty busy and he's been working a lot as far as I know. Why? Is something wrong?"

Winter knew she was lying but didn't feel the need to call her out on it. (y/n) not talking with his beloved sister? That would be the day Sanus vanishes off the face of the planet. "I upset him," Winter quickly admitted, embarrassed to actually say it. "Look, if you see him, just have him call me, okay?"

"... Sure Winter. I'll go over there tonight and see if everything's okay."

"Thanks, Jamie." She didn't wait for a reply and swiftly ended the call. With a sigh, she slumped down onto her couch, hands over her face. She'd really botched it this time.

_____

He looked over to his sister as he swiped across the screen of his scroll to clear the messages that crowded it before tossing it off to the side.

"She sounded really worried, (y/n)."

"Let her. Maybe it'll melt the glacier she calls a heart."

"Maybe she's just afraid she'll mess things up if your relationship changes."

That got (y/n)'s attention enough for his to lift his head up from his knees. "Meaning?"

"Well... it's like when we were little."

(y/n) raised a brow in curiosity, though he knew the story of Jamie's inability to act of crushes she had. She talked about it before but laughed at the idea of her being anything other than best friends with the person in question. "I was afraid to tell Yang how I felt... Mostly because I was afraid she'd reject my feelings and leave me behind." (y/n) knew that part. "But also because I was afraid that if she did feel the same way, I'd mess up and we'd never be able to just be friends again. I was so afraid she'd leave..." Jamie looked down at her hands, toying with the ring on her finger. She was glad for how things turned out.

(y/n) didn't reply. He put his head back down into the crevice between his knees, deep in thought.

"And now, you're doing exactly that."

"I'm not leaving you or Winter behind." If he was honest with himself, he'd admit he felt like he was the one being left behind. 

"But you're talking about leavi-"

He shot up abruptly, facing his sister. "I need to. I need to just... get out of here. Find what I'm looking for."

"And what are you looking for?"