Homebound (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 24

After spending the whole day with my sisters and everyone else in the house, it's time for them to leave. They all have long drives back to their homes and since we have school in two days, I'm assuming everyone wants Sammy and Millie to have a relaxing Sunday, so it'll be better for them to get home as quick as they can.

But at the same time, the last thing I want to do right now is to watch them leave. This is the first time we're seeing each other after the initial day of figuring out our whole lives are a lie, so it's a little hard to just let them leave again.

"Wanna stay with you," Evie pouts while I kneel in front of her. She's looking down at the ground with tears in her eyes, looking devastated at what's happening. It's probably confusing to her to be switched around to different people in the past few months, so saying goodbye must be so hard for a three-year-old to do.

"I know, but I promise you that I'll see you soon," I say, poking her side to earn a giggle out of her. It works and she squirms a bit before throwing her arms around my neck. I stand up with her in my arms, allowing myself to close my eyes and relish in this feeling of my sister hugging me. After a few moments, I feel a hand on my arm and I look to see Sammy staring at me.

I smile before pulling her into my arms too, knowing that we're all upset about our separation. I rock the three of us back-and-forth since that's an effective way to calm children down. Not soon after that, someone else wraps their arms around me and I'm able to determine that it's Millie holding onto me so tightly. We stand there for a few minutes while everyone else in the room starts to talk to each other, trying to give us some privacy without actually leaving the room. I think we all know that if they leave us alone, these girls will never go.

"I don't wanna go," Sammy whispers into my side, sounding so devastated that it makes my eyes water.

I pull away from the hug before carefully handing Evie off to Millie, who starts to say her goodbye to the child. I put all my focus on Sammy since I don't think she'll leave without kicking and screaming if I don't give her a proper send-off. I put my hands on her shoulders to hold her at arms-length while she stares up at me with wet eyes. "Everything will be okay, alright? We'll see each other soon and we'll still FaceTime a lot and text every chance we get. It'll be like you never even left."

"But... but I won't see you," she argues.

"I know," I whisper, trying my hardest not to cry. I need to stay strong and focus solely on them. "but it'll be okay. I'll try to come down to your house and we'll spend a day or even a few days together. Just you and me, alright?"

"Really?" Sammy asks, sounding less upset and more excited now.

"Really," I whisper before leaning down and kissing her forehead. She instantly wraps her arms around me in a tight hug, feeling like she'll never let go with how hard she's squeezing me. I return the same amount of force and we stay like that for a few minutes until I pull away when she lets me. I give her one last reassuring smile before moving over to Millie, who lets Evie down to rush over to the girl I just finished saying bye to.

As soon as I'm close enough to Millie, she pulls me into a hug. I can tell she has the same idea as me – stay strong and try not to worry the younger kids – because by the way she's lightly trembling against me, she's trying not to cry. I hold her tightly to shield her from everyone else, knowing that she's trying to compose herself. After a few minutes, she pulls away with a small smile for my benefit. She lowers her voice so the girls behind us can't hear. "Are you going to come see me too?"

I smile before playfully tapping the side of her head. "Well, of course. You think I would just go see Sammy and not visit you? I think you've gone crazy."