Polaroid (A Phan AU)

Chapter Eleven

A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money.
~John Ruskin

After a week or so of me going out babysitting and bringing home twenty pounds each day, my mum began locking the money away in a cupboard.

I questioned her motives; did she want to keep it out of temptations way?

When I voiced my curiosity, however, I found that the real reason was not at all close. Mum lowered her voice and leaned in.

"Some of it's gone missing. I don't know who took it, but someone did. We need this money, Phil."

My mind began to tick. When Mum pulled away and continued with preparing food, I slid out of my chair and retired to Cassie's room.

I knocked on her door four times quickly, three times slowly, and then twice quickly: our secret knock. She answered with five quick knocks, saying I could come in after a few seconds.

I counted to five and then slipped into her room, letting the door fall shut behind me. Cassie was sat in the middle of her floor, in an old flannel t-shirt and shorts, with her head bent and her hand to her face. I approached carefully.

"Cass?" I hissed, "Are you crying? What's wrong?"

She glanced up then, keeping her hand over the lower part of her face. I was about to ask her about this, when I noticed a tiny sliver of red peeking from her fingers...blood?

Without hesitation, I reached forward and snatched her hand from her mouth, groaning at the crimson mess on her bottom lip and only just now noticing the safety pin in her hand.

"Cassie, you idiot! Why did you try to pierce your lip by yourself? Your boyfriend is a professional! You could have at least used ice, for God's sake."

As a comfort mechanism, Cassie bit down on her lip, only to regret it when more blood pooled from the wound. With a sigh, she disappeared into her bathroom to clean herself up. It used to annoy me knowing that she got the room with the adjoined bathroom, but when I thought about it logically, it made sense; she was the oldest after all.

When Cassie reappeared, blood free, I explained to her that money had been going missing from my earnings and asked tentatively if she knew anything about it.

"Philly!" she gasped, her hand flying to her heart, "You didn't think I'd steal from you, do you? I'd never do that! You gave up your time to earn that money. I'm not a heartless bitch you know."

"I object," I muttered, laughing when she threw her pillow at me. I caught it and threw it straight back, flopping down on the bed beside her.

"Same to you, loser. So, I'm not taking the money, mum obviously isn't, she's the one that's paranoid, and you couldn't even steal a pen, so... You don't think- you don't think it's Dad do you?"

"Dad?" I repeated, frowning, "Why would Dad take it?"

"I don't know," sighed Cassie, "But who else could it be?"

We sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, basking in each other's company.

"I'm proud of you, you know Phil."

I glanced at my sister in surprise. She had her eyes shut and was leaning against the wall, facing the ceiling. She wore a small smile, and looked so peaceful. Without waiting for me to answer, she continued speaking.

"This babysitting thing, it's amazing. Nobody asked you to go out and agree to a job. But you did. Just to help. And that's amazing, it really is. I'd never steal from you; wouldn't even dream of it. You're my brother, and I love you, and no amount of money could ever change that."

I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing. Simply leaned back and let my hand fall on top of hers.

A/N

Yoyo peeps
I shouldn't be allowed on the internet
I hope you liked this chapter
I did
My bezzie boo @Laura_Loves_Life2301 has begun her story Time Travels and lemmee tell you now it's AMAZING you should definitely read it
God my a/n s are getting boring, they used to be so random and spontaneous
Have a joke!
Why was six afraid of seven?
Because seven was a registered six offender!
Geddit?!
Imma go
Ly, dubai
Songs I listened to:
New Perspective by P!ATD
Mama by MCR
Don't by Ed Sheeran

~Georgina

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