Polaroid (A Phan AU)

Chapter Fifteen

It is good people who make good places.

~Anna Sewell

Life at the Howell household passed quickly and had me constantly smiling, whereas life at home dragged and dampened my mood.

Dad was nowhere to be seen. Cassie did nothing but worry about him in the day, and Mum had been on the phone so much that she kept forgetting to cook dinner and nag us about homework. I knew I was behind at school, and I knew money was a real problem, especially with all the take out food Cassie and I had been buying, but when I was hanging around with Lily, Dan, Sadie and Maddie, I couldn't bring myself to care.

Most days we'd all crowd into Dan's room and the kids would laugh, play, and colour, and Dan, Lily and I would just sit and talk. When Lily went home and the girls went to bed, I'd stay with Dan and keep up our conversation.

Sometimes I felt bad for keeping Dan awake, but I just couldn't drag myself away. We had similar music taste, game taste, and general opinions, and we had some great conversations. Maybe he was just too polite, but Dan never asked me away anyway.

I hadn't had friends like this in so long. In fact, I hadn't had friends like this...ever. Chris had been great, and I missed him with an incomprehensible intensity. He'd never been able to stand up to his mother, and he never wanted to upset her. I could understand why he'd choose family over me.

About a week after I'd first set eyes on Dan, he became too ill for his room to be too crowded. Wave after wave of agony racked his body: it was horrific to watch, I couldn't bear it. I took the frightened girls from their worried positions at the door and left Lily to take care of him.

We sat in the kitchen with mugs of hot chocolate, in silence. Through the wall, we could hear Dan groaning and sobbing erratically, and after a while Maddie started fidgeting.

I had to do something: the girls were nibbling at their lips and I wasn't holding up too well myself. So I threw myself into action, grabbing coats and shoes and dressing Maddie in outdoor attire while Sadie took care of herself.

It was seven thirty when we left the house; we had an hour to do as we pleased.

When I tried to think of where to take them, my mind drew up a blank.

So I took hold of their hands and we walked- just walked. Headed north, and didn't stop, even when the forest began to surround us. It was quite dark, but I had the flashlight on my phone to guide us.

We'd been walking for about ten minutes in the wood, and were beginning to grow cold, cuddling into each other for warmth. With no warning, the trees thinned out into an oval shaped clearing, full of overgrown wildlife, and strewn out logs just inviting us to sit. The weak moonlight just reached the small circle, casting eerily beautiful shadows across the grass and vegetation.

The three of us stood, open mouthed, and stared for a minute or so, overwhelmed by the perfection. When we recovered, we made our way over to one of the logs.

For the next thirty minutes or so, I sat with, played with, and supervised Sadie and Maddie as they rushed around in glee. The sky grew darker and stars began to dapple the sky's canvas like polka dots of paint, and the girls grew wearier and colder. Shivering myself, I took it upon myself to carry the girls home, they could barely walk they were so tired.

We picked our way through the forest and across roads, Sadie clinging to my back with her arms slung around my neck and knees gripping my waist, and Maddie curled up in my arms, being cradled like a baby. 

As soon as I got them home, I tried to set them into their separate beds, but they insisted on curling up together in Sadie's den, pulling me in with them when tried to leave.

It was only when I was climbing into the passenger seat of Kenji's truck that I realised two things:

The clearing in the forest wasn't all that great. I would have gotten bored in five minutes if I was there by myself: Sadie and Maddie made it far more interesting.

And I hadn't spent time with anyone my own age all day: but I'd still had one of the best nights of my life.

A/N

I feel like this was really short, and bad but I wanted to get it out there. Trying something a little new next chapter, so look forward to that!

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~Georgina

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