From the Stars

Chapter 17: Coming Home

I took a shaky breath as I stood before the black front door of my house. I hadn't been here in almost a month and I wondered how much had changed since I'd left. Since we'd rescued Stefan from the prison. I almost felt guilty when I thought about how I'd left him straight after he'd come home without checking up on him. The guilt didn't last long, though, when I thought about what I'd been doing for the past few weeks.

Shaking off my nerves, I lifted my hand and rang the doorbell.

The smile that shot across Mum's face when she opened the door and saw me standing on the threshold made my heart want to burst.

"Scarlett!" she cried, before smothering me in a crushing embrace.

"Mum," I croaked. "I can't breathe!"

She let go of me but continued to beam as she ushered me inside and shouted for Dad and Stefan to come downstairs.

The thundering steps of the boys brought a huge smile to my face. One that rivalled my mother's.

Dad made it down the stairs first and gave me a huge hug.

"Wow, Scarlett," he said, fanning his nose, "when's the last time you had a shower."

"Ben," Mum chided as Stefan arrived at the top of the stairs. I started as I saw how different he looked. Stefan's black hair had grown out and was now thick and slightly curly on his head. But his hair wasn't the only thing that had changed. He looked taller. And bulkier. As if, in the time I'd been away, he'd become more mature and less like a child.

Mum was still busy telling Dad off when I noticed that Stefan didn't look nearly as happy to see me as Mum and Dad did.

"Come on everyone," Mum said, oblivious to Stefan's expression. "Let Scarlett get to her room to unpack and shower and then we can all talk about her trip in the kitchen."

She gave me another hug before heading into the kitchen with Dad.

When it was just me and Stefan in the hallway, Stefan called from the top of the stairs, "We need to talk, Scarlett, about a certain school trip that definitely didn't happen."

I gulped.

#

"What do you know?" I said, crossing my arms as Stefan pulled me into his bedroom.

"Well, Scarlett," he said, sitting on his bed, his blue eyes piercing me with a steely stare. "How about we start with the day after saving me from a monster's prison, you disappear off into the night, only to briefly come back in the morning before disappearing off again for three weeks?

"Or even," he continued, "the fact that Mum and Dad seem to think that you've been on a school trip?"

I stared Stefan down as he did the same to me. I hadn't thought about the fact that, while Queen Orphia had said she'd drug my parents to make them believe the lie that I'd been on a school trip, she'd never said anything about my brother.

Cursing myself for not realising my mistake, I hissed, "Look. I know that I owe you an explanation. But Mum and Dad want me downstairs as soon as possible and, after this long, I really just want a shower. Can't I just go and have one and talk to Mum and Dad, and then tell you where I've been?"

Stefan sighed. "Fine," he said. "But if you don't come back up here and tell me the truth, I'm throwing a bucket of water on you when you're asleep."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks," I muttered as I left Stefan's room and walked into the bathroom, bags and all.

#

When I was finished with my shower, I sat on the tiled floor and thought about what to say to my family.