Away from the North

Chapter 14

The South's soldiers make it to the capital a week after they left the South and start opening fire on the North's soldiers. A voice in the intercom tells us to turn off our headsets and monitors. I quickly turn mine off and put my stuff away.
Me and Jul walk out of the room and into the living room. Dali and Lilac look up, probably surprised to see us out of the room so early. We sit down on the couch and I lean back and listen to Jul talk to them about the war.
"The first shot was by us," I say when Jul doesn't remember who shot first. We stop talking about the war and I look over social media, seeing that everyone is posting about the war.
Someone takes my tablet out not hands and I look up to see Jul dangling it over my head. I go to grab it but he pulls it up higher. I sit back and frown, crossing my arms.
"We really don't need to get caught up in all the drama and false information on there. Let's play a video game," he says. I shrug and nod. I sit down on the couch and wait while 'Minecraft' loads.
We play that for the rest of the day, forgetting about lunch until we go to defeat the Ender Dragon and right after we do Jul remembers that we haven't eaten lunch. I look at the time and see that it's already six at night.
"I think it's too late for lunch now," I say, showing him the time. He nods and we walk into the kitchen and look online to figure out what to make. Dali's phone starts ringing and she picks it up. She answers it and then hands it to Jul.
"It's your boss," she whispers as he takes the phone. He nods and walks to another room to take the call. I sit down on the counter and wait anxiously for Jul to come back. Lilac comes over and hugs me around the waist.
He comes back and hands the phone to Dali. He sits down in one of the chairs and tests his face in his hands. Dali massages his shoulder and he relaxes slightly.
"They want to lay me off. They don't believe that I'm actually at a government building and said I need to be there tomorrow or I'm fired," he groans. I frown and walk over to him, giving him a hug. He hugs me tongue chest and I know that he's trying not to cry in front of Lilac and Dali.
"Will you come to our room with me," he whispers. I nod and unwrap my arms from around him. He practically runs off to his and Dali's room. Dali goes to go after him but I gently grab her arm.
"Let me go talk to him please," I tell her. She nods somewhat reluctantly. I walk to their room and open the door. I see Jul sitting down in the corner of the room and I close the door and sit down in front of him. 
"Hey Jul," I say softly. He looks up at me as tears stream down his cheeks. I pull him into a hug and he rests his head on my shoulder. I rock him back and forth as he cries.
Soon his cries are nothing more than sniffles and the occasional hiccup. He pulls back and wipes at his eyes with his sleeves. I smile softly at him and he frowns at the floor.
"I really like my job. I don't want to lose it," he whispers. I sit back and nod. I think for a minute or two and try to figure out how to convince his work. Then I get an idea.
"How about we ask the government to send your work a letter or email. They can't ignore something directly from the government," I suggest. He looks up and nods, looking happier.
I stand up and hold my hand out to him. He takes it and I pull him into his feet. We walk back out to the kitchen where Dali and Lilac are talking at the table, Lilac comforting Dali. Jul walks over and warps his arms around Dali's waist, whispering something in her ear.
"I'm going to go call them," he says to me. I nod and he walks out. Dali and Lilac turn to me, and I know that they want an explanation. I pull out a chair and sit down.
"Jul's calling the government so they can send something to his work proving that he's here," I tell them. They nod and Jul comes back into the room. He looks at me and nods and I smile.
He walks up to the fridge and pulls out some bread and cheese. I walk over and grab a watermelon and start cutting it up while Jul finds a thing to cook the grilled cheese sandwiches on. He finds something and butters the bread, putting a piece on the cooker.
"Why did you go to the other room? Why couldn't you have stayed here?" Dali asks. Jul freezes in the middle of putting cheese on the toast. I put another handful of fruit in the bowl and Jul puts the cheese on the toast. He sighs and doesn't look away from the cooker.
"If I ever cried in front of my mom, I'd have worse things to deal with than whatever I was crying about. Therefore I don't like crying in front of anyone, I only tolerate Yuku because she would barge in anyways," he says softly, taking out a spatula and putting the grilled cheese on plates.
Dali walks over to him and wraps her arms around his waist. I see him holding back tears and I smile. She's good for him. I pick up the bowl of cut up watermelon and bring it to the table. I set it down and grab me and Lilac out grilled cheese sandwiches.
I hand her her's and sit down. I take a bite of my grilled cheese just as Dali lets go of Jul. They walk over to the table and sit down, Jul rubbing tears from his face.
I shake my head and smile at him. We eat our food and then play another board game, listening to music on youtube.