Yesterday | Seth Clearwater

Chapter 36

Little girl, bring fire from her world

I'm trying, I'm lost, only murmurs

Find time, find time

If she's unsure, find time

Stay in for the summer

~ Aries "CAROUSEL"

Brooklyn woke up to a screaming baby, and a pounding headache. She groaned and covered her head with her pillow. After what felt like an eternity, the crying stopped. Shit, she should have gotten up for that, right? It was her own fault that she was hungover. How was it fair that she made everyone else pick up the slack for her?

Brooklyn sat up in the bed, determined to get her shit together. 

"Here," Seth placed a glass of water and a couple of painkillers on the bedside table. "I thought you might need this."

"Thanks," she said meekly as she moved to accept Seth's offerings.

"Do you want to talk about what happened last night?" Seth asked her.

Brooklyn hesitated. She was kind of embarrassed by how she had acted, but the sting of rejection still lingered. 

"I was drunk," Brooklyn shrugged awkwardly. "I probably over-reacted."

Seth sat down on the bed next to her, and grabbed her hand. "Drunk or not, I hurt your feelings, and I am genuinely so sorry. I love you so much, and I'm glad that you're starting to feel more yourself again. But you were kinda wasted last night, and I was completely sober, and I wouldn't have felt right about doing anything more than making out."

Brooklyn groaned. "Please never let me drink without you again. It sucks and it's embarrassing, and being hungover alone feels sadder than being hungover together."

"It might be a while before I can get drunk with you again," Seth chuckled. "But I promise, the second I can, we can party like the good ol' days."

"God, we sound so fucking old," Brooklyn said. "Like, I'm not even seventeen yet, but we're acting like forty year olds."

"I blame Ellie," Seth said. "I love that kid, but she has aged me a few decades in the past few months."

"Says the guy with werewolf-age-slowing-powers," Brooklyn scoffed. "I'm going to look so old by the time you stop phasing."

"People are going to think you're a cougar," Seth teased.

"Shut up," Brooklyn shoved him. "People are gonna think you have some old lady fetish. That's worse."

"Brooke, I'll stop phasing before that happens," Seth said more seriously. "There will be more pack members eventually, and they won't need me anymore, and I can come home and focus on the kids while you finish school and get a job and do all of the stuff you always talked about doing with your life."

Brooklyn smiled at him. "Sounds like a plan."

A few hours later, Brooklyn was on the floor with Ellie for tummy time. Ellie hated tummy time. 

"I know," Brooklyn said sympathetically. "But it's only two minutes, and then we can do something fun."

Ellie wailed in response. Brooklyn was fighting the urge to pick up her up and comfort her. They had started tummy time shortly after Ellie was born, and she only grew to hate it more and more as she got older.