LAYERS

Bathroom Floor

The world faded back into something that existed in Max's mind as he slowly sat up from where he had laid in Plum's bed, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Max looked down at Plum, admiring his boyfriend as he grumbled in his sleep. Plum's chest rose and fell in an easy rhythm, and Max found it quite cute.

Max reached his arms high above himself, stiff bones popping as he yawned. Carefully, so as not to wake Plum, Max shifted himself so his legs hung off the side of the bed. After a moment and no movement on Plum's part, Max slid off the bed.

When he deemed himself safe from the wrath of a Plum who's been woken up too early in the morning, Max stumbled his way out of the room and into the hallway, heading towards the bathroom.

Without giving it much thought, Max pushed open the door, not pondering how it was closed or if he should have knocked first.

This proved to be a mistake, as immediately upon opening the door, Max made eye contact with Mint. She sat on the cold tile floor, knees pulled to her chest. Tear tracks decorated her face in fine lines, falling from eyes that were red and puffy.

"Nope," Max said before Mint could say anything, turning on his heel and marching right back to Plum's room.

The covers were quickly pulled from Plum. He awoke instantly, blinking blearily at Max. Upon discovering Max was had stolen his blanket, his nose wrinkled and he opened his mouth to tell Max off.

"Before you get mad," Max said, dropping the blanket, "your sister is crying in the bathroom."

"I— She's what?" Plum asked, brain still catching up to the moment. He hadn't expected to be woken up, especially not for something like this.

"She's crying on the floor of the bathroom. You should go, like, comfort her or something," Max suggested. He wasn't super close to Mint, so he wasn't sure how to help in a situation such as this one.

"Oh... Okay," Plum said, though he didn't make any attempt to move. He sat still in his bed, zoning out, in an attempt to wrap his head around what he's been told.

A few minutes had passed when Plum finally pushed himself away from the comfort of his warm bed. One hand pressed inside his other as he popped his knuckles, walking out of his bedroom and in the direction of the bathroom.

The bathroom which was shut, and—discovered after wasting a second trying to turn the handle—definitely locked. Moving his hand rap at the door, Plum called out, "Mint? You alright in there?"

When he got no response, he pressed his ear to the door, just in case she'd say something and he couldn't hear. Nothing could be heard from Mint, besides the occasional shaky breath around a sob.

"Mint, I can hear you. Open the door please?" Plum pleaded.

A few seconds passed when there was the sound of the door unlocking, amplified by his ear pressed against the door.

He stepped back, but not before he heard a mumbled, "Come in..." from Mint.

The door handle clicked when Plum turned it, pushing it open. On the floor was a crying Mint, just as Max had said.

"What's the matter?" Plum asked in a soft tone as he sat down next to her.

"It's nothing. Just... had a bad dream." Mint trempled around the words, and Plum pressed his hand between her shoulder blades, hoping to comfort her.

"What was it about?"

"Gene," Mint sobbed out, pressed her nose to her knees.

Plum didn't say anything, looking into Mint's eyes. The ocean blue of her irises were augumented by the wet sheen across them. He only rubbed her back, allowing her to cry.

"He's not tried to contact you, has he?" Plum asked after a couple minutes had gone by.

"No, he's not. It's just—it was really vivid, y'know. Stuff I didn't want to remember." Mint's breath hitched for a moment before she tried to steady it once more.

Plum scooter closer to his sister, resting his head on her shoulder, letting her cry for a bit more until she had calmed down some.

"Listen, Plum," Mint began. "I know you don't like Ashley, but he's safe, I promise. Just... give him a chance. For me," she finished.

Plum let out a sigh, pulling his knees to his chest. "I know, but you told me Gene was safe too and look how that turned out."

"I know, but... just trust me on this one okay? At least talk to him a bit, he's trying his best and he's really nice. It's only temporary anyway," Mint replied, hopes high Plum would soften up towards Ashley. The last thing she wanted was for them to hate each other.

"Fine," Plum complied, releasing a drawn out sarcastic sigh.

Mint's head rolled so it rested on Plum's shoulder. She closed her eyes with a shuddering breath, and offered her best attempt at a smile. "I love you, Plum."

"I love you t—" Plum interrupted himself to swing his head in the direction of a figure that appeared in the corner of his eye.

Right outside the bathroom door stood Ashley, staring down at the seated siblings. He'd frozen when he saw the state of Mint, uncertainty locking his bones, but Plum's gaze jolted him out of his stupor. His back straightened under the look Plum was sending him and waved his hands uselessly.

"Umm. Umm. Sorry if I'm, uh, interrupting something... I can wait..." Ashley finally sputtered, pushing himself away from the bathroom and right back to the living room.

A giggle sounded under Plum's ear, and he shifted his head to face Mint just as she was pulling away from him. She turned her attention to Plum and smiled at his pout. "C'mon," Mint said, nudging Plum with her elbow. "Let's go make breakfast."

Mint got to her feet after one more wipe at her face and left the bathroom, leaving Plum on the floor.

After she had completely disappeared from sight, Plum pushed himself up. The mirror caught his eye, and he looked to his reflection with a sigh.

Today will be a good day, he told himself, then followed after Mint to the kitchen.