Taking Him In

• Chapter Eight •

𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐
• ———— •

"Winter!"

Winter suddenly jostled awake, gripping the bed sheets under him iron tight before relaxing against the mattress, sighing deeply. He was safe.

"Are you up yet? It's midday!" Sage complained from down the hallway, Winter rolled his eyes and pushed himself up, rubbing a hand across his face before glancing towards the alarm clock. It was half past twelve in the afternoon and he felt groggy. Grumpy too. But that's to be expected.

"I'm up! I'm up!" His hoarse voice replied, reaching over and grabbing his glass of water.

"Good! We're leaving soon, get dressed" Sage explained before hurrying down the staircase, avoiding any complaints he knew were to come. Winter scowled scornfully, fully aware of what they were doing. He had been told the day after their trip to the restaurant and had managed to put it off for the next few days until now. Obviously Sage wanted to get it done. Winter couldn't think of any more excuses.

They were buying him a piano.

Not a grand piano, but not a keyboard either. Winter didn't exactly know how much it would cost but he didn't think they'd run cheap. When the orphanage was owned they allowed none of the children to even enter the room with the piano so Winter was extremely hesitant.

Trudging out of bed he grabbed a change of clothes and crossed into the bathroom, switching on the taps and taking a brisk shower. He didn't think he was any good at piano, especially when there were so many talented musicians out there who could outplay him with their eyes closed. He didn't have proper training, only able to follow the instructions from the few books they had.

By heart he knew a few catholic songs, though managed to do pretty well reading new sheets while playing at the same time. It took a lot of effort to get there. Long hours the orphanage was filled with the lullabies of religious music.

Drying himself off he gazed at himself in the mirror, scowling at how long his hair had grown. It covered his eyes completely when wet, curling up to his eyebrows after drying. But it was still frustrating to brush away all the time.

Bending down he pulled open the cupboard, shoving aside towels and useless toiletries until he came across a plastic box. Cora had talked about leaving some dotted around the house when they had longer hair and needed a hairband in emergencies.

Opening the box Winter grabbed one and stood up, bundling all his hair into a bun sitting behind the centre of his head.

"Better" he grunted, kicking closed the cupboard doors and finally leaving the room. Sage was already downstairs ready to go, making last minute touches to the kitchen to pass the time. He looked over suddenly when he heard someone fall against the counter, rolling his eyes at the sight of a tired Winter, eyes hanging half closed, bags prominent under them.

"I told you to sleep early, dumbass" Sage quipped, leaning on the counter opposite him. Winter muttered under his breath, "whatever. Are we going to get this over with?"

Sage laughed, "colour me surprised, you're excited to do something" he replied sarcastically, grabbing his keys and leading Winter towards the front door. "Shut up. I'm fine with just a bow. I don't need a damn piano" he huffed, grabbing a jacket from the coat hanger and tugging it on before following Sage to the icy outside world, scowling towards the grey sky.

"I want to indulge in your interests" Sage shrugged.

"Sleep is an interest. Let me indulge in that instead" Winter retaliated, falling into the car and slamming shut the door. Sage laughed, turning on the ignition and blasting the heating to full temperature. "Listen Winter, I've told you before, without an education you're fucked. Practicing what you're good at might get you places, otherwise you'll be stuck with me and Kennedy the rest of your life" he recited, pulling carefully out the driveway and heading to town.