Deathling - Outsiders SMP

Suspicion: Will

 Campfire nights were always Will's favorites. He would take Acorn to Juniper's house, and then out to her backyard. Leo would already be there, and so would Hazel, Juniper's little sister. She had deep, blue, curious eyes and horns. She was only seven. There was a huge age gap between Juniper and Hazel, but they used to have six other siblings, before their village got burnt down similar to Wills...

Anyway, Will got to bring Apo and Orange to this one. It had been about a month since both of them had shown up at his door. Leo was bringing marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate, and Will was bringing Acorn.

Will knocked on Juniper's door.

She answered the door with a large smile, which faded slightly when she saw Apo.

Will quickly introduced them. "Juniper, this is my brother, Apo, and this is their friend, Orange." Apo and Orange waved.

Juniper's original smile returned, however Will could see the sadness in her eyes as she glanced at Apo. "Come on in! Leo accidentally bought a really big pack of marshmallows, so there's plenty to go around!"

Hazel ran up to Orange and Apo as soon as they were in the house. She tilted her head to the side. Then she pointed at Apo and whispered to Juniper, "Where are his horns?"

Juniper shushed Hazel, whispering something about minding her manners or something like that and then laughed nervously. "I'm sorry..."

Apo smiled and shrugged. "It's fine."

Then they were taken to the campfire. Orange and Apo were sitting together on one side of the campfire, watching Will, Leo, and Juniper talk. Apo was falling asleep on Orange's shoulder, and Orange seemed fine with it. Will stared at Apo and Orange from next to Apo. Acorn was cuddled in Will's lap, but Will still felt... empty.

Because something about the way Apo and Orange looked at each other, the way they annoyed each other, the way they talked to each other, reminded Will too much of what Apo and Will had done together growing up. Will had been the one to make jokes about things Apo said. Will had been the one to watch Apo fish while they talked. Will had been the one to hug Apo after their parents died. To support him when he needed it most.

But now he felt replaced. Because now, Orange and Apo share inside jokes. Orange watched Apo fish while they talked. Orange comforted Apo when he needed it. Orange was more like a brother to Apo than Will was currently.

Will pushed those thoughts away, trying to focus on everything happening right then.

Which just so happened to be Hazel approaching Apo without Juniper noticing.

Will could clearly hear their conversation through Juniper, Leo, and Orange's, and it went something like this:

Hazel tapped Apo on the shoulder, jolting him out of his sleep. She asked a simple question. "Can you tell me the story?"

"Wh-What story?" Apo asked cautiously.

Hazel sat between Apo and Will with a large amount of confidence. She was seven, after all. "The story about your horns. Where'd they go?"

Apo smiled uncomfortably, fidgeting with his fingers and shaking his head. "That's a long story-"

"Well I don't care. June said I could stay up for an hour longer today!" Hazel jumped in and protested, crossing her arms.

A slightly worried look crossed Apo's face, and he looked at Will for help. Will did nothing of the sort. He also wanted to know what happened to his brother.

"Well, I can't stay for that long, so, how about I tell you a different story!" Apo improvised.

Hazel clapped her hands. She loved any type of story, and she was really good at getting what she wanted, which meant Will had told her many many stories before.