CASTLES CRUMBLING | R. ROTH, G. LOGAN

𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ sᴜᴄᴋs

Juliet walked around the Manor, making her way to everyone's rooms. As much as her mind ran, she couldn't stop thinking about her friends and family. About how they felt. She wouldn't care about how she felt, she could never take time to show how she felt.

But as she walked towards Daniel's room, Gar shut the door and turned. He stopped at the sight of her, and his eyes were red. So were hers, but for different reasons.

"Is he.." Juliet trailed, glancing to the room. Gar just shook his head.

"He's tired. I can't get him to sleep." Gar expressed, his voice slightly quiet. Juliet took notice that his hands were quivering as he held them together, trying to get it to stop. She walked toward him, putting her hands over his as she managed to get it to stop. He just looked at her.

"You should sleep too.. Get rest, eat something."

"I can't. Not when he's like this." Gar objects, glancing towards the door.

"I got it. I'll be in the kitchen later, to make everyone food. You want pizza?" Juliet questioned, putting his attention on something else.

"Love pizza." Juliet mustered a smile, nodding her head.

"Exactly why I'll make it. Okay? I'll get Daniel to sleep." Juliet took her hands away, brushing past him as he watched her just phase through the door. She stopped as she saw her brother cradling himself, crying into his knees against the wall on the ground.

A few years ago, she probably would've scolded him to stop crying. That crying solved nothing but Leslie said it was healthy. She would never understand why, but if her brother wanted to cry, she'd grant him to do so.

His sobs echoed in her head as he gripped his hair tightly, the back of his head hitting against the wall a few times in two minutes and let out a muffled cry that caused Juliet to stumble, looking at the lamp that shook. When he was upset, nothing usually were affected. Juliet quickly ran around the room, getting tissues from her room and finding herself next to him, her arm around his shoulders with her hand on the back of his head to stop him.

"I got you, El." She assured him, feeling him lean into her as she held out the tissues for him, but he didn't care about that.

"I-I'm so so-sorry, Jules." He cried, causing her brows furrow deeply, titling her head to look at him better.

"You've done nothing wrong.."

"I'm crying." He sputtered, picking his head up to look at her, tears streaming down his red and puffed cheeks, snot all over his upper lip. She just shook her head, not understanding whilst using the tissues to just clean his face. Some might've said it was disgusting, but he was her brother. She'd always take care of him. "Bruce said c-crying's a weakness. I-I'm weak."

"No. No, you're not. Okay? Bruce was wrong. He couldn't know one thing when it comes to crying, or any emotion, in fact. He's incapable of human emotion, okay? You're 18, you're allowed. And if you need to cry, then.. cry. It's your choice, El." Daniel's sobs had slowed down as he grabbed the tissues from her hand, wiping his nose.

"How come you haven't cried?" Juliet stared at him, knowing that it was a very good question. Yet only one answer came to mind.

"Because I'm incapable of emotion."

She ignored the look she received. It was true. She practically couldn't feel anything. She had no emotions. It was like she had an on and off switch that consisted of her emotions, and the flip was off. She just grabbed her brother's arm, pulling him up on his feet as she guided him to his messy bed.

She sat him down, holding his cheeks as he looked up at her, his blonde hair all frizzled and messy. She brushed it back, showing his wet blue eyes.

"If you want me to stay, I will. But I really need you to sleep and rest, El." Juliet told him. He sniffled, using his sleeve to wipe his eyes as he laid back in his bed, causing Juliet to pull his blanket over him, using her speed to turn off the lights, but she made sure to turn on his night lights and the lamp besides his bed.