hurricane → FIVE HARGREEVES ✓

𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓
—𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎—

𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓 Mariana too soon for her liking; but according to his reassuring look, she knew his departure was for a justified reason. Unfortunately, his adventure today would be one without her presence — and although he hated to leave her behind, he knew that her safety was more important than taking her along for the ride. Nonetheless, he had ensured her safety by walking her home that morning, before kissing her forehead and bidding goodbye as he left the Carson home. His heart was heavy as he walked away, and he almost turned around to look back at her. But if he had, he would have stayed.

So he didn't turn around.

The rest of the day was played out as if it happened in the span of minutes; Mariana's mother and father returned home and, oddly enough, didn't mention the small inconvenience at Griddy's. But what Peter had mentioned was the undeniable truth that Agnes would soon be closing her pastry shop forever.

"What?" Mariana had asked her father, placing her cup of hot cocoa back on the dining room table. "No . . . she can't be. Why would Agnes do such a thing?"

"Because Agnes is getting old, honey," he sighs, sitting down next to her and taking her warm hands into his. "She'll always be in contact with us — but she wants to travel, and see the world while she still can. And frankly, I don't blame her because I'm sure I'd do the same thing."

The raven-haired girl was close to tears now, her hands clenching as she bites her lip. "But we're her family, she can't just leave—"

"And as her family," he continues, "we need to be understanding. She deserves to be happy, even if that means we can't be with her."

And if someone would have asked Mariana how she felt in that very moment, she would have said that her entire life was falling apart at the seams, and right in front of her very eyes. "You know, it really feels like the end of the world. Although that sounds dramatic, everything . . . " Mariana chuckles, wiping the tears from her cheeks as she pauses, "everything is changing. And it's changing too fast for me to stop it."

"Honey, if this is about Spencer—"

"It's not just about Spencer anymore," she says incredulously, looking down to her hands. "I can feel my power, it's getting stronger. And I'm scared of it, I'm scared of not knowing how to control it."

"Nothing is going to happen, alright?" Peter consoles her, in an attempt to calm her raging nerves. "You are a good person, Mariana. There's no need to be scared. If you just stay near the house for a while, I'm sure—"