The Wynter Solstice

Chapter One

Wynter

"Why won't she wake up?!?"

And that's was when I woke up. This was how I always woke up: to Nickolas grabbing my shoulders and thrashing me around my bed. To the howling laughter. So this is what millions of years of evolutionary advancement added up to, I thought to myself, a pack of idiots harassing their sister daily.

"Wake up! I'm starving!"

"Hold on, boys. Let me have a go."

My ears pricked up at the sound of this new voice. Normally, I would just pretend to stay asleep until I fell out of bed despite Nick and his tactics. It was the virtue - or lack thereof- of being the only girl in the family. But this time I decided to let my curiosity get the best of me. I kept my face in my pillow while my brothers- loudly, I might add- left my bedroom to see who could stare at the sun longest or some shit like that.

"Morning, beautiful." His hand started moving the stray hairs off of my cheeks.

"Not in the mood, Danny," I grumbled. Though due to the stifled sound of my face in the pillow, I wasn't sure if he heard it.

"Well that's a shame," he said as he got off the bed. I knew what he was planning before he even moved.

"Don't you da-" I began. But the rest was just my screaming as he hoisted me over his shoulder like a sack of flour and walked back to the living room.

He threw me on the couch, I gave him the best glower I could.

"I had to smell your butt, you bastard." I folded my arms and fake cried a bit, "I'll never be the same again."

He chuckled to himself while I pouted in a pillow. When I looked at him, I realized that he'd been awake much longer than I had. This was weird because I'd usually been the one who woke him up. But his hair was brushed, and he had a white t-shirt on, with a black leather jacket on. His Adidas were clean and his dark ripped jeans looked fresh for once. To sum it all up, he looked nice. It didn't help that the faint light shining through the glass sliding balcony doors was giving him an indistinct radiance.

"Did you pull another all-nighter?"

I looked down at my clothes and realized I'd forgotten to change into pajamas. My worn pair of jeans was somewhat wrinkled from me tossing and turning in my sleep the night before.

"Maybe?"

He sighed and sat down next to me." You can't keep denying yourself sleep, love," he chided, stroking my hair, "It isn't good for you."

"I can't sleep without having those dreams," I said, "You know that."

I heard him sigh and he grabbed my shoulder with a gentle force, concern coloring his face.

"We've talked about this, Lore."

"And I've told you you can't move in! It's hectic enough!"

"Do we have a choice? It's only a matter of time before the exhaustion catches up with you!"

"I can't leave and you can't stay. I'll get some new medication and deal with it. I'll be perfectly fi-"

Daniel pulled me to his chest and wrapped his arms around me. His skin was cold, but it warmed to my touch.

"I can't lose you, Lore. You're all I have."

"Then what do you recommend?"

"Well, I wanted to wait until later to tell you, but..."

He held up two slips of paper. I leaned closer to read the tight print.

No. Way.

"You didn't!"

He gave me that stupid grin that other girls would swoon over.

"Happy Birthday?"

"My birthday isn't for another five months, genius."

"I know that," he mumbled something else that sounded like "now"

I slapped his shoulder playfully and lifted myself off the couch. As expected, my brothers were trying to shove each other off the balcony. I rolled my eyes while taking some Pop-Tarts out of my secret sugar stash. Daniel sat down at the counter and held his hand out expectantly.

"You may have gotten us tickets to Paris," I said, "but there is no way in hell I'm giving you my breakfast."

He clutched his chest in mock agony and gasped, "She's a cruel lady."

I chuckled and opened the foil. I lifted one of the pastries deftly and placed it in front of him. He smiled and wolfed it down in one bite. I checked the to-do list on the screen built into the counter while taking a bite out of my pastry. I was about to scatter the tasks among my brothers when something caught my eye.

Shit.

I practically jumped out of my skin in surprise and ran back to my room. Before I knew it, my closet was humming while bringing me the outfit I'd planned for the day. I yanked a white hooded shirt on and tucked it into my forest green cargo pants, pulling my leather jacket over my shoulders. I'd practically been hopping out the door tying my shoes when Daniel laughed and called from the kitchen, "Where's the fire?"

"If I'm not there in five minutes, it'll be Beck and the school."

"We have school!?!"

"Shut up and get in the car!"

"But your brot-"

"They skip anyway! Let's go!"

We sprinted down the stairs and into the garage, where my white jeep was waiting. I practically jumped into the driver's seat and punched the gas before Daniel could even put his seatbelt on. The garage was slightly crowded, but I did this all the time at races. We swerved past my racing car and out the garage door into the city.