❝𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐀❞ ━ TREECH

46. a sister's guilt

When he manages to open the door, June and Cas are already out of the car. Cas is carrying June's bag, and the girl takes Treech's hand, squeezing it in reassurance as he keeps on looking up at the building in front of him.

It's massive, looking like something straight out of those fairytales his mother would always tell him and his siblings when they were younger. "This place is huge. And this is just for five people?" He questions in disbelief. "It's like a castle or something."

"Well, it's just us here. Most of our classmates live in apartments because their families lost a lot of money during the war - ours didn't," Cas explains with a little shrug. He takes his keys out of the pocket of his jacket, and with the other two following him from behind, he approaches the door. "We're really just lucky, I think."

"This is the main house," June adds. "We have another a bit out of the city where fewer houses are, but we usually only go there over summer break. I would've loved to show you our garden, but we're on a tight schedule."

Cas hums thoughtfully and says, "Yeah, we've got around thirty or forty minutes. Max is here, though; we should be quiet."

June frowns and is about to ask when she remembers that her little brother's summer break has started. She swallows, watching Cas unlock the door, and her grip around Treech's hand tightens a little bit. She hopes they'll be able to get this behind them soon; she doesn't want to let him catch them. But knowing Max, he should still be asleep and in bed.

Following the twins inside, Treech looks around in awe once more as he enters the front room. Cas closes the door behind them quietly, and when Treech sees June slipping off her shoes, he quickly follows suit but is still unable to stop staring. His fingers run over the expensive shelf in the room, finding not a single speck of dust on anything. June opens the door, and when he catches a glimpse of the corridor, Treech's head almost spins. It's as good as endless.

Thankfully, June's room isn't too far. Cas excuses himself, giving her her bag, and says he needs to do something in the kitchen, leaving the couple on their own for now. June thinks it's a bit silly that she feels so nervous at the thought of bringing him into her room. Sejanus has been here plenty of times, but she knows this is different. It's like sharing a bed with him all over again.

But since she's leaving her old life behind for him, literally, she doesn't mind giving him a small glimpse of it anyway. She twists the doorknob and steps inside, taking a deep breath and feeling more relaxed almost immediately. This is one of the only places in the world that calms her nerves.

The first thing he notices is that it smells just like her in here - her hugs specifically. When he closes the door behind him, he's trying hard not to stare, but he can't help it. It might be impolite, but seeing how neat and tidy her room is, he has to run his fingers over the soft satin of her blue bedsheets.

"Soft," he mumbles more to himself, his eyes wandering across the room. "It's like a cloud."

June laughs. "You'd be surprised, but out of the three of us, I'm not the one that has the softest mattress. It's Max," she says, fetching a plastic bag from the drawer of her desk.

Technically, it's a trash bag. However, all things considered, she really just needs something that will keep her belongings away from her clothes during her trip. She has a normal bag, but she doesn't want to risk any accidents.

The first thing her eyes flicker to is the picture on the desk, the very one her mother took of June, Cas, and Sejanus the evening after the reaping. Their smiles are tired, but there's still genuine happiness in their gazes, and June forces herself to swallow the lump in her throat. When her fingers brush over the framed photograph, she feels Treech behind her, looking over her shoulder.