real | tratie

| iii. the end of all things |

I couldn't talk, though. 

I could only think.

Overthinking, as it turned out, I was a pro at. 

Annabeth tried to show me the logical upsides: finishing school meant I could be financially unattached to my family; I could open up other possibilities like college; I could major in botany and minor in business; I could start working towards the flower shop I'd always wanted to run. 

Piper said she and Natalie would drive up to New Hampshire if anyone bothered me. That was funny to me, because I didn't remember a time in New Hampshire where people didn't bother me. 

Miranda offered what little encouragement there could've been - that I could always look forward to the summer reunions being better than ever, and that I could always Iris Message them any time. 

I gave myself the opposite of well-wishing by telling myself that none of it would make the situation less bleak. 

"Let's finish up getting you packed," Miranda offered, taking my arm to help me up, but I pulled away. 

Pulling away was yet another thing I'd mastered.

"I'm already done." Examining the hardly-touched plate in front of me with distaste, I tapped my fingers on the table. "Everything's at the Big House."

Piper shifted on the bench as two of my siblings left for the strawberry fields. She watched intently as they cast sad glances at me, and when they left, she said, "We're all really gonna miss you, Katie." 

Natalie nodded. "Especially us."

"Especially especially me."

Travis. 

I gripped the lip of my plate and carried it with me as I turned to look at my boyfriend. My boyfriend, who'd fought so hard to break past my walls, who told me I didn't need fixing because I wasn't broken, who was now going to help me pick up the pieces after I'd been torn apart. Because, unlike he'd stated so often, I was indeed a very broken person.

My heart may not have been made of glass, but it was awfully close to shattering as I stared at the sorrow in his eyes. 

"Care to go to the woods with me?" He extended his hand, even though mine were both currently occupied with my unfinished plate.

I glanced at my friends, who all nodded and shooed me on. I smiled at them, grateful for their support and care. Travis took the plate from my hands and, though he inspected the food and frowned, didn't say anything about me not eating it. He tossed it away and gently tugged my arm to the forest. 

We'd spent so much time in the woods together, and it seemed only fitting that our last outing of the summer was there. The mossy floor padded our steps as we made our way to Zeus' Fist, and we walked slower to admire the calm around us.

The trees didn't have to leave for school. The rocks didn't have to return to a place they'd just as soon forget. The leaves fell from great heights to the ground underneath them, but they got to stay there. 

I was falling, but it was into a completely different life. 

"School starts two days from now," I commented, absently tugging at my braid. 

Travis pursed his lips and stopped me from walking. We were halfway to Zeus' Fist but he drew me back to him. Time rolled to a stop as his hand wandered to cup my cheek, the other finding its way between my shoulder blades. His fingers played with the hood hanging down my back.

In the forest, Travis' eyes always had a hint of green in them as if they reflected the world around them. They became the patchy grass, the teal versions of the treeline.