real | tratie

| iv. empty sails |

p o v : t r a v i s . 

p l a y l i s t .
₀:₃₀◦──o───────◦ ₃:₁₅
▹heal by tom odell 
▹grow as we go by ben platt

。。。

She was gone. 

Even though we didn't sleep in the same cabin, never mind the same bed, I woke up expecting her to be there. I wanted to feel her slumbered breath on my neck, I longed to curl my hands into her tangled morning hair. 

But she wasn't there.

Breakfast came and went, and I'd eaten every scrape of food in sight. I tried to appease the hunger for her by filling my stomach, but it didn't correct the hole in my heart. My eyes wandered to the Demeter table every few minutes out of habit, but she wasn't there. I never thought I'd miss someone who'd once been an enemy so deeply. 

If this was how the next eight months would go, I wasn't looking forward to it. 

After archery practice (Katie wasn't there either), I strolled into the strawberry fields. I didn't expect to find her there, but the comfort of a familiar area brought back memories. 

The rows in between the strawberry plants were worn down from footfalls, the dirt trampled from various tenders to the fields. One particular spot on the third row was especially packed and dried, and I didn't hesitate to plop down on it. Even before we started dating, Katie and I sat for hours there to bicker and pick at each other. Now, it had become a place of peace for both of us - we'd talked about anything and everything there. 

She wasn't there, though.

"Travis?"

For a split second, I turned around and saw her.

Katie.

No, Miranda.

"Hey," I sighed, knowing it was stupid that I saw Katie in her half-sister. They looked somewhat similar, but not near as identical as Connor and me. 

Miranda eased into a cross-legged position on the ground next to me, examining the strawberries around us. "How've you been?"

I chuckled. "Been better."

She nodded. "Same."

Seeing a daughter of Demeter sitting across from me only made me reminisce, even if it wasn't the right one. I smiled sadly at her and dipped my head to watch her feel the strawberries. 

"I hope she's gonna be okay," Miranda whispered.

"She will be."

"How can you be sure?"

Well, I wasn't. That was the short answer. I had no idea how badly this would effect Katie, how bad of a place it could put her in. 

But the long answer? I had to believe that she could make it, even if her mental state wasn't fit for her current circumstances. I had to have faith in how far she'd come, how much better she'd been as of late. 

"I believe in her," I replied aloud. "She's strong. She'll get through."

"Of course she's strong, but those monsters up there are strong, too."

I didn't need to be reminded.

Only seeing Katie's family twice was enough for me. How she'd been raised by them and ended up so awesome would always remain a mystery to me. She was so belittled and degraded, even within the couple of hours at a family reunion, and her family's overall distrust of her amazed me.