The next morning, I almost get a shock being at Sydney's house. Considering we went to bed so late last night – meaning around 3 o'clock, we slept in until the late hours of the morning.
Will's arms are still around me, holding my body tightly as if for protection.
As I nudge him slightly, he stirs, groaning. "What?"
"Wake up." I reply unsympathetically. "We've got to make plans."
"Two more minutes." He says, yawning.
It's incredibly hard to not lay there with him, due to how adorable he looks. His face is puffy from sleep, lips plumped and pressed against the pillow that he's hugging as my replacement. But, we've nearly missed half of the day, and when Will says two more minutes, I know he doesn't mean two more minutes.
"No. Wake up."
He makes a point of elongating yet another groan, before sitting upright, focussing his eyes on me with a squint.
Currently I'm standing with an unimpressed expression on my face, watching him as his lips form a smirk.
With a roll of my eyes, I head to the curtains, pulling them wide open so the light is forced into his eyes.
"Get up, Will." I say, crossing my arms.
His smirk only grows wider. "Make me."
"I am not making you get up." I snap, trying to feign off a smile. Somehow being near him, I always have this urge to grin. Which is extremely irritating at this moment in time. "You'll just have to have no breakfast. You snooze you lose. Quite literally."
Suddenly it's like he was never tired, because he's bolting out of his bed and wrapping his arms around my shoulders from behind. "Did I tell you how hot you look this morning? I mean, those legs-"
I turn around, pushing him backwards. My cheeks are already heating up, much to my dismay. I'd completely forgotten about the fact that I'm only wearing an oversized t-shirt. My legs are, quite literally, on full display. "Shut up, you perv."
"I'm allowed to say that." He says, sticking out his bottom lip. "We've slept together three times now. Surely that gives me the right."
I scoff, poking a finger on his gorgeously hard abs. "It most certainly does not. And we haven't slept together. That implies a different sort of thing-"
"Why? Would you want that sort of thing?"
"You are so irritating, you know that?"
He grins lazily, watching me as I open the door. "And you're so flustered. Like you were last night, when you told me about accidentally going into-"
"Don't you dare bring that up again." I say, glaring at him. I haven't forgotten about that awful experience and I don't need him to remind me. "If you bring it up today, I'll...I'll..."
"You'll what?" He says, raising an eyebrow. His arms are crossed, making his muscles more flattering.
"I'll never kiss you again."
"You can't do that." His face pulls into a look of sadness. "That's unfair."
Now it's my turn to smirk. "Life's unfair, Peters. Life's unfair."
When we eat breakfast, it's time to make a plan. Thankfully, Olivia has seemingly forgotten about our accidental interaction yesterday, and due to my deal with Will, it's not looking like the story is going to be resurfaced any time soon.
Sydney is already up when we head into the kitchen, munching on a piece of toast with a large shirt on, her face tired and worn out. "Morning." She says, sighing. "We've got to think of something today. School is covered – seeing as it's study week so they won't be checking on us. But obviously, my mother is still missing, and my father is in prison. And the UFA are active."
Olivia nods, taking a sip of her tea. "I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it will turn out to be useful."
"Any ideas are as good as we've got." Sydney replies, handing Will and I two pieces of toast each. When Will looks up, expecting more, she rolls her eyes, putting another two on his plate.
"I think Viola should go back home." Olivia announces. "See if Vera hid anything in her room. Is her laptop still there?"
I shake my head. "No. Mum and dad sold it a couple of years ago."
"Okay, that's fine. You might as well look, just in case." She says, shrugging.
Staring at her, I wonder how she and Vera made friends. I mean, she's not the usual type that my sister would go for - Vera liked people that were flamboyant, extravagant in their own nature. She wanted to befriend people who were loud, who could excite her at any moment of the day.
But Olivia isn't very exciting. I know, it sounds mean, but that's just her personality. To me, she seems practical, serious, and one-dimensional. And yes, I haven't really spoken to her outside of this situation, so maybe she could be more enthralling, but at the moment, I can't ever see her as someone who was friends with Vera.
But they were, and I have to accept that. Anyone who Vera was close to is important to me. Whether they exposed my identity or not.
Will decided to go with me back home, because he thinks that I will miss any 'significant details' that Vera has left. I disagree. He'll probably just end up distracting me and therefore will make the situation worse.
Anyway, it's not like I can stop him. The boy is persistent, and I'm easily persuaded.
Unfortunately, him coming all the way home with me means that I have to endure a whole train journey with him.
Currently, we're sitting in a two seater, therefore with no table, sharing a pair of headphones as we wait for our arrival.
"Stop staring at me." I tell him, knowing that he's on to something. "It's annoying."
He gives me a pained look, touching his chest as though I've stabbed his heart. "Am I not allowed to appreciate a woman's beauty?"
"Not when you want something."
Taking a bite of my sandwich that Olivia made, I look out of the window, trying to focus on the fields that zoom past us as we chug towards London.
"I'm just really hungry." He says, making a point to stare at my sandwich.
That's what it is. I'm surprised I didn't guess, to be honest. I swear he's more attracted to food than anything else in the world. "You already ate your sandwich." I say, rolling my eyes.
He frowns. "And?"
Shaking my head, I squish up to the window, trying to stop him from reaching my sandwich. Only, I'm pushed against it even further as Will moves closer to me, a smirk on his face.
As he inches forwards, I realise that I have no way out, and this is probably going to end his way. Nevertheless, I will not give up.
But then his lips are on my neck, kissing my skin softly. It's sudden, and it causes my cheeks to flush uncontrollably, eyes darting around the train to see if anyone has seen us. They haven't thankfully – but that doesn't stop my heart rate beating wildly. He carries on, his breath fanning down my neck, making my body heat up as the seconds go by.
Then he stops, and I realise why.
He's taken a bite from my sandwich, and is munching on it triumphantly.
Ohhh he is dead.
Dead.
I stare at him, mouth wide open. "What the hell."
"What?" He looks at me innocently, wiping his mouth not-so-discreetly.
"You'd better run."
"We're on a train?"
"You'd better fucking run. I mean it."
The plan is to go home, find whatever it is we're looking for, and hop back on another train before my parents get back. It's 2 o'clock at the moment, and they get back at about 6, meaning we have 4 hours to make sure we're out smoothly and efficiently.
Irritatingly, Will therefore thinks that we can take our time – so he's being incredibly slow at everything.
"Hurry up." I shout grumpily, fumbling my key in the lock of my front door, sighing as I notice that he's still walking down the road.
He strides into our front garden, reaching me as I swing the door open. "I'm here aren't I?"
"Yes, but you're being slow."
We walk inside, and immediately I get a feeling of deja vu – reminding me of last night, when we stumbled into the empty, dark Moreau house.
Like Sydney's, my house is completely desolated, as we'd hoped. There are a few windows open, meaning there's some light inside, but mainly it's pretty shadowed. Remi runs down the stairs as a greeting, nudging against Will's legs as he meows for attention.
Will coos, picking him up into his arms. "Aww. What a cutie."
Remi purrs as Will strokes the fluff under his chin.
We head upstairs to Vera's room, getting straight to it. As we reach it, I'm hesitant to step in. It's not like I've never been in there before, because I do occasionally visit, but I don't want to break down again. Every time I walk into this room, I'm hit with an overwhelming feeling of sadness.
Nevertheless, I have to do it, and after Will threads our fingers together, we head inside, side by side.
After asking for my permission, Will starts to look through her draws, trying to find anything that looks suspicious.
By the end, we've only found a couple of leaflets behind the back of her chest of drawers advertising tech life at university, and an old essay that she wrote back in school. So in other words, nothing.
As Will turns to the last bookshelf, I take the time to look around. Vera's room isn't the most extravagant – mum and dad took down most of her posters a year or so after she passed away.
There are, however, a few photos scattered in the corner, peeling off slowly with time. Inching closer, I notice my sisters face come into view, her posing with various different friends. She looks happy, her teeth dazzling as she grins widely.
Olivia is in one, too. Her and Vera are holding hands, jumping into the air as they open their mouths wide.
And then there's me. Both of us are going down a slide, eyes wide with fear as we stare at the camera, screaming. I remember that day clearly: we were in France, and the three of us girls had gone to a waterpark because dad fell ill, and we had nothing better to do. It ended up being extremely fun, Vera and I making sure that we went on every single ride before the day finished. Even mum had a go on one- although she didn't enjoy it whatsoever. Albeit, it was funny, and a memory that I'd hold forever.
Will turns around, his face turning into shock as his eyes zoom in on my watering eyes. He rushes up to me, gathering me in his arms with a grave expression. "Maybe we should leave, Vi. It's getting you upset-"
"No, no." I say, wiping my eyes and therefore making his arms fall off me. "I don't want to slow us down. This is important."
"Not if it's making you sad." Will replies, giving me a look. His eyebrows are etched into a frown, eyes focussed solely on me. "Why don't we take a break?"
After hesitating, I nod slowly, sighing at my ridiculousness. It happened a long time ago, but sometimes it feels like I've never let go.
We stand up, moving back into my room in silence. I collapse onto my bed with exasperation, my head slowly alerting me that a headache is on its way.
Will, who has been resting his head on my wall, staring at my room, slowly walks towards the photo frame that I have up on my desk. "This was what I saw the first time I came to your house." He says softly, trying not to evoke anymore of my tears.
I look down at the floor. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I had to hide it away – explaining everything would have made me a mess, and I didn't want that."
"I understand." The metallic frame glints in the light as he picks it up. It's a photo of Vera and I, smiling at the lens in a selfie that we took on Vera's camera. This is one of the few photos that I've had the courage to keep – it was the last one we ever took together. Vera was going off on her trip, leaving me behind. Little did I know that it would be forever.
"Vi!" Vera's voice calls through the hallway, sounding stressed. "Come here, yeah?"
I roll my eyes. Getting interrupted in the middle of your favourite book is the worst thing that can possibly happen, regardless of whether you've read it thousands of times. "Why?"
"Because I need you for a min. Please?"
After an elongated sigh, I trudge down the hallway to her room, leaning against the doorframe when I get there. "What's up?"
She turns to me, her blonde hair flowing out behind her. She's not wearing any makeup today, a sign that she is busy and her time to pack is limited. Normally she wears little black flicks on her eyes, and occasionally some red lipstick or some blush, all to accentuate her features.
Not that she needs it, though. My sister is probably one of the prettiest girls I know, and I'm insanely jealous because of it. "I need you to cut my hair." She says abruptly.
"What?"
Rolling her eyes, she bundles up her hair so it roughly resembles a bob, before repeating herself again. "I need you to cut my hair."
"Yes, I heard you." I say, choking out her words. Vera is so bloody unpredictable. She's going on a trip in like, what – 2 hours? And yet suddenly she wants me to cut her hair. "I meant why?"
She shrugs. "Just want a change."
"You don't need to cut it, though. It's healthy." I argue, watching her as she stares at herself fixedly in the mirror.
"I just want to, okay? Please, just do it. Because you love me so so much, and you're the best sister in the whole entire-"
"Okay, fine." I interrupt, knowing that she'll get her way whether I refuse or not. "But if it goes wrong, it's your fault."
She sticks out her tongue. "If it goes wrong, I'm telling mum that you ate all the Nutella."
Sometimes I wonder how my sister is older than me. "What! You wouldn't dare!"
"I know." She says, chuckling as she passes me the scissors. "I just wanted to see your reaction."
Pulling a face, I turn her so she has her back to me, before grabbing a stool and forcing her to sit down. Although she may act younger than me, Vera is quite tall compared to my measly self, therefore I cannot afford to cut her hair on my tiptoes.
Then it sure as hell would go wrong.
Taking a deep breath, I start to chop off her almost white locks, trying to keep it as straight as I can. There's something extremely satisfying about cutting someone's hair. Maybe it's the way it sounds.
Finally I finish, and admittedly it isn't the best cut hair, but it's good enough, and I happen to be extremely proud.
Vera opens her eyes that she was squeezing shut, allowing herself to see my work of art. Slowly, a smile spreads onto her lips and she squeals. "Thank you Vi! I love it!"
She still looks stunning. It almost suits her more – highlighting the straight line of her jaw as the hair barely skims her shoulders. After jumping up like a two-year-old, she envelops me into a hug, cuddling me tightly. "I'm going to miss you."
"I'll miss you too." I say softly, ignoring the sorrow that fills my chest. This will be the longest time that I've ever been away from Vera, and I have no idea how I can bear it. "Send me letters, yeah?"
I feel her nod, her strands of hair rubbing against my cheek. "Of course."
After a while, we let go, and she smiles sadly. "One last selfie before I go?"
My grin is the only response she gets, and soon it is reflected onto her expression.
Grabbing my camera from her bedside table, I rush back to her, pressing the button to turn it on and pointing the lens at us. "3...2...1.."
And as the flash captures the moment, I try my hardest to smile though the loneliness that is bearing down on me.
"Okay. Now I really have to pack." She turns back around, hurriedly stuffing various shirts and other clothes into her suitcase.
After a few seconds, she realises that I haven't left, and turns around, a confused look on her face.
"Do you have to go?" I ask, biting my lip.
She turns her head, a deep desolation in her eyes. "Yeah. You know I don't want to leave you, Vi. But I have to."
"I get it." Nodding, I look down to the floor, pressing my teeth harder into the skin of my lip to stop me from crying. God, I know I'm such a baby, but I can't help it. "I just- I just don't want you to forget about me. You'll be going to university soon, and-"
"Viola." She tilts my chin up, staring at me with a hard look in her eyes. "Now you're being stupid. You think I'd ever forget my sister? My annoying, Nutella stealing one of a kind buddy?"
We laugh, and she carries on. "Of course not. You'll be fine, you have Remi." She points to her kitten, sleeping on her bed. I've never liked him that much- he was given to Vera as a birthday present, but I'll admit he's kinda cute. "Look after him, yeah? You'll learn to love him."
I nod. "Okay."
Finally, she puts the last object in her suitcase – her camera – and zips it up, sighing loudly. "I'll send that photo to you when I get the chance."
After standing there in silence, she embraces me one last time.
"Don't miss me too much, Vi." She says, her voice sounding thick as though she's about to cry. "Because no matter how much you do, I'll always miss you more. Always."
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
Authors note: This makes me so sad. Vera is such a nice character.
I also feel so bad for Viola. I can't imagine losing someone that close to me. If any of you have experienced this, I'm here if you want to talk, if it's any consolation.
Love you always,