If we have eachother

by remote_ghost

Summary:

A lot of things can happen at once, new jobs, new relationships, and new developments of all sorts. With Osora taking a new job, Arias is happy for any excuse to get a cup of coffee. But when responses sell short, what better source than an older sibling to more details?

Notes:

Disclaimer- if you recognize like the first two chapters or so, a while ago I started writing a fic called ‘more than a need for caffeine’ or something like that. Anyways I hit a dead end and decided to rewrite the whole thing, so here it is. There will be a major focus on Osora, and Arias’s relationship, but Celia and Catalina also have a storyline as well <3

Chapter 1: Blonde barista, and Brunette bafoon

Arias walked along the street as the rain fell from the grey clouds. A bell rang as he entered the cafe. He smiled at the familiar environment, this was his favorite place to go when he had a couple odd hours. Never disappoints, especially today. 

 

“Osora?” 

 

A blonde barista turned around with two drinks in hand. Arias laughed as he approached the counter. “Funny seeing you here” He teases, resting an elbow on the counter. 

 

The two of them had a habit of crossing paths, like they were tied together by some invisible force. They had met in combat classes as kids, later went to the same middle school. After that they had gone separate ways in high school. But sophomore year they had run into each other at kickboxing competitions, and later joined the same team. 

 

Osora never seemed to be able to get rid of the oaf. This was continuously proven true when they ended up at the same college. At this point it was almost expected that where one went the other was sure to turn up sooner or later. 

 

Why am I even surprised at this point? Osora thought as he placed the ready orders on the counter. But despite the grief they gave him Arias had definitely become their closest friends. 

 

“Do you two know each other or something?” One of their coworkers asks as she walks over to the cash register. 

 

“Something like that” Osora replies, rolling their eyes. “Just ring in a large black coffee”

 

“Obsessed much?” Airas calls, talking out his wallet. 

 

“You’ve had the same psychotic order since we were in high school, it’s not my fault you’ve never left your comfort zone.”

 

Without another word, Osora had poured Arias his black hot coffee, securing the lid he set it down, a little harder than he should have a little spilling from the top. 

 

“There you go, have a good day” They called sarcastically.

 

“When did you start working here?” He asked, taking the cup. 

 

“Not long a week and half maybe” They offered to cross their arms. 

 

“Hm- I come here all the time. I can’t believe this is the first I’ve seen of you here.”

 

“A happy accident” Osora shoots, turning back to the espresso machines. 

 

“Why’d you even get a job anyways, a 1K allowance not enough?” Arias teases taking a seat at a counter stool.  

 

Their movement halts for a moment. “Just needed something to do before school starts back up” They replied, still facing away. 

 

Arias just shrugs, taking a sip. “You got your classes picked out then?”

 

“Of course, registration was open ages ago- tall oat milk latte” they call out, a shorter woman coming up to collect the drink. 

 

Their brief conversation went nowhere productive, it was just small talk. Just small talk, but god Arias would never get tired of talking to them. 

 

Arias considered it in his best luck that Osora was working the next time he stopped by the cafe. He had been pestering them all morning trying to fight to get in words as they worked. Eventually Osora had to put either the conversation or work on the back burner. 

 

“If you want to talk so badly you can wait for me to go on break, it should be in about an hour. I haven’t been doing this too long, and I’m not going to start messing up more because I'm entertaining you.” They interrupted.

 

With a grin Airas just went and took a seat, glady waiting. Since the semester let out he hadn’t seen them in what felt like too long and for whatever reason they wouldn’t leave his thoughts. It’s like they were always lingering in the back of his head. Acting on it seemed to be the only rational action. 

 

“Hey” They called out, resting their head on their hand.

 

Arias smiles as Osora takes a seat in front of him. “Hey yourself”

 

“Anything interesting going on then?”

 

Osora frowned, “I’m working that’s about it” 

 

 “Have you boxed any lately?” 

 

Osora’s eye widen for a second, before resuming their resting angered glare. That was out of nowhere. “A little, not anything impressive.”

 

“You should go with me sometime then.” Arias offers. “I miss having you around.” 

 

Their gaze brightened, “you miss me? It’s only been like 2 weeks since classes got out” The question sounded more like a joke.  

 

“Oh desperately yes, besides you always made me look so much stronger” Arias teased, taking a sip of coffee. 

 

“Haha” they laugh serially. “That was a good thing, cause you were always slow” 

 

“Well I’d like to think I’m consistently improving” 

 

“Always the optimist.” 

 

Arias looked up with a smile. “Someone has to be, so you wanna go sometime together or not?”

 

It felt like he had caused his own heart to fall through the floor, probably the copious amounts of caffeine catching up to him. 

 

“I’m free Friday after work.”

 

Arias had to hold back a smile. 

 

“What time does your shift end? I'll pick you up.”

 

But Osora’s look becomes guarded once more. “It’s fine, just send me the address” 

 

“Really, you're not gonna bail on me?”

 

Osora shot him a glare. 

 

“I’ll send you an address, but actually show up. I think you’ll have fun.” Arias corrects, pushing his chair out. 

 

Osora just waves slightly, remaining seated at the table as Arias walks away. 

 

A couple days later Arias had sent Osora the address just as he said he would. Looking at the last time they had messaged, it was over something irrelevant a couple weeks ago. No wonder it felt like forever. His phone chimed, Osora had liked the message, a smile crossed his face. 

 

He sat just beside the front door waiting happily until Osora walked through the door, with his old high school bag slung over his shoulder. “Told you I’d show up”

 

“Wow, someone got this man a metal.” Airas laughed. “Come on, this will be fun”

 

After warming up, they just got to it. It was all like it had been back in high school. The two started naturally falling back into old routines that hadn’t been done in years, it had all felt calming to Osora to be back in a routine he onced looked forward to. 

 

They couldn’t recall the last time they had spared together though, classes always seemed to take over everything and finding time was difficult. It had left like eh only time they were able to spend together was if they were both at the library. 

 

“Just don’t hit me in the face too hard” Osora calls shifting into a ready stance. “I have work tomorrow, I can’t show up looking like a lunatic.”

 

“I would think it would get make you some good pity tips”

 

“I don’t need pity”

 

“Oh right I forgot, some like yourself are just working to simply pass time. Not to get by like the rest of us” Arias shot. 

 

“I just don’t need another black eye right now is all I’m sayin”

 

“When have I ever done that?”

 

Osora paused, sinking back into a resting position, “Right before picture day remember, I couldn’t use my student id for a year.” 

 

Arias startled laughing at the memory, he had totally forgotten about that, and it was entirely his fault. Not that he ever admitted that to them. “I forgot about that, but that was on you, you needed to learn not to block with your face.”Osora just rolled their eyes as they got back into it. 

 

Finally they had flopped back on the cool floor, Arias looking over them. “Ready to call it a night?” 

 

Osora frowned at him, why did he always have to make it sound like they had lost. “Only if you’re tired of losing” 

 

“You’ll never change will you?” He asked, offering them a hand up. 

 

“And that’s supposed to mean” They replied, taking his hand. 

 

“Nothing really, it’s just your the same Osora from middle school, funny is all”

 

Osora frowned, he wasn’t particularly fond of who he thought he was in middle school. But then again was anyone?. 

 

“You haven’t changed either you know.” They argued. “Are there showers here?”

 

“Around the corner” He pointed out. “You want me to wait up? I was just gonna shower at home.” 

 

For a moment he swore the blonde’s face flushed, but they turned before he could fully see. “No it's fine, but thanks- for tonight.”

 

“Anytime your highness” Arias called back jokingly, getting caught in the moment. Not actually remembering the last time he called them that silly name.

 

“I thought I told you to stop calling me that.” Osora snapped, grabbing their bag. 

 

“If the shoe fits, and considering the private academy you went to, and mansion I’d say it’s fits just fine” 

 

Osora lets out a short breath before heading in the other direction. “Whatever I’ll see you around”

 

Arias couldn’t help but smile. God, how did all of those feelings return so quickly. But it was better to play it safe. This could all be in his head, and the only thing worse than rejection would be the chance of losing them.

 

He would make sure that Osora saw him around, and considering that Arias now knew where they worked. Maybe they could be around each other for a little longer than some fleeting moments, long enough for Arias to feel this out. 

 

The following day on his way to work he went the long way, making sure to stop by the cafe. Happy to see Osora at the register, frowning as usual. The face of perfect customer service. 

 

“Morning” 

 

“Morning” they called back looking down at the tablet. “Can I offer you anything else other than the most boring drink on the planet?”

 

“You may not” He smiled back. 

 

“Psycho”

 

“Takes one to know one” Arias replied happily. It was almost too much fun to mess with them. 

 

Osora just rolls their eyes, “cash or card” 

 

That was pretty much how almost every intention between him and Osora went for the next week. He had alway guessed on when he thought Osora would be working, so far luck had been on his side. 

 

It wasn’t enough for him though to only see them in passing. He reached for his phone as he walked back from work asking if they wanted to go to the gym sometime again. Arias had tried to wipe the smile from his face as he looked down at his phone, god Osora made him into a moron. Some things really would never change. 

Chapter 2: Something out of the blue

Summary:

Arias is nosy, a little too nosy for a platonic friendship if you ask me

When they go back to the gym together things are more and more like they were back in high school. They had started meeting up multiple times a week, Arias always going to the coffee shop day of to remind them.

 

“So where are you living then?” Osora asked as they walked over to the mats. They had been talking about how much the dorms on campus sucked, with the faulty thermostats and the paper thin walls. “But still summer housing is pretty hard to get, I'd be surprised of you pulled that off”

 

“I actually have an apartment now, so I’ll be living off campus for junior year and out” Arias replied. “You living at home for the summer then, I’d guess though if you didn’t want to stay in the dorms again you could probably live at home full time right?” 

 

But Osora just looked down. 

 

“Yeah I guess” shoulders slumped. 

 

Did I say something wrong?

 

The rest of the night went okay, just okay. But Osora seemed off, and Arias couldn’t help but feel like it was his fault. 

 

A week or so passed and it still felt as silly as it sounded in his head, but he still could help but wonder. Although he felt like something was wrong, he tried to push past it, there was no need to rush into anything. He knew that that was the best way to scare Osora off. Arias looked down at his phone at the confirming text of their meet up tonight. 

 

Maybe he would ask him about it tonight. 

 

Later that night Airas had been waiting for them at the door like any other night. 7o-clock came and went without the blond walking through the door. He sent them a text, as he went to put his phone down though he saw the little typing bubbles appear for a second, before disappearing again.

 

Did he actually just leave me on read?

 

He sent out another text saying that he knew that they saw the message, and asked what was going on. 

 

>something came up, sorry

 

Arias stared at the message. He wasn’t even mad about the fact that Osora had bailed, well maybe a little bit. But it was mostly due to the fact that he had a feeling that something was going on. 

 

>everything okay?

 

The same thing happened, Arias could see that they read the message. The little bubbles appeared, then disappeared. Only this time when Airas confronted them about it over text there was no response. 

 

>Osora?

 

He had tried to brush it off, a couple of days went by and he was too busy to go to the coffee shop, so he’d been texting them. 

 

Osora has always been a shit liar since they were kids. So if they weren’t even trying to lie, they knew they would get caught. Osora never answered the initial text, or any of the following ones the day after.

 

It was the next day, and Arias had gone to the coffee shop in hopes to see Osora and get an answer. Maybe more than one if he was lucky. 

 

But as he opened the door, they were nowhere in sight. So he got a cup of coffee and perched at a table hoping that they had a shift coming up and would walk through the door. It seemed like the luck of always running into each other had finally run out.

 

At times like this he missed the school year, he always knew Osora’s schedule. With that, just where he could find them. 

 

Many people walked in and out, Arias just frowned. Looking down at his watch he had pushed it just about as far as he could before being late. Reluctantly he picked up his things, and walked up to the counter. 

 

“Does Osora work today?’ He asked one of the baristas he recognized from the first time he had found Osora working here. 

 

“I think later a little later, pretty soon though”

 

“Nevermind then, thanks” He turned and headed for the door. With his luck as soon as he was out the door and around the block Osora would show up.

 

As he walked out and around the block, he swore he saw Osora’s car in the parking lot. It was a little too far to be a hundred percent sure. He wanted to check it out but his phone buzzed reminding him of the time. His investigation would have to resume later. 

 

But even as he made his way down the street he still racked his mind for possible solutions. Things were going well again, but since that text it had been radio silence. 

 

There was one other resort he had, one that didn’t necessarily include Osora, maybe going behind his back a bit. He pulled his phone out and started scrolling through his contacts. “Hey Celia, it’s Airas…is Osora there?”

 

Osora had ignored all of his texts and his calls. Didn’t matter what he texted about, asking if they were okay or just about something random the results were the same. 

 

She had told him to come over once he finished up work, saying she’d text him the address. As he hung up Arias couldn’t help but wonder if this was really nothing and he was overreacting. 

 

Osora seemed happy with his company. Often talking about little things that happened throughout the day during the breaks while they were sparing. This was probably all his imagination. 

 

I’m being ridiculous, I’ll just check to make sure he’s okay and be on my way and leave it alone. 

 

He stares up at the massive house, recognizing the exterior from when he came here years ago. I couldn’t even afford to rent a closet in this house. 

 

Eventually he was led by a maid to a terrace where Celia was scrolling on her phone. “Arias” She smiles getting up to greet him. “It’s been too long, I never see you around anymore” 

 

“Have you seen Osora around?” He cuts in, not really in the mood to entertain pleasantries. 

 

“Something the matter then?” She went back to her chair, seeming bord by the topic. 

 

“Nothing, he just hasn’t been replying to any texts I’m just- have you seen them?”

 

“Oh no I haven’t, I just got back from a trip actually. You called me when I was at baggage claim.” She laughed. “So I haven’t actually seen him around yet”

 

Arias's expression fell a bit. “Well I figured I would ask, things were fine one minute and then he just seemed to disassociate for everything.” 

 

“It’s silly though I’m probably reading into it too much” He said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

 

“Well if he’s acting like that he and dad were probably fighting.” Celia replied calmly.

 

“They fight?”

 

Celia looked up for a moment, before glancing back down to her phone. “Since Osora started middle school.” She had acted like this was old news. 

 

“Do you know what they fight about?” Normally Arias would not be this bold to ask so many questions like this. But if there was one thing he remembered about Celia was she knew things about everyone, plus being Osora’s sister what could be a better source?

 

“Everything really, they always fight.” She replied. “But come on, is there anything else you wanna talk about besides the stupid past?”

 

“Like what?” Arias replied, crossing his arms. 

 

“Like how you’re going to tell him” 

 

He frowned, “Tell him what, I just wanted to make sure he didn’t fall off the face of the earth or anything” 

 

Celia smiled smugly. “Have you not realized it yet?”

 

“Realized what exactly?”

 

She tilted her head, “It’s a good thing you're hot that’s all I’m saying” She replied putting her hands up. “But I don’t want to ruin all the fun”

 

By the time Arias had finally left the house it was late, part of him was hoping if he stayed there long enough that he would run into Osora, he wasn’t that lucky though. But the last part of his interaction with Celia played through his head. Did he miss something about Osora that Celia had told him?  

 

With the somewhat new information all Arias had determined was that he wanted answers from Osora. Nothing else. So the stakeouts at the coffee shop became the new regular, and so far have been a failure. It has been close to 2 weeks now, but things would change today. This mission of his wasn’t cheap, he doesn’t remember the last time he spent so much money on coffee.

 

He knew Osora always worked on Fridays, so he did what anyone would have done. Called out of work and camped out there all day, until he watched the angry blond walk through the door. 

 

When Arias checked his watch, it was just over an hour after he would have usually started work. Did this asshole actually change his shifts around to avoid me? 

 

But he couldn’t find himself to care, his plan had worked. But his victory was soon overshadowed. 

 

Osora looked awful, hair looked greasy and unkept. Which was different from how they wore it messy the rest of the time. Overall they just looked done, but nonetheless they walked behind the counter and pulled an apron over their head to start working. 

 

They hadn’t noticed Arias yet, so he would make the first move. But he almost felt nervous. 

 

“Osora” He called out before thinking any further, a sinking feeling of relief settling in his chest.

 

“What do you want, Arias?” They dead panned moving away from the register and back towards the espresso machine. 

 

“Just moment of your time” 

 

“I’m really busy right now Arias” Osora replied, taking a ticketed cup from the counter. 

 

Something is definitely wrong. They had always gotten agitated easily when they were stressed, but school was out. Was working at the cafe that stressful?

 

“Fine, when do you go on break then?” Arias countered. 

 

“Whenever you start work and get out of here”

 

“Ouch Osora, you wound me” Arias called dramatically. “I took the day off so you're not getting off the hook that easily.”

 

“Fine, do what you want, waste your time” He shot back. 

 

“Why are you acting like this?”

 

“Like what?”

 

“Like the rest of the world doesn’t exist” Arias replied calmly.

 

“Well right now it doesn’t feel like it does so why don’t you just fuck off right?” As they raised their voice they missed where they were pouring and a shot of espresso now flooded the counter top. 

 

Something’s wrong. On the one hand Arias was happy that he wasn’t losing his mind over the past 2 weeks. But on the other hand, something was wrong. 

 

“Are you fighting with your dad?” Arias couldn’t stop the question from leaving his mouth if he tried. 

 

In a second the look of injury turned to one of rage in Osora’s eyes. “I’m going on break” He yelled marching out of the door. 

 

Leaving Arias and the other barista on the far side of the cafe staring. “He just got here.”

 

“I’m sorry about that, I’ll bring him back” Arias tried to reassure them, when he really didn’t care if this took the rest of the day. He was finally about to get answers, he knew it. 

 

“That was so fucking uncalled for” Osora shouted grabbing the front of Arias’s shirt and tugging him down to their eye level. “That is my job, which I need by the way. You can’t just waltz in there acting like you own the place and can bombard me with questions at the time of your convenience.”

 

“If you gave a straightforward answer, or even a text back for once I wouldn’t have to”

 

Osora just shot them a dirty look, crossing their arms. 

 

“Don’t act like you don’t damn well what I’m talking about. I just asked if things were okay and you just started ignoring me completely. You didn’t even have the decency to make a up a lie”

 

“It was one time would you get a fucking grip? This is literally a one time thing and you're going off the rails like always.”

 

“We’ve known each other for what over a decade now, I can tell when something’s up”

 

Osora’s expression went numb. “Well then if you know me so well what’s going on?”

 

“That's not fair, I can just tell when you’re not acting like yourself.” Arias rebuttals. 

 

“You’re relentless” 

 

“Fine then, just answer one question for me and I’ll leave you alone to mope in peace.”

 

“If you let me go back inside, sure Arias, why not, what is bothering you so much that you had to stalk me at my place of work?” They called sarcastically.

 

“What happened the last night you bailed on the gym?” He asked. 

 

Osora sighed, taking a seat on the curb. He was growing tired of the fight. “I got into a fight with my dad,” they admitted. “It just made a lot of things complicated”

 

Arias took a seat next to him. “Why did you never tell me you guys fought?”

 

“I thought you only had one question,” Osora replied, resting his head on his knees. The weight of everything seemed to come back to him as he rested, it felt like a waste of energy to fight with Arias anymore. “If I tell you, you can’t get all defensive if I answer” 

 

Arais just looked at them prompting them to continue. 

 

“I always felt bad, you were bouncing around the system. It felt wrong to complain about my dad. Even one that makes me question my existence.” They admitted. “I can’t think of anything we haven’t fought about before” 

 

“That’s what Celia said” Arias replied. 

 

“You went to my sister? Stalker” Osora said, a small smile crossing their features. 

 

God, this is why I could never shake him. Osora thought, Arias had always cared too damn much for his own good. 

 

“She said she just got back from a trip” 

 

Osora smiled a bit. “Yeah she took Catalina to Greece”

 

Arias had recalled meeting Catalina at some point, but had a hard time placing any other details. The look on his face must have given away his thoughts because Osora started to answer him without Arias asking the question.

 

“Celia and Catalina are going out, they have been for a like a year or two now. I know she wants to get a place with her soon to get away from the house”

 

“What does your dad not approve or something, that house is like a palace. I doubt it’s crowded” Arias asked, not expecting Osora to laugh. 

 

“Of course not, but I feel like it’s a bit easier for girls to get away with it at times, I mean I found out like a year after they started going out” They explained. “Seems like the perfect karma for him though to have a fruit basket for children”

 

Something in Arias’s chest tightened. Oh… oh no. So this is what Celia was talking about. Because something in his heart soared, a chance.

 

“Celia is smarter than me though, I’m the dumbass that got caught” 

 

Arias mouth hung open, what in the hell did Osora’s dad catch them doing?

 

“Get your mind out of the gutter” Osora snapped, reading his expression. “I mean he just found out I like, or rather that I don’t like girls.”

 

So I really do have a chance. Arias had to rake in his thoughts to refocus. 

 

“Said that he could get behind what he calls the ‘gender debacle’, but not if I brought a guy home because at least with the ‘gender debacle’ I look normal. Even though he can’t even say the word trans god forbid non-binary” Osora huffed a laugh. 

 

“Is that what you guys fought about then?”

 

Osora just nodded, starting to stand up. “Look I have to get back” they gestured for the door. “If you wanna hang out later, just text me alright” 

 

“And you’ll respond?” Arias asked sarcastically.

 

“Yeah, promise” 

Notes:

Ah yes, let the sky fall…

Chapter 3: Car crash

Summary:

When the world comes crashing down, at least there are people when the dust settles. Despite a couple while lies

 

Osora had kept their word, the two of them had met up a couple days later to go boxing, and Arias was happy things seemed to be back on track. 

 

The more things seemed to settle though the more he thought about the constricting feeling in his chest when Osora entered a room, or even when he just caught sight of them. 

 

I’m done for. 

 

One night after work Arias was having a lazy night in, settled down in front of the sofa with take out on the coffee table. Also beside the food was a journal, as he was trying to unravel his feelings. Sue him, he saw somewhere that journaling could help, and he was getting desperate. 

 

The sun was long gone below the horizon and the street light showed in his window as the night went on when he got a call. At first he had seen the last name, and had gotten excited thinking it was Osora, but it was actually Celia. 

 

Why is she calling me at this hour?

 

“So did you confess yet?” Celia asked over the phone.

 

Arias rolled his eyes, but he might as well come clean. “No I didn’t, I mean you were- right” It felt kinda painful to admit, especially since she had released it before him. 

 

“Some long game then, they’re always at your place. You’ll have to confess eventually.” She continued. 

 

“What are you talking about Celia?” 

 

“I thought you two had you know gotten together” Her tone had gained a sense of seriousness. 

 

“No I haven’t told him yet, I’m trying to work that all out. But why does that matter?” He asked looking over to the clock, it was well past 10pm. 

 

Her side of the line went quiet for a minute.“So you're not going out?”

 

“No.” Arias says plainly, asking again kinda felt like salt in the wound. 

 

“And they haven't been over at your place?” She continued questioning.

 

“Not that I’m aware of unless they’re hiding in my closet-” 

 

“Okay then where are they?” Celia interrupted. 

 

“What do you mean?” Arias had gotten up, and started moving towards the door. 

 

“They haven't been by the house since I got back, they said they were just staying with you. See?” 

 

He looked down at his phone at the screenshots from Osora and her conversation to confirm. Arias frowned, “I saw him for like the first time in a week just yesterday,”

 

“So they’re okay? Cause I've been calling all night and they won’t pick up”

 

“The last I’ve seen but Celia-”

 

“Airas where the fuck is Osora?” She yelled over the phone. It didn’t feel like she was yelling at him but more so scared. Hoping he would have the answer. 

 

“I can be over to your place in 15, are you coming or not?” Celia asked. 

 

“Yeah I’ll be there” He paused, grabbing a jacket off its hook. 

 

“We’re gonna find them,” Arias said, as he hung up to try Osora’s cell. Right to voicemail.  

 

In ten minutes Celia had pulled up out front, and Arias hopped in and took off. When he asked where they were going she said she had found their password and reactivated the find my feature on their phone. 

 

He quickly realized the direction they were going. “Celia now’s not the time for coffee”

 

“I don’t know what to tell you, I’m just following the app” She said pointing at the navigation. 

 

“They could have left their phone at work though” Arias said, not fully convinced that’s where they would be. 

 

“Well this is the only thing we have to work off right now. If they’re not there then we’re calling the police” She said urgently making a sharp turn. “Did you try calling them?”

 

“Every couple of minutes but it just goes to voicemail.”

 

As they turn around the corner Celia quickly parks in the street parking, before they clamber out of the car. 

 

“Nobody’s in there.” Arias said as he tried to peer through the front glass.

 

“Well it says the phone is somewhere near here” She calls back, looking through the glass too. “I’m calling the police”

 

Arias took a step back walking over to the corner to look across the whole square, when something caught his eye. “Celia wait-” 

 

“Arias it will be okay, do you remember what they were wearing last-”

 

“No Celia look” He said pointing to the parking lot nearby, typically reversed for employees. “Their car is still here” 

 

The two took off to the other side of the street, their car was easy to pick out as it was the only one still in the lot. Celia had surprisingly beat him there, which definitely would have hurt more any other day considering she had worn wedged boots. 

 

“They’re here,” She said quietly. Looking into the window, seeing that they were passed out in the front reclined seat. 

 

Arias sighed with relief, but then looked around the area. There were still some people up and about at this hour, the occasional cars passing. Feeling more lucky that the two of them had found them. Looking into their car once more Arias saw a collection of stuff, a couple blankets, as well as boxes. Were they living out of here?

 

Celia started tapping on the window frantically, Osora shot up from the seat looking frantic. “Open the door,” Celai said, still tapping on the glass. 

 

They looked at the two of them startled, but eventually unlocked and opened the door. To which Celia charged into their arms the first second she got. “Osora what were you thinking, why are you out here? Why aren’t you home?” She asked, holding them close, which surprisingly Osora didn’t push away, but fell into embrace. 

 

“What are you doing here Celia?” they whispered as the two separated. 

 

“What are we doing here, what are you doing here?” Arias intervenes, but when Osora looked over at him they only stared at the ground at his feet. 

 

“I didn’t know what to do” They admit. “I told you about it”

 

“You told me about a fight, you didn’t say you got fucking evicted” Arias tried to stop himself from shouting as he connected the dots. 

 

“What did you and dad fight about when I was gone?” Celia asked, putting a hand on her brother's shoulder. 

 

“It doesn't matter,” Osora replied shortly, their voice still groggy from sleep. 

 

“You’re living out of your car.” She argued. 

 

Osora suddenly couldn’t look at their sister now, as they faced Arias instead. “He was so mad,” they said nervously, picking at the skin around their nails. “He was mad that I only like boys” They whispered. 

 

Celia’s expression collapsed in an instant. “Osora, what did he say to you?”

 

“I- he said… to leave” Osora replied quietly, falling into their sister once more. “I’m sorry Celia I didn’t want to worry you-” they hiccuped. “You had just gotten back from your trip with Catalina, and I thought I could figure this out” 

 

She squeezed her eyes shut before looking over at Arias, so much guilt washed over her. But now was not the time to think through her own internal frustrations.  

 

“Arias, can you drive them back to your place?” Celia asked as she released them. 

 

“Celia, where are you going?” It could have torn a hole right through her chest, it felt like they were a little kid again. But then the anger set in her once more. 

 

“Don’t worry about me, I just need to check on some things. I’ll stop by in the morning” She promised, before looking over to Arias. The look at said don’t fuck this up otherwise you’ll be hunted next look. “Let him drive you back”

 

They nodded as they surrendered the keys to Arias. “It will be okay” Arias tried to reassure them as they watched Celia walk over to her car, heading in the direction of the house.  

 

The ride back to Arias apartment was silent, Osroa just stared out the window as they drove. When Arias had pulled into the parking garage parking their car next to his he finally got out. “You want anything for the night?” He asked, handing them back the keys. 

 

But they just nodded, before opening the back door, shuffling some things around. Grabbing a loosely stuffed duffle as they locked the doors following Arias up the apartment. 

 

As Arias unlocks the door Osroa realizes that this was the first they’d been up here. The space was smaller, likely a one bed one bath, with a small kitchen and living room.

 

“Are you hungry I could make you something?” He offers, closing the door behind them. 

 

They just shrug, still holding onto the duffle looking around the space. 

 

“Nobody’s mad at you” Arias attempts, only getting a sigh in return. He kinda wished he was the one that got to go after their dad, which is what Celia was most likely doing at this moment. She would’ve known what to do right now. 

 

“How about I just heat something up real quick and you can hop in the shower, it’s just around the corner there.” He suggests. 

 

Luckily Osora seemed okay with the suggestion, and started off across the room. “Thanks”

 

Arias felt his shoulders loosen, like he had let go of a breath he had been holding. But he quickly snapped himself out of it as he went to open the fridge. Quickly settling on the pasta he made the day before, as he heard the shower turn on. 

 

As he pulled the food from the microwave he nearly burned his fingers on the hot plate setting it down, then leaned against the countertop trying to make more sense of everything that happened over the past hour finally feeling his heart rate return to normal. 

 

“You okay?” Osora asked, reappearing from around the corner, their damp hair dripping onto their shoulders. 

 

“I should be the one asking you that” Arias replied, not realizing how long he had been there lost in thought. 

 

“You wanna talk about it?” He asks, offering them the plate. 

 

They shrug, taking the plate looking like they were heading for the table. 

 

“I only have one chair, you can just eat on the couch if you’d like.” Arias offered. Without looking back, they changed their projected route heading to the living room. 

 

Together they now sat side by side on the couch, neither saying anything for a while until Arias spoke up. 

 

“I’m sorry I yelled at you earlier” 

 

“It's fine, you were upset.” Osora says plainly, seemling in a better headspace now. “I should have told someone” They admit. 

 

“So- I mean is that what you meant when you said you needed the job at the cafe” He asked, trying to fit all the pieces together, hoping he wouldn’t come off as insensitive. 

 

“Sort of” they start, putting down the plate. “I knew I wanted to be able to leave soon so I figured having an independent source of income would be needed. I didn’t expect to move out so soon though” It had sounded like they were trying to laugh off the situation. 

 

“When he threw me out, I had done the math. I should have only needed to work for another week or two before I could lease out someplace small.”  

 

“You could have gone to hotel at least”

 

“I didn’t want to waste money, that would have only prolonged the problem”

 

“You could have asked me, you know I would’ve let you crash here as long as you needed.” Arias offers. 

 

Their sigh had told him that they had already considered that, and probably every other alternative that he couldn’t think of. 

 

“I- I didn’t want to talk about it” they said quietly, picking at the skin around their nails. “It’s embarrassing being kicked out of your own place”

 

The two sit in the silence a while longer, the AC clicking on and now rumbling softly in the background. 

 

“Well I’m glad I could finally show you my place at least.”

 

“It’s nice, the walls are a little boring though” they hummed. “It’s’ like a hospital in here, at least hang up something”

 

“Osora-“

 

“I could bring some paintings if you’d like.” Osora offered, interrupting him, though Arias could hardly recall what he was going to say now in the first place. 

 

“They’d probably just be stuff I’d tear out of sketchbooks but still, I think it would help. Maybe like a thanks for tonight” 

 

He smiled, “That would be nice, I never had a knack for anything too creative” He admitted, picking up the finished plate and walking over to the kitchen. 

 

“Thanks” Osora smiled weakly watching Arias return to the kitchen. Only when they looked down where the plate once was they didn't realize a book was below. Going to close it and put it back on the shelf for him Osora caught sight of what was inside. 

 

A pros vs cons list, of asking out Osora

 

They slammed the journal shut placing it back down the table, this was awful. They didn’t mean to snoop, but they were kinda glad they did. Wishing that they had almost stopped to read past the title. 

 

But before they could think on it more Arias had returned. 

 

“You good?”

 

Osora had to shake their head to bring them back to earth. “Yeah no I’m fine”

 

“Really, cause it looked like you just saw a ghost”

 

“I’m fine really, just tired” They reassured him. 

 

“Should have figured I guess.” He replied going into the other room coming back with a blanket and a pillow. 

 

“You deserve to sleep in a real bed, I can crash here” 

 

Osora sat there a second trying to process everything still. “It’s fine really, I mean I don't even think you lie down fully on the couch. Don’t worry I’ll be fine out here” they reassure him. 

 

After they had gone back and forth a couple minutes now, Arias was ready to cave and sleep. 

 

“So stubborn” Arias mumbled to himself. “If you're so hell bent on me sleeping in my own bed why don’t you join me?”

 

Osora had to try not to choke. 

 

“I promise not to hog the blankets, so can we please just get some sleep?” He pleaded. 

 

Osora looked down at their phone. It was now well past 1, approaching 2 in the morning soon.

 

“Whatever, but I’m holding you to not hogging the blanket” they shot following Arias into the bedroom. 

 

As the light clicked off, Osora remembered how nice beds were. So much better than sleeping in any part of the car they had attempted over the past week.

 

“Thanks for letting me stay here and everything” they said into the darkness.

 

“Anytime your highness”

 

They didn’t have enough fight in them to argue with him this time. Osora had wanted to just go to sleep, they were tired enough but something stopped them. 

 

“Everything’s going to be okay, right?” they whispered, hoping Arias hadn’t passed out yet.

 

“It’ll work out, promise” 

 

“You promise?” They ask skeptically, turning towards him in the darkness. 

 

“Yeah I promise” 

 

That seemed to eliminate enough stress for them to start to slip into sleep. Soon as Arias heard the sound of steady breathing he had deemed it safe for him to surrender to sleep as well.  

Notes:

I mean they say if you want something, manifesting can go a long way is all I’m going to say

Chapter 4: Go on Red Stop on Green

Summary:

Celia’s side of the evenings events unfurl…

Earlier that night Celia had started off back to the house as soon as she left Osora in Arias’s care, driving as fast as she could praying there were no cops lingering around, when her phone went off. 

 

“Celia what are you doing?” Catalina’s voice rang through the car’s speakers when she answered. 

 

“How’d you know I was up to something?” She replied, trying to focus on the road. 

 

“We share our location love, why are you downtown right now? Is something wrong?”

 

She couldn’t find the words to answer. 

 

“Celia”

 

“CELIA” Catalina finally shouted over the phone, that being enough to snap some sense back into her. 

 

“Everything’s fine, our wedding might have to happen in a prison though” Celia replied casually.

 

“Where are you going, and why are you talking about going to jail?” She questioned over the phone.

 

Celia was now stopped at the red light before the house, she could almost make it out in the distance. 

 

“My dad kicked Osora out” She gritted. 

 

“Oh my god are they okay, they’re with you now right, what happened-“ Catalina had paused at the sound of Celia sniffling. 

 

“Are they okay?” She rephrased, recollecting her words. 

 

“Yes” The words sounded like they were ripped from Celai's throat. 

 

“And you’re okay?” 

 

“I don’t know” She was internally cursing the tears to disband themselves from her tear ducts. 

 

“Why don’t you come over to my place” 

 

“Cat you don’t have to deal with this, don’t worry” She started, the light had turned green but Celia remained stopped in the empty street. 

 

“I’m not hosting a wedding at the county jail, and I’m still up. Please, just come over” Catalina pleaded over the phone. 

 

“Okay, you win” She sighed, making a u-turn and heading towards Catalina’s. How could she say no? 

 

When she had pulled into Catalina’s family’s driveway she was already waiting for her at the front door. 

 

“You’re okay” She said softly wrapping an arm around Celia leading her inside. “I’m going to need the keys til morning though if you're talking about committing crimes” Celia didn’t even argue, she just handed them over as they started up the stars.

 

The room smelled of warm vanilla and lit by various candles, some fake for light others likely the reason for the cozy scent. Celia smiled as she left Catalina and made her way to the bed sitting on the comforter. 

 

“Thanks for calling,” She said quietly as Catalina gathered things around the room. 

 

“Don’t worry about it, I hate sleeping alone anyways.” She smiled passing over a pile of pajamas and a package of makeup wipes. 

 

“I think I’d be lost without you, or in jail” Celia scoffed softly as she accepted the pile. “I’m going over there in the morning though, after I check on Osora”

 

“Can I ask what happened?”

 

She drew in a long breath as she started at her mascara with a makeup wipe. “I don’t actually know the whole story.” Celia admitted. “All I know is that I couldn’t find my brother because I thought that oaf of a best friend of theirs had finally confessed because that’s where Osora said they’d been staying since we got back.”

 

“But when I called him, Arias told me that none of that was true, and I realized I had no idea where they were” She went to wipe under her eyes as if there was any makeup left to remove. 

 

“We found them in their car Cat” Celia had sat up changing into the clothes Catalina had given her, trying in a way to keep herself a little distracted. “I don’t know how long they were sleeping out there alone, I never even knew”

 

Catalina had laid back against a pile of pillows, looking at Celia as she opened the comforter for her to join her. 

 

“I never knew Cat, I’m awful. I didn’t know my own brother had been kicked out of the very roof I was sleeping under” She finally cried wrapping her arms around herself. 

 

“You said they're with Arias now right?” Catalina asked, wrapping her arms around Celia as well. 

 

All she could do was nod. 

 

“They’re okay right now love, we can talk about it more in the morning I promise. But you need sleep.” She said, now holding Celia’s face in her hands. 

 

Eventually Celia had calmed down and laid back in the pillows as Catalina blew out the candles. 

 

“Can you come with me to the house tomorrow?” She asked, pulling the shorter girl close. “You don’t have to come with me to talk to my dad but I think I need you there. I only want to make one trip” 

 

“Of course” She smiled, planting a kiss on Celia’s cheek. 

 

In the morning Celia had told Catalina her whole plan for how the day would go down, from seeing Osora to the conversation with her father. 

 

“Just try to remember that they’re okay” Catalina tried to reassure her as they sat at the breakfast table. 

 

“I know, Osora’s okay, and I won’t kill my father. I would like to have a nice wedding” Celia repeated back. 

 

Arias had texted her the address earlier so that’s where they headed there shortly after. Approaching the door she smiled once more at Cat before knocking on the door, moreso to give herself more confidence. 

 

“They’re still asleep, but you guys can come in” Arias said as he opened the door. 

 

“No surprise there” Celia scoffed, kicking off her shoes. “We brought some treats, well Catalina did”

 

With a smile she handed over the bag, “Are they okay?”

 

Arias just rubbed the back of his neck. “I think”

 

“You think?” There was a quick gentle hand on Celia’s shoulder. 

 

“They’re okay” Arias rephrased. “Still asleep but fine enough, they're in the room around the corner if you’d like to see for yourself.”

 

With that Celia took off around the corner leaving Arias and Catalina alone in the entryway. 

 

Celia smiled as she spotted her brother’s blonde hair, going over to sit beside them on the bed. “Osora” She said softly. They however did not stir. 

 

“Osroa it’s me” She called again, shaking their shoulder. This time their eyes peaked open for a second before closing. 

 

“Go away” they mumble, pulling the covers over their head. 

 

Celia just rolled her eyes, I found you sleeping in your car and this the first thing you say to me the next morning?

 

“I’ll be back to get you a little bit then” 

 

Just like that Osora shot up once more. “I’m not going back, even if he lets me in I’m not going back” they shouted frantically. 

 

“Don’t worry, we can put that place behind us” She smiled gently. 

 

“Celia what did you do?” They ask skeptically, whipping sleep from their eyes. 

 

“Nothing, yet.”

 

They shot her a look. 

 

“Nothing bad will happen, promise. You just have to stay here and keep Arias company for a bit” She said simply, noticing how Osora's face suddenly reddened a bit. 

 

“Did something happen?”

 

Osora’s mind went right to the page of the journal they saw the night before. Did Arias actually mean that? 

 

“What no, of course not”

 

The look Celia had given them felt like she wanted to press her nose further into things but decided against it. “Alright then, I’m going to head out. I’ll call you later” She said getting up and heading out of the room. Where she found Catalina and Arias chatting on the couch. 

 

“Come on love, let’s get going. We’ll be back later anyways” She waved. 

 

“Thanks for having us” Catalina smiled as she got up from the coffee table, following Celia out the door. 

 

Once they pulled into her driveway they walked through the front door to see no one in sight, thank god. Celia quickly pulled Catalina through the house and to her room. 

 

“Is your dad here?” She asked in a hushed tone. 

 

Celai had started pulling various bags from her closet, and throwing things around. “He’s here, just in his office on the far side of the house.” She began, handing Catalina some things to pack. “Besides he don’t think I know, it’s totally fine if I’m here” 

 

They spend the better part of the morning packing up what Celia wished to take.

 

“I’m gonna just run into Osora’s room really quick.” She said, sipping out the room. When she entered their room like a storm had gone off, which made sense. They had probably packed in a hurry to leave. 

 

As she wandered around the room Celia grabbed some photos off the walls, and paintings that she could easily tuck under her arm. Walking over to their desk she grabbed a large tote bag filling it with arts supplies she knew they like to use frequently. 

 

“All of your bags are in the car” Catalan said as Celia re-entered the room. 

 

“You’re amazing, I’m surprised it all fits.” She gave a soft smile before planting a kiss on her forehead. 

 

“You got everything?” 

 

“Pretty sure. I have most of the maids numbers, I can come by and grab the rest later if I need to when he’s not here.” Celia said, looking over to the door. “You can wait in the car, I’ll be there in a couple of minutes”

 

Catalina nodded, taking the things from Celia’s arms. “Take as much time as you need.”

 

That left Celia alone in her room as the sound of Catalina’s footsteps grew quieter. Even though there was still plenty of stuff inside the room it felt empty, as did the rest of the house now. 

 

As she closed the door behind her heading to the back of the house looking up at the big wooden door to her father’s office all the anger from the previous night resurfaced in her chest, and there was no one there to stop her.

 

She didn’t bother knocking, she threw the door open and stormed in right up to the desk that sat in the middle of the room. 

 

“Oh hello Celia, we’ll have to talk later, I'm quite busy at the moment I actually got a notification from an account-” He said, trying to wave her off. 

 

“YOU KICKED OSROA OUT” She yelled, slamming a fist down on the desk, causing the surface to tremble. 

 

“Only temporarily” he said bordly barely looking up from the various desktop screens. 

 

“That’s such bullshit, what is wrong with you?”

 

“You should be asking him that, now shouldn’t you. He’ll come back once he sorts things out”

 

She should've asked them how things were going sooner, she should’ve. Maybe if she asked them about things more often they would have come to her when they got kicked out. Maybe she wouldn’t have had to find them in the middle of the night. 

 

“No they won't,” Celia said flatly. 

 

“And how are you so sure of yourself?” He still didn’t look up from the screens. 

 

“Because I won’t allow it”

 

He looked up to laugh at her statement. “And what will you do?” He still didn't seem to be taking this seriously. 

 

“They’ll live with me” Celia stated. 

 

“Or sure”

 

“Fine don't take this seriously” She shot, “But both of our stuff is packed. We’re gone. I hope one day you hit your head hard enough to understand-”

 

“You would’ve thought it was Osora who got hit in the head too many times then” He said plainly interrupting her. 

 

Celia remembered the tears Osora shed, not just last night but all the times before that. Likely many more that she never knew about. I should have been there. 

 

“What did you say to them?” She asked. “Before they left, what did you say?”

 

“He’s mentally deranged Cecelia, you know that”

 

“They are not deranged” She gritted. “What did you say to them?”

 

“But he is Cecelia, if mom would have seen him now, and what he said to me. That sinful behavior they admitted to-”

 

“You do not get to use mom’s death to guilt your own children” She shouted. 

 

“She was my wife”

 

“She was my mother, our mother.” Celia corrected.  

 

“To think before this I only thought one of my children were a disappointment” He said, rubbing his temple. 

 

Something lit behind Celia’s eyes. “I'll do you one better. That trip to Greece I just went on that you never bothered to ask about, guess what I proposed to the most beautiful woman I know.” 

 

“GET OUT” He shouted. 

 

“I'm already packed.” She said shortly heading for the door. “Catalina wanted to ask you for my hand, I’m glad I told her it was a waste of time”

 

“You’re just making this whole thing up.”

 

“I wish I could say the same about you, enjoy the empty house.” She said heading for the door. “By the way mom would have left you too the way your acting now”

 

“She would not, that woman was devoted she-” that finally seemed to upset him enough to stand. 

 

“She was not the woman I thought she was then, if you think she would have stood by and watched all of this happen” 

Chapter 5: New Same Old

Summary:

As the fire subsides, and the siblings start figuring out what’s next there’s another new factor in equation.

“You never told me that your sister was engaged.” Arias said as he and Osora headed out the door. 

 

“She’s not, not that I know of.” Osora replied, stuffing their hands in their pockets. 

 

“Then why’s there a ring on Catalina’s finger?”

 

Osora’s step hesitated for a moment. “How would you know that?”

 

“Earlier when Celia stopped by Catalina was with her, I saw it on her finger”

 

“I bet it happened in Greece then”  Osora concluded, as they stepped out of the elevator and headed out the front doors of the apparent complex. “I can’t believe she didn’t tell me”

 

“She probably had her reasons right?”

 

But Osora shot him a side glance. “You’re supposed to be on my side”

 

“Really and why’s that?” Aris asked mockingly. 

 

“Just because” Osora covered, looking forward once more, thinking back to what they saw the night before. 

 

Did Arias mean that? 

 

“How far away is this place anyways, I’m starving.” Osora complained. 

 

“Close enough your highness” Arias called back, as the two contained down the sidewalk. The cafe was close enough to walk, and Arias had suggested they get out of the house for a bit while they waited for Celia to finish whatever she was doing. 

 

But Osora still couldn’t clear their head. They hadn’t considered this an option, but now that the idea was in their head it wouldn’t leave. Did Arias mean what he wrote?

 

Do I want him to mean it?

 

“You could have stayed with me you know” Catalina argued as they hauled the last bit of Celia’s luggage into a hotel room. 

 

“If it was just me believe me I would have no problem with that” She said flopping back on a bed. “But Osora hates asking for help”

 

“I suppose you make a good point,” Catalina replied, laying beside her. 

 

“I’m still not even sure they’ll agree to live with me when I find a place, I could see them thinking it's pity” She said, pulling her laptop out and opening a tap to look at nearby apartments. 

 

“You could live with us too you know,” Celia offered shyly, not looking up from the screen. The two of them had lived together for most of college, but now that they were out once again in the real world it felt different.

 

“Are you asking me to move in with you?” Catalina asked, pressing her head against Celia’s. 

 

“Would you want to?” 

 

Catalina’s pause had sent off alarms in Celia's head, “I just figured you know we’ve lived together before and well we're engaged right, I mean you said yes-“ She started to ramble. 

 

Rattling Celia was never easy, for a long time Catalina had thought nothing would ever fluster her. But there were small moments, ones that Catalina knew mattered to her that could get Celia to falter some composure. This seemed to be one of them. 

 

“Of course I would… but I think you need to make sure Osora’s okay” She said softly. 

 

“They’ll be fine with it,” Celia tried to cover. “It will all be fine”

 

“You don’t need to take care of everyone at once, I’m okay right now.”

 

“We can figure it out”

 

“You spent almost all night talking about how worried you are about them, there’s no harm in making sure you two are settled first.” Catalina argued. 

 

“I feel like your trying to let me down slowly” 

 

“What no of course not!” Catalina shouted trying to cover frantically, hoping her words weren’t offensive. “I would love to move in with you” Catalina breathed, taking one of Celia's hands. “Lets just find a place first okay”

 

“What if Osora agrees?” Celia pressed. 

 

“Okay yes, if Osora is fine with it, yes. But don’t pressure them” Catalina warned. 

 

Celia smiled looking back down at the apartment site. “Deal”

 

Later in the evening instead of getting them, Celia had texted her brother the address of the hotel so they could move their car over, when they pulled into the parking lot she was already there waiting for them. 

 

“You didn’t have to get me a hotel you know” Osora complained as they hopped out of the car and opening the trunk. 

 

“I didn’t get you one, I got us one. My things are already up there” Celia called, gathering Osora’s bags in her arms. 

 

“You’re things?” 

 

“Yes, my things”

 

It took Osora the moment they walked in the room to see the extent of the things that Celia packed to realize what she really meant. “You didn’t have to do this, I would have been fine really.” they said, setting their stuff down on the floor. 

 

“I guess you could argue you’re right” She said sitting on the edge of the bed she claimed earlier. “But you don’t need to do this alone Osora”

 

They looked down away from their sister, gripping the hem of their shirt. “I’m not a little kid, you don’t need to look after me.”

 

“You’ve always said that” Celia replied “Even when you were like 5. But it’s just us now, you need at least one person on your side.”

 

Osora just walked over to the empty bed, and laid back on the clean comforters. “So what do we do now?”

 

“Nothing has to change,” She said, simply reaching over to grab her computer from the night stand. “We'll just find a place, you can keep working until school starts up again and I’ll start my job on Monday.”

 

The whole thing settled weird in Osora’s gut, before the two of them always had a buffer, cushioning if things went wrong. Well that was clearly a false sense of security, since something did go wrong, and this is what things came to. 

 

But maybe this was a good thing, it should be a good thing. What were they gonna do just always hold onto that trust of money that would always catch them? That money had been the buffer that love should have filled. It was the support their father refused to give.

 

“Wow you're talking like you’re all grown up” Osora mocked.

 

“I’m still older than you aren’t I?” She smiled, “Come here, I think this place looks nice” She said, patting the spot next to her on the bed. 

 

“How are we gonna afford this?” Osora asked, looking at the ad online. 

 

“Well I have some money saved, plus we would splitting it remember” 

 

“I’m not sure.”

 

“I could cover you for awhile, please Osora it will be fine”

 

“How do you even have so much? I doubt your card still works, and you weren’t known for your work ethic.”

 

Celia gave sly smile, “First off rude, but I’ve moved some money around before I left into a private account, we’ll be okay” 

 

“Isn’t that illegal?”

 

“No my name was on the accounts, they were just shared”

 

“With dad”

 

“Yes”

 

“You stole money” They accused. 

 

“It was mine, but I figured he would freeze the account after I yelled at him either way”

 

Osora shrugged, slightly upset that they hadn’t thought of that, at the very least then they could have booked a hotel for a night or two. “Well that place is too dark anyways, click on the next one”

 

After a while of searching they had fortune a two bedroom down near the university, it was smaller. But it had big windows that seemed to peak Osora’s attention. 

 

“Do you think there would be enough room for Catalina?” Osroa asked nonchalantly, as Celia wrote down the number to call. 

 

“Oh this place will just be for us, you don’t have to worry-“

 

“But you guys got engaged in Greece right?” Osora asked, clearly already knowing that they were right. 

 

“How did you find out?” Catalina was the only one with a ring so far, and they have seen each other lately. Osora was sleeping when the two of them swung by Arias’s place. 

 

“Arias saw the ring on Catalina’s hand, you two should probably live together right? I mean I think you would want to”

 

“I just wanted to make sure we got things settled first” She replied, totally not stealing what Catalina had told her earlier. 

 

“Why’d didn’t you tell me you got engaged?” 

 

Celia flopped back in the bed with a sigh. “I didn’t know I was going to at first, her ring is actually from greece. I bought it while I was there.” She smiled at the memory. 

 

“Still you could have told me after” They shot, crossing their arms. 

 

“Like you told me you were sleeping in your car?”

 

“Touché” 

 

“But seriously, you should ask her,” Osora says once more, standing to stretch. 

 

“You’d be okay with that?”

 

“I want you to be happy Celia”

 

She made a face at their words. “God I don’t think so many nice words have ever left your mouth at once. It’s almost worrying” She teased. 

 

“Shut up”

 

The rest of the week, the two had gone to work and Celia worked on getting the lease situated in the evenings. In between fighting with Osora over how the room seemed to get smaller each day. 

 

“Have you talked to Arias lately?” Celia asks one night, after Osora had taken a purposefully long shower just despite something she had said earlier. So snooping in Osora’s personal life was the next best she could do, plus she felt like she had two horses in this race. 

 

This was confirmed by how quickly Osora tense at the question, like they were hiding something. Osora always was a bad liar. 

 

“What’s going on with you and Arias?” Celia asked again. 

 

“Nothing.”

 

She wasn’t convinced, “You haven’t really hung out much since I picked you up last weekend, are you sure?” She questioned. 

 

“Yes everything’s fine”

 

“Did he say something?” 

 

“No Celia nothing happened” Their shoulders dropped with their words.

 

She eyed them down from her perch on the bed. “Did you want something to happen?”

 

“What kind of question is that? You dropped me off, I stayed the night and you texted me this address the next morning”

 

“That was because I was initially going to murder our father after we picked you up. Beside the point you were sleeping in his bed”

 

“He was persistent”

 

“Okay fine nothing happened that night.” Celia said, throwing her hands up. “But you tense anytime I mention him, just intriguing is all. Also I’ve known you your whole life and you’ve never looked half as happy anywhere else then if he even just walks into the room. Walks in into the room”

 

“Maybe to some small degree you could have the smallest point.” They plopped down on the edge of her bed, facing away. Instead choosing to focus on picking at the skin around their nails. “I just found something out, and I don't know what to do about it”

 

Her eyebrows shot up, now this is what she was talking about. Being annoying paid off eventually. “Have you tried asking him”

 

“He doesn't know- I know,” they said quietly, continuing to pick at the loose skin. 

 

“Ah I see, then you should probably make the first move” She suggested, proving herself up against the headboard. 

 

Osora's face was red in an instant. “You know what I’m talking about then, don’t you?”

 

Celia had to stop herself from laughing, both of them were painfully obvious.

 

“I just never really thought about things that way, but now there’s the idea and… I just can’t seem to forget about it” Osora admitted.

 

“You two are hopeless,” she mumbled. 

 

“What did you say”

 

“Oh nothing, but it might be worth the risk,” She offered. 

 

Osora stood up and walked over to their own bed pulling the covers tightly around themselves. “I’ll think on it I guess”

 

Celia had to focus on controlling her face, it would be so easy to meddle. Snooping was one thing but Osora would probably threaten to move back into their car if they caught her meddling more. So if anything were to suddenly happen, she would be sure to cover her tracks or pray that things worked out in her favor. 

 

“I just don’t want to lose him,” Osora said softly, from under the blankets. 

 

Osora, you aren’t blonde for nothing are you? Have you ever seen the way he looks at you?

Chapter 6: An Executive Decision

Summary:

Does this count as sibling meddling, most definitely-

Do the results disappoint? Not at all

“Thanks again for helping.” Celia called happily as she set the bags down to open the door to the new apartment. 

 

“Anytime” Arias replied, following behind Osora, who seemed to be on self-destruct mode since they caught sight of him. 

 

“So it will be the three of you here right?” He asked to set down stuff in the center of the living room. 

 

“Yup, it’s gonna be fun” Catalina smiled as she started weaving through the rooms, opening all the windows to let fresh air in. 

 

“The walls are so boring.” 

 

“I thought you were focused on the windows” Celia argued, placing her hands on her hips. 

 

“I was, but that still doesn’t take away from the fact that it feels like a hospital here.” They complained. 

 

Celia shrugged, digging through one of the bags, before shuffling around a flatter bag of Osora’s. 

 

“Hey what are you doing?” They yelped.

 

But she didn’t veer course, Celia simply smiled when she found what she was looking for. Before walking over to one of the plain walls, sticking the piece of paper up with a piece of tape. 

 

“Celia take it down” They snapped, reaching for the piece of paper, but Celia kept them out of reach. 

 

“You said the walls were boring, so I’m fixing it” She exclaimed. 

 

“Not with stuff I made that’s embarrassing” 

 

In between the sibling bickering, Catalina had brought some bags into one of the bedrooms. While Arias stared at the piece Celia had hung up. Had Osora really made that? 

 

It was a bouquet of peonies, in a crystal looking vase. Arias had no idea how you could paint something that looked practically transparent, you could see all of the stems, and water in the vase. 

 

He remembered that Osora could paint, but not like this. They spoke of it as some silly thing, as if they were just doodling in the back of a notebook. 

 

“You made this?” Arias interrupted, as it looked like Osora was going to hit their sister over the head. 

 

Osora had paused mid swing to turn towards Arias, which had given Celia the opportunity to shove Osora away. 

 

“It’s staying right here, I think we could add a couple more from your whole collection.” Celia suggested. 

 

“Yeah, it’s just something I picked up.” Osora replied to Arias, who just gave them raised eyebrows in return. 

 

“Oh just something you picked up?” He air quoted. 

 

“Something like that” they replied rubbing the back of their neck. 

 

“You’re talented” Arias mused, taking a step closer before looking back at Osora.  

 

Celia who stood behind them was slightly annoyed at the way Arias looked at them, or more so that they were completely oblivious. Can Osora really not see it, you would think they’re the god damn sun. 

 

“I was left alone a lot as a child” Osora deadpanned. 

 

“You were not, you were always bugging me” Celia objected, rejoining the conversation. 

 

“Well what did you think I did all day when you wouldn’t play with me?” Osora shot. 

 

“Dramatic much?” Celia called, as she headed off the room Catalina was in. Leaving Osora and Arias in the living room, with just the prayer Celia left to linger. 

 

All while Arias had gotten lost in thought thinking back the night he had Osora over at his. 

 

“I could bring some paintings if you’d like.” Osora had offered. 

 

“They’d probably just be stuff I’d tear out of sketchbooks but still, I think it would help. Like a thanks for tonight” 

 

Arias had smiled, “That would be nice, I never had a knack for anything too creative” 

 

Did that offer mean something? Clearly in front of their sister Osora despised their art being hung up but they offered it to him like it was nothing. 

 

Maybe I’m just special? He internally shocks his head. I sound like a moron. 

 

“It’s getting painful.” Celia complained as she set the boxes down. 

 

“What is exactly?” Catalina asked, putting the sheets on the mattress. 

 

She exhaled, closing the door. “Watching them. Please tell me you see it too?” 

 

“I suppose, but I think saying it’s painful may be a bit much” 

 

“I know too much,” Celia went on. 

 

“Celia I don’t think that’s the problem” Catalina tried to reason. 

 

“You’re right.” She said confidently, starting to pace the room. 

 

“They just share one brain cell when their within ten feet of each other”

 

“Is there a point to this rant love?” Catalina asked, taking a seat on the freshly made bed. 

 

“Yes, the point is I know they both have feelings for eachother, like they’ve each  actually admitted it to me but they are both too dim to do anything about it.” Celia ranted, her voice raising. 

 

“Celia I think you should talk just a bit quieter-“

 

“I closed the door,” She paused. “But seriously, have you seen the way Arias looks at Osora? But no they’re too busy being on the verge of passing out if their arms so much as brush together for a moment to notice-”

 

“Celia-” Catalina tried to call out, but she was interrupted as well

 

“OH MY GOD.” A voice called from the other room.

 

Celia paused, but Catalina just pointed to the windows. “I opened them all when we first came in, the living room is right next door.” 

 

“Oops.”

 

Slowly she opened the door to the living room, to see Arias and Osora both frozen in place.

 

“I’m going to jump out that window” Osora called, hiding their face in their in hands.

 

“I think I need to- my oven is flooding. I’ll leave you guys to unpack” Arias called out walking out briskly not looking back. 

 

“Celia I’m going to kill you, then jump out the fucking window” Osora shouted. 

 

“Sorry?” Celia offered awkwardly, as Catalina appeared at her side. 

 

“Cat-” Osora called, avoiding making eye contact with their sister. “Please tell Celia that after I put my head through the wall I will move the rest of my stuff” 

 

“I could do it-” Celai tried to offer.

 

“AFTER I BASH MY HEAD THROUGH THE FUCKING WALL” Osora yelled going into the other vacant bedroom, the door locking behind them. 

 

“That was painful to watch.” Catalina admitted. 

 

“Yes, yes it was,” Celia said nonchalantly walking to grab some more of her things, not daring to touch Osora’s. 

 

“You did that on purpose?” Catalina mouthed, Celia just smiled. 

 

“Not necessarily, but a happy accident” She mouthed back. 

 

“Osora really is going to kill you.” Catalina whispered. 

 

It felt like the world seemed to sway the next day as Osora walked into their shift at the coffee shop, or like someone had hit them over the head with a baseball bat. Felt about the same. 

 

But Arias now knew, and he left. He found out, and he left. In his defense I said I was going to jump out a window. 

 

Was Celia telling the truth, Osora knew that they had sort of confessed to Celia earlier in the month. But had Arias really said that to Celia too, why would he say that to Celia. That made no sense. 

 

She was probably just jumping to conclusions like she always did and was just filling in the blanks. 

 

That was it. This wasn’t real, but it would sure make the next time seeing Arias a whole other story. 

 

The morning seemed to pass without Osora giving a conscious thought to anything else around them, which wasn’t a good sign. They could have handed out a lot of incorrect orders. Not that they would’ve noticed. 

 

The rest of the week passes by and it feels the same. Even though they had told themselves that this whole thing was a fluke, Celia’s words kept on repeating through their head. 

 

But even if she was wrong, that didn’t explain the journal entry. Maybe a joke? A joke, this whole thing felt like a joke in some way. 

 

The last person they were going to talk to was Celia, she was the cause for the storm and Osora had no interest in entertaining a glimpse of another apology, or hearing anything about it really. So they have just been slipping in and out of the apartment, trying to avoid her at all costs for the time being. That being said it was starting to get lonely, staying in your head all day. 

 

I miss Arias. 

 

Like some twisted or perhaps lucky fate, Arias walked through the door. 

 

Did saying his same name summon him or something?

 

It took a moment for time to feel like it resumed, and people pushed around Arias in the entryway forcing him deeper into the room. 

 

Why does his face look like that?

 

Before Osora could think about it any longer, they were handed a cup for the next order. Checking every second in between working on making the drink Osora looked up at him, as he remained statue.

 

“Do you think we need to ask that guy to leave?” One of their coworkers whispered, clearly talking about Arias unmoving in the center of the room looking towards the counter. “I think he might be on something?”

 

Osora choked on air for a moment, “No he’s fine, I know him. I think he’s just maybe a bit out of it” Osora tried to reassure her.  

 

But then she called out asking if she could help him with anything Arias remained still, before heading out the door.

 

“That guy was weird, are you sure you know him?” She asked, before taking another customer's order. 

 

“Better than I care to admit”

 

That had to be the sign that this was all nothing, but things were still weird. That’s why he left. 

 

Whenever Arias cares about something he’s always been upfront and confronted it face to face. Osora let out a sigh, so going off the two times now Arias had walked out. I’m out of luck. 

 

As they clocked out of their shift for the day, Osora pulled their hoodie over their head and walked out the door, to be greeted with a strong summer rain shower. Seems about right. 

 

Tugging the fabric further over their face they shuffled across the way to their car. But when they looked up to unlock the door, they weren’t the only one out here. 

 

Leaning against the front of the car in all his glory, soaked to the bone was Arias. 

 

“How long have you been out here?” Osora asks, staring back down into the puddles. “You’ll catch a cold or something”

 

“I don't care about that” Arias called back. 

 

“I saw you at the cafe earlier, was everything okay you didn’t look like yourself-“

 

“Was Celia right?” Arias interrupted, ignoring the previous question. 

 

“Arias- we don’t have to talk out here” Osora started, looking up at Arias droplets of water streaming down his face. 

 

“Yes or no, was Celia right?”

 

Osora looked to the ground, water dripping from their hair. “I just- I saw something you wrote and I don’t know if it freaked me out or-” they started rambling. 

 

“And?”

 

“And I’m so sorry Arias I never meant to intrude, I promise.” Osora pleaded, gripping the hem on their hoodie. “I should have told you sooner but I didn’t know how to make sense of it.”

 

“Osora” Arias called, pulling the hood off their head so he could see their face.  Thinking back to the night Osora had stayed over. He knew what was written on that page. “Was Celia right then? Do you feel the same way?” His voice suddenly sounded desperate.   

 

“You’re an idiot Arias” Osora struggled to laugh. 

 

“According to your sister we both are-”

 

They pulled the front of Arias's shirt down to their level, letting their lips collide. 

 

“You’re too damn tall for your own good” Osora said as they seperated, the rain countied falling on their shoulders.

 

“Most people find big height differences attractive actually” Airas called, picking Osora up by their waist, setting them down on the car hood to kiss them again. 

 

“Are you calling me short?” Osora said breathlessly when they had a moment.

 

He smiled into the kiss. “Never” 

 

“I find your height quite charming actually.”

 

Osora pulled away their arms draped around his shoulders, sounding out of breath. “Shut up”

 

Separating once more they street lights shined over the parking lot, highlighting the drops that fell beneath it. 

 

“We could have done this in my car, you know” Osora suggested, brushing some some the droplets off of Arias’s face. 

 

“And where’s the drama in that?”

 

Osora just rolled their eyes as they headed for the car door. “You wanna go back to your place?” They asked. “I’m still mad at Celia”

 

A wide grin crossed Arias’s face. “Now I just might be the luckiest man alive” 

 

Arias opened the door to the apartment, letting Osora step in first as he followed. Standing side by side now they share a side glance. 

 

“So” Osora started dropping their bag to the floor. 

 

“So” Arias repeated. 

 

As they shared a second glance Osora couldn’t help but laugh, Arias following shortly after. 

 

“Does Celia techally have credit for this?” Osora asked, peeling off their soaked hoodie to reveal a just as drenched shirt beneath. 

 

“We don’t have to tell her that,” Arias replied, turning to face them. “Want something dry to change into?”

 

He smiled as Osora’s cheeks flushed. “It’s your fault we got soaked you know”

 

“And to think I thought you’d be nicer after I kissed you” Arias scoffed, heading into the bathroom to grab a towel to throw at Osora. 

 

“I think it will only get worse for you sadly”  They replied, drying off their hair. 

 

“I might just be into that actually”

 

“Would you stop it?” Osora exclaimed, shoving the towel into Arias’ chest. “Do you have anything I can borrow or not?”

 

“You can have your pick your highness, the closets open”

 

”You’re not funny” they snapped back.

 

“I like to think I’m hilarious actually” With that the door to the bedroom shut abruptly. 

 

A grin crossed his face as he walked over to his book case pulling out the journal, flipping through the pages until he found the one that he was looking for. 

 

Pros vs cons of asking Osora out

 

They definitely did not read past the first line, Osora would probably have his head if they read any father. He made it sound like Osora was the only person on the planet. Smiling he shut the book and returned its spot as he heard Osroa opening the bedroom door. 

 

This is the best day of my goddamn life. 

 

Arias had to swallow a laugh, even when Osora was trying to shoot him a death glare the fact that they looked to be drowning in one of his hoodies, and shorts. 

 

“Shut up” They protested, covering their face with their hands.

 

“I didn’t say anything”

 

“I can read your face moron”

 

“Really and what it saying”

 

The two stood as Osora kept their glare going, and Arias tried to remain from laughing. 

 

“I’m going to kill you” they admitted eventually, as Arias walked by them and into the bedroom. 

 

“I don't think you’d have the heart” He teases, pulling off his shirt. 

 

“But I could get away with it, no nobody would suspect the mourning boyfriend” Osora retorted leaning against the door frame. 

 

“Boyfriend?” Arias nearly choked on the word. “I wasn’t aware we were going out”

 

“You had your tongue jammed down my throat an hour ago, sue me for making assumptions” They covered. 

 

“I thought you’d at least ask me first” Arias laughed back, in a mocking tone. 

 

“Why don’t you do it if you seem so confident?”

 

“It’s more fun this way”

 

“You’re insufferable,” They complain heading into the living room. Leaving Arias alone in his room with his thoughts, did they really care if I’m the one to ask. 

 

Changing into a dry pair of sweats, he thought about it a little longer. Maybe I should do something nice.

 

By the time Arias had left the room to find Osora they were standing in the middle of the living room, seemling hiding something behind their back. 

 

“Whatcha got there?” Arias asked as he approached them. 

 

“You can’t laugh”

 

“When have I ever?” He brought a hand to his chest, imitating some nonexistent offense. 

 

They shot him a warning glare. “Never mind it’s stupid, it was last minute anyways.”

 

“No show me” he instead closed the distance between them. 

 

“No it’s nothing” they called, turning away but Arias was faster. Catching their wrist that held the unknown object and twist them back towards him. Revealing a simple piece of paper. 

 

“I just did it really quick, it’s nothing really” They tried to shrug off surrendering it to Arias’s grasp.

 

It was a little sketch with what looked like markers, and a loose pen outline of red chrysanthemums. The edge of the page looked like it had been torn out of a book, looking over to the coffee table Airas spotted Osora’s bag, a small sketchbook, and pen pouch on the table. 

 

“You did this?” He was amazed at how they made something look so complicated yet simple all at once. “I left you alone for what, like 5 minutes?”

 

“Well you’ve seen it now so-“ they said trying to make a grab for the piece, but when Arias pulled his hand back to evade, he noticed something on the back. 

 

It read- 

 

Arias, the idiot you are, will you go out with me? 

 

“This is the best thing ever” Arias claimed. “Could have worded it a bit nicer though, don't you think?”

 

“I think I summed it up pretty well,” Osora argued, crossing their arms.  

 

“I’m hanging this up right now” He called happily, heading off to dig through the kitchen drawers to find some tape. 

 

“You really want to hang it up?” Osora asked, looking down. “I could make you something better” 

 

“nonsense it’s perfect” Arias smiled stepping back to admire it “My answers yes by the way”

 

A small smile crept across Osora's face, their default frown melting for a second. 

 

As the evening passed the two snuggled up on Arias’s couch the drawing taped up on the wall above them. A sitcom played in the background as Arias brushed his fingers through Osora’s nearly dried hair.

 

When their phone lit up, they always had the ringer muted. Looking to the side table Arias saw the contact. 

 

“Your sister texted” He whispered. “You should probably tell your you're staying over” 

 

Only to find that they had completely passed out resting on his chest. With a smile he reached for his own phone sending a text to Celia, letting her know that Osora was staying over at his. 

 

But instead of answering the text she called him instead. “Didn’t you get my text?” He whispered over the phone. “And don't you also just have their location now”

 

“I need proof of life, Arias.” She said plainly over the phone. 

 

“Well they’re asleep right now give me a sec” He said, switching it to a facetime, being sure to flip the camera over to them, forgetting about the fact that they were in fact snuggled up against his chest. “Proof of life”

 

“OH MY GOD ARIAS-“ Celia started to yell, as Arias tried to turn down the volume as fast as humanly possible as to not wake Osora.

 

“Shhh- you’re gonna wake them”  Arias hushed. 

 

“When did this happen?”  

 

Arias flipped the camera back to himself, “a little earlier” He could hold back his smile.

 

“Well then I’d hate to interrupt” She said, a grin crossing her face, as she hung up. 

 

His smile grew wider as the phone went dark, maybe there was something to write things down in a journal after all. 

Chapter 7: Maybe one day you’ll get it

Summary:

Osora is a shit cook, and their father is an even shittier parent

A year had passed by now, Osora and Arias finished their junior year of college, and Celia and Catalina grew busier as their late summer wedding grew near. 

 

“She’s gonna try and talk to him again tomorrow” Osora sighed as the two laid together watching a show on a laptop.

 

“Are you going with her?” Arias asked as the show continued to play in the background. A cooking show, someone was in the process of proving eliminated from the computation at the moment.  

 

“Of course not”

 

“What would you do if he did agree to come?” Arias asked, propping himself up on his elbows. 

 

“He won’t” They said simply. “I’m not afraid of him, but if for some reason he does agree to come. I just hope it makes Celia happy” 

 

“I’m sure knows what she’s doing,” Arias replied, pulling them closer as the next episode of the show started in the background. 

 

“Dad” Celia said, firmly resting her hands on top of one another. “I wanted to ask you one last time if you would consider coming-”

 

“I’m not coming to your game of dress up Cecilia” He shot coldly. 

 

She took a breath. “It’s not dress up, I'm going to marry her. You knew this was a possibility when I told you -”

 

“Oh yes when you told me you were going through that ‘bi phase’, excuse me for assuming you would come to your senses and find a reasonable man”

 

“I could have,” She admitted. “But I didn’t”

 

“Catalina was supposed to go out with your brother” He said shortly.

 

“Did you ever actually see how they interacted with her, it was like watching two middle schoolers trying to flirt.”

 

“Well that’s a whole different issue then isn’t it”

 

All Celia could do was rub her temples. “I can only have one fight at a time with you”

 

“We’re not fighting, can we just put this behind us?” He asked. 

 

“And what would that mean exactly?” She asked, crossing her arms.

 

“You could come back home, your brother would surely follow and-” He started.

 

Celia had known what he ment. Their dad had blamed Celia for Osora cutting him off and leaving with his sister. 

 

“There is so much room is that house, it just feels-“

 

“Is there room for Catalina then?” Celia interrupted. 

 

“You’re friend doesn’t need to follow you everywhere you know.”

 

That felt like the final straw for Celia. “Would there be room for Osora when they bring a boy home?”

 

But her father remained silent, there was no changing his mind, and Celia finally gave up. “I’m done fighting you on this, I’ve tried so hard to get you on board” 

 

“Just do me a favor and burn the invitation, you’re no longer welcome. I shouldn’t have to beg my own father to attend what should be the happiest day of my life.” With that she got up and left, not bothering to look back. 

 

Three times she had tried to convince her father to come to the wedding, three times she had apparently been wasting her breath. 

 

“How’d it go?” Osora asked, peeking around the corner as Celia kicked off her heels walking through the door to their apartment.

 

“The wedding will be more budget friendly now” She replied entering the kitchen. 

 

“Did you bring Cat? She offered to come didn’t she ”

 

“No, I didn’t want to subject her to that” Celia smiled sadly, hopping up on the counter. “That pan’s way too hot by the way it shouldn’t be smoking” she pointed out laughing as her sibling rushed to turn down the heat. 

 

“But enough about me, have you asked your boyfriend to the wedding?”She smiled watching Osora’s face redden. 

 

“I thought you gave him an invalidation” They shot flatly. 

 

“I did, but don’t you think it’d be sweet if you asked him to be your plus one?” Celia mussed. 

 

“I suppose” Osora replied, ditching the pan in the sink. “I give up”

 

“You need to learn how to cook one of these days”

 

“Maybe I’ll just starve,” they suggested, starting to dig through a cabinet finding a bag of snacks. “Or live off of pretzels” 

 

“You know who can cook?”

 

They raised an eyebrow.

 

“Arias” 

 

“Oh my god Celia, do you want me walking down the aisle instead? We’ve only been going out for like a year” They shout back. 

 

“I swear you guys have been going out for longer, you two are hopeless” 

 

Osora just frowned at her before wandering over to the couch, looking back up at her once they were settled. “But seriously you’re okay?”

 

The smile she put on her face had told them that she was lying. Osora knew it hurt her that their Dad refused to acknowledge her relationship. That’s why he didn’t want to go to the wedding, that he thought it was fake. A game of dress up. 

 

Osora had never bothered to tell their dad about Arias, it didn’t really matter to them. But Celia had always tried to make things work between everyone, and Osora knew that the fact that she couldn’t fix this was bothering her. Even if she never told them. 

 

“I’m fine,” She replied, snatching the bag of pretzels. “Catalina should be home soon though”

 

“Good, maybe she could cook something”

 

“You are a grown adult”

 

“So are you” Osora argued back.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

And that's how Catalina found them when she walked through the door, various insults being exchanged, a couple of pillows that looked like discarded ammunition scattered on the floor. 

 

“Cat” Osora exclaimed.

 

“Don’t you start, you don’t even smile when I buy you a coffee. It’s a ruse, love. Don’t fall for it” Celia yelled trying to get to her fiancée first.

 

“That's because I work at a coffee shop Celia” They retorted. 

 

“What’s going on exactly?’ Catalina asked, hanging her sleet of keys on the hook.  

 

“I was wondering if you were going to cook tonight?” Osora asked innocently. “I could help”

 

“I think they're asking you to be their plus one on an arson attempt.” Celia chimed in. 

 

“You said that the pan was just too hot, nothing bad was going to happen” Osora argued. 

 

“Well I lied, you were probably a minute out form starting a grease fire it should not have been smoking so much”

 

“I hate you.” They deadpanned getting up from the coach.

 

“Maybe you should go live with Arias then” Celia taunted. 

 

“Cat your girlfriends crazy” they whined,

 

“fiancée” Celia corrected. 

 

“Whatever, I’ll find food elsewhere” They huffed, making their way to the door. 

 

“Going to ask your plus one?” Celia taunted. 

 

Osora just slammed the door, as they left. They were one hundred percent going to over to Arias’s, and everyone in that room knew it. So why would Celia waste the opportunity to tease them. 

 

“Plus one?” Calaina asked, finally taking off her jacket. 

 

“I was telling Osora earlier that they should ask Arias to their plus one to the wedding” 

 

She nodded moving into the kitchen. 

 

“We don’t have to cook tonight, we could just order out” Celia suggested, looking over the mess that her brother had created. 

 

“Osora’s gonna be pissed that they left now.” Catalina commented. 

 

“Serves them right then” Celia smiled, opening her laptop and starting to scroll through online menus. 

 

“Speaking of wedding guests…” her sentence faded out. Celia knew what she was asking about. 

 

“He’s not coming” She said flatly, playing with the engagement ring on her finger. “It’s a good thing actually, I wouldn’t want him there if I knew he thought we were just playing dress up”

 

She had always been so guarded. More so than her sibling, which had surprised Catalina. When she first met the two of them, Celia was always more bubbly from the get go, while Osora seemed naturally more reserved. 

 

But as time went on it seemed like the opposite was true. The longer she spent with Celia the more she realized how high her walls were, especially around internal matters like her family. 

 

She often ignored things, like arguments that surrounded the holidays. Catalina found that Celia acted as a mediator between Osora and their dad. Besides the day she was about to murder him. 

 

“And you’re okay with that?” She asked reaching up to brush her thumb across Celia's check. 

 

“It’s not like I can change his mind, I was never going to win this fight.” Celia replied, trying to fill her tone with a certain lightness. 

 

“That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt” 

 

“I’m fine my love” Celia tried to reassure her, planting a kiss on her forehead. 

 

“He did bring up the fact that he had wanted you to date Orora instead of me though” 

 

Catalina quickly covered her face with her hands. “Don’t even remind me, that was so embarrassing, and it was so long ago” 

 

“It’s fine,” She smiled. Prying Catalina’s hands away from her face. “Because despite my father being a horrible matchmaker, he’s the reason I met you.”

 

“His plan really backfired then” Catalina giggled. 

 

“Oh yes, I rank this among his top failures” Celia laughed, Catalina had always loved her laugh. Always so light, like there were no problems in the world. Even when there were, her laugh never changed.

 

“But seriously, do you want to talk about it? I know you don’t like to around Osora, but since their out- you can tell me if something is bothering you” 

 

Celia laughing had halted, as she flopped back on the couch still not looking up from the laptop. “There’s no changing anything” 

 

“All that matters is that I have you, and that I eventually bully Osora into a full long term relationship with Arias one of these days.” She paused. “But they’re both so dense. I mean I don't’ think either one of them would have confessed it to if wasn't for the window incident” She smiled, pulling Catalina into her side. 

 

“You can’t kick him out” 

 

“I wasn’t going to do that, but you do see how in love with them Arias is right?”

 

“We shouldn’t push them,” Catalina warned. 

 

“What’s this ‘we’? I do all of the dirty work and plotting.” 

 

“And who do you plot with? Me” She smiled, Celia only pulled her closer on the couch.

 

Celia looked around the living room, now filled with photos of everyone from the past year. Streamers still up from Osora and her birthdays that no one bothered to take down. A trail of hoodies on the floor that led to Osora’s closed door, right beside the one she shared with Catalina. 

 

Some paintings of Osora’s were scattered among pictures that Celia had convinced and forced them to hang. Which was almost as hard as getting them to admit feelings for Arias. Beside a portrait of flowers hung a photo of them and Arias from one of their first days of college. 

 

Celia had claimed that you could tell from the photo that the two of them liked each other, so like any good sister when Valentine’s Day rolled around she bought a cheesy frame with a bunch of hearts on it for the photo once they started going out. 

 

Despite it being worlds apart from the house she once lived in. She would choose to live here over everything. 

Notes:

Hope you enjoyed reading so far, next chapter will be out soon :)

Chapter 8: Plus one

Summary:

Plus one to possibly commit a crime or attend a wedding?

“Osora” Arias said as he opened the door for the angry blonde.

 

“Arias” They marched in heading right for Arias’s couch, making themselves comfortable. 

 

“Your sister texted and said that you would try to commit arson by cooking in my kitchen” Arias laughed sitting next to them. 

 

“She’s a liar” They huffed. “Apparently I almost started a grease fire, but I was not going to commit arson” They yelled. 

 

“Maybe don’t yell that so loud, I do have neighbors you know” 

 

Osora just slouched further down the couch.

 

“I was going to make something, you still hungry?” Arias asked, going over to the small kitchen. 

 

Osora immediately gets up to follow, “Can you teach me?” They asked wrapping their arms around Arias from behind.  

 

“Teach you what?”

 

“How to cook, that's all Celia talks about lately.” Osora mumbles. “And I want to prove her wrong”

 

“I should've known that you’d only want to learn something new out of spite,” Arias laughed, moving for the fridge.

 

Arias had started showing them how to make a curry. Giving them instruction about how to cut the ingredients, and other little points of guidance. 

 

“I don’t think the issue is that you don’t know how to cook. I mean anyone can read a recipe” Arias said as scoped rice into some bowls. “I think your just distracted too easily, and never gave yourself a shot”

 

“Maybe, but it’s so much easier when someone does it for you” They said, dishing the curry over the rice. 

 

“Yeah that sounds like a different problem” Arias laughs to himself. 

 

He had walked over to the table, always insisting that Osora take the good chair. By the good chair it was actually the only chair in the apartment, and so when Osora started coming round more he had stacked some boxes to form a makeshift seat. 

 

It worked well enough for now, even though Osora had always teased him for it once they had started going out. 

 

“You could get a plastic chair, they don’t cost that much you know.”

 

“Probably less than you spend on coffee in a week, maybe you should buy one” Arias shot back. 

 

“I don’t even live here” Osora said boardly before focusing on their food. 

 

Arias had wanted to say something back, he had wanted to ask Osora to move in with him. But he was wary, he knew Osora was happy living with their sister. 

 

After everything that went down with their dad, and the two moved out together, Arias didn’t want to feel like he was pulling Osora apart from their family before they wanted to. 

 

So he would wait. 

 

“Celia was acting weird today” Osora stated out of nowhere when they had finished the bowl of food.

 

“You always say she’s weird”

 

“Yeah but she was acting weird, there’s a difference” They retorted. 

 

“And do you know why?”

 

“Of course I do, she tried to ask dad to come to her wedding and he said no, again” Arias could tell the words had hurt Osora to say them out loud. 

 

“She’s tired so hard to get him to come around over and over again, and he always mocks her.” They said sadly, as Arias recalled the conversation the two ahd the night before. “And she won’t talk to me about it” 

 

Osora had pushed out of their place at the table, and wandered over to the couch, grabbing a blanket and wrapping it tightly around themselves flopping over. 

 

With a sigh Arias followed behind them over to the couch, before sitting up his blanket boyfriend burrito. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

 

“I feel like she forgets that we both grew up in that house, but still pretends that I’m something fragile” They started, leaning to rest their head on Airas’s shoulder. 

 

“Maybe she just wants to protect you” 

 

“I don’t need protecting”

 

“What a pair you two are then” Airas had to stop himself from laughing. 

 

Someone who is trying to put on all faces to save them, and another is that is set on not being sheltered. What a pair, no matter they fought constantly. 

 

“Have you told her to stop?” He asks plainly. 

 

“No- but that’s only because she never lets me talk about it with her.” They huff. “I wish she would. It’s no secret our dad sucks, he kicked me out for fucks sake. But I thought at the very least I could complain about it with her.”

 

“Have you considered that she’s not ready to talk about it?”

 

Osora thought about it for a moment, before breaking out of the blanket burrito to grab a pillow and wack Arias with it. “You were just supposed to agree with me”

 

“Is that all I am to you?” Arias accused. “Just someone that is supposed to agree with you?” He asked jokingly.

 

“Certainly not, but you’re supposed to pick my side every once and a while.” They huffed, being greeted by a pillow to the face. 

 

“I told you you’re always distracted.”

 

With that Osora lept for the next pillow to get their revenge. Arias could only laugh as he was attacked with the pillows, trying his best to fend them off. Which eventually led to Osora being pinned under Arias as they finally gave up.

 

“I give, you win” They muttered. 

 

“I’m sorry what was that” Arias called mockingly. 

 

“You win,” they said once more, rolling their eyes. “You oaf” 

 

Once they had both sat up Osora went to grab their phone to check the time, it was getting late. “Want to drive me home?” 

 

“Did you actually walk here? You have a car you know” Arias asked, going to grab the abandoned dishes from the table.  

 

“I forgot my keys when I left, and I didn’t want to go back cause I knew Celia would laugh” They admitted. “So could you drive me home?”

 

“You could just stay here if you want.” Arias offered as he wandered into the kitchen putting the dishes away. Osora had stayed over at his place on more than one occasion, but he still found himself feeling anxious when he asked them out of the blue when it wasn't prearranged. 

 

“Maybe I will, only if you’re okay with it though” They called back. 

 

This idiot, of course I’m okay with it. I suggested it. 

 

“More than okay” He reassured them. “I’ll even let you borrow a hoodie for the night.” 

 

With his words Osora bounded into the other room. “Jokes on you cause I was going to do that anyways”

 

A smile formed across Arias face at Osora level of comfort. When the two of them had first started going out, Osora had acted more shy and reserved about these types of things. But Osora seemed to be more comfortable in the relationship as time went on, doing things like stealing hoodies and such that Arias secretly loved. 

 

Later when they were both in bed and watching some show on Arias’s phone he remembered something. 

 

“Did you tell Celia you were staying the night?”

 

“No, I'll just tell her later,” Osora tried to brush off. 

 

But Arias then proceeded to pause the show, earning a glare from Osora. “Text her now, otherwise she’ll blow my phone up until I convince her you weren’t kidnapped. And it will be at two in the morning” He warned. 

 

“Fine fine” they sat up grabbing their phone off the nightstand to text her, when they remembered something she had said earlier. 

 

“You know Celia and Cat’s wedding?” They asked, putting their phone back down on the table. 

 

“Yes I do know about it actually” Arias replied sarcastically. 

 

“Well Celia got in my head earlier- I mean she made me realize” They tried to say, god why did this feel so embarrassing?

 

“Do you want to be my plus one for the wedding?” 

 

“Did you get my invitation revoked, is that the real reason you came over?” He taunted, laughing at the way Osora’s face lit up. 

 

“No I didn’t, you really think I can control my sister?” They had to take a breath. “I mean do you want to like go to the wedding with me, I thought since we were going out and all-“

 

They had stopped their sentence at the sight of Arias's expression. “Would you stop making that face? This isn’t supposed to be funny.” 

 

“I’m sorry I’m sorry” He mimed, whipping away a tear. “Continue please”

 

Osora let out a frustrated breath. “Do you want to be my date to the wedding?”

 

Arias pulled them closer as he laughed. “Of course, thought you never ask”

 

“You’re so annoying” 

 

Regardless of their words they still snuggled into Arias side, enjoying the company as they slept. 

 

However the two later woke to the sound of Arias’s phone going off like crazy, Osora had always put their phone on do-not-disturb. So Celia knew just how to get through.

 

“I thought I told you to text your sister” Arias mumbled trying to grab his phone. Struggling to escape the mess of blankets. 

 

“I did, she’s just lost it” they replied back trying to grab their own phone to see the time, it was just past 2 in the morning. “I’ll even show you”

 

As they opened their phone their expression fell for a second. “I never hit send” they admitted. 

 

“I can’t believe you didn’t hit send, I warned you this would happen- hey Celia” He called, picking up the phone. “Yeah no Osora is over here”

 

Osora could hear his sister speaking through the other line but couldn’t make out exactly what she was saying.

 

“I did tell them to text you actually” Arias went on, as he flipped on the lamp. “They forgot to hit send apparently”

 

He enjoyed watching as Osora’s brows knit closer together. “Your sister wants to talk to you, she needs verbal confirmation of life.” He said innocently, passing them the phone. 

 

“I’m fine Celia good night” They deadpanned, hanging up the phone. 

 

“Told you so” Arias laughed, taking the phone back. 

 

“Haha you’re so funny”

 

“I think I’m hilarious actually” He replied watching Osora burrow back into the blankets. 

 

“Fine you’re hilarious, just let me go back to sleep”

Notes:

They’re so cute, I really do enjoy writing them. The wedding will be in the next chapter, and will likely be the ending so please feel free to share any ideas or thoughts :)

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and have a good day or night!