It was the following day and Alicia woke up with Malia still in her arms. She manged to detangle herself form Malia before checking on her younger sister. She was surprised to see that the bed was empty. She walked into the bathroom and noticed the girl head over the basin throwing up into the toilet.
"Oh sweetie, you should have woken me" Alicia said as she grabbed Saskia's hair to hold it back. Saskia continued to throw up. Alicia was getting slightly worried about her as it had been 5 days since she got food poisoning.
"You should have never made me eat pizza last night" Saskia cried.
"I didn't make you" Alicia said but Saskia cried even more.
"Leave me alone" Saskia mumbled pushing her sister off of her.
"Fine whatever, I'm only trying to help" Alicia said before disappearing. She didn't understand why Saskia was in such a mood. Alicia disappeared down the stairs. She made herself some toast before settling down in front of the TV. It wasn't long before Malia joined her.
"Hey" Malia said as she sat down and curled into her sister's arms.
"Did you sleep well?" Alicia asked and Malia nodded.
"You know Saskia is awake right" Malia said and Alicia nodded.
"She was a selfish brat this morning" Alicia said.
"Oh, she is crying now" Malia said and this shocked Alicia.
"Was she in the bathroom?" Alicia asked and Malia shook her head.
"No her room, she was properly crying" Malia said "I knocked on the door but she told me to go away"
"I'll go and have a word with her" Alicia said. She waited until Malia had detangled herself. Alicia stood up and walked up the stairs. She was nervous as to how her sister would be. She told herself to get a grip, why be nervous of her 13 year old sister?
Alicia knocked on the door to her sister's room.
"Go away" Saskia called. Alicia ignored it and walked in.
"I said go away" Saskia said as she wiped her eyes.
"What's going on?" Alicia said sitting down on the bed.
"Nothing, please can you leave me alone?" Saskia said.
"I can't do that I'm sorry" Alicia said as she held her sister's hand. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes.
"Please speak to me" Alicia asked. Saskia shook her head and dried her eyes with her arm.
"Why not?" Alicia asked still holding the girl's hand. Saskia shrugged.
"What's made you like this?" Alicia asked. Saskia shrugged again.
"What have I done?" Alicia asked and Saskia shrugged again. She hated this as tears poured down her face.
"Do you want a hug?" Alicia asked. Saskia bit her lip before nodding her head. Alicia pulled her sister's into her arms. She held the girl as tightly as she could and tried to make the girl feel as secure as possible. They sat in silence still not speaking. Alicia didn't want to push Saskia.
"I'm sorry" Saskia whispered almost 10 minutes later.
"Why?" Alicia asked.
"Because I don't know what's going on" Saskia said.
"Do you want to speak about it" Alicia asked and Saskia sighed heavily.
"How can I speak about it if I don't know what's wrong" Saskia snapped. Alicia nodded.
"I'm sorry, I don't know why I keep snapping" Saskia admitted. Alicia smiled.
"I know why" Alicia said and Saskia looked at her pleadingly.
"Why?" Saskia asked.
"It's your age" Alicia said "It's called being hormonal"
Saskia looked at her sister.
"Well, I don't like it and now you and Malia both hate me" Saskia said.
"Why do I hate you?" Alicia asked.
"Because I shouted at you" Saskia admitted.
"Baby that doesn't mean I hate you. Trust me, you will be spending a lot of time with me in the future and I am sure you will shout at me again but that doesn't mean I hate you. I can never hate you, you are my sister and I love you" Alicia explained and Saskia nodded.
"How are you feeling?" Alicia asked and Saskia shrugged.
"A bit better" Saskia said.
"Shall we go down the stairs now?" Alicia asked and Saskia jumped back and shook her head.
"Why not?" Alicia asked.
"Mal" Saskia whispered.
"She isn't mad at you" Alicia said but Saskia shook her head.
"I was horrible" Saskia said.
"You could have dealt with it a bit better but no you were not horrible" Alicia explained.
"Do you want to speak to me about it before we speak to Malia?" Alicia asked and Saskia nodded.
"Fine by me" Alicia said. "What do you want to ask?"
"Why would she do it?" Saskia asked and Alicia shrugged.
"It's hard to explain. It's not her choice. She doesn't want to be like this but it's her brain telling her this" Alicia explained.
Saskia and Alicia ended up having a very detailed discussion about mental health. Alicia felt bad as she assumed it was more known in the school. However, Saskia didn't seem to have any knowledge of mental health illnesses.
"Do you not learn about this at school?" Alicia asked and Saskia shrugged.
"Not at my age, I think you do it once your GCSEs start in PSE" Saskia explained and Alicia nodded.
"I think it quite bad that it isn't spoken about. Anyone can have a mental illness and so many people hide it from their friends and family. It can come on at any time and I hope you know you can speak to me if you find yourself ever getting like that" Alicia asked and Saskia nodded.
"Will Malia ever get better?" Saskia asked and Alicia was unsure how to answer this.
"The depression and anxiety isn't going to completely vanish but hopeful Mal will learn how to control it and that will help her carry on as before" Alicia explained and Saskia nodded. They spoke for a bit longer before Saskia headed down the stairs with Alicia to see Malia. She knew that she had to address the issue last night.
"Mal" Saskia said nervously and Malia looked at her sister.
"I'm really sorry about how I reacted last night. You were reaching out to me and I through it straight back in your face" Saskia said and Malia didn't say anything.
"I just didn't know how to react and I was confused as to what it actually meant but I've spoken to Alicia and I understand more now" Saskia explained and Malia smiled. She was proud of her sister for how she acted.
"It's okay" Malia said.
"I know that you just think I'm a pathetic baby but I would still listen to you no matter what. I probably won't be able to help and I you have Alicia but like" Saskia said starting to stumble.
"Hey, thank you Sash. That means a lot. You are younger than me but that doesn't matter. If Alicia is at work and I need to speak to someone I know that I can come to you. See most of the time, it's not because of something big. Most of the time I just need reassurance that everything is going to be okay and I just need someone to hold my hand" Malia explained and Saskia nodded.
"I can do that" Saskia explained and Malia smiled giving her sister a hug.
"I'm so proud of you both" Alicia said joining in on the cuddle.
"What's the plan today sis?" Malia asked.
"Well, I'm going to head back to bed for a bit. I'm on nights tonight so the next two days will be pretty shitty. I know that you aren't at school but I need you both to behave" Alicia explained.
"When are you next off?" Saskia asked.
"So I'm working tonight and then tomorrow night. So I am off during Christmas day but I will need to sleep at some point. Then I am off Christmas night and Boxing Day. I'm doing a day shift on the 27th" Alicia explained and both girls nodded.
"What's going on with Christmas this year?" Saskia asked.
"What do you mean?" Alicia said confused as to what her sister was on about.
"Are we celebrating it?" Saskia asked and Alicia nodded.
"Of course we are, why wouldn't we?" Alicia said and Saskia shrugged.
"Come on baby, say what you mean?" Alicia encouraged.
"We won't be getting Christmas presents because we don't have parents here" Saskia admitted before looking away. She hated that it sounded so selfish.
"Why are you embarrassed?" Alicia asked.
"Because it makes me sound selfish" Saskia said before bursting into tears.
"Oh sweetie, I don't think you sound selfish. Come here" Alicia said pulling the girl into her arms. She hate that still even after everything Saskia didn't feel she could showcase her emotions in front of her sisters. Alicia wished the girl would just express how she was feeling and not be embarrassed about it.
"Listen, I'm not going to tell you too much but you are still going to get presents. Do you think I would let you not?" Alicia said "Of course, I was aware that you still deserved presents. Both of you have been so good this year so you deserve it now more than ever"
"Have you got us Christmas presents?" Malia asked and Alicia nodded.
"I've sorted it all out" Alicia said kissing her sisters on the head.
"I love you, Lesh" Malia said and Saskia nodded also snuggling into her sister.
"What are we doing for dinner" Saskia asked.
"We are going to a restaurant in town. Actually I need both of you to pick what you want to eat" Alicia said and Saskia made a face.
"Pick what? I just want soup and turkey" Saskia said and Alicia laughed.
"Okay, well you are easy" Alicia said as she got the menu up on her phone for Malia to look at. She handed her sister the phone.
"I'll have the same" Malia said.
"What dessert?" Alicia asked.
"The chocolate one" Saskia said and Alicia laughed.
"Have you even looked at the menu" Alicia said and Saskia shook her head.
"If there isn't a chocolate one, then I'm not going" Saskia moaned and Alicia laughed.
"Well you are in luck because there is a trio of chocolate" Alicia said and Saskia nodded before turning around. She was still tired. Alicia smiled and pulled the girl back into her chest.
"Go to sleep on me" Alicia said and Saskia nodded closing her eyes. Malia quickly decided what she wanted before getting up to do some work. She had her prelims after Christmas and really wanted to do well on them. Alicia fell asleep with her sister next to her. She hated working nights as it meant less time with them both but sadly it was out with her control.
Just a filler chapter. What do you think should happen next?