Juneau flinched at yet another creak from the floorboard. She shook her head, rubbed her eyes—which were starting to get teary—and pressed forward. There's no coming back, not when she has made it that far, alone.

Perhaps it's only her mind playing tricks, but she could swear the floor of the Union dorm, which was admittedly quite old, would seemingly only creak at night. That is, the time of the day she disliked the most; she simply cannot stand the dark. That the dorm was eerily quiet—thanks to the fact that most of its occupants were out on commissions—just made the feeling worse.

I'm brave, I'm brave, I'm brave, Juneau repeated with trembling lips; it was some sort of mantra that Atlanta taught her. It worked most of the time.

Calming down to a degree, she continued walking towards the bathroom at the far end of the building, wondering just where San Diego went. If only she wasn't gone, she would've asked her sister and roommate to accompany her there.

Her thoughts and pace went to an abrupt stop when Juneau heard the sound of faint footsteps. Calm down, she told herself. It must be San Diego.

Despite that, she remained firmly rooted at that very spot, unable to go on as her legs began to shake.

"San Diego…sis…?" she called out. She soon realized it came out weak, and if it was indeed San Diego, she wouldn't hear it.

"Ya rang?"

Despite recognizing the voice, Juneau jumped and squeaked anyway.

Turning around, she saw San Diego, who had just appeared out of nowhere, grinning as if nothing happened.

"Sis…you scared me," Juneau whined. Her efforts not to cry were now wasted, and now she was tearing up.

"Oh, am I? Sooo~ry; where are you going by yourself at this hour, Junie?"

"Um…Ah…bathroom."

"Ooooh, I see. Alrighty then. You're going by yourself?"

Juneau hesitated as San Diego waited, seemingly oblivious.

"I'm scared…" she finally admitted.

"You are? Alrighty then," San Diego extended her hand to a surprised Juneau. "I'll go with you."

Juneau ran a hand across her eyes and smiled a little.

"Yeah, let's go."

"Hey, hey, Junie, can we go get some snacks from the kitchenette before we get back?" San Diego requested as she and Juneau walked back towards their room.

Juneau would've preferred to go back right away, even though San Diego and her boundless cheerfulness had put her at ease, and she wasn't scared anymore. While San Diego certainly wouldn't be mad at her if she declined, she didn't feel like disagreeing with that simple request, so she said yes.

From her seat, Juneau watched as San Diego climbed the counter to reach a cupboard; she rummaged for a while before finding what she was looking for—a bag of cookies.

"There you are. Thought you could hide, huh? I—Whoa!"

Juneau winced as San Diego slipped and fell. Almost immediately, she got up and laughed it off.

"Silly ol' me, "she said, putting the cookies on the table. "Now for the milk…"

San Diego walked to the fridge and took out a carton of milk before glancing at Juneau. Her sister was fidgeting in her seat.

"You know, Junie, you could use some warm milk," San Diego declared. She didn't bother to wait for the answer, went to another cabinet to retrieve a cup, and poured the liquid into it, adding a bit of honey after that.

San Diego preparing warm milk wasn't something Juneau expected to see. And with her hair down, her older sister really looked like someone completely different as she worked.

A few minutes passed, and the ding from the microwave told both the milk was ready.

"Here ya go. Maybe it's too sweet; I kinda forgot how much sugar and honey I was supposed to add," San Diego placed the cup on the table.

Juneau smiled and sipped the drink. It was indeed too sweet, but not overbearingly so.

"Thank you…sis. It's good."

"Eheheh. Have some cookies, too," San Diego tore the bag of cookies open, and in no time, she was already munching on one. Juneau followed suit after a moment's hesitation.

"So, Junie, why were you so surprised when I called you earlier?" asked San Diego after a while; as usual, she spoke with her mouth full.

"I…I thought you were a ghost…" Juneau sighed, feeling a little guilty. San Diego's laugh after that was also particularly embarrassing.

"Eh, there's no ghost around here. 'Cept maybe for Long Island. She's not here tho,'" San Diego said as she put another cookie on her mouth. She stood up after that, and struck a pose.

"But if there something's strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? San Diego the number one, of course! Big sis will take care of 'em."

Though she was touched by the declaration to the point she got teary-eyed again, Juneau cannot help but laugh, too.

"Thank you, sis."