His hands were still shaking as he walked through their shared bedroom. Stopping at the sink he stared at the man in the mirror. Haggard and pale, face showing far more years than it should. His hand rose, a trembling path to the mirror, stroking it as if it were flesh instead of cold glass. Balling his hand into a fist he rapped it against the glass, shattering it into a spider web of light, reflecting the dark-haired boy and the stricken blonde behind him.
"How could you do that to me?" He whirled around meeting her eyes, darker than they'd ever been before. Eyes bright with unshed tears, filled with an awareness that frightened him. "Why did you do that to me?" Her hands thumped him in the chest pushing him back until his spine painfully hit the hard china behind him. His lip split open where it had been captured between his teeth, a slight stream of blood dripping from it.
She blinked at him, watching the blood flow down it's chosen course, her eyes fogging slightly. Her grin returned in it's full plastic glory, stretching across her face until she again took in the blood, focusing on it with a slight frown as if it were the first time she'd seen it.
"What happened, Jack?" Her hand reached down, grabbing a piece of toilet paper to dab at his lip.
"Yeah Jack, what happened?" Ebony bustled into the doorway, hand resting on her slight belly, hesitant to step into the already crowded room. She pulled her braids over her shoulder and used both soft hands to bring his hand up for inspection. "You hurt your hand too," she pulled a sliver of the mirror out of his hand, barely registering the blood that dripped to her loose maroon shirt.
"Yeah, I-uh, I fell, guess I picked the wrong place to try and catch myself," he nodded his head in the direction of the mirror, trying for a reassuring laugh, managing only to worry her further.
Ebony's brow furrowed, "I thought I heard shouting."
"You always think you're hearing something," he used his other arm to pull her into his side, rubbing reassuringly.
"Yeah, I guess I do," she chuckled slightly relaxing into his hold.
"What are you doing here anyways, Amber?"
"I was-I don't remember," she grinned again, "isn't that funny?"
"Isn't it though?" Ebony smiled at her warmly, offering a shaky bridge between the two incredibly different girls. Amber returned her smile with a more natural one, almost the same as...before-the only difference in the feeling it radiated. Once that smile had let you know that this girl was loved and that she knew she was loved. Now it showed caring, but also a sense of loss, a sense of guilt that had no business being there. It shadowed her eyes, her every movement, like a dark creature that was waiting for its opportunity to creep into her soul. Jack watched her nervously, knuckles white on the hand that didn't cradle Ebony. His lip worried between his teeth until blood once again started to flow. Amber nodded in her distracted fashion, murmuring about her chore list and schedules, giving a brief almost impersonal nod to Jack, her gaze focused on him as if he were a puzzle, before she turned and walked out the door.
Jack watched until the blonde head rounded the next corner, only then turning his head because Ebony reached up and wiped the crimson staining his lip.
"We need to get this fixed up," she smiled at him warmly.
"It'll stop on it's own," he said quietly, swiping at it with his hand and walking away.
Amber's head bent over her schedule, knotted head gleaming in the faint light. Her head only jerked up as she heard the soft gurgle of a baby.
"Bray," her smile shone brightly for the tiny child. Her hands reached up to cradle him, taking him from Siva's arms gently.
"He missed his Mommy," Siva laughed lightly as Amber made cooing noises at the baby, hand playing with his blonde Mohawk.
"I'm so sorry, Baby," Amber brought him in close and rested her head on top of his, rocking back and forth lightly. Siva's smile dimmed as she realized that to Amber she was not in the room, not part of this. Slowly she stepped back, each step curling back to make the least noise possible. "Don't worry, Daddy will be home soon," Siva heard as she made it to the doorway. A hot breath on her neck startled her and she turned her head cautiously.
"What happened?" A voice whispered in Siva's ear, Siva let out a slight breath seeing Ebony beside her.
"The other part that we hadn't told you." Her gaze turned back to the two sitting in the café, "the scary part."
"She doesn't know he's gone?"
"No, she doesn't, she blocked it out with the rest, I guess," Siva sighed. "None of us have the heart to tell her, and there is still hope...I guess," she offered a wry smile to her sister.
"There's always hope," Ebony's hand patted Siva's shoulder uncertainly before settling on it, in a way that their mother had used to. Siva smiled and raised her own hand to cover her sister's