Sunday morning finally arrived and Claire was snuggled in underneath her blankets in a warm cocoon. She was up every morning for the past week for the bakery and went running every night after work until she felt like she was going to pass out. Once she got home she'd binge eat and listen to Ben drone on about his day until it was time for her to take a bath that she then fell asleep in. She was finally getting use to not dancing by the strict routine she put herself on. One thing was missing though.
Quil.
She hadn't seen him since the night of her last recital and she kind of missed him. A part of her longed for his company and she wasn't sure why. It was the day before Christmas Eve and she was going to take the day to find a gift for Ben for Christmas. She would also have to find something for Sarah even though she would just throw it away or loose it. She was dreading seeing her mother but Ben would be there with her to ease the tension. Claire finally peeked her head out the covers and saw the clock said 8am. She peeled back the blankets and got up stretching before wrapping her hair in a bun. She looked around the room and thought it was definitely time to redo it. She decided to do that first, gifts could wait until later when Ben was awake and wanting to come with her. They both always waited until the last minute.
"Siri play Spotify," Claire called out before going to grab trash bags from the kitchen. She put coffee on first and turned the oven on to preheat, she was craving some cinnamon rolls. She grabbed the box of black trash bags from under the sink and pulled out a notebook from one of the drawers. She quickly sketched out a layout of her room.
"Take all the girly things and put them in the attic. I need new sheets definitely and I am absolutely painting. Clear off all the junk from the dresser and the closet to make room for my actual stuff from the suitcase. The wolf doll...that can stay," Claire talked to herself while she waited for the oven to beep. She pulled down a red mug from the cabinet, her dad's favorite, before filling it to the top with black coffee. Right before she was about to take a sip though the doorbell rung.
"Are you kidding me?" Claire groaned before slamming her mug down on the counter letting the liquid splash. She marched to the front door and flung it open ready to yell at whoever dare come to the house this early but stopped when she saw who it was.
"Emily made these and asked me to bring them over," Quil was holding a Tupperware box full of cinnamon rolls and croissants. Claire just rolled her eyes and went to turn off the stove and put back the can of rolls she was about to cook. Quil set the containers on the counter while Claire took her coffee cup again and began drinking. He saw the list she made on the counter next to the trash bags and raised his eyebrows.
"Doing some cleaning?" Quil wondered when he would start seeing all the old stuff leave the house finally. Their father never changed anything.
"My room still looks like a toddler lives in it so it's time to revamp it. Ben needs to do his too. We also gotta clean up the living room and kitchen, it's like dad never cleaned. I mean...he still has sippy cups from when we were kids," Claire opened the container and grabbed a cinnamon roll from the middle and handed him one as well before hopping into the counter.
"He kept all this stuff because he wanted to relive the memories of you all here," Quil also kept things of hers so he understood. He still had her soft pink blanket and he still had a necklace she made him out of noodles. They reminded him of simpler times before Mary took her from his life and before he went seventeen years alone without her.
"You know we always wanted to visit and call, mom just wouldn't let us. Then by the time we got old enough she used money to keep us away. She paid for my lessons and paid for all of Bens supplies," Claire looked sad while she slowly ate the roll. She let the sugar sink in her teeth and warm up with a sting.
"Your mother always wanted things her way," Quil sighed before stuffing the food into his mouth in one bite.
"That's disgusting," Claire made a gagging sound as she watched him chew. How was he not choking?
"You use to laugh at that," Quil finally swallowed while chuckling and went to go get some water from the tap.
"I was a weird kid. Look while you're here be useful and follow me," Claire jumped down and grabbed her coffee cup and trash bags before heading towards her room. She knew he would follow.
"I'm going to throw things into the bags, would you just take them up to the attic for me?" Claire opened a bag and started tossing in anything and everything that looked like it was from a child. She tossed in her blankets and sheets but pulled out the wolf doll to put back on the bed. That could stay.
"You still have that?" Quil asked while tying up the bag. He was shocked that thing was still here but it also didn't surprise him.
"I really need this secret to come out like yesterday," Claire rolled her eyes before opening up another bag and placing the books she use to keep in the closet in it. She threw all the dolls she had and all the stuffed animals she would hide from Sarah into the bag.
"Just be patient. I'm working on it, it's not that easy," Quil shook his head as he grabbed the other bag and headed out into the hallway to go towards the attic staircase.
"It's not that easy Mary!" Emily shouted at her sister as Quil rocked a crying Claire. Kim and Jared played in the yard Ben while Sarah leaned against the car ready to go home.
"Bullshit! It's black and white! He's some weird guy just like all the others except he has some weird obsession with my daughter!" Mary shouted back slamming her hands on the kitchen table. Mary started being suspicious about what was going on when Quil always volunteered to babysit Claire or how he always was willing to do whatever she said.
"Shh, it's okay Claire," Quil wiped the tears off of the small child's face. She knew what this was all about. She didn't think anything was wrong with Quil, he was her best friend and she didn't think that was wrong. He played dolls with her. He snuck her brownies. He swam with her. He watched Disney movies with her. He did everything with her because he wanted to, not because he had to like some of the other people around.
"She's gonna take us away," Claire whispered to him with fear in her small voice. She didn't want to leave. She didn't want to move. She knew though by all the mutterings her mother have been saying lately that it was going to happen.
"She won't," Quil shook his head while trying not to cry himself. He couldn't image a life without Claire around. He wanted to watch her grow up. He wanted to see how she would grow up. He wanted to see where the imprint would take them as she got older. Would she always be his best friend? Would he always be the big brother? Would at some point it turn into more?
"Earth to Claire!" Ben was waving his hands in front of Claire as she stared down the hallway where Quil disappeared to. Claire blinked a few times before turning to her brother who looked a hot mess. Hair sticking up everywhere and eyeliner smudges all under his eyes. Some glitter sparkles on his torso from the light coming from her bedroom. He went out last night after she crashed.
"What?" Claire asked him as she crossed her arms. She could hear Quil above them moving things around, he was moving things around to make more room for all the things that would be going up.
"What is going on?" Ben pointed towards the ceiling with a confused face. Ben never woke up early on a weekend day unless it involved money or a date.
"Quil is helping take old things to the attic. I say whatever you don't want in your room put it in a bag," Claire handed him the box of trash bags before leaving him and heading towards the living room. She stared at everything that looked dusty and untouched in years. Photo frames on the wall. Books on the shelves. Movies stacked on the bookshelf. Old magazines and newspapers crowd the coffee table.
"Did dad ever clean?" Claire looked around in wonder how she didn't pick up on any of this mess. Why was she just now seeing it? Right, because she never went into the living room. Only the kitchen, the bathroom and her room. Everything else she didn't even look at. How was she this oblivious?
"What's next?" Quil appeared around the corner with a smile while dusting off his clothes from the attics cobwebs.
"Why the smile you weirdo?" Claire asked as she walked and started pulling everything off the shelves. She remembered her dad building these shelves, they were once shiny and now they were just dirty. Quil went into the kitchen and looked under the sink for cleaning supplies for grabbing window cleaner, dusted and a few wash rags before returning to her.
"I didn't think I'd be cleaning on my Sunday off but here I am," Quil could just laugh as he begun pulling all the magazines and newspapers off the table.
"Here you are," Claire looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He was just jumping in to help her with no questions. He didn't ask why she was doing this. He didn't ask why she was spending her day off doing this. He just did.
Next chapter will be Quils point of view over the years. It will be very long. So if it takes about a week for a new update, please don't be shocked. Thank you for enjoying this and reviewing. Review. Favorite. Follow.