Wow .sorry. I literally made a fic then got writers block for two months. I haven't even been that busy, just going through some stuff. Anyway you guys don't care about all that, lets get back into Wirt's head shall we?
'I cannot believe that just happened...I kissed Sara. I had her in this very bed with me and she was touching my...
Ugh...
I don't even want to think about it. How did I even end up doing any of that without my head exploding to bits? My stomach is twisting and I'm feeling so nauseous.
Man...I should have sent her straight home when I saw her at my door; I'll have to clear things up when she's sober.
You made a big dumbass mistake Wirt.
I thought I loved her...I was so easy to just do things with her while she was too drunk to even make sense of what she was doing, I guess I just didn't see her the way I thought I did...
I'm such a jerk...'
Wirt stayed awake the entire night, tossing and turning and waiting for the sun to rise as an excuse to get up and occupy himself.
Around 5 am, Wirt attempted to get up from his bed, but ended up landing straight on his face due to the sheets that had tangled around his legs from his restless night. He let out a sigh, and carefully removed himself from the menacing blankets before stretching and making his way downstairs to the kitchen.
He made himself a large cup of steaming black coffee and sat quietly at the kitchen table. Wirt was depressed with himself to say the least. He wanted so badly to talk things over with Sara, but his fear and anxiety was getting the better of him, as it usually, unfortunately, did.
Gregory awoke when he heard Wirt get up and peddled down the steps to meet his brother in the kitchen.
"Top of the mornin' to ya' Wirt!" he said in his usual cheery tone as he plopped in the chair across from him.
"...and the rest of the day to you, Greg, seeing as my day won't get much better..."
Greg frowned slightly, before breaking out into his grin again.
"I'm sure it'll be oodles of fun later! Hm...Time to start the day with a big bowl of coco puffs I presume!"
Greg got up to get his sugar packed cereal, seeming to ignore the depressing aura surrounding Wirt.
When he finished his coffee, Wirt went to clean himself up before spending an entire day of writing tear jerking poems and playing melancholic tunes from his clarinet. By around 2 pm, the reed was soaked through and frayed at the ends, leaving him to other methods of relieving his emotions.
Greg knew Wirt was upset, even if he pretended not to notice. He always locked himself in his bedroom for hours, not realizing that his quiet sobbing could be heard from Greg's bedroom.
He didn't understand why, though.
Greg was excited as ever! He couldn't wait to go back over the wall and meet all his woodland friends again. Wirt seemed to be really happy to see Beatrice again too, so why would he be so upset?
As much as he wanted to go and cheer up his big brother, he knew better than to disturb him. Last time he tried he got a pillow thrown to his face and his poor Jason got called a pest. So instead, he occupied himself by playing in the backyard, which was unusual for him, but he wanted to stay close to home today.
It was around 5 pm, and Wirt decided it was finally time to get a hold of himself. 12 hours of sore lips and wrist cramps was enough.
He stood up from the pile of papers surrounding him, and kicked them aside before making his way to the bathroom.
He looked like shit.
Wirt's eyes were swollen and red, his face was sticky and his sweater was damp. The ends of his sleeves were soaked through with tears and snot.
"Gross..."
He took a deep breath and peeled his clothes off before scorching himself in a steaming shower hoping to melt off all the self-pity before entering the outside world.
When he got back into his room and was trying to decide what to wear, he remembered Beatrice telling him to dress warmer than what the weather here permitted.
He decided layering up would be the best bet, since he found bulky jackets to be quite annoying. So, Wirt opted for long khaki's, a shirt with a thick sweater and a pea coat. He put on a pair of thermal socks and stuffed gloves in his pockets. Wirt wasn't a fan of hats, knowing how mused his hair became, so he chose to leave his faith in his hood.
'Now to deal with Greg...' Wirt thought to himself, thinking that bathing and dressing the small boy to be a huge chore.
He walked out his room and was about to pass by Greg's to the stairs, but realized that he had already came back inside because he could hear him talking to himself in his room.
Wirt backed up and looked in the room to see his spotless baby brother looking chubbier than usual with his jacket on, as well as his walk a bit more wobbly due to his clunky boots. He turned around from the knapsack he seemed to be packing and waved, letting the mitten attached to his sleeve by a string sway around frantically.
"Hiya! I'm packing some snacks just in case Beatrice has no reese's cups. I also thought we could use this compass, and a bunch of socks!"
Wirt stood for a moment before coming to his senses. Getting Greg to shower and dress by himself was usually like pulling teeth, he was happy to see how excited he started to feel guilty for being so depressed all day, while his brother could barely stay still from anticipation.
He smiled down at him, then grabbed his hunter's hat from the dresser and shoved it on Greg's head.
"Let's head to the cafe early and get some cocoa, how's that sound?"
"Can I have the white chocolate one? It's sweet enough to give me a tummy ache."
Wirt rolled his eyes but agreed, taking hold of Greg's hand and his knapsack from the floor before heading out.
When they walked through the door, Beatrice spotted them right away since she was working at the cash register.
She gave a small wave which they returned before they sat down to order.
She noticed the odd looks they were getting from the few customers around them, and realized that it was because they were already dressed in their jackets and boots. Beatrice held in a chuckle as she attended to the line in front of her.
When the waitress came to Wirt and Greg's table, she hesitated a bit before speaking.
"Are you two foreign or something...? Isn't it a little warm to be dressed in all that?"
Wirt started to become nervous. "Uh...Kathleen, I go to school with you, I'm Wirt, remember? Also, y-yes it is but we're um, we're going somewhere later so..." he trailed off, looking up at the blonde. She looked back with a suspicious glance.
"Sure..." she said.
"Can I have a white hot chocolate pretty please?" Greg spoke up, grinning at the young girl.
Thank you Greg...
"Huh? Oh, yeah sure; and for you?"
"Just a regular hot chocolate, thanks."
"kay." She spat before walking off.
"That was weird...How could she not know who I am? She borrowed my pencil just last week!"
Greg shrugged, unzipping his knapsack to pet his frog that happened to jump inside last minute.
Wirt glanced down at the frog, then looked around to make sure no one spotted it.
"Greg, be careful...if anyone sees Jason Funderberker in here they'll flip out, kay?"
He replied with a big nod and zipped his knapsack half way to let in air and light for the little pet.
"Heeey Wirt, am I that special that strangers would flip out if they saw mee? Eheh..."
Wirt's head shot up and saw his worst enemy sitting at the table ahead; he was turned in his chair to be able to speak to Wirt directly.
Ugh...Jason Funderberker...that joke wasn't even funny! Why is he here all alo-...
Wirt's thought was cut short when he peered around Jason's head to see a very tired looking Sara. His eyes went wide as he stared at her. She knew he was there because of Jason addressing him, but she was too embarrassed to look up from her lap and confront him.
Wirt decided to leave her alone, seeing as she looked like she wasn't in the mood to talk. Besides, he wouldn't have been able to make any coherent sentences from wanting to say so much at once.
"Uh...yeah sure, Jason." He said before awkwardly averting his gaze, the hot chocolates not arriving at a better time. Jason shrugged and turned back around to Sara.
Gregory said his thank you and Wirt stared at his cup with a small 'thanks'. He tried hard not to seem like it, but he was straining his ears to eavesdrop on Jason and Sara's conversation, but soon realized that they were both completely silent.
Beatrice had been watching Wirt since he walked in, hating to admit that she couldn't stop herself; it was intriguing to see him in his natural state. She could feel the tension from where she was. Beatrice saw that same girl on a date with Wirt just yesterday, and now she was sitting with another guy, who from her own opinion was a downgrade.
She saw the way Wirt fumed when talking to the lanky pale kid, and how shocked he became when he saw who he was sitting with...Beatrice knew it wasn't polite to pry but, when was she ever polite? She would ask him about it later when they had a chance to talk in private. She was really glad with the way Wirt was so comfortable with her yesterday, and hoped he wouldn't mind so much if she asked him personal questions. She decided not to think too much into it for now, since her shift was over in about 15 minutes.
Wirt paid for their bill and walked outside, deciding that being in the stuffy cafe with they're bulky clothes was getting too uncomfortable.
Beatrice walked out with the ring of the wind chimes from the cafe door following behind her, catching Wirt's attention.
"Hey!" Wirt exclaimed, waving, until he realized how over excited he was acting, and awkwardly smoothed his hand over his hair.
Beatrice chuckled and replied with a "Hey Wirt" while walking over.
Greg ran from behind Wirt's leg to give Beatrice a hug. "Hey, little man. You ready to go?"
He tilted his head up from where he attached himself on her waist. "You got that right, sister!"
Greg let go and let Wirt and Beatrice hold each of his tiny hands as they made their way to the graveyard.
Wirt and Greg were standing beside each other, while Beatrice faced them as she began to explain how they were going to get to the Unknown in the simplest way she could.
"Okay, so what we need to do is hold on really tight to each other, and I mean extremely tight. The last thing we need is to be separated, or else we could get lost in the middle of traveling...and it could possibly take me years to find you." She explained while giving both boys very serious glances.
Wirt's eyes widened and his eyebrows rose in shock. "Y-y-years?! How many dimensions could exist in that little thing?" He spoke as he pointed at Beatrice's hand that held the device, as if to emphasize his point.
"Wow...years of adventuring all by myself..." Greg said quietly, but seemed excited at the thought instead of scared like his brother.
Beatrice held out the small spring in her slender hand for them to see more clearly, Greg balancing on his tip toes. "The dimensions don't exist inside the spring, dummy. The spring is just transportation between the millions of dimensions that exist, where you can get lost. It took me long enough to find you here."
Greg looked up at her seeming to not fully understand what she meant, so Beatrice bent down slightly to speak to him directly.
"Like...Imagine someone sending me to any home, in any city, in any country on any side of the world, without either of us knowing where it is, and then that person asks you to come find me. That would take a really long time, wouldn't it?"
Greg made an 'o' with his mouth, before looking up at Wirt.
"Well, I guess you just have to hold on reeeaaalllyy tight! But don't squeeze too hard, when I squeeze Jason Funderberker too hard he farts."
Wirt slapped his hand to his forehead while Beatrice hunched over laughing. Wirt peeked at her through his fingers, her laughter making him break into a smile. He already started to feel so much better; it was like Beatrice sucked out all his worries and replaced them with butterflies.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when she wrapped her long arms around his torso from behind, making him a sputtering mess. Greg smashed his head into Wirt's gut when he hugged his waist as tight as his little arms would let him, causing him to cough and wheeze.
"On the count of three, okay boys?"
"Aye aye Cap'n!" Greg yelled, muffled from Wirt's coat.
Wirt was still clearing his throat from coughing as they started the count-down.
"One..."
"Uhh cough gu-cough"
"Two"
"H-hey wai-!"
"Three!"
Beatrice tossed the spring at the stone wall and the two of them closed their eyes tight in focus, Wirt realizing and closing his eyes shortly after.
A bright, pale blue light flashed from the spring, absorbing the air around them, before everything started to spin until their surroundings were an unrecognizable blur. If it wasn't for Wirt's screaming it would have been silent.
"Wirt?! Are you focused?!" Beatrice yelled over him.
He whimpered a bit before deciding it would be best to keep quiet as to not face Beatrice's wrath, even though he was frightened to the core.
Everything had gone from blue to orange and purple, and then small, white clouds puffed into the air and appeared above them. Crunchy brown grass grew from seemingly nothing under their feet, until pale soil filled up below them.
"Open your eyes; I never get tired of this." Beatrice whispered.
Wirt and Greg slowly lifted their lids, looking around them, amazed.
Wirt took his time turning around to see the nature of the Unknown grow before his very eyes. Tree's sprouted and grew rapidly, red and orange leaves falling all around making the moment that much more magical
"This is so.." Wirt paused as his line of sight met with the view of a freckled, pale faced princess.
"...beautiful." He almost whispered as he stared at Beatrice in her baby blue gown and matching ribbons splayed in her curly hair.
She looked at him when he said it, smiling and about to agree until she realized he was staring right at her.
Is he...is he checking me out? No, he's just staring really hard at my face...
"Hey uhm...S-stop playing connect the dots with my freckles." Beatrice said as she looked around him to make sure Greg was okay.
Wirt shook his head in realization and blushed from the embarrassment. "Oh, right. Sorry...about that."
Ugh what was that...Get it together Wirt!
Beatrice took Greg's hand and began to walk down a dirt path, Wirt following close behind.
"It's even better than I remember!" Greg exclaimed as he skipped beside Beatrice. "You haven't even seen anything but trees yet." Wirt said as stuck his hands in his pockets, realizing how much cooler it was, and caught up to them.
Beatrice was explaining that her house was close by, that they ended up placed a little off target because Wirt wasn't focused enough, but Greg made up for his lack of effort; so they didn't end up too far.
Wirt and Beatrice were occupied on the walk by trying to make sure Greg didn't run off, learning very well that not so good things happen when he does.
The three of them ended up on a skinny stone path which lead to a large, white house with a patio in front and a collection of flower pots hanging from the top. The house looked to be three stories high and quite wide.
I didn't know it would be this huge... Wirt thought to himself as they approached the front door.
"I know it seems like a bit much, but I've got a whole lot of family. Anyhow, welcome to my humble abode boys!"Beatrice exclaimed as she pushed open the heavy wooden door, beckoning them to come inside.
They were greeted with a loud crash as one of her younger brothers fell from a wall shelf he was sitting on. Two of her other brother's ran by chasing each other, the youngest one bumping into Wirt by accident. He apologized and continued to run off.
"Greg, hold my hand...Greg?" Wirt looked to his side to see that his little brother had already run off. He was terrified and dizzy from the entire ruckus. He glanced behind him, relieved to see that the door had shut and he wasn't outside. When Wirt was about to ask Beatrice where he might have gone, he was interrupted when she placed her fingers in her lips and whistled extremely loudly.
Wirt covered his ears in an attempt to muffle the noise as he was right beside the source, but failed when there was still a ringing in his ears when he saw her remove her fingers and stop.
He unclasped his hands, only to hear her yell loudly for her siblings to gather around her. Wirt cringed and made fists with his hands, and only relaxed when she was done.
Wirt found Greg mingled with the group of kids, who were all staring quietly at Beatrice. Luckily, he was close enough that Wirt could tug on his sleeve to bring Greg beside him.
"First things first, this is Wirt and Greg." Beatrice gestured her hand toward the brothers. "Wirt is friend of mine from...work, and this is his little brother. They'll be staying with us for a little while."
All of them started to pipe up and ask questions.
"Why? Are they in trouble?"
"Are they lost?"
"Is he your boyfriend?"
Wirt tensed and his face turned beet red. He looked over to Beatrice who, to his surprise, ended up becoming just as nervous. The "oooh's" coming from the children didn't help either.
"N-no, Kathy, Wirt's not my...boyfriend."
"Yeah, my brother doesn't have the guts, or something, to get a girlfriend. That's what Rhondi said anyway." Greg stated matter-of-factly. To which Wirt whined and pinched his brother's arm. "Don't say stuff like that..."
They all giggled while trying to stay as quiet as possible, until Beatrice interrupted.
"Anyway... I need to introduce all of you dweebs, so... wave or something when I say your name."
She took a deep breath before introducing every one of her eight siblings.
"That's Timothy, the youngest. This is his older sister, Maria. Then there's Theodore, Sebastian, William, and Katherine. Harold and Lillian are my two older siblings; they're probably with my parents."
Wirt tried his best to keep track but had already forgot half the names. Timothy...Mary? Uh...something, something, William and Kathy...Harry and Lillian...?
Gregory, on the other hand, was exceptionally good at remembering names. It helped too that he became acquainted with the younger ones just prior to the gathering.
Beatrice chuckled at how bewildered Wirt's face looked, before turning her attention back to her siblings and giving them a stern glare.
"Now, secondly, I want the living room put back in order before mom and dad come home. They went to do groceries, right?"
They all sighed and grunted as the thought of cleaning, but nodded in agreement, letting her continue.
"Yeah well, you shouldn't have made such a mess in the first place. Sebastian, William, you two put all the stuff back on the shelves. Katherine you can wipe the tables clean...what even is that? Jam?" Beatrice sighed. "Maria, Timothy, you both sweep and mop okay? One of you guys spilled something under the chair and I don't want it getting sticky."
They both nodded and went to do their jobs. She turned around to Greg and Wirt, and exhaled, slumping her shoulders.
"I love them but they can be hard work...Be glad you only have one." She said as she took off Greg's hat. "I'll take your coats and junk then we can go upstairs."
Wirt laughed at her comment before kneeling down and helping Greg take his jacket and boots off.
Beatrice led them down a short hallway, to a wooden door that seemed to match all the rest.
"This is the guest room, we only have one so you two will have to share, I don't really care if you like sharing or not so...go ahead inside and get comfortable, I'll be downstairs."
"Wait!" Greg shouted just as she was about to walk off. Beatrice turned around giving him her full attention.
"Can I keep Jason out while we're here? He's been in my bag and he doesn't like staying in the dark for so long, gives him the hee-bee jee-bee's, ya' know?"
"Jason? Who's...Oh! You mean that cute frog you had with you, yeah you can keep him out, just be careful around the rest of the little runts, don't want him getting squished or anything."
Greg gasped as he picked up his dear pet. "No way I'd let you be a pancake!" he said as he walked inside the room, seeming distracted as always.
"Hey, Beatrice?" Wirt spoke, just as she was about to leave for the second time.
"Yes, Wirt..." She turned again, sighing.
"Oh! Uhm, sorry I know you have things to do but I just...just wanted to say thank you."
She felt guilty for getting annoyed with him; she knew it was just because of fatigue but still felt bad. Beatrice gave him a warm smile.
"For what? I owe you, remember?"
"Well, f-for taking us back here like this, when fresh non-molasses cookies would have done it justice." He laughed awkwardly under his breath while looking up at her.
She always loved when Wirt got modest and meek like this; she thought it was the cutest thing. Though, she would never admit to it.
"Nah...I owe you my life, Wirt. Let me do this for you and Greg, okay?"
Wirt nodded and went to make himself comfortable in his temporary bedroom, letting Beatrice go downstairs to make sure her siblings weren't making another mess.
I'm not proud of this chapter. It took me forever to write and it's just a big filler...I promise next chapter will have better content! And be posted sooner. Also, a big thank you for the feedback I've received so far! Whenever I got a review I would get back to writing because it made me so happy to write and I always feel bad for taking so long to update but I don't want to post crap either. I'm not expecting you guys to be happy with this chapter, but I hope it'll be okay until we get to the next one.