I LIVE!!! Sorry this took so long :(:( I've been managing things. I can't believe it's been 3 years already!
On with the show ,':)
Esme stood silently outside of Fiona's house. He checked the address she had written down for him. This was the right house. It was very nice too. An older, two-storied house with a wide front lawn and garden bed bursting with life. He unlatched the picket gate and walked up to the porch steps. Adjusting his bag, he rang the doorbell.
Almost immediately, the door swung inward to reveal two small girls, one with messy brown curls, the other with neat golden ones.
"Are you Fiona's friend?" The brown haired girl asked.
"Yes, I am. Who are you?" He asked, smiling gently.
"I'm Bronwyn," she said, the pointed to the other girl, " And that's Claire." Claire waved shyly.
"Esmé." He held out his hand and Bronwyn shook it with surprising strength.
"Would you like to come in?" Bronwyn asked.
"Yes please," he replied and they stood back to allow him to enter. He stepped into the hall, noticing the tidiness of it. Rows of shoes lined up straight along the walls. Bronwyn took his jacket and hung it up in a closet.
"Bronwyn, you didn't have to. I said I would get the door," Fiona said as she stepped in from the living room. Bronwyn just shrugged and she and Claire ran back into the room Fiona had just exited.
Fiona smiled at Esmé. "Did you get here alright?"
"Yeah, I walked. I only live a few blocks away."
"Well c'mon then," she said, dragging him down the hall. " Everyone has been dying to meet you." They entered the living room where eleven other children sat congregated.
"Esmé?"
"Jake?" Esmé gasped.
"Of course!" Jake cried, jumping from the sofa to engulf the younger boy in a bear hug. "It's been so long! I didn't know you were in town!"
Esmé hugged him back tightly. "Yeah, well. I only moved back this summer." He pulled form Jake's grasp and looked him in the eye. "But what are you doing in a foster home? I thought-"
Jake waved away Esmé's worries. "I'm only staying here part-time. I spend most of my time here and hang out with my parents in the mornings and evenings."
Esmé smiled up at his old friend, then remembered something. "I visited your grandfather, he said you had a girlfriend." He smiled cheekily.
"Y-yeah," Jake said, bashful, "she's wonderful." The girl Jake had been sitting next to blushed and took Jake's hand.
"Emma Bloom," she introduced herself.
"Esmé," he returned. "You're Fiona's sister right?"
"Yes."
"Cool," he said somewhat awkwardly. He didn't really know what to say to her. How do you start a conversation with someone who's your practically-a-brother's girlfriend that's also your friend's older sister? Thankfully, Fiona saved him and started introducing everyone. He recognized a few of them from school, Enoch and Olive he had even spoken to. Millard and the Twins (Adam and Thomas) wore protective clothing all over their bodies, which Fiona explained that they they had a very rare skin condition that required them to coverup.
Fiona then dragged him into the joining kitchen and shoved him towards a slim woman with her back to them.
"Miss Peregrine," Fiona announced, "This is my friend, Esmé." The woman turned.
Esmé was immediately struck by a severe sense of deja vu. Fiona's claim that they "looked alike" was an understatement. They were identical.
Miss Peregrine had sharp, pale features. Just like his. Her mouth was settled into the same impassive, neutral expression. Like his. Her eyes shone brightly under a dark brow, giving her a slightly mysterious air. Just. Like. Him. Even the color and part of their hair was identical, even if his was more masculinely cut.
Not forgetting his manners, he stuck out his hand. At the same time, so did she. Even their quick, precise movements were the same.
"Miss Peregrine, delighted to meet you."
"Esmé... Peregrine? Likewise."
Fiona was looking back and forth between them, stunned.
"Wait! You're last name's Peregrine too!"
Esmé and Miss Peregrine stared at her with matching confused expressions.
"I never mentioned my last name?"
"He never mentioned his last name?"
Miss Peregrine sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose to ward off a sudden headache.
"Alright, there's an explanation for this, but now, I suppose, isn't a good time," she said. She turned to Esmé with a soft expression.
"Since you're our guest, would you like anything to drink?" she asked, politely.
Esmé and Fiona still looked thunderstruck, but Esmé recovered faster.
"Some water would be nice please," he said, still creeped out. Most people would've probably laughed and brushed off everything as a weird coincidence, but Miss Peregrine was... resigned? Had she been expecting this?
Fiona stood dumbstruck in the kitchen as her headmistress filled a glass of water for Esmé and asked him about himself. Esmé answered to the best of his ability, and Miss Peregrine slowly corralled them back into the living room with everyone else.
Jacob was ecstatic to have his friend back and asked Esmé all sorts of questions. Everyone else listened politely as Esmé described his life for the past seven years, but Fiona was eyeing Miss Peregrine with slight suspicion, which Miss Peregrine was determined to ignore.
Fiona was eventually able to drag Esmé upstairs to the room she shared with Emma and Olive, and slam the door.
"What just happened?" she asked, rounding on Esmé.
"What?" he replied.
"With Miss Peregrine, of course!" she cried. "I've never seen her that...," she floundered for the right words. "She looked at you like you were some lost puppy, or something. And why didn't you tell me your last name?"
Esmé gaped at her.
"It... never came up? You never mentioned your last name either, or Miss Peregrine's."
Fiona pinched her nose in a good imitation of her headmistress.
"Well, yeah. I suppose we both were neglectful about that."
They stood in an awkward silence, not sure how to continue this conversation. If all this was just a coincidence, it was certainly a bizarre one. They weren't even sure why they were freaking out about it.
Esmé broke the silence first. "Okay, so your headmistress looks like me, acts like me, and has the same name as me. What's with that?"
"No clue. It's probably nothing"
Esmé nodded. "Exactly! It's probably nothing. There's no reason to blow this out of proportion. Besides," he searched desperately for a change in topic. "I thought you wanted to show me your new succulents?"
Fiona perked up at the mention of her plants, and quickly started showing him her new plants and introducing him to them by name.
Esmé thought it was very endearing that she named all her plants, even if he didn't have a green thumb himself he sat and listened to an enthusiastic Fiona.
-xXx-
Miss Peregrine stood just outside the door, softly smiling as she listened to two of her children become friends.
"Miss Peregrine?"
The headmistress turned her head sharply to look at Emma.
"Yes?"
"Oh, I was just wondering where you went. Is everything alright?"
Miss Peregrine smiled. "Everything is wonderful."
Emma grinned. "If you're worried about Fiona accidentally showing Esmé her peculiarity, you shouldn't. I don't think he would do anything to hurt Jake, I believe he would keep it secret."
Miss Peregrine's smile slipped a bit and sighed.
"I don't think we need to worry about that quite yet," she said quietly.
"Why," Emma began, but her headmistress's expression gave her pause. Her eyes widened. "Do you think Esmé might be..."
Miss Peregrine nodded. "I definitely sensed something when he came here. A particularly strong peculiarity that..." is very familiar, she wanted to say. The same one she felt soar through herself when she took flight or created a loop.
Emma looked at her expectantly. "That...?"
"Will manifest in due time," she finished. "He's old enough that I'm surprised an American ymbryne hasn't found him before."
Emma shrugged. "Maybe there aren't any in Florida? You said ymbrynes are the most rare, so Esmé has probably never met one, let alone any peculiars. America is a giant compared to Europe. I would expect ymbrynes are stretched rather thin here." She paused again. "Abe knows, doesn't he?"
Miss Peregrine raised her eyebrows.
"It's too much of a coincidence that Esmé ran into one peculiar, let alone Abe and Jake," Emma said, then continued, "Abe spent decades finding peculiars without an ymbryne, and if Esmé is powerful like you said, Abe would have no trouble tracking him. Jacob also mentioned that Abe told Esmé his stories, the ones about us. Abe wouldn't tell those to just anyone, let alone show him our pictures." She frowned. "Though Esmé obviously doesn't recognize us."
Miss Peregrine nodded sharply. "Exactly, which is why until his peculiarity manifests itself, we are not to breathe a word about this to him. It will be shocking enough for him without discovering twelve strangers knew before he did."
Emma nodded. "Should I tell Jake?"
"It would be best to give him a... 'heads up', yes," she agreed, "Esmé will need all the support he can get for this, and he trusts Jake."
"Alright." Emma crept to the stairs, but paused and turned again to Miss Peregrine. "You should call Abe," she said then descended the stairs.
-xXx-
"Esmé is peculiar!" Jake cried.
"Shhh! Not so loud!" Emma hissed. She peaked out of their hiding spot in Enoch and Jake's room to make sure no one, especially Millard, was in the hall.
"Esmé is peculiar?" Jake whispered. Emma sighed.
"Miss Peregrine said she sensed something, and she's never been wrong before," Emma continued. "She wouldn't have mentioned it if she wasn't certain."
Jake sat heavily on Enoch's bed.
"Esmé is peculiar," he muttered to himself. His eyes shot up to hers. "I'm guessing my Grandpa knows?"
Emma shrugged.
"If he does, he hasn't mentioned it to Miss P yet. But... your Grandfather spent years tracking down peculiars and bringing them to safe homes in Europe. He even told Esmé about us and showed him our pictures. If he didn't think Esmé was peculiar, he wouldn't have said a word to him."
Jake shot up and started pacing.
"But why didn't he tell us?" The unsaid 'tell me' hanging in the air.
"He probably didn't want you to worry. He maybe thought Esmé had been found by another ymbryne by now. Esmé hasn't even manifested his peculiarity, yet. We need to keep an eye on him, and he needs support."
Jake sighed, stopped pacing, and took Emma's hand into his.
"You're right," he said. "He needs support. He hasn't got anyone."
Emma smiled and kissed Jake gently.
"No, he has you. And Abe. And he has Fiona now, too. He'll be fine, Jake. Miss Peregrine wouldn't mind one more kid, should it come to it."
-xXx-
"Fiona has become friends with Esmé," Miss Peregrine said into the phone.
"Really? Well good for him," replied Abe, surprised and trying to sound casual.
Miss Peregrine scowled into nothing. "You gave him my name."
Abe cleared his throat.
"I did, yes."
"Why?" she growled. Abe had the gall to laugh at her.
"Because," he said, "your heart is too big for you, Miss Peregrine. You would've looked for him. I just wanted to make it easy for you."