A/N
Omg she updated after a year
Sorry guys I feel like every opening note is going to be an apology for how late I'm updating 😠(at least she's self-aware)
Rubbing her temples to rid the headache, Jeanette at last put down her phone. A simple misphrased diagnosis had brought on an extended hour of her sister's denial and chastising for her already tired ear. Her older sister was a force not to be reckoned with when it came to her love life. Jeanette noted for next time she will refrain from interfering in Brittany's boy related dilemmas.
Easing into the comfort of her lounge chair, she delved her nose back into her novel. A fantasy tale she had been hoping to finish before her shift today if not for Brittany's sudden phone call. Now not only will she have to leave on a cliffhanger but she's also unable to discern between her sister and the main character in the book. Unfortunately the image of Brittany is now planted whenever she visualizes the female lead.
The princess in the book is tangled in her own web of love. Where her heart is divided by a prince and a peasant.
The prince who she must marry as a political pawn to unite two kingdoms. Whose proven his love to her with ribbon wrapped boxes of jewels and gems. He has shown her a perfect life on his arm. A charming, level-headed, handsome man with the added benefit of wealth and influence. He's easily the right choice to make, denying him would be denying destiny.
In spite of that, her heart still beats for the peasant boy. The roguish disciple of the castle's flute player, and secret childhood friend. He was in his own way alluring to her with his rebellious attitude and informal manners. A boy who's grown to be a charismatic young man and has shown the princess life can be a splendor even without the intricacies of a royal life. He stirs storms in her wake, throws logic out the window and follows his heart through every ordeal. Their love was an uproar of two flames.
Jeanette lightly chuckled at the similarity of Brittany's situation to the book. As peeving as it was now having no escape from Brittany even in her book, it was comical. Somehow Brittany manages to make the world revolve around her, even being half way across the country.
Jeanette has read one too many fabled love triangles to not be able to predict who will hold the princess's heart in the end. It was like the conclusion of the book was already written in her mind as a past memory. It's really no surprise to her or anyone else. Not that it made the story any less interesting to read, the kindling of their love is what she really enjoys. No matter the journey and hardships, two souls who were meant to be can never drift apart for long. They find each other even in the defiance of destiny. She can even bet the same will apply for Brittany.
Before closing the novel, Jeanette couldn't help but glide her eyes to the following page where a new chapter began. Within its text she read the dialogue of a proclamation of love.
Her eyes greedy for context skimmed through the words to land on the introduction of a brand new character. It was a knight, who suddenly just confessed his love for the princess.
Now this is different, she thought. Another character has entered the courtship. Perhaps this isn't so much like Brittany's narrative. Maybe she could still finish this book without it correlating too much with her older sister.
With a newfound eagerness to read another chapter, Jeanette decided to skip some chores so she could squeeze in some time to unravel more of the story before she leaves for her job.
–
It was a quarter past four and the clanging of keys could be heard from outside the front door. Jeanette's ears perked up from her seat on the couch to see the door unlock and in come an exhausted blonde. She dragged herself to the kitchen counter to place her bags and then drowsily moved into the living room to toss herself belly first onto the couch next to Jeanette.
Eleanor had just come home from kneading dough, icing cakes and ringing through impatient customers at her job in Manhattan's most popular bakery. She usually comes home with a pep in her step after a long day of doing what she does best, baking. Eleanor loved her job so much it didn't even feel like one; being surrounded with sweet scents and scrumptious pastries was a dream to her. Even after working she would often start trying out new recipes in their home kitchen. She never seemed to get worn out of this –Until recently that is.
"I brough' hom fome mffns, haf' fome." Eleanor's voice came out muffled from having her face stuffed into a pillow.
Jeanette understood perfectly and shut her book between the chapter. The welcoming smell of sugary vanilla had wafted through the room and invited Jeanette to take a bite. Before she gave in, she poured them both a glass of milk and placed a tray of two cups and muffins on to the coffee table.
"Ellie, these smell delicious!" Jeanette said, taking a whiff of the lovely batch as she sat back down in her chair.
"Like usual." Eleanor smirked, sitting upright.
Through her aquamarine gaze, Jeanette carefully selected her flavour of choice from the assortment. In the process of biting into her chocolate flavoured treat, she halted noticing a particular flavour that neither of the two sisters were exactly fond of. A blueberry muffin that sat untouched surrounded by chocolate and carrot. Eleanor was now enjoying her carrot muffin paying no mind to Jeanette's perplexion.
That single blueberry muffin in the batch could just have been a misplacement or an accidental grab. But Jeanette knows better than that. Eleanor isn't so careless as to pack a muffin uncoincidentally. She is, however, plausible to make a subconscious mistake.
Blueberry is Brittany's choice of muffin. Eleanor only ever buys it for her.
"Funny, neither of us eat blueberry muffins, Eleanor."
Jeanette watched Eleanor's gaze move from her to the muffin in question. The blonde gulped down her bite as she spotted it. Her expression nestled into a muddlement of her own. Staring at the muffin she replayed the steps back to the transaction in her mind. How did that get there?
"Were you thinking of Brittany?" Jeanette teased light-heartedly.
It's true she has her sisters in mind whenever she plans to bring home something from the bakery. As of late she's been trying to remove Brittany and their fight from her thoughts. Unfortunately the more she tries to forget, the more Brittany actually stays and waters the seeds of her guilt. She's been trying to hide this from Jeanette, but she's practically wearing her guilt as a statement piece.
"Ha, right. You're so funny Jeanette." Eleanor said sarcastically, "I Must have accidentally grabbed it since they're right next to the carrot muffins."
Jeanette tilted her head at the answer not believing the mishap as it had never happened before. Instead she theorizes Eleanor's sense of morality is keeping her from moving past their scuffle. And her tainted consciousness is revealing her true feelings of regret and discontent.
Her younger sister has never been an expert in masking her feelings. She's always outright with however she feels. Her strong sense of righteousness interjects with any of her attempts at deceit. In this case her doubt which she's been covering up. She can try to act indifferent, but in every lip bite, avoided eye contact and fault in speech gives her away to Jeanette. Eleanor values honesty and integrity above all, so of course when she goes against her morals she doesn't do a very good job. In plain, she is a lousy liar. And no matter the guilt swallowing her mind, she won't admit to Jeanette her diffidence.
Her usual boldness is faint and her chirpy attitude is lacklustre. It's clear to Jeanette that Eleanor's damper mood is caused by her inner turmoil about their sister. This fight seems to have laid a heavier weight on Eleanor than anything else has before. And she likely won't be 100% until the two make up.
She continues chewing on her muffin as she ponders if Brittany is being affected in the same way. Is there guilt eating at her too? Knowing Brittany, there was a good chance it was. But she'd never show it, and you'd never see it.
Maybe Miss Miller can tell differently.
–
She scurries down the stairs already out of breath. Her brows beaded with sweat and clinging onto loose strands of her brown hair. Her eyes in a race against time to locate the book she had been reading earlier. In the heat of summer she almost forgot she needed to renew the book for another week before she placed it back on a shelf in the library. Her clothing choice wasn't making the search any easier. Although there is no uniform requirement, Jeanette still wears a formal button up shirt and long skirt to maintain a modest appearance –That and because she has yet to unpack her summer wardrobe.
I should have listened to Brittany. Jeanette thought as her thick black skirt weighed her movement from the kitchen to the living room.
She already searched her room and was now retracing her steps. Her shift was soon to start and she needed to make it to the subway station in time. She peered at every nook and cranny to catch sight of the book, until her eyes finally spotted it. Right next to a weary looking blonde.
The TV was running but her attention was elsewhere. Eleanor's droopy brown eyes were solely on that particular blueberry muffin still sitting on the coffee table untouched in the tray. Jeanette observed the strange state Eleanor was in. Unfortunately she couldn't sit and talk about it as she had a job to get to. Not that Eleanor would easily open up about this right away either.
Jeanette scooped up the book and placed it into her bag, snapping Eleanor out of her daze.
"Oh…um," Eleanor switched off the TV and stood up, "Did you already pack your food for the night?"
"Yeah, I just packed last night's leftovers and muffins."
She watched Eleanor nod and bring up some other things, evading any questions from Jeanette. Although she couldn't quite hide her little glances back to the muffin. Or more profoundly, back to Brittany. This muffin just became a looming reminder, and physical form of guilt for Eleanor to dread upon.
Jeanette didn't probe into Eleanor's rambling avoidance and decided to just wish her a 'goodnight' and 'see you later'.
Hopefully she gets some sleep. Jeanette thought as she left the house.
–
No matter the fast-pace bustle of the metro the destination time was still a good 20 minutes away. She stood attached to a metal pole, feeling overtaken by the smell of body spray and sweat mingling together through the thick humidity. Luckily it wasn't overly crowded in her section of the train so she had room to breathe freely.
She decided now was as good a time as any to call Miss Miller and ask her how she was doing.
A couple rings in, she hears a dampened 'hello' on the other side.
"Hello? Miss Miller?" Jeanette asked knowing it was her parent, but more so confused as to why she sounded so down.
"Ah, hello dear." The elderly woman said again but with a lift in her spirits
However Jeanette wasn't going to dismiss that first depressed 'hello'.
"I was just calling to check in, how are you feeling?"
"Oh you know, not too shabby."
"So Brittany isn't causing you any trouble then?" Jeanette poked humorously, with a little suspicion that Brittany may be the cause of Miss Miller's earlier low spirit.
There was a prolonged pause before Miss Miller replied, "...Oh no, not at all."
"Miss Miller?" Jeanette raised her eyebrow sceptically. Even though Miss Miller couldn't see it she knew the exact expression Jeanette was making just by her tone.
Jeanette heard her sigh before admitting, "Okay, maybe that wasn't the full truth."
She remained quiet allowing Miss Miller to elaborate.
"Well yesterday I thought it would be nice to set up a surprise picnic. I laid down a nice blanket and decorated the backyard and then went to the supermarket for some baking supplies in hopes we could make the food together…"
Jeanette listened intently, and could already foresee a couple different ways Brittany could have upset Miss Miller. Baking is not her forte.
"But when I got home, there was a note on the table saying she was gone out and would be home late. I reckoned she couldn't be that late. We could still do some baking, so I went ahead and got the ingredients prepared…And then she never came."
"Oh Miss Miller," Jeanette felt her despondency from the cracks in her voice.
"I found out she was back when I saw the light shining upstairs." She finished.
No wonder Miss Miller was in low spirits, Brittany missed her surprise picnic party. Jeanette felt sympathetically for the older woman. She supposed it was her way of welcoming Brittany home after so long only for Brittany to not be home. But this wasn't irreparable.
"I'm sure Brittany feels terribly for missing it, why don't you have one today?"
"I suppose that would have been good…But I must admit I lost my temper a bit." Miss Miller says regretfully.
"That's okay Miss Miller, we all get upset. You should talk to her, maybe plan something together. As long as Brittany knows why you were upset she can work to make it up to you." Jeanette said, trying to inspire some hopefulness.
Miss Miller didn't respond to that bit, knowing that she hadn't actually communicated why she was upset with Brittany. Instead she let out a gruff cough that was itching at her throat.
But the idea of sharing her feelings was definitely on her mind, and maybe planning something together later as well.
"Anyway, how is your new medication?" Jeanette had been meaning to ask.
She had suspected another cause of Miss Miller's glum and fluctuating temper to be her medication. In the recent year she had been diagnosed with several health complications which were added to her already existing few. From hearing loss, joint pain, OCD to mild depression. No longer were her medications few but many. She had all sorts of pills and syrups she had to take around the clock. And with no one to assist Jeanette worries if she's handling it all well.
During Jeanette and Eleanor's visits over the Fall, Winter and Spring, they've made sure to stay informed and updated with Miss Miller's health. Jeanette being most involved, has taken her to doctor's appointments, specialists and check ups every now and then. She'd make sure to sort her pills into pill organizers and teach her how to use them.
For the most part Miss Miller's been a champ and not made a fuss about it. The doctors did recommend they request the services of a home care nurse for when the girls weren't there for Miss Miller's safety and well-being. But Miss Miller turned down the offer, claiming she was perfectly capable of her own care. And she proved so by learning every medicine, when and how much of a quantity to take. She incorporated them into her daily routine without trouble, and she's at the extent where she doesn't even need to follow the medication planner because she knows exactly when it's time. Thankfully dementia was not a threat to her.
Nevertheless there were still some unavoidable side effects. And her sudden mood swings were the most apparent. She'd have to get Brittany up to date soon.
"Same old story dear. But never-mind that, how's Eleanor?" Miss Miller quickly averted the subject of her medication.
Jeanette picked this up as it wasn't very subtle, but then again this is usually how it goes. The woman isn't overly passionate about talking about her prescriptions. And as Jeanette approached closer to her stop she decided to not push it.
"She's doing as fine as she can be I guess…After what happened." Jeanette referred back to how swallowed by guilt Eleanor has been ever since their fight.
"Oh the poor dear, what happened?"
Jeanette anticipated Miss Miller to be up to speed about the situation, since Brittany doesn't keep quiet about these sorts of things.
"Oh you know, the whole debacle before Brittany left." Jeanette brought up like it was common knowledge.
Miss Miller takes a moment to recall what fiasco Jeanette is referring to. She hasn't spoken with Eleanor for a few days and Brittany hadn't brought her up either. As she probes her memories of what it could be she remembers one key detail Brittany had mentioned.
"Oh of course! What a terrible thing to have happened…But I didn't think Eleanor would care so deeply." She finished mildly confused.
She remembered that Brittany had told her the unfortunate news of her boyfriend Bart's grandmother passing. That being the reason her boyfriend couldn't accompany her on this trip. Drawing her own conclusion to what fiasco Eleanor would be upset over, she supposed it had to do with Bart's grandma. She could understand why Brittany was mopey but she never considered Eleanor to be so deeply affected by it. She could only presume they were closely acquainted. She must've been some grandma.
"Of course Eleanor's upset Miss Miller, it was a pretty big thing to have happened." Jeanette stressed the fact, also a little confused as to why Miss Miller wouldn't think Eleanor would be upset.
"I just had no idea they were that close," Miss Miller simply shrugged.
"...What?" Jeanette furrowed her brows, she had to bring her phone away from her ear to examine if she was hearing right.
"It's just that no one's mentioned Bart's grandma before."
Jeanette was now beyond bewildered. She was talking about Eleanor and Brittany but Miss Miller was on about Bart's grandma? What does this have to do with anything?
"Miss Miller, what does Bart's grandma have to do with this?"
"Didn't you say Eleanor's upset over the whole da-buckle that happened before Brittany left?" Miss Miller was becoming irritated with why Jeanette was getting all quizzical when she was the one trying to understand Eleanor and Bart's grandma's relationship.
"I did but–"
"That da-buckle being the poor woman's death." Miss Miller put together her own logic.
Jeanette's brows furrowed deeper, she was definitely missing something here. And she suspected Brittany to have that missing context.
Suddenly the speakers in the subway announced their stop, and the crowd began to stir. Snapping Jeanette back to where she stood still in the train. She almost forgot she was on her way to work. She'd have to cut this call short and speak to Brittany later.
"Okay Miss Miller, I need to go now. But I will talk to you again soon."
"Okay dear, have a good night."
–
Miss Miller hears the phone line go silent and she is left alone with her meatloaf in the kitchen. She adds the final sprinkle of seasoning and lets it sit. Upstairs she can hear faint footsteps pacing back and forth. Brittany was getting ready to leave for her study session at the library.
"What a busy girl." Miss Miller says out loud to herself.
To think she lashed out at her earlier for simply being busy. She wasn't sure how to approach Brittany and explain her earlier tantrum. They'd already settled the emotions over muffins, but Miss Miller knows she hasn't properly communicated her feelings to Brittany. The girl didn't make it easy either, she doesn't stick around for long until she's out of the house.
She was already slipping away.
Miss Miller sees herself in Brittany most of all, making her the hardest to reach out to. Because she was once the same stubborn impulsive girl herself. She thought she had the whole world figured out at 20, and didn't give a damn what anyone else would say. Alway out and about, always moving farther and farther from home. She was a confident woman who wanted to leave behind her small town life and hit it big in Hollywood. She did achieve her goal, only at the cost of losing touch with her family and friends. She often regrets how she acted, and to this day she wishes she did listen to what anyone else said. At least the important anyones.
She only learned when it was too late.
Sighing in her own misguided choices, Miss Miller cut into the meatloaf and packed a hefty slice into a brown paper bag. At the very least she could offer her own advice and hope Brittany would take it, even if only a part of it.
"I'm about to leave!" Brittany shouted.
And Miss Miller grabbed the bag and headed to her. This was her chance to plan a much needed mother-daughter bonding picnic. After all, they haven't done anything together in a year's time. Even before that, it's been rare with Brittany. This picnic was the perfect idea to really catch up, especially with all that must be going on in her young adult mind. Maybe she could really connect with her again, before she slips away for good.
A/N
Bit of a shorter chapter. How'd you guys like the change in POV? (Takes place same day as chapter 4)
It was kinda a mix, Jeanette and then Miss Miller near the end. I hope I cleared up the confusion from the last chapter.
Editing will also probably be done sometime later, usually minor fixes for smoother reading. But it's already been too long so I'm posting. This is just a regular thing now.
Couple things I wanted to say:
First of all, THANK YOU so much to everyone who's supported this story so far. Thank you iLozone and get bent broski for your reviews!
This really is only the beginning, and it's going to be a slowwww journey forward. And I know I said I'm going to try and not take 3 months to update, I didn't mean 4 instead 💀 That's just what ended up happening, sorry guys 😠I'm just gonna stop trying to predict my next update.
But don't worry guys, I am still determined to finish this. Even if it takes my entire lifetime to do so.
Also if anyone's interested I found a really cool Alvittany fanfic on wattpad. It's called, 'The Princess and the Reluctant Knight' By drrobiecole. It's a medieval fantasy au, beautifully written and completed. It's got Alvittany as main focus but other pairings as well like Siminor (which is super rare). It's super underrated, I definitely recommend checking it out.
Another really good Alvittany fanfic I'm currently reading is CatieCat503's 'Only Emptiness Remains'. It deals with more mature themes of ED and is very engrossing. If you're into that angsty, hurt/comfort vibe then definitely go read!
And again thank you everyone for reading! Until next time, Ciao 😘