Uriah

Astilbe had always has its busy moments where appointments and deliveries all come one after another without any breaks in between. Uriah wouldn't even be granted a minute to stop and rest when that happens.

But just like the calm before the storm though, it would have moments too where there were no customers and anything planned at all. Times like this gave him some space, where he could just melt and hide in his own secluded world. It was his safe haven. He got to do what he loved, but also treat it as an exclusive world of his where he could do whatever he wanted.

Today was another one of those peaceful days where Uriah didn't have anything planned. Important as it may be to set some plans, it was great and liberating to just spend the day watching it go by. There was something very therapeutic about it, like getting off the path of a crowd of people that was rushing forward, squeezing through and getting bumped at a lot.

Usually he would be sitting alone on the second floor with a book in hand and a cup of tea by his side, leisurely immersing himself in the world of novels, but there was another presence aside from his today. Uriah loved the time he got to be alone; in fact he needed it like it was a necessity to function properly. It would make him cranky if his space was invaded but this time, he didn't mind the extra company.

With an opened book in hand on her laps, Jasmine was leaning backwards on the beanbag with her head tilted to the right a little. She was still, but breathing softly, almost looking like a doll.

Suppressing a chuckle, Uriah smiled instead. Jasmine may be unguarded, but she always carried an air of restlessness. And unlike the first time where she blacked out, there was no discomfort on her face this time. Seeing her dozing off silently was quite refreshing to him.

When she had visited today, Uriah was already reading a book on his own. Interested, she asked about the collections of books he had. After sharing their opinions on the books they both had read before and loved, he lent her one of his favourite novels. Jasmine settled down on the bean bag with a comfortable distance between Uriah and herself. And so they both started reading their books in the same space, but in their own little world in silence.

When he finally reached the end of his book, two hours had passed. As he took a look at Jasmine, he found her in this state. Maybe the novel wasn't that suitable for her since the writing style might have been a little heavy for her age.

Uriah hadn't realized he kept his gaze on her sleeping face and never looked away after he found her sleeping. He couldn't deny that she looked really cute there.

The bell rang and he jolted up. That really pulled him out of his staring. He made his way down to the first floor as fast as he could in case the person would ring the bell again which might wake her up.

Standing by the counter was Trevor. He caught sight of Uriah and smiled at him, "Hiya!"

"Hey," Uriah greeted back with a smile of his own. What timing for her brother to show up now. "Are you looking for Jasmine? She's just up on the second floor."

Trevor gave him a little wave of his hand, "Nah, I was just roaming around the town out of boredom." A bored look was indeed painted across his face, but to Uriah, he looked more lost than bored. Trevor glanced out of the window with a small smile, "Wanted to escape from life for a little bit, but since the town is so small, I couldn't find any place to explore. So I ended up here, where I thought I would find Jas."

"Escaping from life, huh." Uriah repeated his words with a knowing tone, looking away briefly before setting his gaze back on Trevor. One look in his eyes and Uriah knew they meant the same thing. "I used to walk around the town aimlessly for the same reason too, but I've found some great places to run away now once in a while. I'll show you next time, together with Jasmine, if you'd like to."

Trevor nodded, flashing him a lopsided grin.

No one asked about the choices of words they both used.

Escaping. Aimlessly. Run away.

Because they both understood.

Uriah led Trevor upstairs as per his request and watched silently at the side as Trevor snapped pictures of Jasmine using his phone. He was grinning from ear to ear but careful enough not to wake her up with his photo taking session.

After a few minutes, they settled down with sitting a few meters away from Jasmine, on the couches at the middle of the room. With nothing to do and a feeling of mutual understanding that had settled for both of them, they started to talk.

"You two are really close. Has it always been this way?" Uriah asked, successfully pulling Trevor's attention away from his phone as he slid it back in his pocket.

He beamed like a proud parent who looked absolutely ecstatic. "Yeah! Even though it's quite common for siblings to be fighting all the time, Jas and I got along really well. "

"That's nice." Uriah said. And he meant it.

"It is." Trevor said fondly, "Having someone to look after and someone who looks after me. I wouldn't change anything in the world for her."

"I wish I had a sibling too." Uriah smiled. "I heard from Jasmine that you're going to take your college entrance exams soon? How's that coming along?"

Trevor scrunched up his face and sighed. "It's going fine, but I'm really tired."

"Good luck," Uriah laughed, "Studying has never been my forte. But I'm sure you'll make it to where you want to be."

He was no one to be saying that, but encouraging someone was never going to go wrong. Although it was quite ironic for him to say that to someone else, considering how he had always felt like he didn't belong anywhere. He couldn't even see the place he wanted to be. It just didn't exist in his world.

"Thanks. Though that seems very unlikely." He gave him a smile, but it looked very sad, a little bitter and forced. Uriah was slightly taken aback by the sudden change in Trevor's emotions. He had been really bright and colourful before, but now he could almost see him becoming monochrome.

Jasmine

She opened her eyes and blinked a few times, frowning when she couldn't shake the sleepiness off right away. The book in her lap nearly fell off when she moved a little to stretch out her arms but she grabbed it in time before it did.

Rubbing her eyes, Jasmine heard some voices coming from the left side of the room. She glanced over and saw Trevor and Uriah. They were talking and laughing but still feeling slightly groggy from waking up; she couldn't quite catch what they were going on about.

Why was Trevor here? She stifled a yawn, finally feeling more conscious now.

"Sometimes, I wish I can just get away from everything forever."

That was Trevor's voice.

Huh?

Uriah

Uriah stared back at him, unsure if they were on the same channel, but the way his eyes bore into his own assured him. Even if Uriah didn't know what he had went through, he couldn't help but agree to it.

When you had fallen to rock bottom, you can recognize when others have too.

He chuckled bitterly, "Me too."

Jasmine

She tried to process what she had just heard. Did she mishear them? Jasmine felt her heart beating faster, since she might have intruded and overheard what she shouldn't have. Or was it really something she shouldn't have heard?

Pursing her lips together, she fell into a trance, thoughts of all kinds attacking her. As his sister, Jasmine has seen many sides of him. Trevor was smart, but not just academically. He was wise too. There was never a problem he couldn't help her solve as long as she asked. Though sometimes she chose not to bother him no matter how many times he told her she could.

Over the years, she hardly heard him complaining about anything except for their parents occasionally. But they were always just light dissatisfactions, not fury or hatred. He was always smiling and telling her everything's fine.

Trevor was always behind her, ready to catch her whenever she had fallen. Someone that independent and reliable wouldn't have said that, would he? And such a person wanting to run away now?

Maybe she was wrong.

"Have you woken up from your beauty sleep, princess?"

Jasmine flinched and snapped her head to the left, where Trevor was at, crouching down to look at her eye to eye. Just as the unsettling feeling was dispersing, he had to surprise her like that. Trevor grinned, still waiting for her reply.

Licking her dry lips, she tried swallowing her anxiousness to hide her flustered state. She hated being worried over for over every single thing. Hopefully he wouldn't see through her. She wasn't worth worrying over so much.

"Why are you here, Trev? Do Mom and Dad know about this?" She straightened herself, trying to pretend she wasn't listening just now and shaking off the unease off her face.

"Nah. I snuck out." The grin on his face fell as he sat down beside her. The beanbag was made for one person so it got crowded after Trevor squeezed in.

Pushing his arm away from hers as it was so cramped their arms were touching, she frowned. Not at how cramped the space was, but at his expression. Jasmine sighed at him. "They will give you an earful later."

"Let them. All they can do is nag anyway." He yawned. "Just block out their voices."

She pursed her lips together at his rebellious words. She wasn't one to stand up to their parents, but Trevor did it frequently. Maybe it was because he had dealt with them more than she did. Nevertheless, it didn't sit well with Jasmine. He might have said that now, but she knows better than anyone that he would space out a lot more after their parents reprimanded him.

Even though slight frustration laced with worry was nudging at her heart, she still let it go with a sigh. Her brother spoiled her so much and would often go along with her wishes, but if he stubbornly stated something, not even Jasmine could change his mind.

Deflating like a balloon, Jasmine leaned back against the bean bag, sinking into it."So. You still haven't answered why you're here. Don't you have better things to do?"

He poked the spot between her eyebrows, easing up her frown with his finger. Pouting, she smacked his hand away. She didn't realize her frown was still there. Jasmine couldn't help but smile though, since it was something he always did whenever she frowned too much. He knew her best; better than herself even.

Trevor pulled back his hand and answered her previous question. "Nothing better than watching my little sister hang out with a guy that she likes--"

"Trev!" She bolted up and slapped her hand over his mouth to silence him. "I thought we were over this."

"Never." He smirked.

She groaned. "What if he heard you? Now, be good and stay here quietly. Or even better, leave."

"Be good? Am I a dog?" He pouted. It might have been a cute sight to other girls, but Jasmine was his sister and there was no way she would ever think that way.

"You do look like one." Jasmine stuck out her tongue at him.

"Jas!" A voice cut in.

She dropped her conversation with Trevor and looked over her shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Aw, she calls you with a nickname." Trev snickered.

"Shut up!" She turned back to glare at him quickly, getting her annoyance across before turning back to Uriah.

"Eh, save it. To me, your glares are just like Lilith's. Harmless and adorable."

Lilith was their three year old niece.

Jasmine decided that she would kill Trevor when they get home.

Uriah

He watched with amusement at the pair of siblings bickering back and forth in hushed whispers. When Jasmine finally turned to face him, Uriah asked, "Are you alright?"

"Hmm? Yeah, " she gave Trev a light hit on his arm before smiling at him. "I'm sorry for falling asleep though."

"It's fine." He smiled back. "Since you're both here, want to head to the forest again?"

She arched an eyebrow curiously at him, surprised at his offer. "Is that fine? You said it was your secret spot."

He nodded. "Yeah. I don't mind if it's Trevor."

Trevor was someone who would understand. Uriah wouldn't misjudge. It might be just his gut feeling, but there was some kind of resonance that had occurred between them just now and he chose to believe in that feeling.

Jasmine looked back and forth between him and his brother with a curious look. "When did you guys get so close?"

"When you were in dreamland." Trevor looked at her smugly. "We turned out to be quite similar, I guess. It's easy to click."

"Really?"

"Jealous?" Trevor grinned, swinging an arm around Uriah's shoulders.

He laughed, not pushing Trevor off, but going along with him because it was fun. He hadn't have much company for a long time now, especially someone who was closer to his age.

"No!" Jasmine crossed her arms, cheeks puffing out a little. "You're being really annoying today, Trev."

Trevor knitted his eyebrows together, faking that he was thinking hard. He looked back at Jasmine with a smile, one that was meant to annoy her on purpose. "When am I ever not?"

"That's true." She agreed right away.

"But you love me anyway."

"No. I don't. You're delusional."

"Says the one who barges into my room late at night to check up on me and—"

"Treeev."

Uriah let out a laugh but it was muffled by Trevor's.

---

This was supposed to be longer, but as I continued writing, I realized it would go over 5k words so I decided to cut it in two. 

Honestly I adore Trevor a lot. I wish I could date him hehehe. I know I'm still slow on updating, but I have been writing few hundred of words daily so everything's all good so far!

I hope this chapter wasn't too lacking. Did you like it? :)