InsaneJournal

Who: Jamie and Roxanna
What: It's the end of the world as we know it
When: Tuesday morning
Where: Kemp house


Jamie, as he seemed to be doing lately, had been in a funk. No matter how much he texted Theseus, or tried to call him, he barely seemed to make contact. And even when he did, it wasn't for long. But finally, finally, he'd managed to convince Theseus to come over that night. They'd had dinner and watched a movie, then went upstairs and spent a good chunk of time just enjoying each other. They finally fell asleep in the wee hours, and Jamie had drifted off, a small flame of hope starting to burn in his chest.

When he woke up, Theseus was gone, which he'd sort of expected. What he hadn't expected, however, was the envelope on the pillow. His heart started to beat, harder and faster than it had a moment ago, and his hand shook as he reached for it. It had a slight weight to it, and he knew what he'd find inside before he even opened it.

Sure enough, inside he found Theseus' ring, and a small bit of folded paper. The paper shook as he unfolded it, and stared at the words written there. 'I'm sorry.' That was it. No explanation, no reason, no nothing. Just 'I'm sorry'.

Jamie felt like he'd been punched in the gut. It was suddenly far too hot in his room, and he found it hard to breathe. He tried to get up, but he couldn't push himself up. It took three tries before he managed it, the ring and note in a death grip in his hand. He tried to stand, but his knees were shaking violently, and he collapsed onto the bed. The whole room seemed to be spinning, and it was hard to even tell up from down.

He tried to stand up once again, and made it about five steps before his legs gave out, and he went down in a heap. He figured that was the universe trying to tell him something, and so he just stayed there on the floor. Because there was really no point in him getting ready for school, there was no way he wanted to do anything but stay home and be miserable.

Roxanna, who'd heard the thud, poked her head in and found him lying on the floor. "You alright, hon?" she asked, kneeling down beside him.

Jamie passed her the envelope without a word. She looked at the contents, then back at him, and a look of horror came over her face as it dawned on her.

"But you just-"

"I know."

"And so he-"

"Yup."

"So what-"

"I have no idea."

She looked back down at the envelope again, then laid it down on the floor and removed her shoes. "Well I know you're not going anywhere today," she said. "And I don't want to leave you alone, so neither am I."

"Thanks, Roxie," Jamie whispered. He shuffled across the floor towards her, then laid his head on her lap. Roxanna ran her fingers through his hair, as she'd done so many times before. She said nothing when she felt him start to shake, or when warm, damp spots appeared on her jeans. She held her brother and let him cry, because there was nothing else for her to do. She had no way to make this better, and right now, she didn't really want to try. There'd be time for that later, but for right now, Jamie needed to mourn.