wanderinginternethippie:
@drcaming
it was the day, the day she said goodbye to her brother forever, a day she would never forget, the saddest day of her entire life, other than the night two weeks ago when her life changed forever, “he’s dead”. calliope only had two people in the world, emiliano and jackson, and now one of them was gone, she had ran out of tears by the first week, wouldn’t leave the bed by the second.
her mother dragged her out of bed on this today, and despite the circumstances was her normal delightful self. “god and no tears today calliope, no one wants to see those” and so all day, she didn’t cry, she obeyed and didn’t cry. she didn’t cry when she saw jackson and he asked her how she doing, she didn’t cry when people talked about him, she didn’t cry when she heard his voice, she didn’t cry when she saw his casket, and she didn’t bat an eye when they played his music throughout the entire damn thing.
everyone was telling her she was doing great, and how she so strong, even so beautiful on a day like this. but calliope didn’t feel any of those things, she didn’t feel strong, or beautiful and she damn straight didn’t feel great. “excuse me” she spoke softly to the people who had been speaking to her, excusing herself away from the party, swiping a bottle of champagne on her way up to emiliano’s room. she hadn’t been in here since before she had left three years ago, a deep sigh as she stood in his untouched room, like nothing had changed. seeing his wardrobe doors open, going over to close them, but as her fingers touched the handles, she couldn’t help the tears that began to fall as she inhaled his scent, she heard someone behind her and instantly she wiped away her tears, tucked her hair behind her ear, turning to the person behind her, “oh um, i was just” she was so tired, she couldn’t think of a single thing to say, “i said goodbye to my brother today, like forever, and i just” she breathed deeply now, an attempt to control the tears that wanted to fall, remembering the bottle, she left on the bed, “i grabbed a bottle, will you drink with me?”
Peering through the sea of strangers, Jackson watched as Calliope weaved carefully between the crowd, losing sight of her every few seconds but keeping his focus on her, and watching as she snuck her way upstairs. Keeping to himself and sitting silently at the edge of the room, his gaze casually pulled through the people, not wanting to bring much attention to himself or what he had just witnessed--- or whom. He brought his focus to Elenora only long enough to tell that her overbearing eye on her daughter had swayed, leaving time for Calliope to evacuate without any notice. Using this moment of distraction, Jackson got to his feet and pressed his way to the staircase, peeking back one last time before making his way up the stairs.
He had kept a safe distance from the girl throughout the day, if not out of respect for her mother; knowing very well how little she cared for him as Callie’s friend, then for the fact that Jackson hadn’t spotted a single tear escape his friend that day. Somehow he assumed her mother was responsible for the vacant and emotionless eyes, the stony look Calliope had written all over her face. And while he might not mean to dismantle the girl’s feigned composure, he couldn’t help but feel as though he easily could, given only a few minutes with her.
Stepping into the room, hesitated at the door; feeling both uneasy, having always known the room to be occupied by Emiliano, and by the sight of Callie removing evidence of her tears. “Sorry,” he murmured. He simply wanted to hold her, knowing not much could be done to ease her distress. Shaking his head slightly at her words, he was unwilling to hear whatever excuse the girl was about to give him for needing to show any level of sorrow, having lost her only brother. Only pulling his gaze back long enough to quietly close the door behind him, he lowered his voice to a whisper. “You don’t have to explain anything to me, Calliope...” he insisted, wanting to go on to insist that she could cry if she needed to, while they were alone. However, as she continued, his gaze shifted to the bottle resting on the bed. “I---” trailing off, Jackson didn’t have the heart to refuse Calliope of anything she needed to distract her from herself. He swallowed hard, his hesitation only lasting a brief instant. “Of course I will.”












