𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 ━ shawn hunter¹

23│BROTHER, BROTHER ( REPRISE )

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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʙʀᴏᴛʜᴇʀ, ʙʀᴏᴛʜᴇʀ
( ʀᴇᴘʀɪsᴇ ) ꒱


❝ I FORGIVE YOU ❞

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[Age 5]

The woods behind the Rainbow Falls apartment complex were sparse with spaced-out trees and little to no undergrowth. Layers of dead leaves were on the ground no matter the season and pieces of trash left by the highway often got stuck in the forest debris. For the little chance of woods in the middle of Pennsylvania, though, it wasn't too bad, all things considered.

Behind the scope of trees lay an abandoned construction sight that would have been home to a rather large house. The left side was nearly entirely built while the right was only partially, with torn house wrap covering the exposed wood. There was no roof on the building which allowed the elements to rot the floorboards and weather the inside. The house stood up on a hill so the gap between the door and the ground where stairs should have been was several feet high. Gaping, empty windows gave the home an eerie feel, especially at night, but neither Shawn nor Juliet were bothered by it— as long as they didn't look directly at the building.

The ground between the woods and the hill the home sat on was filled with gravel to allow the construction vehicles to move more easily when it had been an active project. This feature was what interested the pair most. Well, Juliet was the main one taken with the rocks since she'd read that construction sites often had geodes hidden in the gravel they brought in. After school and during the summer, she often stood half-bent as she peered at the gray stones while she tried to determine if one held a sparkly inside or not. (It was easy to tell once you knew what you were looking for.) Then, she would bring her prizes to Shawn's Uncle Mike who would use his diamond saw to cut the rocks in half to reveal the crystalized inside.

Shawn, on his part, wasn't remotely interested in the gray-white rocks. Instead, he sat on the cusp of the slope while he kept an eye on their lunches that they usually brought with them as he and the redhead talked about anything and everything. (He'd swear that he learned more during those times than he ever did at school.)

Today, they met up at the back of the apartment complex after dropping off their backpacks and grabbing snacks. As Juliet waited patiently for her best friend, she bounced her tennis ball against the back wall of the building while she listened to You Can't Hurry Love on her Walkman.

To catch the redhead's attention, Shawn stepped in front of the ball's path and caught it easily in his hand, causing her to look up and smile happily at him. His heart skipped a beat as it always did when she looked so glad to see him. She slid off her headphones and left them curled around her neck as she held her hand out for the ball. As he bounced it back to her, she turned to the woods. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," he agreed and he fell into step next to her.

As they walked deeper into the woods, Juliet handed him the ball back so she could stick her thumbs in her shorts pockets. She kicked at the leaves as she walked. "Do you wanna know what Sarah said today?"

He didn't really care what any girl had to say besides his best friend, but he nodded anyway since the mischievous smile curling on her lips made him reluctant to say no. As she began to chatter about what had happened at school while he'd hung out with their new friend, Cory, his attention drifted to the news his father had shared with him when he'd gotten home. Normally, Shawn would give all his attention to the redhead, but finding out he had a brother— a family member he'd always wanted— trumped his usual activity.