The Upside of Falling Back To You

chapter twenty nine | let's move

RONAN WAS RIGHT. I was still thinking about the raspberry white chocolate cheesecake two weeks after the birthday dinner. I was thinking about it when I should have been working on my project for work.

I pushed my laptop away for now, and instead, with the cheesecake on my mind, I finally went through all the polaroids I took since the cabin trip. It was wild how much more time we spent together since Ronan's return - were we really drifting apart before then? I mean, I guess having two friends in a whole other continent didn't help our case, either.

My eyes spot the group picture we took at the beginning of the trip. I didn't have to think twice before grabbing a tack pinning it on my bulletin board. Years and years of memories all pinned up for me to see.

Maybe the board it the reason why I'm-

"ASTER!"

"MY GOD, I'M COMING." I forgot my brother called me downstairs about ten minutes ago. I hauled myself off my chair and downstairs into the living room, where my parents were already seated on opposite ends of the love seat, and Cas on an arm chair. I took the other.

Griff stands at the front and clears his throat. "Okay, so thank you for coming-" he glares at me. Griff always had way too much fun when he needed to hold family meetings, trying to act as if he was the man of the house. "-I have something to announce."

"Get on with it, bro," Cas said, glancing down at his phone. My mom gave him a disapproving look and he places it on the coffee table.

"Okay." Griffin draws in a breath. "Um, so as you all know, I'm a twenty three - almost twenty four year old - that still lives under his parents' roof."

"Yes, and Asteria is twenty five, almost twenty six, that could've fully moved out but-"

I tossed one of the decorative pillows towards Cas' direction. He caught it with ease.

I glance at Mom, watching her expression grow confused.

"Um, so-" I could see Griff grow nervous. "-Late last year, Adri and I started looking for apartments closer to downtown. We ended up finding a really nice place not too far from her work and the university and-"

"You're going to rent an apartment together?" Dad asked my brother.

He shook his head. "More like... I'm planning on buying it, I worked it out with the bank and found a down payment that would work. Adri's planning on living with me for now, and she's going to help me pay for the utility and groceries and stuff. But it's going to be my place."

The news has us stunned. No one comments right away. As much as Cas joked at the beginning, he looked the most devastated.

"So like, you're taking all your stuff?" Cas finally asked. "Everything. Your... your furniture and the stuff on your walls and that stupid bookshelf full of all that shit."

I know why he's asking that. When I decided to move in with Jesper last year, I barely took anything. Just my everyday clothes, everyday items, enough to function for my day to day, but left anything personal at home - every real piece of my staying with my parents. Griff was leaving. This was new.

Griff nodded. "You can keep some of the stuff in my room, if you want. Video games, the computer even."

"You're leaving."

Griff glances at me before returning to Cas. "I'll visit all the time. You're my family. This is still home."

Castor tries to hide his pain, but he's failing. Shaking, he grabs his phone and heads back upstairs. I get it - change is hard. Going from having your brother right next door to having him a phone call away was going to take adjusting.