Just You and Me [Young Royals]

Three: Moving on

As the sun rose, and morning bloomed, the sunlight streamed through the gaps in the hospital curtains.

Simon lifted his head off of Sara's, rubbing his sore neck. Her hair was itching his cheek. He rubbed his eyes and blinked, trying to clear the sleepiness.

The burns on his arm still stung quite a bit, but he trusted that they were fine and would heal up.

His mom was still asleep on the bed across from the sofa he had been sleeping on. She looked peaceful, her breathing even and relaxed.

A nurse came in last night and told them that their mom would be okay in a couple weeks. He said that they had to keep her in the hospital for a bit to monitor her breathing and respiratory system, to ensure she wouldn't have any lasting problems. They wrapped up her burn too and had IV fluids wired to her, giving her nutrients and hydration.

He and Sara were free to leave though since they weren't exposed to the smoke for as long. But the two stayed, mostly because they wanted to be there when their mom woke up, and partly because they really had nowhere else to go to anymore.

Their house had burned down last night. Simon let that statement settle in his head. Their house, his home, burned down. It was gone forever and they had nowhere else to live.

His dad's place was the only house that some sort of family owned currently.

But going there wasn't a very pleasant choice, and of course, their money was always tight, they couldn't just buy a new place.

I could call Wilhelm... Nope. No, not going there. He couldn't just rely on Wilhelm for money. And even if he did, Wille would get worried, they would both get attached again and it probably wouldn't end well.

It seemed dad's house was the best solution. Which wasn't even very good.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Sara stirred slightly, she didn't wake up though, just readjusting her head on his shoulder.

He thought back to what they could possibly do, and exposing their family back to his toxic dad sounded like a terrible idea. And of course, mom probably wouldn't ever want to see her ex husband again.

The reality of their current situation was slowly settling in on him. They had nowhere to go, mom had to stay in the hospital, and they literally had nothing. The only thing that might've survived the fire were his fish, since they were submerged in water.

They would probably go back to the house later to see what insurance would provide and Simon could check on his fish then. It would make him a whole lot happier if at least his beloved pets were alive.

Sara moved again, this time she was awake. "Simon." She spoke quietly.

"Hi."

"Did mom wake up yet?"

He shook his head.

"Oh." She lifted her head and glanced towards the bed. Soaking in the scene. "I'm going to go to the bathroom."

Simon watched her walk out of the room and into the empty hallway.

Nurses would pop in throughout the day, checking on their mom, who still hadn't woken up. They gave her more fluids and medicine.

Simon discussed the living situation with Sara while they were eating ridiculously expensive hospital lunch, the conversation didn't go very well.

"I'm not living with dad." She kept insisting on it.

"Sara, there's literally nowhere else we could go."

"Mom probably won't go there either, so she can figure something out."

"Yeah but, for the next few weeks, mom is gonna be stuck here. And what do you expect her to do? We don't have the money right now, Sara. We barely have anything."

"Then I'll just have to hope that my application gets accepted. I'm not living with him."

Simon felt dejected, he had almost forgotten that Sara had applied for a grant to live at Hillerska. So now he really would be alone.

"Okay then, I guess I'll just have to live with him by myself."

"I guess you will." Sara replied coldly.

He bit his lip and blinked rapidly. No tears. No more crying today. But he felt incredibly hurt now. He and Sara always stuck together, that was just the natural thing to do. But now, she's moving on. Moving on from her old life and moving on from him.

- -

After finishing up the run with the rowing team, he gathered up his items. He picked up his sweatshirt from the ground and gazed back towards the tree.

The two had disappeared from their spot earlier, but they left behind all their stuff. Which was very strange. The book Simon was reading lay abandoned at the base of the tree. Sara's binders and folder were discarded by the book.

Wille grabbed his water bottle and wondered if Simon or Sara would come back for their stuff.

Where did they even go?

The team started walking back so Wilhelm forced himself to look away and follow. They probably just forgot the stuff and would get it tomorrow.

But for the remainder of the school week, neither Simon nor Sara showed up at school.