To The Moon and Back

𝟑𝟐 | 𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐭

O R B I T

The path of a celestial body as it moves through space.

T O  T H E
M O O N & B A C K

I AWAKE TO the sound of my phone ringing. It vibrates against my nightstand and I groan, feeling even more tired than I had been before falling asleep. I squint, leaning over Rory's sleeping body to grab it. My twin sister's name appears on the screen and I press the off button on my phone, silencing it, before tossing it onto the end of the bed and lying back down.

I should answer. Since she and Solar broke up, she has no one except for me. It's just really fucking early and I'm not able to form proper sentences at this time of the day, let alone an entire conversation.

When my phone begins to ring again, I ignore it. But then it rings again and again and again.

I snatch it, sliding across to answer. "What?" I shout into the speaker and Rory stirs in her sleep remains unconscious.

"Good morning to you too, brother." Alula's faux happy voice rings in my ears. "Actually, it's midafternoon, but to you, that's probably morning."

Squinting, I pull the screen away from my ear to double-check the time. Two-fifteen PM. Fuck.

I sigh, bringing the phone back to my ear. "It is." I confirm, glancing over to Rory. Her cheek pressed against the pillow; her lips parted as she breathes shallow breathes. "What do you want?" 

"I'm at your door and I forgot my spare key."

I groan, hanging up. I love her but fucking hell, my family has a thing for showing up unannounced at the most inconvenient times.

Standing up, I grab a jumper off the floor and throw it over my head, then a grey pair of track pants that I had only worn once. I consider waking Rory but I don't feel like dealing with Alula's questions. Besides, we barely slept last night. I should just leave her.

After we had sex, she got straight into the shower, whilst I remade the bed and cleared the majority of the dismissed clothing off the floor. Then I ordered some food considering my pantry is almost entirely empty. Rory said she felt too sore after the sex, so she didn't have much. Then after that, we just talked as we always do.

She fell asleep for a while, then got up to have some water, then she couldn't fall back to sleep. I was finding it difficult—so much that I spent an hour contemplating whether I should start taking my medication again or not, just so that I could feel tired enough to sleep for an elongated period of time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm fucking exhausted, but when I try to actually fall asleep, it's near impossible. And there are very few things more miserable than feeling as though your body is so fucking tired, that it is on the brink of shutting down, but still remaining awake. My entire existence follows in suit of that feeling. . .I'm still not used to it, though.

Anyone who ever said it gets easier was fucking full of shit.

I leave my room, closing the door behind me. My feet touch the cold flooring with each step. Walking toward the door, I grasp the equally cold handle and pull it open.

Alula stands there, wearing an oversized leather jacket, tight-fitting black shorts, and combat boots. I notice that her hair is blonder, less dirty blonde and more honey blonde now. Her frame looks thinner but not in an unhealthy way. Overall, she looks more healthy—confident.

Noticing the way my eyes linger on her hair, she smiles. "Do you like it?" she asks me, stepping inside, and I close the door behind her. "Since the boy, whom shall not be named, and I broke up, I've decided to change every aspect of myself. It's fun."