autumn |KARL JACOBS X FEMALE OC|

5

for the first time in 4 long years, claire entered the cabin.

she was immediately hit by the familiarity of it all. the wooden log walls that stretched all the way around the house. the worn forest green couches positioned around a television and a fireplace. the kitchen with its wooden cupboards and round table, a cheesy 'there's no place like the cabin' picture framed on the kitchen counter. the earthy smell of firewood and pine filled her nose.

what was crazy was that nothing had changed.

nothing had been removed or replaced. it was all the exact same as when she had been here last. even the way the carpet felt beneath her feet was familiar. it all brought her back.

this place was home.

karl smiled as he watched her take it all in.

"this way." he said, breaking her from her trance. he led her to the left of the entryway where the carpeted stairs lay ahead of them. they climbed up together, arriving at the line of bedrooms.

"we decided to take our old rooms." karl said. "i'll have to ask luke if he's okay with that, though. if not, i can move." claire nodded. luke and karl used to share a bedroom together, while jess and claire each got their own.

they turned to where claire's bedroom was and opened the door.

claire walked inside slowly, wistfully cataloguing the space before her. not a single thing had changed. her old princess bedding, the night stand with the pink lamp. other than the main things, the room was pretty bare, but she could still see the light and life that used to occupy the room.

when they left this place for the last time, she always wondered what would happen to her bedroom. apparently, they had kept it as it was.

"it's all the same." claire breathed. "i can't believe it. it's exactly how it used to be." she turned to karl. "i don't understand, what about the renters? i thought you'd at least change the princess bedding . . ."

"actually, jess and i asked that the kid's rooms stayed untouched. well, i say 'asked', but it was more like jess fought for it." he explained. "so, we rent out the parent's old bedrooms and kept these ones closed off."

"really?" claire asked in wonder. "your parents really let you do that?"

"like i said, jess fought for it. you know how stubborn she can be." they shared a knowing glance. "anyways, i'm glad they kept everything the same. makes it really special, doesn't it?"

"yeah, it really does."

they stood for another second in silence, taking one last look around the room where claire had once spent countless nights.

"well," karl said, "lunch is ready downstairs. you wanna go down?"

claire smiled. yet another tradition just like it used to be. "sure, let's do it."

* * *

"star of the baseball team, huh? i always knew you would be." said jess.

they were long since finished their lunch, but still sat at the round table, each set of siblings on either end. claire had just finished talking about luke's skill at baseball.

"yup." claire said. "best pitcher on the team."

luke blushed, not knowing how to handle the sudden praise. "stop claire, you're inflating my ego." he joked. but claire was serious, he really did have skill. she felt bad, though. he'd never make it on a professional team, not with his limp. still, she admired him. he never let that knowledge bring him down.

luke was the type of person that never pitied himself. whatever the situation, no matter how dire, luke always found a way to see the bright side. claire looked up to him for that, for it was a skill she had not been able to master herself.

"that's awesome, luke." karl congratulated. "we should all play sometime this week."

"yes! and speaking of this week, i have so many plans. we have so many fun things to do." jess said. "hot tub nights! remember how we'd go once it started to get dark outside? the parents would be in the kitchen cleaning up, and we'd stay out there until they finally forced us to come back inside?"

claire did remember, another one of her many favourite memories of this place. already, being with the jacobs' was starting to feel like nothing had changed at all. other than the subtle differences in appearance and personality, they were still the best friends they used to be.

"of course i remember." claire said.

"walks in the woods, too." jess continued. "oh my gosh, we should try to find that log. remember it? the one i walked across? that was the best thing ever. man, i wonder if it's still there. that would be insane."

"yeah, we should look for it." luke agreed. "maybe this time you'll let me walk across it."

"still gonna be a no . . ." jess said, and they all laughed. "i can't even believe i did that. looking back, it was probably pretty stupid, huh?"

they continued to go over their ideas. movie nights, board games, maybe even a group sleepover in the basement like they used to have. all of this made claire even more excited.

she hadn't been sure what to expect going into this week; maybe karl and jess would be closed off and awkward. maybe the cabin would look completely different and just not hold the same magic as it used to. what she didn't expect was for jess and karl to be this determined to recreate all their favourite childhood games and memories. already, the four were comfortable with each other.

claire couldn't wait to see what this week had to offer.