Ashes

Twenty-Seven: Decisions

A/N: Friends! I'm so sorry! This chapter took 3 billion years to upload! 

The next days are spent with Gwen, learning more and more of her philosophy and of how to fight in ways the field agent training didn't teach me. I still feel uncertain of the job she's offering, and without a final decision, my questions remain unanswered. At the same time, her logic makes sense. A lot of her ideas fit like a puzzle piece into my problems.

Titus decides to wait until Athena and Ezekiel get back, planning to leave for the science division with Eva once our parents are accustomed to their new homes. In the meantime, Felix and Kyros have moved in together, and Hayden practically lives with them at this point.

One particular morning finds me heading to Titus' house to help my elder brother pack for his departure.

"So. You're really going, then," I start, glancing at the mess of clothes scattered throughout my brother's room. Titus looks up at me with a start, his eyes carrying both sadness and joy at the same time.

Titus Thorne looks oh so different from what he used to. His dark hair, previously kept constantly well trimmed and cared for, has elongated to the brink of too much, leaving his appearance far messier than I ever would have imagined. Where his military-style haircut used to make him look dignified, this new mop of scruffy black hair looks completely uncouth and adds to his apathetic look. Add a few scars he doesn't bother to cover and an often stubble-covered face, and his pretty boy look has turned a lot more dark and somewhat brooding. If I didn't know the reason behind his newfound apathy, It'd be funny.

"Hey, Spunk," he greets, and I curl up next to him on the floor of his room, resting my head on his shoulder. There's something heavy that sits in the air when we're together now; something like the ghosts of childhood laughter and skeletons of teenage memories. Those phantoms fill the air and stick to the insides of my lungs, stopping the flow of words that used to come out so easily.

"I'm not ready for you to leave," I tell Titus, who merely breathes out in a sad sort of sigh and kisses the top of my head.

"I don't know if I am either," he confesses, letting me bury my face into the sleeve of his navy blue hoodie. Titus used to always smell vaguely of gunpowder and aftershave, one from his Guardsman duty and the other because he used to groom himself. His clothes smell like woodsmoke and soap now, yet another reminder of the change my brother's undergone.

"But I think you feel the same way I do. I want to start over. A clean slate. And Eva..." he starts, his voice trailing off a little as his emotions choke him. I lift my face from his shoulder and try to read his face, and the smile he bears is genuine.

"Eva is everything I'm not. I know you don't know her that well, but I... she gives me hope," he says timidly, as if he's afraid of these words. I can't help but give him a weak sort of smile. He's learning how to be happy again. If leaving helps him finish those lessons, then I'm glad he's going.

"Then you go with her, and you never let her go," I tell him, and he gives me a quiet sort of laugh that hums with relief. I think part of him was afraid of my disapproval.

"Hey, did anybody order pizza?" a voice calls from the door, and I recognize Brynn's musical tone almost immediately.

"The correct answer is yes, by the way!" she continues, mirth seeping from her voice as she waits for us to answer.

"Upstairs!" I yell in reply, my grin matching my brother's.

Brynn walks only up until the door, picks up a baseball cap from the ground and puts it on haphazardly, holding out a pen and making a stern face that doesn't completely come across.