A chill loomed over Brooklyn as the imminent winter lay in wait, only weeks away and armed with its rough winds and numbing temperatures which were already appearing at times. I was only a short walk away from my apartment and had my arms wound tightly around my body to keep myself immersed in my own heat. Thankfully, my naturally rapid way of walking was keeping myself slightly warmer.

It was relatively quiet here. This was unlike the bustling streets of the city, where people would push against one another and cab horns would constantly be pressed to create a symphony of chaos, as a time short population exhibited their deprivation of minutes. Few people calmly walked the streets, looking around, chatting and taking their time. On the simple street where mine and Jess' quaint apartment block was nestled away, I had found my escape from the building pressure and rush of the city, something I was grateful for each day when I would return home from work.

I most certainly hadn't been raised a city girl and Brooklyn was definitely a lot more populated and teeming with liveliness than where I had grown up. However, Brooklyn was definitely an improvement, in my opinion, compared to the high density and almost claustrophobic way of New York City. Ironically, despite the liveliness and impeding population of New York City I found it quite lonely. There were just so many people who were so short on time that so much and so many are easily disregarded.

I liked Brooklyn. It was the closest to an escape that I could get if I wanted a job in the city and to still maintain any sense of a life. I liked the way that I could walk down the street and not have to brush shoulders with someone constantly. I loved the way that the trees on the sidewalk had grown so tall and possessed such a richness with age that they now joined to create a magical arch over the street, cascading above you as you walked by. The most ethereal moment one could witness was when it was a sunny day and light would peek through the gaps in the leaves to make an enchanting array of patterns blanket across all that rested below.

Most of all, I loved the way that out here you could actually think. At this time especially, there were no horns or shouts amongst the crowds unlike in the city- it was utterly silent. You could finally hear your own thoughts and allow yourself to process everything now that you've finally retreated from the time-short environment of city life.

There were so many things I truly needed to ponder over. Work was fine and would calm down a bit in a few short weeks, with a short holiday even in store for me over the Christmas break which I was keenly anticipating, so I didn't have match to think about in that area.

However, my social life had been filled to the brim with new activity which was stirring about the routine order of it that I had been quite comfortable with for some time now. With my choice to break up with Derek I had hoped and anticipated some change but I was not prepared for the abrupt nature of that which I had been dealt with socially.

I was now coming home from a date with Damon for lack of a better word, a nice guy who proved to provide enjoyable company and seemed to be a pleasant person to have around. He seemed to show an active interest in me despite our short time knowing one another, which was refreshing and truly flattered me. He was charming, and although he in no way could challenge the exceeding level of charm which his counterpart Theo possessed, he would definitely make some girl out there very lucky to be treated with his presence and attention.

I had finally admitted to myself that I must simply forget any confusion that lingered within me regarding Theo. He had proven himself to be an individual who possessed admirable characteristics and a sense of sincerity through his actions, actions which had been of immense help to me. I was grateful for how he had come to my aid the other night and due to this would choose to overlook any doubts I had about our meeting or his intentions.

And whilst this side of him would ordinarily send me swooning further over someone I had undoubtedly been attracted to already, I had admitted defeat to my consistently realistic mind. I had told myself that I must ignore any thought of him that teased at the idealist and romancer hidden behind my walls. He was dating my sister and they were not ending their exploration of a relationship any time soon, to the best of my knowledge.

So, despite the way that his look sent chills down my spine, or the way an accidental touch from him would instantly have the hairs on my arms upright, I knew that I best ignore it all before I were to reach a point of no return. The best way for myself to achieve this was to turn my attention to something abundantly more appropriate and which I would definitely still be treating myself with. Ironically, this different pathway in the form of Damon, which I sought to fight off any wrong thought of Theo with, couldn't be any more anti-Theo. It certainly did make the whole situation a bit easier in that I wouldn't have him encouraging the idea of Theo, unlike with the constant reminders I received from Jess.

Despite my swearing off of the dangerous temptation of Theo, I was certainly intrigued by my last few moments with him before Damon had come into the room earlier tonight— something I had completely forgotten about. "There was something I wanted to tell you", he had said to me. I was eagerly awaiting whatever he had been ready to reveal before Damon had interrupted us. Now that I was alone with my thoughts, and had the time and silence to recall this moment, I was quickly immersed into a growing curiosity  regarding what it was that he wanted to tell me.

I could write it all off by assuming that it was surely something trivial and not worthy of my curiosity, but the tone of his voice and manners of his body suggested otherwise. The phrasing of his words contributed to this, and the fact that we did not know each other so closely indicated that surely it would be about something he deemed of enough importance. So what could it be?

I wasn't important enough at work for him to have to tell me anything related to the article, certainly not with such a serious tone. That would leave our personal life as the topic of the conversation, and my sister as the most likely option. Was it something to do with our meeting, which for some reason we had kept concealed from Lexi to this moment? Were they still seeing each other or had they broken things off? I let myself guiltily entertain that thought for a moment before the realist in me moved on to the idea that maybe he wanted to reveal to me that they had taken the next step in their relationship, possibly putting a label on it or something like that. If it turned out that what he wanted to tell me was something trivial I would have to smack myself over my head over this nonsensical waste of time and energy thinking about it.

I finally arrive at my apartment building and distract myself with the process of making my way to my apartment. When I reach my door and am ruffling through my purse for my keys, I tell myself that I'll just have to wait to hear whatever Theo had to tell me, for quite some time most likely, and that I really shouldn't allow for it to be deemed of any importance within the confusing landscape of my mind.

Once I find the right key and making my way into the apartment I find the lights are on and quickly assume that Jess is home. I drop all of my things in a bundle on the entry table and allow myself to relax now that I am finally within the walls of my home and it is the weekend.

"Jess, I'm home!" I call out into the emptiness, assuming she's hidden away in her room like she usually is without even having a chance yet to look around the living room for her.

"Hey Elle." a voice responds, which I immediately recognise is not Jess, surprisingly. I look up from my feet as I finish kicking my heels off, with instant comfort overwhelming them, and find Lexi waiting for me on my couch in her sweats and with a magazine laid across her lap as the TV plays quietly in the background. She gives me a timid wave as she lays the magazine aside and looks up at me with a childlike innocence resting behind what can only be described as puppy dog eyes.

"Lexi, this is a nice surprise. What are you doing here? I thought you were meant to come tomorrow." I say with an excited tone so it doesn't seem as though I'm not eager to see her, despite the clear surprise her presence has provided me with.

However, once I say these words and take in both her reaction and overall appearance I recognise that she doesn't seem to possess such an enthusiasm.

"Jess let me in on her way out for a date. I was planning to come tomorrow but then something came up and it made me want to see if you were free for some of that great sister bonding time we used to always have when were younger," she informs, quickly making me reminisce of the old days.

We would get together on a Friday night to catch up after a busy week and just have some alone time while we watched beloved chick flicks and binged on popcorn and chocolate. The thought of these memories makes me long for those simpler times and reminds me of just how much I could miss the constant presence of my little sister in my life.

"Jess told me you were out on a date but said that it'd be fine if I came in and just waited for you, that you wouldn't be too long. I hope you don't mind." she tells me, with a hopeless tone seemingly hanging onto each and every one of her words.

"Yeah Lex, that's completely fine," I reassure her, as I move to sit beside her, "Is everything okay?" I ask, eyebrows furrowed with worry at the sight of my sister clearly distressed.

"Not really." she answers despairingly as I catch sight of the multiple tissues sitting beside her and block of chocolate already half eaten.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask her.

"I will eventually but right now all I really want to do is watch some movies with you and eat a whole bunch of junk food that I really shouldn't, like we did in the old days. Can we do that?" she requests, equipped with an almost begging tone as her eyebrows are raised with a demoralised anticipation. The watery redness of her eyes, with the heavy bags rested below, are put on full display.

"Of course Lex, we can definitely do that." I assure her as I engulf her within my arms for a big, warm sisterly hug; overwhelming her tiny figure with mine.

As she skims over my DVD collection, which I still stored on the bookshelf beside the TV despite the invention of things like Netflix, and she whittles away our choices through the yes, no or maybe categories we would always create, I ponder over what could possibly have my sister in such a way.

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A few little question marks raised in this chapter. Does anyone have their suspicions?

Wanted to show a glimpse of the sisterly love between Ella and Lexi, some little habits and facts between the two of them which I base off of my own relationship with my sisters (definitely not the crushing on their boyfriends thing though lol).

Remember to vote/comment/share and thanks for reading!

TheFictionDreamer

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