𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎;
ALMOST

— REESE LOGAN STARED AT the house with disdain; Elizabeth's house was nothing like her old home back in Minnesota. Not only was it substantially bigger than the one on Sunrise Street, but it looked like a cutout from an interior design magazine. There were hardly any pictures and no personal items left lying around, all surfaces were completely void of dust and the furniture could have been a prop from how unused it seemed. The house looked empty, and that bothered Reese more than it should have. Not that she could show it.

"Sorry the house is a mess," Elizabeth's jade eyes narrowed as she spotted some left over dust on the marble counter tops. "Jillian doesn't work Thursdays."

"It's fine," Reese assured her, wanting to ask what Elizabeth thought a mess was, and placed the box she'd been carrying on the floor, turning to explore her new living quarters. Annmarie and Taylor trailed behind her, their little bodies wrapped in over sized fluffy blankets, their eyelids hooded and threatening to snap shut at any minute. Even though they were about to pass out, their dark eyes watched Reese's expressions carefully; they were thrust into a new home, in a new state with a woman who had met them when they were babies — not that they remembered that. Reese was more aware of how she reacted around them, if she looked worried they would cry; if she seemed angry, they would cry; if she did anything besides smile, they would cry. So, Reese plastered as good of a smile as she could manage on her face and pretended to be thrilled at their new living arrangements. Annmarie and Taylor followed their sister's example, beginning to venture around the living room and placed their stuffed dog and cat plush toys Elizabeth had bought them at a rest stop in Montana on the stiff couch. Poppy seemed to be just as exhausted as the children, and curled up under the coffee table to sleep.

"Where are their rooms?" Reese asked Elizabeth when the woman kicked the front door shut behind her and placed the remaining box on the kitchen floor. "They're tired, it's been a long ride."

Elizabeth's green eyes flickered over to the twins who were laying on the plush carpet, little snores escaping their mouths. "It's on the second floor, just passed the bathroom. They'll have to share, the only other room is my office and I wasn't expecting —"

Elizabeth cut herself off just in time, but Reese knew what she was going to say: she wasn't expecting for her sister to die and have three children come live with her. Reese didn't blame the woman for the near slip up, the eldest Logan understood that it was hard for her aunt. Elizabeth had lost her only sibling very suddenly, there was no adjustment time. Reese could understand.

"It's fine," Reese said instead, not wanting Elizabeth to grown any more uncomfortable. "They usually slept in the same bed anyway. The others room just held clothes. Don't worry about it."

Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief and Reese carefully lifted Annmarie off of the floor, the little girl's arms wrapping around her neck as she rested her head on Reese's shoulder. Reese brought her upstairs, helping her sister under the blankets on the soft mattress — much bigger than the one she had back home. The room was nice enough, the walls were a shade of key lime green with paintings of butterflies and other childish things on them, Reese didn't doubt that Elizabeth had paid someone to draw it because from what she knew of her aunt, the woman didn't seem to have an artistic bone in her body — Mallory had gotten that particular trait. There was a fuzzy green rug on each side of the bed, and two chests pushed into the corner for their clothes. Reese didn't doubt that her siblings would love the room. 

Reese turned to leave the room to retrieve Taylor and was surprised to find her aunt awkwardly holding him like she would a newborn. Reese almost laughed. Almost.  "Just put him next to her," Reese directed, and Elizabeth followed her order cautiously placing the little boy beside his sister, Poppy was right behind Elizabeth and leaped onto the bed curling up close to Annmarie's feet.

The two exited quietly, trying not to wake them up. The twins were taking the loss of their parents rather terribly — which was expected — and every moment that they spent awake was another few hours of them crying for their mommy and daddy. Reese loved them more than anything in the world, but she was quickly growing sick of being the designated tear-stopper. Elizabeth had been useless in calming them down the entire ride, which drove Reese nuts. She wanted to cry too, but her siblings needed her so the teens emotions were placed on the back burner — something that was bound to bite her in the ass eventually.

After they closed the door to the twins' room, Elizabeth directed Reese to her own room that was positioned at the end of hall. She quickly left, leaving Reese to look around on her own. The walls were painted a pretty pale blue — Reese's favorite color— that was enhanced nicely by the pearly white trims. Her bedspread matched the room perfectly, the dark blue duvet creating a nice contrast to the lightness of the room. Elizabeth had been kind enough to completely furnish the room with an expensive looking bureau and a matching nightstand. Hanging on the wall was a television, that had a stack of movies neatly placed under it, Reese examined them realizing that some of them were her favorites and wondered who Elizabeth talked to to figure that out. Across from the TV was a large desk that was positioned perfectly in a corner beside the closet, the top of it decorated with a new computer and landline. Reese was sure her room cost more than the mortgage of her old house.

Attached to her room was an equally astonishing bathroom — this was the most exciting part; Reese had never had her own bathroom before. The theme of blue continued with the sea breeze shower curtain and matching rug, but the walls were a pretty tan almost like the sand at a beach. The sink was surrounded by an aesthetically pleasing marble top that had a bag of hair products and simple hygiene items in it. Hovering above the sink was a mirror that took up the entire wall, and Reese didn't like the fact that the illuminating lights showcased her dark circles and sadness more than usual. She quickly fled the bathroom.

Reese tossed her box on the bed, and began unpacking her limited belongings. Her lack of clothing was enunciated due to the sheer size of the bureau, so Reese decided to hang her clothes up in the closet, figuring that wouldn't remind her that she lost pretty much everything to the fire — everything including her parents. On the floor though was the only indication that someone lived in the house besides the Logans; a photo album was sitting on the floor with the words Elizabeth & Richard's Wedding 1999 in a pretty gold loopy font. Reese winced, and proceeded to toss it on the stop shelf in her new closet figuring her aunt wouldn't miss it much considering the lack of a man in the house.

Elizabeth had been kind enough to buy her some school supplies, and had set them neatly on her desk. Reese didn't want to start school. Not because she was afraid she wouldn't make any friends — friends were the least of her concerns — but it was mostly due to the fact that she didn't want to leave Annmarie and Taylor; they were still struggling with not having their parents and often through fits when they got upset, screaming for Mallory and Paul. Reese didn't know if a teacher could handle that. There was also that Reese just didn't want to have to deal with introductions. She could practically picture it: Reese Logan; new girl, total bitch and new orphan. She would probably make the school paper. Lovely.

Reese groaned and dropped onto her bed, the foam mattress melting around her body. She pressed her hands to her eyes, trying to stop the burn of the tears that were desperate to fall. Reese didn't want to cry. Crying didn't make her feel any better, it just made her miss when her mother would brush the tears off her cheeks and tell her that it was only a bad day, not a bad life. Well, jokes on her Reese thought, because it was a bad life now. At almost seventeen she'd not only lost the two people she loved more than life but gained the biggest responsibility of all time: taking care of her siblings. Reese was still a child and now had two six year old children to watch over and care for. Children who cried for their mother in their sleep.

"Fuck me," Reese muttered, brushing the tears away quickly. "Stop crying, you're not sad."

Reese was lying, obviously. Of course she was fucking sad. How could she not be? If she wasn't then that was cause for some help, because she's pretty sure that would make her some kind of sociopath — which she wasn't. A wail from the twins' room made Reese's emotions dive back down into the depths of her chest — a place she couldn't feel it — as she threw open her door and jogged down the hall to see what was going on. In their room, Annmarie was sitting up on the bed sobbing hysterically. Fat tears rolled down her chubby cheeks and Poppy — ever the sweetheart — was licking them off. Taylor's lower lip was quivering and Reese saw the water building up, waiting for the right moment to fall.

"What's wrong?" Reese asked softly, not wanting to stress them out. "Ann, honey, why are you crying?"

"I saw mommy," she wailed into Poppy's fur. "She was in my dream, but mommy wasn't here when I woke up!"

Reese climbed into the bed, wrapping an arm around both of her siblings letting them curl into her sides. She stroked their hair as the cried, begging Reese to bring them back. Taylor told Reese that he would give her his new toy soldier if she would make mommy and daddy come back. The teenager wanted nothing more that to do what they asked, but this wasn't Pet Semetary, she couldn't just bring her parents back. No matter how much she wanted to, Reese didn't have that power. No one did.

"Listen to me," Reese started, making her little siblings look up at her with their watery, identical honey brown eyes. "I can't bring mommy or daddy back, not even my big sister magic can't do that. But what I can do is give you pictures of them, and you can pretend that mommy and daddy are here when you dream about them."

Annmarie sniffled and nodded, Taylor mimicking her movements. "Okay, Reesey."

Reese squirmed out from between them, and held out her hands for them to hold as they traveled to Reese's room where the shoe box of memories was placed. The twins sat down on her bed, Poppy jumping up with them and placing her head on Taylor's lap nuzzling against him. Reese plucked out the few pictures that didn't have soot or burn makers and showed them to Annmarie and Taylor.

"Whose that?" Annmarie asked, pointing a finger at a baby Mallory was holding, a large smile on her face.

"That's you," Reese told her, pulling the little girl onto her lap and giving her cheeks wet kisses until she was smiling. "When you were first born."

"Me?" Annmarie echoed, her eyes wide as she carefully took the picture into her own hands. "I was so small!"

"Yes, you were," Reese agreed, remembering the day she first saw the twins and not believing how tiny they were.

"Did mommy love me?" Ann asked, staring up at Reese.

Reese was floored; she didn't know where Annmarie would come up with anything life that. "Of course she loved you! Why would you ask that?"

Annmarie pointed at the tears on Mallory's cheeks. "She's crying. I cry when I'm sad. Was mommy sad?"

"No, sweetheart," Reese held her tightly, clearing the emotion out of her throat. "Those are happy tears, she was so, so happy when you and Taylor were born."

"I want a picture too!" Taylor piped up, looking away from Poppy at the mention of his name. "Can I have a picture?"

Reese smiled at him. "Which one do you want?"

Taylor started at the pile intently, his chubby hands picking one up and then putting it back down before finally finding the one he wanted. It was a picture of all of them; Paul's good friend had rented a beach house in Old Orchard Beach and the whole family had been able to go. The girls were wearing matching floral dresses, and Paul and Taylor had on khakis and a pale blue blouse. They were all smiling brightly, the sea breeze blowing their hair around so they all looked a little funny, but they were happy. Usually, Mallory took all the pictures, but one of couples urged the woman into the photo and Reese was grateful for that.

"Good choice," Reese nodded, and Taylor clutched the image to his chest.

A knock on the door made the siblings glance up, finding their aunt looking at them. Elizabeth clicked her tongue and tapped the door with her perfectly manicured nails. She shuffled her feet uncomfortably. It was obvious that the women had no idea how to act around her nieces and nephew.

"So," Elizabeth cleared her throat, speaking up after a moment. "How's pizza sound? There's a really good place down the road."

"Yay, pizza!" The twins cheered, and Poppy got excited too — feeding off of their energy.

"Sounds good," Reese attempted a smile, but her lips didn't move very far.

"Um, whenever you're ready-"

"We can go now," Reese cut her aunt off quickly, wanting nothing more than to get out of the stuffy house and stop looking at photos that made her sad, but she felt a little ball of guilt rise up in her gut when she saw Elizabeth's shoulders sink. "I'm just really hungry."

"Alright," Elizabeth let out an uncomfortable chuckle and motioned for the trio to follow her downstairs, saying something about how it was one of the best places in town — although Reese assumed it was the only place in town — and that a lot of kids Reese's age work at there and maybe she'd make some friends. Reese highly doubted that. She wasn't pleasant on a good day, and after having lost her family her emotions were on the highway to fuck knows where, so if she were a betting woman she'd place her chips in the unlikely to befriend people pile.

Reese, Annmarie and Taylor trailed after their aunt, watching as Elizabeth grabbed a set of keys from inside the ceramic bowl — she seemed like the type to do that — that were placed on a nice oak stand conveniently beside the door. The cool air the outdoors provided was a nice change to the overheated house. The abundance of trees made for fresh air that reminded her of home. The sun was just sinking below the mountains, the sky taking on a pretty pinkish-purple tint that enunciated the moon that was slowly rising along with the thousand of stars that followed it. Reese was glad Elizabeth didn't live in a city, she wouldn't be able to handle the lack of fresh air and the sky clouded with pollution.

The drive to Pop's Pizza — as Elizabeth had called it — was pretty quick, but that was expected in a town as small as Forks with everything just off the highway. They had passed the high school along the way, Elizabeth pointing out the mustard yellow and green writing on a large wood sign. Reese gagged. The teen opened her mouth to ask if it was too late for homeschooling when they pulled into the parking lot. It was a small place with bright neon orange letters above the entrance, and a cartoon pizza slapped on the front window. It was dainty and Reese decided that she liked it.

The twins were bouncing up and down, filled with excitement. Reese almost smiled at them. Almost. It was quite a change from how they'd been only a half an hour earlier, crying loudly about their dead parents. The odd family pushed open the double doors, getting with the scent of cooking dough and melting cheese, Reese let out happy sigh. She missed pizza. Before the twins were born, Paul and Mallory used to take Reese out for pizza every Friday night, but it got more expensive to feed the five of them so instead of every Friday, it changed to one Friday a month.

The entire place reminded Reese of a coming of age 1980's movie, what with the plastic maroon covered booths and checkerboard floors. There was a breakfast bar where slices were served, and milkshakes being made in the corner. There was one girl waiting on the customers, her forehead was beaded with sweat as she scrambled from one booth to another, carrying pizza's on both arms.

"You can seat yourselves," a woman handing out slices by the counter called to them. "Flynn will get you."

The blonde girl — apparently named Flynn — nodded at them, although Reese could tell she wasn't too happy about dealing with more people. Elizabeth didn't seem to notice — or care — that the diner was understaffed and there was probably another place they could get food, and directed them to a booth that looked out into the parking lot.

Across the street, there was a laundromat and a hardware store but not much else. Reese wondered if Elizabeth would make her get a job so soon, but even if she did there was clearly a need for employees here. Reese pondered over how different that week would have been had Mallory and Paul still been alive. She probably would have aced her biology test and come home to a cupcake on the counter and they'd all celebrate. They'd play music — Tequila Sunrise was always requested because it had their street name in the lyrics — and sing and dance and just be happy. It was amazing how quickly life could change.

"Welcome to Pop's Pizza," the girl's fast talking startled Reese who hadn't been paying attention. "My name's Flynn and I'll be taking care of you tonight. What can I get you to drink?"

"Lemonade!" Annmarie and Taylor shouted at her in sync.

Flynn nodded, writing something down on her notepad. "Pink or regular?"

The twins shared a look, before coming to an agreement. "Pink."

Flynn nodded and turned to Reese. "And you?"

"Water's fine," Reese attempted a smile, but failed miserably.

"Same here," Elizabeth chimed in, and Flynn jotted that down.

"Do you guys know what you're having or do you need a minute?"

They'd already discussed it on the ride there: Annmarie and Taylor only ate cheese and Reese would eat whatever they ate, Elizabeth liked mushrooms and sausage  — just like Mallory. They repeated it back to Flynn who scribbled that down, and quickly jumped over to the booth beside them, telling the couple that their pie would be out in a second. Reese slumped back against the cushion, listening to Annmarie tell Elizabeth that they would save the crust for Poppy because she would like pizza too and just the way the little girl talked about her pet was almost enough to make Reese laugh. Almost.

Reese felt the tears well up in her eyes and excused herself to the ladies room, where she locked the door behind her. She stared at her reflection, the shell of her staring back. Reese still looked the same; she still had pretty green eyes and sharp features, her hair was still short and choppy and she still looked like Mallory, but something was off. There was no joy in her green eyes or smile on her lips. She looked like Reese and sounded like Reese, but she wasn't Reese. Reese Logan didn't almost laugh or almost smile, Reese Logan was a happy girl — as she'd always been told.

A knock coming from outside the door was the only thing that made the teenager look away from the sad excuse of a reflection. She tossed some water on her face, and pulled the door open sending the stranger an apologetic glance. When she returned to the table, Elizabeth sent her a worried look, as if she knew that Reese wasn't okay — not that Reese would ever admit that, because admitting that she wasn't fine meant that she would have to deal with her emotions, and she couldn't do that.

"You alright?" Elizabeth asked when Reese took her spot against the wall.

"I'm fine," Reese lied, giving her aunt a stare that told her not to push it.

"You're sure?"

Reese almost broke down. Almost. "Totally," she went back to staring out the window, telling herself that she was fine. That she was dealing with this. She was handling it. Reese almost believed herself.

authors note: i love writing reese and she's honestly my best character,,,also thank yOU SO MUCH TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO VOTED ON THIS RECENTLY I LOVE YOU GUYS !!!!!! and cue the usual thanks to my best friend kara,,sorry for bugging you with all my ideas but ily bby :*