𝓣he Caswell-Bowen household was unusually empty for a Saturday morning. The only one still at home was Ricky, donning his favorite pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. His lacrosse stick was leaned up against the sliding door which led to their backyard. It was nine o'clock and he'd just rolled out of bed. His stepbrother had left for the gym two hours earlier, his stepdad was away on a business trip, and his mom was currently at a HIIT class with her friends.

The brunette rolled his shoulders and padded across the living room, switching on the news. He found the nasally drone of the news anchor oddly comforting, so this was part of his usual morning routine. Ricky absently glanced out the window, and furrowed his eyebrows as he noticed a moving truck parked outside of the Harris's house.

Juliet and Milo had lived there for the past six years and as far as he knew, the duo was perfectly happy in Salt Lake. After all, he and Milo were friends and he figured Milo would've told him if they were moving.

His curiosity got the better of him, so he made his way onto the back deck and tried to make sense of the scene unfolding in front of him. He watched as a tall, muscular man climbed out of the back of the moving truck, easily picking up five boxes at a time.

He saw an auburn haired girl climb out of the driver's side of a white jeep, dressed in a pair of white overalls and a pale green top underneath. She pushed up her glasses and began to make her way across the front lawn.

Milo appeared a few seconds later and the girl let out a shriek, as he crushed her in a hug. Then just as quickly as he'd pulled her in, he shoved her away.

He turned around and grabbed a couple of boxes, shouting something at the mystery girl. She merely shook her head before following him into the house.

Ricky titled his head to the side, as he racked his mind for any information Milo would've possibly given away in regards to the mystery girl.

Last he'd checked, Harris had never mentioned anything about a sister. Right?

˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗

𝓐delaide was used to being stuck in her older brother's shadow. She'd grown up listening to people sing his praises and no matter how many times she told them she was nothing like Milo, it still disappointed them when she fell short of their unreasonable expectations of her. Adelaide wasn't an athlete, and she lacked her brother's charm. She wasn't perfectly put together like he was; she stammered when she got nervous and her face turned red when she was face with any minor inconvenience. Words didn't come out the way she wanted them to, and the more anxious she got, the worse it all came out.

So, it was safe to say returning to Salt Lake was easily one of the worst decisions she'd ever made. Although, in all fairness, it hadn't truly been her decision. Her dad had to move because of his job and he told her it'd be smarter for her to move back in with her mom.

You're headed off to college soon, why move halfway across the world only to move back two years later?

He was right. Adelaide hated that he was right. It wasn't that she had a problem with her mom or her brother, she just couldn't imagine going back to the dynamic that existed whenever she was there. She spent her summers in Salt Lake and they always dragged on for what felt like eternity. Her brother and his friends would come and go as they pleased, occasionally choosing to torment her purely for the fun of it. They would pull dumb pranks on her, laughing when she'd yell at them and tell them they were being immature.

Yet, she still found herself standing in front of her mom's house with her arms full of boxes. Her brother was unloading more boxes from the back of the moving truck, grunting as he was handed the heaviest box.

His complaints didn't go unnoticed, Juliet came up and smacked the back of his head. He whirled around to look at his mom but she just innocently smiled.

"Stop moping."

Milo rolled his eyes but that only earned him another smack on the back of his head. He scowled at his mom and hurried past her, headed for the stairs. He wasn't going to risk another slap to the back of his head. He knew better than to test his mom.

"Yo sis, get outta my way or I'll drop this box on your foot. No regrets."

The brunette carefully shook the box for added effect, smiling smugly as his sister dashed away from him. A startled yelp escaped her mouth, as she hurried out of the room.

Milo had missed having his sister around. He'd sooner die than willingly admit this to himself or anyone else, but it was true nonetheless. I mean, who else was he supposed to tease and push around? His sister was the perfect victim. Milo took full advantage of the fact they were siblings, as an excuse to constantly torment her.

After setting the box on the hardwood floor, wincing at the loud boom that echoed through the room, Milo looked around the once empty room. The walls were a freshly painted dusty pink, much to his disbelief, (his sister had never been a big fan of pink) and the floors had been moped and vacuumed, varnished even, so they would look new and shiny.

Adelaide hadn't even officially been in Salt Lake for a half hour yet, and she already had small touches of her scattered around the room. There was a pile of neatly rolled posters on her bed, and a soft, fluffy, rug that had been haphazardly flung on the floor.

"So, are you just gonna stand there or are you going to make yourself useful?"

The brunette glanced over his shoulder, a scowl making its way onto his face. Adelaide leveled an unimpressed look in his direction, eyebrows raised as she waited for him to answer her.

"I'll count to ten. If you value your life, then I'd suggest you mosey on out."

Milo let out a disbelieving scoff, reaching out to shove his sister's shoulder. It wasn't a gentle push and he knew it. If she thought she was capable of injuring him, well, he'd show her she most certainly was not.

The redhead barely moved, and she grinned as soon as she noticed how much this bothered him. She didn't bat an eye when he shoved her again, choosing instead to let out a bored yawn.

"In case you forgot, my best friends back home are a group of triplets. Three brothers."

Milo vaguely remembered hearing about the triplets, his sister often mentioned them in their weekly facetime calls, but he wasn't sure who was who. He also didn't know much about them, aside from the fact they made youtube videos in their spare time.

"So? Is that supposed to be a threat?"

Adelaide just grinned innocently, before she punched her brother's arm. Hard. He yelped, due to a mixture of pain and surprise.

"Consider that a warning. Now, either help me move this stuff around or beat it."

Her brother hesitated, as if he was weighing his options. Eventually, he reluctantly agreed to help her. He warily glanced over at his sister, making sure he was just out of reach at all times. He wasn't about to tempt fate and risk getting hit again.

It was becoming abundantly clear to Milo that his kid sister had grown up. And it was a little unnerving to realize the girl standing in front of him was basically a stranger.

Sure, she was his sister, but when he only saw her three out of the twelve months of the year, drifting apart became sort of inevitable.

He shook his head and headed back down the stairs, silently vowing to bridge the gap between him and his sister.

Even though he'd never admit it, deep down, Milo Harris was a good brother. And he wasn't about to let Adelaide forget that.

𝖦 𝖲𝖯𝖤𝖠𝖪𝖲 ༊*·˚
— 🍒 💌 🌿

𝗂𝗍'𝗌 𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗉𝖾𝗇𝗂𝗇𝗀! 𝗀𝖾𝗍 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝗒 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗅𝖺𝗂𝖽𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗋𝗂𝖼𝗄𝗒 𝗍𝗈 𝗆𝖾𝖾𝗍! 𝗌𝗉𝗈𝗂𝗅𝖾𝗋 𝖺𝗅𝖾𝗋𝗍, 𝗂𝗍'𝗌 𝖺 𝗆𝖾𝖾𝗍 𝖼𝗎𝗍𝖾 𝗀𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗐𝗋𝗈𝗇𝗀!

𝗀𝗈𝗍𝗍𝖺 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝗋𝗂𝖼𝗄𝗒 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗄𝗇𝖺𝖼𝗄 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗌𝖺𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝗋𝗈𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗌𝗍 𝗉𝗈𝗌𝗌𝗂𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾. 𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗂𝖽𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗈𝖿 𝖺𝗐𝗄𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖽 𝖾𝗇𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗌!