(''Understanding'')

Korri POV

Ares and Apollo leave us alone on the porch.

It's high time I tell her.

"Lola," I see Ares in the window before he hides behind the curtains.

"I... I like it here."

"I know." She whispers. "You would rather hang out with him than me."

"That's not what it is."

But it does help that he's kinda cute.

"Then what is it?"

I smile sheepishly. "Look, Ann, Mom, Dad, everyone is... wrong. Okay? I-I- I just just can't go back there."

"You like like him and that's the only reason."

"NO!" But my cheeks still flare anyway.

"Eww," Lola says. "Sure, I understand that, like, sure, but eww."

I roll my eyes, and stand. "Welp, thanks for 'understanding.'"

She stands too. "What are sisters for?"

And for the first time in seven years, we hug each other.

It feels the same as it did when we were kids.

Sure, maybe it's stupid.

Maybe it's babyish.

But I missed it.

I missed being able to go to my sister for advice.

I missed... I missed her.

It's hard to believe we're still kids, after all this.

"Okay," I say. "Let's go get them, before they either start eavesdropping, or just get suspicious."

"Yeah."

Me and Lola walk up the porch's steps for the last time, and smile.

"Hey dummies," Lola calls. "We finished."

The boys come out and give us some mock-judgmental raised eyebrows.

"What did you talk about?" Apollo asks.

Lola and I share a secret smile, one that we used to have when we were kids.

"Just some famous last words." I say.

"Seriously?"

"Yup."

"Well, i-is this... Damn, I dunno what to say." Ares looks at me with what I believe is admiration.

"Well," he smiles shyly, "we should stay together at least one more night?"

We all agree.

We are all a little squeezed into the house.

It is built to only hold about three people, it could maybe hold five—one adult, one teenager, two toddlers and an infant, and it'd be a tight squeeze.

But three tweens and a fourteen year old—does that count as a teenager?—are not supposed to fit comfortably in here.

We all eat some of Ares's cooking, it seems odd that we hadn't eaten in two days.

But I can certainly feel everything catching up with me.

But, wow adrenaline, you got us goin' for a while.

We all go to our rooms—Lola's a bit dusty—and we all say goodnight.

And I wait for morning light to push the night away.