Think of your future [Taylor]

[Deleted]

It had been a.... rough few weeks. A roller coaster. She'd made amend with her best friend Kegan who she hadn't seen in so long, which was amazing. But then... Chaucer. Chaucer had walked into the shop, after six years of not knowing if he was alive, or if he hated her and Taylor, nothing. Six years of not knowing. To top it off, the other cashier had just quit a few days ago. Rosalie had been running the ice cream parlor since her father fell ill a year ago, but rarely had she ever been totally alone. There'd always been the other cashier. Now though? She was single handedly trying to keep the shop afloat. Alone. She wouldn't ask for help. Who could she even ask? Taylor was at school, her father was ill, her mother was taking care of her father, Kegan had enough on xyr plate as is. And Chaucer? Like hell she'd ever go to him for help! She hadn't been able to change her hair color for a week the last time she saw him! No, she'd manage to keep everything going by herself. She had to.

Last night had been a long, long night. She hadn't even gone home. She'd been doing inventory and paperwork. What was selling right now, what wasn't. What ingredients were they going through quickly, what ones were't they. Checking their profit and finances, how much money were they spending in each area. What they needed to make to keep afloat. Lots, and lots, of paperwork. Rosie spent hours working, late into the night and into the early morning. She'd go home when it was done. That didn't happen though. Around four that morning, after having worked the entire day and the entire night, exhaustion caught up with her and she fell asleep at the table.

Rosalie was still out cold when the side door, the one that only employees used, opened...

taylor

[Deleted]

Transporting themselves and their school trunk back home by way of the Floo Network, it hadn't hit Taylor that they wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts. Not even after they had reorganized their belongings in their bedroom did they feel the permanency of their decision, one that they hadn't discussed with their mother before going through with it. They hadn't wanted to disturb their parents by explaining what they had done, either. Both of them were asleep for once, and Taylor knew that their mother rarely got a chance to rest.

It was Rosalie, they felt, who needed to be the first to know that they had dropped out of Hogwarts. She needed that relief, although Taylor was left waiting for her to return home from the ice cream parlor. It shouldn't have taken her long; it was already nighttime, though Taylor grew increasingly worried as the hours ticked by without any sign of her.

If she was seeing anyone, they didn't know about it, and Rosalie wasn't the type to run off without a word. There were no notes from her anywhere that they could find, no reminders to their mother that she was going to be abnormally late in returning home.

The only other place that Taylor knew to check was the ice cream parlor itself. It had to have been the last place that she had been. If they could retrace her steps, they thought, perhaps they could figure out where she had gone. Having been dressed in their school robes, they changed into something that better fit how masculine they felt at the moment: a pair of jeans and a nondescript tee, pulling on a hooded sweatshirt over the top of it for added warmth. Instead of their school shoes, they slid on a pair of trainers, then—wand in hand—Disapparated away from their home.

Because of the hour, the sun wasn't yet up over Diagon Alley, and all Taylor could hear was the sound of their own thoughts. Fearfully, they worked quickly to unlock the employee entrance on the side of the building. They didn't know what they might find upon stepping inside, but they prepared themselves for the worst.

Taylor saw that the lights were still on, and nothing looked as though it had been stolen or otherwise damaged. The ice cream hadn't melted. They reached the seating area, holding their breath, and then felt their entire body relax. Rosalie had fallen asleep, apparently while in the middle of doing paperwork.

Gently, they walked over to her, making as little noise as possible. She must have been exhausted. They shook her shoulder and spoke at a whisper. “Rosalie. It's Taylor. Wake up.” Rosalie looked so peaceful that they felt bad for trying to wake her, but she needed the reassurance that she wouldn't have to burn herself out anymore.

@rosalie

[Deleted]

Rosalie had been dreaming. Of what things had been like before her father fell ill. Before everything became complicated. Before Chaucer came back and sent her mind reeling. Before all the murders started. Before she had to worry about if Taylor was in any danger and what she'd do if they were ever hurt. She could have kept dreaming if it were for someone softly shaking her shoulder and speaking.

Rosie inhaled deeply, starting to stir as her eyes fluttered. The first thing she noticed as she woke was how sore she was. Okay, falling asleep at a table was not a good idea. The next was that, despite the lights being on it was dark outside. It couldn't be morning. Finally she realized that someone had actually woken her, and that was someone was Taylor. She grumbled softly, raising her head just a little to rub her hands against her face, trying to wake herself up. "What time is it...?" She finally muttered, her grumbling turned into actual words as she finished sitting up in the chair and ran her fingers through her currently lime green hair to pull it away from her face.

That was when realization struck.

Taylor was supposed to be at school.

Her eyes widened as she looked at them. "Taylor! What are you doing here?" In the middle of the night.... morning... whatever time it was.

taylor

[Deleted]

They managed to rouse their sister, who dazedly asked them the time. Taylor knew that it had been after four o'clock by the time that they had gone in search of Rosalie, so it was likely close to five in the morning. She ran her fingers through her lime-colored hair and sat up, gradually becoming more and more aware of her being awake.

“Taylor! What are you doing here?”

Suddenly breaking the news to their sister that they had dropped out of school was one way to go about telling her, though Taylor was concerned that Rosalie might faint. Easing into it, especially since she was barely awake, seemed much kinder. They moved the chair across from Rosalie's so that it was, instead, beside the one in which she sat and settled into it as comfortably as they could.

“Well…” Slowly, Taylor began their explanation, bouncing their legs a bit. “I know you've needed help with the shop, so… I might have decided that you need me more than I need Hogwarts.” They inhaled. “I dropped out.” Saying it aloud removed the elephant from the room, but it didn't change that they had made their most significant decision yet without any input from her or their mother.

@rosalie

[Deleted]

It took a moment, but finally Rosalie realized that Taylor wasn't wearing their student uniform. Pushing her chair away from the table, she turned it so she could look at her sibling as they pulled up a chair next to her. It seemed to take them a moment to begin answering her question, and.... they seemed nervous? Rosie had always been pretty good at reading people and their body language. And the way Taylor sat there, legs bouncing and taking a moment to respond? Well, it was obvious to her that they were hesitating. So, she sat up in her chair more and rubbed her eyes once more, trying to get rid of the last bits of sleep from them before Taylor began their explanation.

Rosalie wasn't smiling, her eyebrows furrowing together in concern and.... almost sympathy. They'd dropped out of school. "Oh Taylor...." She just wanted to pull Taylor into a hug. Instead she leaned forward so she could rest her hand on their knee. "I'll always need you, you're important to me. But your education is important too."

taylor

[Deleted]

Perhaps it was because she wasn't yet fully awake. Perhaps she hadn't heard them, or perhaps she had thought that she was in the middle of a dream. Whatever the reason, Rosalie didn't seem angry with them, and Taylor was relieved. They knew that Rosalie hadn't wanted them to go back to Hogwarts, but their mother's reaction would be another story.

She had turned her chair to face them, and her first response was to rest her hand on their knee. It had been a significant decision for them, and Rosalie—as their sister—had every right to be concerned for them. Their education, she told them, was important, too.

“I know,” Taylor nodded. “But you can't run this place alone, Rosie.” She was overworked, and Taylor motioned towards the pile of paperwork upon which she had been resting her head to illustrate their point. “This isn't healthy.”

@rosalie

[Deleted]

Rosalie in this moment felt a slight wave of relief. She'd tried to convince Taylor not to return to Hogwarts for their seventh year. They wouldn't be the first one to not return either. With everything that was going on, quite a few students were not being home schooled by their parents. Why couldn't Taylor? They'd be safe then. Out of harms way. Of course, she didn't think her parents would approve at all. And heavens when Kegan found out... She couldn't keep Taylor being home a secret though. She'd have to tell xem. "Have you told Kegan...?"

As they mentioned her not being to run this place alone Rosie frowned. Her gaze followed her younger siblings gesture to the papers on the table. Papers she'd been using as a pillow up until they woke her up. Part of her knew Taylor was right. Another part though, the louder part, was still blind to her actions, and the consequences that would follow. "Oh, this. It's not as bad as it looks, I was just trying to finish up some finances. I lost track of time." She made it sound as if this never happened. As if it was a one time thing. It wasn't.

taylor

[Deleted]

“Have you told Kegan…?” Rosalie's first question wasn't much of a surprise. Kegan Lloyd was one of Rosalie's closest friends and someone who had become something of a mentor to Taylor. Xe would need to know that they had dropped out of Hogwarts, but that would have to wait.

“I haven't had the time,” Taylor explained. “I only got home a few hours ago.” They intentionally glossed over the fact that their parents didn't know what they'd done, either. They didn't want to drag Rosalie into that.

Their sister could barely keep her eyes open, though Taylor knew that she was trying her hardest to juggle everything that she had to do. She minimized her having fallen asleep, as though it were nothing. Taylor doubted that this had been the first time that it had happened, though. Rosalie had to make and serve ice cream for most of the day; she didn't have time to do much else—she didn't even have the time to take care of herself.

“You fell asleep,” they corrected her gently. “You're trying to do too much.” Rosalie hadn't had any choice in the matter, though, and Taylor knew that. Everything had fallen onto her shoulders. She wouldn't have time to go home and get any sleep, considering that it was already morning, but they could help.

“Here.” Taylor stood part of the way from their chair, grabbed the papers off of the top of the table, and sat back down to reorganize them in their lap. They were tired, too, although, being more awake than their sister, Taylor took it upon themselves to save Rosalie some work. “I'll finish this up for you. Do you want me to transfigure something into a pillow?”

@rosalie

[Deleted]

Only home a few hours... It made Rosalie wonder, why hadn't Taylor told them? Why hadn't they mentioned any of this in their letters? Had something else happened, or had they wanted to make sure no one tried to talk them out of it. They knew how Rosalie felt about it though, in a way Rosie relieved. She'd tried to convince Taylor to be home schooled for their seventh year during the summer and it hadn't worked. But now? How could she be mad at them for doing something she'd wanted? "You should have gone to bed then. You've probably had a long day." Had Taylor been waiting up for her? That made her feel guilty now. To be honest, she hand't been spending much time at home in general. There was a small apartment above the shop that they owned. There wasn't much furniture up there, but there was a couch. She'd crashed up there quite a few times, usually when it got late and she didn't want to disturb their parents.

Their explanation, about how she was trying to do too much, was dead on. She smiled just a little. She knew she'd been taking on a lot lately, a lot more then normal. And she knew it'd been hard, but someone had to do it. Before their father got sick, her parents had run the business and supported the family together. But now she had taken on the role of both. "It's alright, Taylor. I can handle it. It's just been a busy season." At least, that was what she kept telling herself. As Taylor took the papers, she blinked and raised both eyebrows. "Oh no, I can handle it!" She started to protest, but Taylor already had their hands on the paperwork. With a sigh she finally offered them a smile. "If you insist. Thank you, Taylor. Don't worry about a pillow, there's one upstairs." She stood up so she could place her hands on their cheeks and lightly kiss the top of Taylor's head. "I love you, Tay. Welcome home."

taylor
(end <3)