The Foreigner

Chapter 8: Costumes 'R' Us

A/N: Image above is of Dylan O'brien who portrays Jayce

Anita lay in her bed frustrated. It had been hours and still sleep escaped her. She could hear the harsh winds against her window, the moonlight placing a dim glow around her room.

She gazed around, it was just as much of a dishevelled mess as she could remember, with clothes and books sprawled across the carpeted floor, the high wooden ceilings collecting dust and the dent in the wall.

The dent had gotten their by complete accident and seeing it was making Anita feel extremely uncomfortable.

It was about a year ago when she had just come back from celebrating her friend's birthday. She hadn't had too much to drink but somehow she had managed to bring home a girl and a guy. They were a couple who were celebrating their three year anniversary and had wanted to do something special.

Apparently that special something was a threesome.

The night prolonged to the three of them getting undressed and the man was a tad too excited, so had chucked his shoes off so hard that they had made a dent in the wall.

Anita stared at the slight hole in the wood, an uneasy shiver running up her spine. Disgusted at herself. She wanted to get out there.

As she was about to pull off the comforter from her bed, there was a creak at her bedroom door. Hugo walked in with tear stained eyes. "Anita?" He sniffled, seeing her sitting up in bed.

Anita could see the pain etched on his face. His quivering lip made her heart ache. "Oh Hugo. Come here."

Her younger brother plodded towards Anita, taking a seat next to her. "What hurts?" She asked, hating seeing him in pain.

"Everywhere." He sniffled once again, trying to hold in his tears.

As terrible as it sounded, Anita was thrilled to have something to do to get her mind off of her discomfort. "Alright, just lay down and I'll take care of everything."

Anita didn't think she had ever moved so fast in her life. She made Hugo lay on his back without the comforter so as to avoid weight on his collarbone, she went down the corridor to grab an ice pack, hand towel and a bowl.

She returned to her room to hear Hugo whimpering to himself. "I'm here Hughie. I'm here." She said, trying to calm him down.

Taking a guess at where he was most in pain, Anita placed the ice pack on his chest. He flinched at first, but as he climatised to the cold, he let out a low sigh. Anita slowly dipped the hand towel into the cold water she had brought and dabbed it on his forehead, he was burning up.

Last but not least Anita went to the base of the bed and began massaging her brother's feet. Ever since they were small, this little gesture always seemed to relax the twins. To distract him even further from his pain, Anita began to softly sing his favourite French lullaby.

After a few minutes, after Hugo had stopped wriggling around and lay still, his whimpers began to dissipate and after another ten minutes Anita was happy to hear the soft snores of her brother.

She let out a low sigh of her own. She hadn't had to do that to Hugo in years, but there was a method to her madness. Given her brothers were naturally daredevil-ish, they tended to be prone to injury. Anita had become quite the make-shift nurse to her siblings and she had perfected her relaxation method. It had taken years, but it was effective.

Unfortunately, Anita's weekend with her brothers had come to an end. She was standing on the wooden porch outside their family cabin about to head back to the airport.