Hanna Novack

“That’s actually a really good idea. Taking care of a baby is enough to drive anyone crazy. I’ll need something to focus on while I’m taking care of this little one. I’ll have my hands full but my ears will be free to listen,” Mara joked. “A CD player? Now that is old school! Do they even make those anymore?” She was teasing of course. The stereo her father got her for graduating high school was still one of her most treasured possessions. “Les Miserables is one of the books on my ‘to read’ list. I have yet to get to it though. I think the size of it is just too daunting! The musical though? Now that is one of the few musicals that I actually enjoyed.” Maybe that would be one of the audiobooks she would get to keep her entertained while she stayed home with this little one. “I take that as a no to learning a new language. Nothing wrong with that. It is a hard thing to do after all.” And it just got harder the older you got.

“True. I guess things will never go back to normal once you have a baby. At least it won’t go back to the way my life used to be. I’ll just have to make a new normal. I’m just happy that my ankles will stop being swollen and I’ll finally be able to sleep on my back again.” It was the little things Mara was looking forward to. Like not going to the doctor every other week. “Evan is this baby’s father. He and I are co-parenting this kid but for now I’m staying with him since he doesn’t want me on my own in case something happens.”

“I think maybe so, unless it’s screaming it’s head off obviously, then you won’t be able to hear the audiobook.” Hanna shrugged, speaking entirely bluntly as she did so often, because it was no secret that babies didn’t really understand when their parent was trying to listen to something or do something that didn’t involve them. “Oh well, some older people who come into the store still buy them, they like having the tangible thing to put on, because iPhones or whatever are confusing to them.” The blonde explained, knowing they had at least five regulars who would come in every couple of weeks to pick up a new ‘book’ aka CD of a book. She was forever ordering new ones for them because their grandchildren had told them there was a book they absolutely had to read. She wasn’t sure The Hobbit was really Mrs Clifton’s kind of book, but when she was at work she did what she was told. “You absolutely must read it, I will order it in for you if you want? Maybe just a chapter every so often when the baby sleeps, there is no race to get through it.” Looks who was talking, Hanna read like it was a competitive sport sometimes, racing through books at great speed. “Do you like musicals then? I mean in general?” She shook her head again, smiling softly. “I’m teaching myself Russian, but I didn’t get to learn one at school, I wish I had.” She’d made no secret of that in her life either.

“Your new normal will be with a baby, seems like a big change.” She didn’t understand how the blonde could be so calm in the face of something that life altering, but then again Hanna had no idea what was going on inside her head. Maybe she was internally freaking out. “You can’t sleep on your back?” Eyebrows raising, she was learning more by the second apparently. “Oh I see, that makes sense, it’s probably good to have someone around incase you like….” She motioned a kind of hand movement, meant to signal giving birth but not really coming closing. “So he can help and stuff right?” For someone so smart, Hanna could really be stumped by some of the most simple things.

location; outside asteria pd with; @hannanovack​ - closed

There were a lot of things that Asher did well in life but parking was truly not one of them. He had more parking tickets than anyone he’d ever met. And after paying his most recent one that morning he’d decided to pop in say hello to Officer Reyes before heading out to go grab some lunch. He was standing outside with his phone in his hand, tapping his thumb against the side of it as he tried to decide who he was going to invite to eat with him when he spotted a blonde who looked lost. He wasn’t usually one to speak to strangers, his nerves rarely allowed for that, but he felt bad that she seemed to not know what was going on around her. “Hi…can I uh, can I help you find something?” Asher paused, taking a step towards her. “Sorry, not to be weird, you just look lost.”

Hanna had been in town for almost two months at this point and although it wasn’t the worlds biggest place she was having a hard time finding her way around today. All the little streets had started to blur into one and with a baffled expression she was turning in circles blinking slowly. She knew she’d seen this street before but…god what was the name of it again? Normally she’d just look at the street signs but for some reason she couldn’t see one of those right this second either. Hearing a voice speak to her she jumped visibly, spinning to look at the man the voice had just come from with wide eyes. “Oh…I uh….no I just…” Lapsing into silence she tucked some hair behind her ears, swallowing to try and diminish the panic that was ever present in her chest when she was speaking to someone new, especially a male. “What street is this?” She finally blurted out.

“I’m definitely sure. Come on in.” once Hanna had made her way into Tj’s apartment, the man closed the front door and walked her into the main area of his home, which was basically an open living area with the kitchen, dining and lounge rooms combined. “You think so?” Tj couldn’t help but smile when Hanna said that Arielle looked like him. It wasn’t the first time someone had told him this, but he’d never get tired of hearing it. “Oh right!” he stopped in his tracks the second he realised this was the first time Hanna was actually meeting his daughter and walked over to Hanna. “Hanna, this is Arielle. Arielle, this is Hanna.” he took his daughter’s tiny hand in his own and held it out gently as if the baby was offering a handshake. “Yeah, I’m in the same boat. Been home all day today— I’m in desperate need of some grown up time too. I was half tempted to call up the local pizza place and order some food just so I could have a two minute chat with another person.” the blond joked. In all seriousness though, sometimes Tj felt like he was going crazy without someone to talk to. Or maybe it wasn’t crazy he was feeling. Maybe it was just loneliness? After all, he’d spent the last three and a half years living with his ex-wife. Now he was on his own. It was a big change for the blonde. “Well let me know when you’re working next and I’ll come bother you for some books. Might bring Ari in for a visit too. It’ll be nice getting out of the apartment and exploring my hometown a bit.” he explained with a small smile, shifting Ari from one arm to the other while Hanna showed him the book she’d gotten her. “I already know she’s going to absolutely love this book just from the cover.” he started, taking the book to get a better look at it. “My Very Own Fairy Tale…how cute is that. Thank you for this.”

“Yeah, for sure, hi sweetie.” Tentatively the blond reached forward to take the little girls’ hand gently, giving it a tiny shake as she giggled. It was a surreal thing to be doing because… well you didn’t shake hands with a baby. Still it was adorable, her temperament seemed so chilled it was helping but the blonde at ease as well. “You not great chat for your dad then? We need to work on that. I’ll teach you all about books so you guys can have big conversations.” Obviously she was joking…kind of, it felt easier to chat to this tiny person who was just blinking at her with her large eyes because there was no threat from her. Hell she could only just about hold her own head up so she wasn’t going to call Hanna out or anything. “I know the feeling, well sort of, when I need grown up time I just read my books because there is always a lot of grown up conversation in them. Oh that reminds me…” Dipping into her canvas bag she pulled out a copy of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and held it out to him. “I just finished this one and thought you might like it, trust me there is a lot of adult conversation in it. Although you could do worse than read it to Arielle when she’s going to sleep, if you can play baby’s Mozart to help educate them faster then why not read them bestsellers too? I would have loved that when I was little.” As if he would remember. Obviously hanna had a tiny fraction of memories from her early childhood just like everyone else, but she did remember when her brother used to come into her fort tents with her to read her books, sometimes the ones she’d chosen and other times making up stories based on the pictures within them of his own accord. Either way she’d loved every second of it. It had probably helped her get so into the art of storytelling from such a young age. “Please do, it won’t even be a slight bother. WE have a really good kids section, you could show her all kinds of books. And I can show you some of my favourite books we have in the store as well!” She was getting enthusiastic about it now, eyes starting to shine brightly a she chatted away to the older male, smiling genuinely. “I really hope she loves it! I thought it would be a good one to get her started because you can show her that anyone can be in a fairy tale and that a fairy tale is what you make it, not what it is made to be in all the other books. Not that they aren’t great, I love a classic fairytale but still…”

“No worries if you are not professional,” Mark simply stated knowing his family.  All of them were nice, but a bit out there in his own opinion.  Then again, it’s hard not to be somewhat odd when you grew up on a hippie commune.  “You’re too kind and I know we are our own worst critic, but I think you also have to know your limitations.”  He nodded, “I think you should.  The concept is great if you like Sci Fi kind of things and it is a very inclusive show, representing a variety of people.”  For Mark, he was fortunate to grow up with siblings who did not look like him and really open his mind and heart.  He handed his credit card to run through the machine as they continued to discuss things.  Even though Mark prided himself on being intelligent, his eyes tended to wander and part of the time he thought with his head downstairs and right now was one of those moments as he looked her over.  “No, I don’t feel obligated at all.  I would love to see you again.  Here is my number,” he reached out for one of the pens and wrote it down on an extra piece of paper.  “See you around.”  He told her as he gave her a wink.

Pressing her lips together she nodded, smiling softly at him. “I will, I will have a watch, thank you.” It wasn’t so much that she liked Sci Fi it was more that Hanna never knew what she liked until she had consumed the material for herself. Some of the books she had enjoyed most weren’t from her ‘classic’ type of genre but that was what made them fun, surprising every time. “Thanks, I’ll give you a call for sure…or a text…or sometimes … I would love to speak to you more about your writing.” Shut up Hanna, shut the hell up. “See you around…” She murmured as he winked at her, forcing herself to give a small wave before she ducked into the back of the store behind the curtain that separated the employee section from the main room, processing that she had just met an actual real life selling author.

…

“Great.” Aimee smiled as she leaned against the counter, watching her type away on the computer. “Um, maybe a mystery or something. I have been thinking about reading my first romance novel.” She confessed. “I’ve never been the romantic type but… I have been thinking about reading something with a happy ending lately.”

“You’ve never read a romance novel? Well i’m a sucker for a happy ending. You could go with a classic choice obviously. Pride and Prejudice being one of them, well anything by Jane Austin. Or Gone with the Wind is another. The Princess Bride too, I don’t know if you’ve seen the film but a lot of people don’t know that there is actually a book too by William Goldman.” Clicking away on the computer as she talked the girl checked to see if they actually had the ones she was mentioning in stock, finding she had them all. 

 Landon looked at the female in front of him and offered her a reassuring smile while shaking his head, “No, that is okay. I honestly like the idea of reading a lot more than actually getting around to doing it” He said, “I wouldn’t blame you if you did, to be honest. I can imagine some days are slower than others, like in any job.” Landon let his eyes glance over the female before shaking his head. “No I think that is it for today..” He said, knitting his brows together a little at her slight change in behavior. “Are you okay?”

“Right…yes…I um, a lot of people feel like that…” The blonde tried to blurt out in what was a normal voice but failed miserably, instead just stuttering a few words out in a stilted fashion. Nodding she glanced over her shoulder at the division curtain, wondering if she could duck behind it until he left. The boy hadn’t done anything wrong but still she could feel the panic rising rapidly in her chest. “Okay? I, yes, fine, totally fine. Sorry, I thought I saw a … bug?” What was she even talking about?

…

“I got some connections,” the raven-haired woman teased, letting a smile come along her features as she thought about her boyfriend. There were so many reasons for her to be happy. Drew and her had been happier than they were in LA and she was glad the two of them had been able to find their way back to each other. “I feel happier than I ever have in so long.” She giggled as she chewed on her lower lip. “Yeah, I guess you have a point there.”

After a couple of seconds the blonde leaned forward, her soft eyes looking straight into the other’s with earnest. “I’m so happy for you, really, I want you to be the happiest you’ve been in a long time.” She paused, shaking her head. “I want that but…well if I can’t have it then I’m thrilled that you are the one who is getting to experience it.” Reaching out she gave her hand a light squeeze and then returned her attention to her drink, taking a small sip, grateful it had cooled down significantly so she could drink with more ease. “What do you think is the recipe for your happiness at the moment?” This was probably the closest Hanna had come to actual ‘girl talk’ in a while. 

“No.” Thomas wasn’t really sure if the man did live in that complex or not but he would make sure that he would never step foot inside again. He wasn’t going to ever let something bad to his little sister again and he didn’t care what it took. There was nothing as important to him as family, especially growing up with a cousin who had very little of it left in his life. Thomas’s heart was pounding faster than normal, right through his chest. He hated seeing what was becoming of the blonde curled up before him. And then she was wrapping her delicate fingers around his wrist, which only caused Thomas to drop on his knees from the crotched position and scoot closer to her so she’d know he was there for her. That she was safe, that he’d do anything and everything]ng to make sure it stayed that way. It was heartbreaking to see the way her shoulders shook as she tried to catch her breath so he kept repeating himself, counting to ten again and again until he noticed a visible difference in her. He couldn’t be more thankful that she sought him out in distress instead of push him away, it was the only thing that made him feel good about beating that guy to a pulp a month ago. And so Thomas said by her side for as long as he needed her too. Every few minutes he would make an attempt to move closer to her, sometimes he’d fail, but he didn’t stop until he was at her side with his arm wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her into him for whatever comfort he could offer. He shook his head at her question because he wasn’t sure. He couldn’t say that he touched her because he was drunk, that wasn’t right because not all drunk people did that. He couldn’t even tell her that he was proud of her for running because he was afraid it would make her feel bad for not fleeing before on the night her panic attacks would start. “He… he wasn’t a good person, Han. There isn’t always an explanation, a reasoning behind what people do.” Sometimes, it wouldn’t even matter what she did to prevent something like that from happening, but it was never her fault. “You’re safe now. You’re safe.” He repeated, hoping she felt more and more that way as time passed.

Hanna let out a low groan in her throat as she rocked back and forth, her hands pressed against her sternum applying pressure. Her eyes remained squeezed closed for a little longer, to stop the swimming of her vision from making her more dizzy than the hyperventilating was already doing. The idea of that man being anywhere near her again anytime soon was enough to make her feel physically sick, painfully unsafe, pressing her back harder up against the wall. If she could back into it enough it might just swallow her up completely and save her from this situation. As he scooted closer to her she tipped froward, letting her face fall into his chest as she tried to get her breathing under control, breathing in the smell of the washing powder they both used that always transported her home no matter where she was. A soft floral undertone to the soapiness of it in general, it was fresh and comforting. As he arm wrapped around her she settled into the hug without putting up a fight any longer, still breathing along with his counting, up to ten before they would start over again. She would focus on each number as if it was written in front of her closed eyelids, allowing it to ground her until finally she could catch her breath and no l anger felt like she was fighting the air for oxygen. “He… he didn’t have to….he didn’t have to…” She couldn’t finish the sentence, the words ‘touch me’ dying on her lips each time she tired, cheeks still dap with tears. She couldn’t understand why he’d done what he did but had this happened two months ago she’d have hated it but shrugged it off, these days it was catastrophic and that made her feel even more out of control than she did anyway. Her hands grappled to hold onto her brother’s shirt in fistfuls of the material, things beginning too slow. Enough for her to open her eyes and take in the corner of the room she was a crouching in. Her room, they had gone from such a high caused by finding somewhere to live to a crashing low and it was all her fault. The feeling of guilt started to middle with the anxiety in her chest, she’d ruined the moment for her brother. “I’m sorry….we were meant to be happy…I ruined it.” She murmured, knowing this wasn’t the first time her panic attacks had gone some way to ruin a moment for not just her but also people around her. Namely Tom.

…

Ximena laughed. “It’s true. People in this town, well… Some people in this town have no idea when to keep their mouths shut and some of them need to be taught that it’s not okay,” the raven-haired woman shrugged her shoulders as she leaned back in her seat, taking a sip of it as she kept her eyes on Hanna. “Work is great…” She mused as she smiled against the glass. “Honestly, things are so good for me right now I don’t even know how to keep this damn smile off my face.” After Spring Break, her and Drew took a little vacation away from their small town and it had been the most romantic… relaxing thing she had done in years. “It can depending on the day.” She confessed as her eyes lifted up towards her. “You’ll love the town. You just have to ignore the shit people.”

“Maybe not with punches today though, it would be….a lot while we’re trying to have our tea. I’d hate for it to be cut short by you being hauled off by the police for assault.” Even talking about it gave her a weird twisting sensation in her stomach thanks to their reasons for being in Asteria in the first place. In she and her brother went back to their home town Tom would be arrested for exactly that crime himself, the last thing the blonde wanted was for anyone else in her life to be threatened by that. “That is so great! You look so happy, practically glowing with happiness.” She always wanted to see good things for those she cared about and Ximena had become one of those people even in the short time they’d known each other. Letting out a small giggle she shook her head, looking down at the table. “I don’t think the people are that bad, everywhere has it’s … grey clouds, right?”

“I’ll definitely get started on that list later. Once this baby comes, I might not have as much time to read as I do now but my mom likes to borrow my books so she’ll like that. It can be lonely sometimes but fortunately I do have my mom here and some of my siblings. I also have my uncle’s family as well. Plus sometimes we go up to New York. There’s a small community up there that I’ve made a few friends in. They also have an amazing bakery that is to die for!” Mara explained with a laugh. If she were truly alone here, she didn’t know what she would do. “I plan to. My aunt already sent some children’s books for me to read to this kid. Imagine being able to read some of those classics in their original language. Like The Odyssey or Les Misérables. Like you said the translation is just not the same. I’ve never understood why Americans don’t grow up learning other languages and only learn them in school.” It was one of the many things that confused her about America.

“It is but then again I’m sure not all women go through those. That’s just what its been like for me. The cleaning stage is pretty bad. You never realize how messy you really are until you start to clean. Good thing I’m almost done being pregnant. Hopefully things go back to normal after that,” She joked. Once this kid was here though things really became hard. “Thanks. I’m not sure if Evan is really enjoying this. I’ve basically took over his kitchen but oh well. At least he gets free baked goods.”

“Have you thought about audiobooks? You could listen to them while you’re dealing with the baby, as a kind of distraction for you.” Hanna knew nothing about having children so perhaps this wasn’t going to be super feasible, but it was worth offering up. “We order in audiobooks at the store as well if you need to use a CD player, so just let me know.” It was nice to hear the woman talking about the family she had around to support her, Hanna knew the importance of family better than anyone else. She had no idea where she would be without her brother. He was her lifeguard. “I loved Les Miserables, although it was a bit self satisfied sometimes.” She’d never seen the book or heard the music from, but the book was something she’d consumed in about four days. Wrinkling her nose she shrugged her shoulders, shaking her head a little in dismay, learning another language would have been a fun thing to do in her opinion because a whole new world of reading would have been opened up to her, but instead she had to settle for trying to teach herself Russian in her spare time.

“Oh yes, that makes senses, I guess it is probably different for everyone.” Not that she’d have any idea. “I don’t know if normal is the right word for it, you’ll have a little baby to minister to. Life will never be the same again.” She spoke seriously, eyebrows knitted together slightly, it would be a huge responsibility, the other didn’t seriously think things would be normal after her pregnancy did she? “Is Evan your husband?” She asked, not having heard his name mentioned before.

Once Tj had somewhat settled into Asteria again, one of his first goals had been to find a job that would give most of his days free so he could be with his daughter. He’d drop Arielle off at her aunts place before going to work later on, but for now it was just him and the six month old at home. He was grateful to have that time with her. Arielle had just woken up from a nap and was currently clung to Tj like a koala when he heard the knock on his front door. His brows furrowed at first, since he hadn’t been expecting anyone, but as soon as he heard Hanna’s voice, a smile formed on his lips instead. Hanna was one of the new friends he’d made since returning to Asteria. And also someone that was living in the same building as him. “Coming—“ he cut himself off as he opened his front door. “Hey— no. Not busy at all. I’m glad your here. I could use the company.” he loved his daughter more than anything and anyone in this world, but she wasn’t someone he could actually engage in a conversation with at the moment and anyone who knew Tj knew that he loved to talk. Was it strange to crave interaction with another adult? Not really. “Do you wanna come in? It’s just Ari and I here right now, but I promise you we can be fun.” he smiled, stepping aside with his daughter in his arms to allow her in.

Hanna hadn’t actually met Arielle yet, she’d heard a lot about the girl but she’d always been with her aunt whenever she’d bumped into TJ in the apartment corridor, so seeing the little girl was kind of exciting. To put a face to the name, Hanna wasn’t big on babies but she could appreciate that they were very cute. Arielle was no exception, with her chubby cheeks and big eyes just like in the smile her father had sent her, she was like a little cherub off a renaissance painting. “Are you sure? I really don’t mind coming back later.” The blonde double checked, not wanting to encroach on the time he had with the baby. Nodding she stepped inside the apartment, giving the little girl a tentative wave. Should she say hi to her? It’s not like the baby would understand after all so the action felt a little redundant. In the end she plumped for smiling at TJ before glancing back at Ari. “She’s adorable, those pictures didn’t do her justice. She looks like you.” It was true, there was certainly a glint of TJ in the little girl which was super sweet. “Don’t worry, I’m not thinking you won’t be fun, it’s nice just to meet her. Plus not many people came into the bookstore today so I haven’t had much grown up time. I read pretty much all of the day actually.” She wrinkled her nose, thinking back to what had happened earlier. “Someone came in about three looking for a travel book on Malta…but that was about it. We didn’t even get any orders today.” Despite enjoying being allowed to just read all day and be paid for the pleasure, Hanna did like it being broken up by the odd person coming into the store to look for something. “Oh, and I brought this for Arielle, it’s the book I told you about when I texted?”

“I shall send them your way, my family is a bit eccentric so do not be thrown off with their behavior.”  Mark nodded, “I completely understand the notion.  A part of me wishes I had the historical knowledge to do a historical type mystery, but atlas that would end in complete failure.”  At her question, he shook his head.  “Actually, I have to admit it was not a bad choice.  I thought the concept was amazing, the scenes were great and there was a lot of representation which I appreciate.”  In his family, you learned to love all the differences between everyone and it was something he truly appreciated when it came to his parents.  Mark shrugged, a lot of the time it was a toss up when it came to his siblings living near him.  Of course, he loved them but all of them got on each other’s nerves.  Or maybe that was just his experience with them and theirs with him.  “No need to be sorry, it is always nice to converse with someone that is open to literature.”  Even though he knew she was young, he could not help look her up and down and wonder.  “Well if you ever want to hang out or anything,” he left the last bit open to her interpretation.  “I can always give you my phone number and us get together outside of your job.”

“Oh no, I’m sure it will be…I’m sure I won’t be. I will be very professional I promise.” Hanna smiled, inclining her head slightly as a acknowledgement of what he was saying to hopefully reassure him. A lot of eccentric people had come into the store in the short month she’d been living in Asteria so hopefully she’d be able to handle Mark’s family. It was important they report back good things to him, he was an important author she wanted to impress after all.  ”I’m sure you’d write a great historical fiction novel, you’re too hard on yourself. I’ll have a go with the show then, sometimes my eyes need a break from reading after I’ve been doing it for…hours, so then I can pop an episode of Sense8 on instead!” Not that those moments happened very often, she’d normally just push through and keep reading when her eyes protested. Not smart maybe but if that was her biggest vice then it could be worse, right? Hitting a couple of buttons on the cash register she rung up his purchase before sliding it into a cloth bag for him to take it home in, looking up with a shy smile. “Really? Well, if that is okay, but I don’t want you to feel obligated to talk to some weird fangirl the you’d probably much rather be doing literally anything else.” A get out clause for him, just incase he had just offered to be polite.

“Before I met you and you started ordering books for me, I only had about a dozen or so books in Czech. There was a bookstore in New York that I would order from, but they always charged a lot. My cousin in Prague would send me some too but it cost quite a bit to mail packages from Europe so that didn’t happen very often,” She explained. That was why it was always such a special treat whenever someone from back home sent her something. She treasured everything they sent but that usually only happened for the holidays and for her birthday. Twice a year didn’t feel like it was often enough.

Mara nodded at her question. “Oh yes. So far it’s my favorite stage in this pregnancy. There’s also the ice cream stage, the cleaning stage, and the stage where all you want to do is watch Netflix all day. So far that was probably my favorite part of being pregnant,” She joked. How women went through this multiple times was beyond her. The last few months had been such an up and down of emotions sometimes she felt like she was going crazy. “Before we moved to America my parents used to own a bakery in Prague. I used to help them before and after school.” They had sold their shares of the place to her uncle in order to get the money for their move. It was the place Mara worked every time she moved back home.

“Well if you give me a list of the ones you already have so I make sure I don’t double up, then I would be more than happy to order some for you every so often as a little surprise. It must be lonely being in a country where no one speaks your native tongue, I don’t know how you manage to do it while maintaining such a sweet disposition. You must be a very strong woman.” Hanna smiled, her compliment given in earnest because it was the truth, she couldn’t even live apart from her brother at the moment let alone away from her entire country. “Are you going to teach your son or daughter your native tongue? I wish I had been brought up with more than one language - it would open up a whole world of books for me to read I don’t even have access to at the moment. Obviously I have translations but I think there is always something lost when that happens.” Of course she had found a way to turn this into a conversation about the ways she could consume books, no one was surprised about that.

“That is a lot of stages! What has been the worst stage? I think for me it would be the cleaning stage but only because it can be so tiring.” She grinned, wanting to ask how far along Mara was but not being sure if that was an inappropriate question. The ins and outs of pregnancy etiquette was not something she was well versed in after all. So she chose to just keep her mouth shut, focusing on the conversation about baked goods instead. “How cool! No wonder you know all about baking then, you basically grew up around it. It also explains why it smells so amazing in here.”

Bouncing on the balls of her feet as she waited for the elevator to come to halt on TJ’s floor the girl held the book she’d found at work especially for Arielle in her hands. Her bag slung over her shoulder also held a book she finished over lunch that she wanted to lend to her new friend…despite the fact she’d lent him one yesterday and he would no way have finished yet. Unless he ate books like Hanna, but she was pretty unique when it came to the speed she read. When she found the correct door the blonde knocked a couple of times without hesitation, before she could back out which was something she had a habit of doing when it came to socialising voluntarily. “Tj? It’s Hanna, I brought you something from the store. If you’re not home I can just leave it out here?” What was she expecting with that? He was hardly going to call out that he wasn’t in as an answer, it made her pull a face to herself, internally wishing she wasn’t such an idiot sometimes. For someone who was incredibly well read she could be entirely dense when she wasn’t careful, or she let her mouth go before engaging her brain properly. “I can just…” She was about to call out that she’d leave in on the doorstep when the door swung open, putting her face to face with her blonde neighbour. “Hey! I … sorry were you busy? I should have texted first or something…” The girl quickly began to apologise.  

“Leave.” His voice was still harsh and his eyes almost bore holes into the drunk man. He turned to see Hanna flee back into the apartment they’d just made their own. His fists had been coiled up and he wanted nothing more than to beat that guy into a pulp for laying a hand on his little sister, but Hanna needed him and that outweighed any desire in him to hurt the people who hurt her. Thomas couldn’t watch his little sister sink into agony again. Although he logically knew that trauma cause trauma-based responses and he fully expected Hanna to need time to heal from things, he also knew he hadn’t done much to help her deal other than moving out of state with her to start fresh. He lost sleep wondering what was the best course of action and trying to decide if moving her away from everything she knew and loved was going to do more damage in the long run or not. He knew Hanna stayed up a lot too, but he didn’t know how to help her through the anxiety and panic that flashbacks brought. Thomas hated that more than anything else because he was supposed to protect her, and up until a month prior he would’ve said he was doing a good job as a big brother. “Han…?” Only a minute had passed before he stepped into the apartment and looked around the open area there. He picked up his pace and was only thinking about Hanna, not the way his heart picked up pace or the worry that was threatening to bubble over inside of him. “Hanna.” He found her but instead of breathing a sigh of relief, Thomas watched how her small frame wrapped around itself like a lost child. Her chest moving in quick, rapid-fire motions. He wasted no time in kneeling in front of his sister. “Han, it’s okay. It’s okay, you’re okay. He’s gone. He’s not going to touch you ever again.” No one would, he promised her that much on their way into Asteria. Never again. Not on his watch. His eyes were scanning all over her and his brain was trying to find some quick fix. “Hanna, please. Breathe. Focus on breathing.” He didn’t want to touch her or pull her into a hug because his reading up on panic attacks had told him it wasn’t a good idea, so his arms hovered around and then retreated. “Breathe in. One, two, three. Breathe out. One, two, three.”

Hanna hand immediately identified an alcove in her bedroom to crumple back into, pressing her back up against the wall as she tried to catch her breath. Disjointed memories of the night that had started all of this flashed through her mind, causing her eyes to cloud over in blind panic. She was having a hard time focusing her eyes let alone her breathing or thoughts, her hands trembling as they gripped her knees so tightly her knuckles were starting to turn as white as her face. Hanna heard her brother’s voice but didn’t respond because she could still feel the sweaty weight of the drunk man’s hand on her shoulder along with the smell of his breath that was bad enough to make her gag even in memory. He’d been smoking that was for sure but mix that with a lack of hygiene it was intolerable. She wanted the memory to be gone but knew that it would now be seared into her brain in the catalogue of things she wanted to forget but didn’t have the luxury of doing so. No, they were things that plagued her at the quietist moments, when she was laying in bed at night, or trying to eat her lunch alone in the bookshop, they were so vivid they became more like visions she couldn’t run away from. That was just as scary as the actual event had been. “He…he lives here…” She gasped between breaths as a bead of sweat ran down between her shoulder blades. Reaching out to try and find him with one hand she gripped the nearest part of her brother’s body she could find, his wrist, and held onto it with a vice like grip. Tears of fear and panic prickling her eyes as she tried to push through the blur of anxiety that was blocking her off from the real world. Everything she’d seen as secure was gone in the blink of an eye leaving everything alien instead. Even with Tom right in front of her, hell in her hand, he still felt a million miles away. Snatching a breath she tried to suck it in as he counted, then the same as he counted for her to breath out, every couple of seconds getting sidetracked by a spike in panic that would lead to a strangled gasp instead. It felt like it was never going to end, but slowly…painfully slowly…the clouds of fear started to retreat enough for her to see through a little better. “He touched me, why did he touch me…” she asked her brother sounding like a little child, more tears spilling onto her cheeks. It wasn’t until that moment the blonde even knew she had started crying.

Thomas: oh okay

Thomas: so you made a... friend?

Hanna: I guess so? I mean I think he's my friend now...

Hanna: Oh my goodness! Oh look how cute she looks, that's so adorable!!

Hanna: She looks like she's have a good time too, quite the model!

TJ: I know right? All that modelling tired her out though cos she fell asleep soon after that last pic.

TJ: I can't believe she's already half a year old.

Hanna: That is really cute.