bambi , it was a name he hadn't heard in a long while , not since they'd last stood in the same room , not since that distant memory blurred into a sea of other distant memories . how long had it been since he'd really seen her ? since her teasing tone had been a language he knew by heart , one that used to wrap warmth around his chest instead of squeezing it like a vice . there hadn't been a reason to joke with her in a long , long time . not since she left him alone in that house . not since she never came back , except for the day their brother had died .
the thought struck him , quietly , slowly , as it always did . their brother's death had been just another tally on the long ledger of abandonments . it hadn't cut deep enough to bring tears , those had dried up years ago , back when distance carved itself between the siblings as though it had always belonged there .
mandatory health leave , it sounded serious , serious enough that he should have asked . instead , he only shifted on his feet , brows knitting as he watched her , as he listened to the familiar , persistent teasing she used to fill the silence . but when she mentioned the iron horse , his expression changed . the frown collapsed into a flash of anger . the reminder of who owned that place , who frequented it , slashed open the memory of the family his brother had traded them for . the family that had ultimately became his undoing .
osian's gaze flickered , for a moment , to the digit that tapped against her cup . he knew the tell , had seen it a hundred times , but he made no comment . not now , not with the canyon still widening between them . he let the silence settle , heavy and deliberate , because opening his mouth risked unleashing words he couldn't take back . she had made her choice , leaving in the middle of the night , choosing another as her new family , just as their brother had . still , some part of him clawed at his ribs , begging to be restrained .
the silence persisted , right up until she made the fatal mistake of mentioning their house . his muscles tightened as if struck , pain , sharp and sudden , or maybe anger , the kind that had been rotting in him for years . â i don't care , â he snapped , heat flaring through every syllable , as though all the fires he'd ever extinguished had found a home inside him instead . â i don't care if it looks the same . or if it burned to the ground . i don't care about any of it . â
bronwyn had been the first to leave , then their brother , and osian had been left with parents who'd never cared for any of them , least of all him . it wasn't long after that he packed what little he owned and walked out of that house for good . he never looked back , not even through the months of scraping by that followed . â i'm surprised you even remember what it looks like , â he scoffed , low , petty , and entirely intentional . a cheap shot at the truth , she'd left that house , and everything inside it , far behind her .