this girl is only gonna break your <3 // [Paige Lowe / Swap]

Despite having lived for an entire year in Ten, it was still a little weird to be going home to the ranching district, rather than the far reaches of Twelve. He stared at the black phone after he hung it back on the receiver. His mother always sounded far away, even when she was right next to you. The distance between them - miles and miles of wire and stretched out heart ache - didn't help. It was hard for him to think of new things to say, and she'd never liked to talk very much.

Neither of parents did. It was a small miracle he wasn't totally mute.

It was mid afternoon and the light was fading fast. He'd finished his school work for the day and left it on the kitchen table for Aunt Reggie to check. Mason and Coralee were napping. He hoped Mason would be out for awhile; he'd had a serious breakdown over lunch, missing Juliet. Kieran wondered what it would be like to miss a sibling that way, and then realized he'd miss Mason and Coralee something awful if he'd gone back to Twelve.

But then, he wouldn't be missing his mother.

He buttoned up his winter coat and wrapped a scarf around his neck, even though it wasn't that cold. His dad always overdressed and now it just seemed like the right thing to do. He didn't tell anyone where he was going; they'd know where to find him. He avoided the deepest, darkest puddles because Aunt Reggie would make him scrub his boots if he came back with them covered in mud. Instead of walking up the porch to ring the Lowes' doorbell, Kieran ducked into the sideyard. He checked the living room and kitchen first before kicking around for a small, round rock. By the time he found a few good ones, his mittens were stained with mud.

"Probably have to scrub these too," he sighed, and then lobbed a few rocks at Paige's window. "Wake up, sleeping beauty," he hissed. Someone moved in the kitchen. Kieran ducked behind the foliage. He waited a few breaths and then craned his neck up. "C'mon, Paige. I gotta be home for dinner."