remus albright ; d4 cbd2 fin

She's chases the sun wearing candied smiles. And though she can never quite catch him she still laughs like carbonation running up a soda glass. She lives life like it's one beat away from ending, forcing herself to feel alive even when she'd rather not. She's the eldest, right? Quite literally born to bear those burdens.

If not her, then who? Alice is smart but so fragile, she'd understand too much and break beneath the weight of that knowledge. Penny is foul-mouthed but far too kind, always pretending to be venomous with doe eyes that shine with affection. Wesley is still a child and therefore deserves to be sheltered, regardless of his foul temper.

No, this is decidedly Remy's cross to bear.

She waits with baited breath for the break of dawn, ready to chase the sun again but nights get longer when you're stuck picking up the empty beer bottles that trail from your father's bedroom. Making breakfast when it's still dark so you can spin another white lie about how dad got up early to make waffles before work.

Tell them it's him, not her, working two jobs to keep food in the pantry and clothes on their backs.

She's still pretending not to know where he disappears to most days.

She allows herself one, small mercy.