Chapter Forty-Four: Happy Birthday Alistair

(MADMAX)

***

Sunlight filtered into the small space of the kitchen, illuminating everything. The trailer home was filled with delicious smells as at the stove, Rowan and Aunt Aco prepared a breakfast feast for someone's special day.

"Hey, kid, do you want to wake him up?" Aunt Aco asked as she flipped the pancake over in one pan as bacon sizzled in another. Along with the smell of cooking bacon, melting chocolate, pancakes and toast, the sound of Elton John's voice filled the air.

Rowan nodded with a smile. "Yeah, of course."

The dark-haired girl turned from the stove and power-walked to her brother's room, not bothering to knock as she opened the door.

"Hey, squirt, wake up!" she shouted at the unmoving lump on the bed, disturbing Hugin as the undead raven ruffled his wings and croaked from his perch. "Squirt?"

A mumble came, and Rowan smiled. 

"Come on, Al, normally I wouldn't wake you up on a Sunday morning, but this is a special occasion," Rowan said as she walked up to her brother and began shaking him.

"No. Don't wanna gerrup," Alistair mumbled, burrowing in deeper as Hugin ruffled his feathers and gave a warbling croak, pulling at a strand of her brother's hair peeking out.

"Oh, so the birthday boy doesn't want to get up and have birthday pancakes, huh?"

Alistair shot up, eyes large. "Wait, what?"

Rowan stared at him, a smile on her lips. "Al, did you seriously forget your birthday was today?"

"Uh... no?"

Rowan only chuckled and ruffled her brother's hair.

"Come on and get out of bed, Al, or I'll eat your pancakes."

"Over my dead body!" Alistair shouted as he threw the covers off and sprinted out of bed and down the hall, crashing into a wall as Aunt Aco shouted, "Kid don't snap your neck!"

Rowan smiled and looked over to Hugin, who cocked his head and stared at her with his remaining eye, before she walked out of the bedroom and back into the kitchen/dining room, Hugin flying out a second behind her. There, she saw the birthday boy sitting at the table, knife and fork in hand as he grinned and looked at the plate full of pancakes, bacon and toast, then a cup of hot cocoa topped with whipped cream and marshmallows that was placed before him a second later as Hugin alighted on the back of the chair.

"Happy thirteenth birthday, kid," Aunt Aco said with a soft smile as she ruffled his hair. "Enjoy."

"Thanks, Aunt Aco!" Alistair said, giggling as Hugin pecked at his ear. "Hugin, stop that tickles!"

Rowan looked at her aunt and the women shared a smile as Rowan sat down and her aunt put before Rowan her own breakfast of pancakes, bacon, toast and her aunt's special cocoa with marshmallows and whipped cream before Aunt Aco sat down with the same breakfast, all three digging in, silent except for the sounds of eating and Elton John's singing.

After a moment, Aunt Aco asked, "So, kid. How's thirteen been so far?"

"Good. Really good," Alistair said past a mouthful of food.

Rowan smirked and leaned forward as she said, "That won't be for long. Soon your voice will start cracking and you'll be breaking out in acne."

Her brother stared at her while Aunt Aco chided, "Rowan don't scare your brother on his birthday."

"I'm just preparing him!"

"If I break out in acne it will be hereditary since you had zits for weeks after you turned thirteen," Alistair sniped and now Rowan was the one staring at her brother.

"That's not the same!" she shrilled. She whirled to her aunt. "Aunt Aco?"

Aunt Aco smirked. "Sorry kid, but you walked right into that one."

Rowan glared as her brother kept eating happily.

"Al, when are your friends coming over?" Aco asked, popping a piece of bacon into her mouth and having Rowan lower her glare.

"I think they said they'll be over at twelve," Alistair replied, stroking Hugin's head as he ate.

"Okay," Aunt Aco said with a nod. Her brow creased as she asked in a softer tone, "Kid, I hate to ask this on your birthday, but... did you have any nightmares last night?"

Her brother's face grew drawn. "Yeah I... I did But after that, I had a good night's sleep."

Her aunt turned to Rowan, who resisted the urge to squirm under her stare. "And you, kid? Did you have any nightmares or... dream-walked?"

Rowan furrowed her lip, then shook her head. "Nope."

That was a half-truth. She still had a nightmare—of Barb screaming at her for leaving her behind in the Upside Down, of El disintegrating before her eyes, of the Hawkins Lab with blood staining it and twisted bodies lying in piles—but she hadn't dream-walked. She used her dream-walking once, to give her brother a peaceful night's sleep after all the shit with the Upside Down had ended, going into his dreams to see a nightmare of howling ghosts with shadowed eyes scrabbling at her dream-brother as he huddled on the ground and screamed at them to go away before she grabbed his arm and pulled him into a dream of his best friends playing a campaign together and giving her brother the first peaceful night's sleep he had since his gift awakened. And she would have done it more if she didn't notice how after that night, her brother seemed to be waking up less from the nightmares, that she didn't think the presence of Hugin helped him sleep better.

But other than that, she hadn't dream-walked since...

Since El sacrificed herself a year ago. Since Barb had died.

Rowan's heart twisted as she thought of the young girl, who'd she seen the extent of the horrors she endured when she walked into El's memories via dreams, and of Barb, who she had been so close in saving and yet had failed her all the same. And though it might have been a year, the memories of El and Barb still brought both grief and guilt to stab into Rowan again like they had done that very first time, the thought of, I should have been there. I should have done something more to save Barb.

I should have been there. 

I should have done something more.

"Rowan?" 

Rowan looked at her aunt, taken out of her thoughts as she looked at her aunt and brother, who were staring at her with barely veiled concern. 

"I'm fine," Rowan mumbled. Looking at Alistair, she fixed on a smile to her face as she asked, "Do you have any guesses on presents?"

Alistair grinned. "I have a couple."

Before any more could be said, a banging came and Eddie's muffled voice yelled, "Hey Graveswoods! You up yet?"

"Shit!" Aunt Aco cursed as she looked at the door, then at Alistair and hissed, "Alistair, hide Hugin. Rowan, distract Eddie and Wayne."

"On it," the Graveswood siblings said, Alistair giving Hugin his shoulder to perch as he ran into his room while Rowan hurried to her room to change out of her sweatpants and old Mötley Crue shirt into some jeans and the Ozzy Osbourne shirt she'd gotten at the concert thanks to the Christmas tickets and raced to the door, opening it with a bright smile.

"Hey Eddie! Hi Wayne!"

"Hey kid," Wayne said as Eddie held up a wrapped object Rowan guessed was her brother's present, smiles on their faces. "Your brother up yet?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah he is! Out of bed like a rocket once he remembered what today was," Rowan said, laughing nervously as she grinned, trying to keep her eye from twitching as she heard the muffled sounds of Alistair trying to keep Hugin in his room. Al you better get your damn pet dead bird hidden or I'm gonna strangle you.

If Eddie and Wayne heard the muffled noises, they didn't show it as Eddie said, "So... can we come in, Graveswood?"

"Yeah, yeah, totally! Just, um..." Rowan stalled, glancing over her shoulder and begging for her brother to show up.

Her begging must have worked because her brother ran out of his room and slammed the door shut. He had a couple inky feathers sticking out of his curls, but he was already patting them away. 

Relief bloomed in Rowan as she turned back and said, "Yeah, you can! Come right in!"

She stepped aside, allowing Eddie and Wayne to step through.

Eddie immediately zeroed in on Alistair, who managed to get rid of the last of the feathers. "Hey mini Graveswood!"

Alistair beamed. "Eddie!"

Eddie raised his shoddily wrapped present, rattling it. "Happy birthday. Welcome to being a teenager. Spoiler—it sucks."

"I know. I'm seeing it right now," Alistair snarked, a grin on his face.

Eddie gave a dramatic gasp, hand pressed to his chest. "Ouch, mini Graveswood. Then I suppose I should revoke your early membership to Hellfire Club as penance, then."

Alistair's eyes widened with horror and he hurriedly shook his head. "No! No way!"

Eddie chuckled and held out the present for Alistair to take. "I'm kidding. Here's your present, menace."

"Hey! I'm the only one who can call him menace, Munson," Rowan objected, punching her best friend in the arm. Eddie only grinned wickedly.

"He's gonna be one of my little sheep soon, Graveswood. I think that gives me menace-calling privileges."

"As if!"

"What gives you the right, then?"

"I'm his older sister!"

"Kids," Aunt Aco and Wayne chided in unison. Rowan and Eddie snapped their mouths closed as they glared at each other, but the grins cooled any heat In the glares as Alistair tore off the wrapping paper, then gaped at what he saw.

"No freaking way! Advanced Dungeons and Dragons?!" Alistair yelled as he stared at the guide like it was solid gold—which it probably was to her little brother.

"Yep," Eddie confirmed, smiling as Alistair stared at him, eyes bugging out.

"How—I thought these were more expensive than the original!"

"Hey, if you're gonna be a future Dungeon Master of Hellfire, you're gonna need your own guide along with your manual, Al," Eddie explained, the smile still on his face. "And what better than the advanced version?"

Alistair grinned, so bright it was almost blinding, as Rowan looked at Eddie, knowing her best friend had probably bumped up prices for his deals to get the money for Alistair's present, before Alistair hugged Eddie as much as he could with the guide still in his hands, a chorus of "Thank you!"s spilling from his mouth. Eddie returned the hug, before ruffling Alistair's hair, to which Alistair swatted at with his free hand and yelled, "Hey! Only Rowan gets to ruffle my hair!"

"Oh really? How come?" Eddie asked, giving Rowan a teasing grin.

Rowan folded her arms. "Uh, because I'm his older sister. Duh."

Eddie sighed dramatically. "Older sibling privileges. Guess even I can't compete with that."

Rowan rolled her eyes. "You're so dramatic."

"Me? Dramatic? Never," Eddie said, grinning.

"Hey! Who's birthday is it again?" Alistair asked as Aunt Aco smiled and rolled her eyes fondly, as Rowan did the same while Eddie muttered, "Did turning thirteen make him insufferable?"

"Hey, you did say welcome to being a teenager. This is how he's being a fellow teenager," Rowan pointed out, nudging her best friend. He grinned.

Wayne cleared his throat. "Well, Eddie, we gave Alistair his present. Let's go and let him, Rowan and Aco celebrate."

"Right, Wayne," Eddie said. He looked at Alistair and said, "Bye, mini Graveswood. You make good use of that guide, okay? And take care of it."

Alistair grinned. "I will! Promise."

Eddie smiled back and opened his arms. "C'mere."

Alistair didn't hesitate to barrel into Eddie's arms and hug the older teen. When they broke the embrace, Eddie slapped the shorter boy's back and added, "Happy birthday, Alistair."

"Yeah, happy birthday, kid," Wayne said as he and Eddie headed back to the door, adding, "Bye."

"Bye!" they all shouted as the Munsons left, the door closing behind them and on Eddie's last shout of, "YOU BETTER SAVE ME A PIECE OF BIRTHDAY CAKE GRAVESWOOD!"

When the door was closed, the family of three let out a sigh of relief as a muffled croak came. Alistair went back to his room to both put away his guide and to let Hugin out—well, until he needed to hide away again when Robin and Chrissy came over with their presents for Alistair—while Aco turned back to the kitchen to get the last preparations for Alistair's birthday cake done and Rowan teleported to her room to check on her present for her brother, once again marvelling in how freeing it was to use her power for such a simple use, after years of being afraid and keeping it buried.

In how even a year after the Man—Dr. Brenner—had died and the new head in charge, who had them sign those contracts, had promised she and Alistair could freely use their powers without the fear of being kidnapped and turned into weapons, it still felt like that.

Rowan's stomach knotted at the thought of those contracts, the burn of anger at how because of them those who signed could never tell the Hollands that Barb was dead. She still felt sick at that, at lying to everyone and murmuring hopes that Barb will be found when she knew she was dead, when she knew her ghost was still lingering somewhere in this world thanks to her brother, still invisible to him but he could still feel her presence.

It almost had her want to go stomping into Hawkins Lab and tear those contracts apart and immediately tell the Hollands the truth instead of letting them have misplaced hope for one day longer.

But she didn't. Because the words the head in charge, Dr. Owens, had said, the thought of this new freedom being stripped away, of a foreign force finding out and somehow being worse than Brenner, had her stop from doing anything. Because, maybe, she was a coward to not do anything.

A banging on the door dragged Rowan out of her thoughts, along with the cawing of Hugin as he was once again hidden away, Alistair murmuring, "I know, I know, Hugin, but I promise I'll let you nest in my hair for tonight if you can just. Be. Quiet."

Rowan chuckled as she stood up and walked to the door, opening it to see Robin and Chrissy, holding their presents for Alistair. Like Eddie's had been, Robin's present was shoddily wrapped, while Chrissy's was perfectly wrapped.

"Hey Rowan!" Chrissy greeted, smiling as the sun lit her strawberry blonde hair red. "Where's Alistair?"

"Right here!" Alistair shouted as he skidded out of his room, with marginally less feathers in his hair than he had before.

"There's the birthday boy!" Robin bellowed as she walked inside, not needing to ask to come in as Chrissy followed. 

Alistair smiled. "Hey Robin! Hey Chrissy!"

The two girls smiled as Robin looked at Alistair and declared, "So. How's being a full-fledged teenager been so far?"

"Pretty great so far!"

"Well, wait. It will get pretty miserable soon."

"Yeah, I've heard it twice so far."

"Really? Damn," Robin muttered as Chrissy rolled her eyes and gave her present to Alistair.

"Here. Happy birthday, Al. I promise it's not all bad."

"Thanks, Chrissy," Alistair replied with a smile as he tore the wrapping paper off.

Robin bumped Chrissy with her arm. "Hey, don't lie to him!"

"I'm not!" Chrissy protested.

"Robin's right, Chris. We've gotta let him down harsh that being a teenager sucks," Rowan said, grinning as Robin nodded sagely while Chrissy groaned.

"Fine. Guess it's up to me to show being a teenager is not all doom and gloom," she declared as Robin slung an arm around Chrissy's shoulders.

"Aw, come on, Chrissy. We're just having fun," the taller girl said with a grin as Rowan slid her arm across Chrissy's shoulders as well as Chrissy glared at them and said, "Why am I still friends with you?"

"Because we're very entertaining," Rowan said, grinning as Robin cackled and Chrissy rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

"NO WAY!" Alistair yelled, making Rowan jump out of her skin and nearly teleport—or let off a shower of sparks—Chrissy to also jump and Robin to swear.

"Shit, Alistair, volume control!" Rowan reprimanded, but her little brother didn't care as he stared at Chrissy, holding his present.

"An Atari?! Seriously?!"

"Yep, seriously," Chrissy said as she smiled. 

Alistair grinned, putting the box down so he could hug Chrissy.

"Thank you, Chrissy!"

Chrissy smiled and hugged Alistair. "It's okay, Al. Happy birthday."

Alistair beamed as Robin held out her present for him. "Here, Al. Happy birthday."

Alistair grinned and ripped the wrapping paper from it, revealing a couple of shiny-looking comics underneath it.

"A Teen Titans comic and a Spider-Man comic?!" Alistair yelled. His grin widened. "Thanks, Robin!"

"No problem, Al," Robin said as she squeezed Alistair's shoulder. "Happy birthday."

If Alistair's grin could grow wider, it would.

Robin looked at the clock, and groaned. "Sorry, but I have to go. My parents want me back for a family thing."

"Same here," Chrissy muttered.

"Well, thank you both for coming over. And I'll save you both a piece of cake," Rowan promised.

Robin's eyes sparkled at the promise of cake, while Chrissy gave a tentative smile.

"You, Rowan Graveswood, have just won my heart," Robin declared.

Rowan chuckled. "If I'd known, I would have wooed you with cake earlier."

Robin laughed as well before she walked back to the door, giving Rowan a salute.

"Later, Rowan!"

"Later!" Rowan called back as Chrissy headed to the door, giving her a wave. "Bye!"

"Bye!" they shouted back as they left, the door swinging close. Outside, the rumbles of engines picked up as their parents drove them away. 

Once gone, Alistair again put his presents away and let Hugin out, while Aunt Aco put in another Elton John album—Alistair's favourite singer—and Rowan made the light flash brighter as she grabbed her little brother's hands and said, "Come on! Let's have a dance, birthday boy!"

Alistair grinned and the siblings danced along, laughing and shouting along to the lyrics as Elton John sang and Hugin croaked from his spot on the table as Aco smiled, watching her niece and nephew dance, more often than not falling to the ground, as they laughed, looking more relaxed and visibly more like the teenagers they were in a long, long time.

As the last couple of hours to twelve o'clock ticked by, filled with Aco turning away customers who couldn't read the sign that she was closed for today, Alistair pestering his aunt and Rowan for presents they wouldn't give him just yet and for cake he wouldn't see until the Party arrived and Alistair and Rowan playing "I Spy" and then poker while Aunt Aco got the food ready for this afternoon; the price of losing at poker was chugging down a disgusting combination of lemonade and milk. Alistair lost twice, while Rowan lost five times, including their most recent round.

"Ugh," Rowan groaned as she finished chugging as her brother grinned oh-so-sympathetically while Hugin only croaked, shuddering. "That is still so gross."

"That's the price of losing," Alistair sing-songed as he swept in all his chips, still grinning smugly.

"How are you so good at this, squirt?" Rowan muttered, grabbing a glass of water and drinking it in the hopes to wash out the disgusting taste.

"I just have better luck at the cards," Alistair said, a smile both serene and shit-eating on his face. "That, and I don't have a shitty poker face."

Rowan gaped at him. "I don't have a shitty poker face!"

"You do!"

"Do not!"

"Hate to break it to you kid, but you do. Your emotions are so goddamned easy to tell it's honestly pathetic," Aunt Aco chimed in, grinning just as sympathetically as Alistair—which was not at all.

Rowan scowled. "Betrayed by my own family. Of course."

Her "sympathetic" family howled in laughter as Rowan kept scowling.

However, for the third time today, a banging came at the door. And this time, there was no need to hide Hugin as Alistair grinned and the undead raven croaked and flapped his wings before hopping onto her brother's shoulder as he ran to the door and swung it open.

Before he could say anything, there was a roar of, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALISTAIR!" as Mike, Lucas, Will and Dustin barged in, holding presents, smiles huge on their faces. Behind them were Nancy, Jonathan and Joyce Byers, who smiled and said their own "Happy birthday"s to Alistair.

Rowan turned to Nancy and Jonathan. "Hey guys."

"Hey," they responded back, smiling. Rowan smiled back.

After last year, things had changed between the three teens. When before they'd been friendly acquaintances due to their little brothers' friendship, now the shit with the Upside Down and trying to find Barb and Will and fighting the Demogorgon had cemented them as friends; if Rowan wasn't hanging out with Robin or Chrissy or with Eddie, she was with Nancy or Jonathan. She usually studied with Nancy or they shot guns together and Rowan helped watch over Will with Jonathan. And though Nancy and Steve seemed to be going strong, Rowan could feel the romantic tension between Nancy and Jonathan, as much as they denied it.

And speaking of Steve...

Steve.

The thing that had changed the most was that they'd stopped being at each other's throats and had become friendly after the Demogorgon and Steve had realised what an utter douchebag he'd been. It astounded Robin and Eddie still when they saw Rowan talk to Steve in friendly tones and that Rowan was no longer plotting on setting his hair on fire. They still sniped—Rowan didn't think she and Steve could stop insulting and snarking at each other even if they tried—but instead of being the venomous snipes and jabs of enemies, they were the friendly snipes and jabs of somewhat friends. It... was nice. 

And yet, he wasn't here.

"Couldn't make it?" she asked as Alistair, Mike, Dustin and Lucas chattered and Alistair looked at his presents.

"No. He wanted to focus on his college application," Nancy told her.

"Oh," Rowan said, ignoring the twist in her gut as she added, "That's more important, I guess."

"Yeah," Nancy agreed. "But, he did say if he finished early, he could try to come."

"Oh, okay," Rowan muttered. "But it doesn't matter, if he does or doesn't. It's probably too crowded in here anyway."

"Yeah," Nancy said, before both girls giggled. A caw came and they looked to see Hugin flapping his wings as Alistair's friends pestered Alistair if Hugin had any new tricks, Dustin the most vocal.

"I'm still getting used to the fact your brother has a pet zombie bird," Nancy said as she looked at Hugin.

"Don't blame you," Rowan replied as she shrugged. "At least whatever the hell my brother did seemed to stop Hugin from rotting. Or smelling. We would have even more problems hiding him if he did."

Nancy laughed as the pestering devolved into shouting before, finally, Alistair gave Hugin a nod and the bird flapped off his shoulder before he flew full-force into the wall. 

Shouts came and Nancy and Mrs. Byers looked visibly concerned as the bird fell to the couch, before Hugin twitched and got back up, croaking.

Immediately the Party asked questions, to which her brother shrugged and answered, "Well, apparently, as long as I still power up Hugin with whatever I gave him, he's practically invulnerable now!" 

"That is so cool," Dustin breathed, and as Alistair's friends got ready to clamour questions at him again, Alistair exclaimed, "Oh! Guys, I have to show you this new trick I learned!"

"YOU'RE NOT RAISING DEAD ANIMALS AND BRINGING THEM HERE WHILE THERE'S FOOD ALISTAIR NATHANIAL GRAVESWOOD!" Aunt Aco yelled and Alistair slumped, pouting.

"Damnit."

"That's okay, Al. You can show us some other time," Will assured, smiling. Alistair returned the smile, something soft in his brown eyes. Rowan looked heavenward.

God, they're hopeless.

"Anyway, do you boys wanna eat?" Aunt Aco asked. 

"YES!" was shouted unanimously before the boys raced to the table, where on it was sandwiches, pizza rolls, potato skins topped with sour cream, cheese and bacon, and bowls of chips and candy. As they ate, Aunt Aco gave a jerk of her head to the hallway closet where the board games were. Rowan nodded and headed to the closet, grabbing out Twister and cards to play charades, before returning to the living room and setting up. There, she saw the presents her brother had unwrapped while she'd talked to Nancy—another comic, a mixtape (Rowan didn't have to guess who that was from), figurines for D&D and a book who's cover immediately told Rowan it was fantasy.

Seeing the presents reminded her of the present she got Alistair and after she finished setting up, she teleported into her room and got out the present before teleporting back into the main room.

"Hey, squirt," she said and her little brother turned, mouth full of chips.

"Yesh?" he asked.

Rowan held up the present. "Happy birthday."

She made the present float to her brother with telekinesis and he snatched it out of the air. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a look of sadness come over Mike's face before it was quickly buried. Rowan's heart squeezed. Right. El. Shit, she should have thought that her casual use of telekinesis would have reminded the dark-haired boy of El.

It's done now, Rowan told herself. Don't wallow in the memories. Today's happy.

The sound of tearing paper drew Rowan back to her brother, and she watched as Alistair gasped at what he saw.

"You got me Elton John's new album?" Alistair whispered as he stared at both the cassette and the record.

"Yeah. He's your favourite singer, so of course I had to get it," she said, ruffling his hair. "Happy birthday, squirt."

Alistair looked at her, and hugged Rowan. The girl hugged her brother back, before they broke apart.

"Okay, squirt, I got both Twister and charades out. As birthday boy, you get first pick," Rowan told him.

Alistair, of course, chose Twister. Rowan was in control of the spinner as Aunt Aco and Mrs. Byers served as referees while the Party and Nancy and Jonathan did the game. It ended up with all them in a tangled mess of limbs and shouting and a lack of clear winner—and Dustin screaming his lack of some bones meant he should be the designated winner to which Lucas shot back just because Dustin was missing bones didn't mean he was suddenly super-flexible and resulting in an argument between the two—before Rowan declared they were moving onto charades. That caused slightly less arguments, though it did result in critiques from her brother and his friends about her charade skills.

When the games ended, Aunt Aco shouted, "Okay, kid! Time for birthday cake!"

At the sound of "birthday cake" Alistair scrambled to the table, where it sat. 

It was slightly lopsided and sunken in the middle, some of the frosting was melting off, and the candles were at irregular intervals, but it was obviously made with love.

It was perfect.

Alistair grinned as he sat in his chair, looking at the cake, everyone around him.

"Go on, kid. Make a wish," Aunt Aco said, squeezing Alistair's shoulder.

Alistair smiled as he stood up, leaned over and blew out the candles.

They all went out.

"Now," Aunt Aco said as she grabbed a knife, "who wants the first piece?"

***

Later on, when everyone had left and Rowan gave Eddie a piece of cake and kept her promise to save two slices for Robin and Chrissy and Aunt Aco had given Alistair her present, a book called Dune, the siblings were in Rowan's room, listening to the new Elton John album together, stomachs stuffed full of party food and birthday cake.

"Today was the best birthday ever," Alistair mumbled, a sleepy smile on his face.

"Really?" Rowan asked as she looked over at her brother.

"Yeah, really," Alistair confirmed. He looked at her and went on, "Today's the first birthday where my friends know the truth about my powers, and... and where we could have called our family. Maybe even had them here."

Rowan didn't say anything, letting Elton John fill the silence. Her brother was right. Because of their freedom, they could have called their family and had them here, even if it would have made the trailer even more cramped. They hadn't, though; some habits—and fears—were hard to break.

"But..." her brother whispered, and his expression saddened. "I wish El had been here as well."

Rowan's heart clinched as again, she thought of the little girl with a shaved head, a number on her wrist and powerful telekinesis, who had been so hurt and traumatised from the lab and Brenner. Who she wished was here as much as her brother did.

Rowan knocked her shoulder against Alistair's shoulder and said softly, "Well, maybe she was. Just... from wherever she was."

Alistair smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Yeah, maybe."

Silence took over again as Rowan bit her lip before asking, "So... what did you wish for?"

Alistair didn't say anything, for such a long time Rowan thought he'd fallen asleep, before he said, "I... I wished everything keeps going like this. That Will won't need to have these episodes anymore. That it's all over. "

Rowan's heart melted and she pulled her little brother into a side-hug, his head resting against her shoulder, as she murmured, "Me too, squirt. Me too."

Little did Rowan know that despite Alistair's wish it was not over, that her little brother's birthday would be more or less the last day everything was normal before it all went to shit, again.

***

HERE'S THE FIRST CHAPTER OF ACT TWO AHH!!!

I missed writing the Graveswood siblings, could you tell?

Yes, Alistair's an October baby!!! His birthday is October 28th, which makes him a Scorpio!! (Rowan's birthday is June 4, which makes her a Gemini!!!) I loved writing his birthday (he deserves a good day after everything)!! But yeah, it's literally like the last day everything's normal before they get thrown back into the crazy mess of the Upside Down again (this time added with Will getting possessed and Alistair's worry and determination to save his best friend)

I'm literally so excited to write this arc it's crazy! I can't wait to write Stowan in their friends/babysitters arc (also, fyi, while Steve's obviously the mom, Rowan's the dad) and also introduce some new characters! And, of course, where I take the character arcs for Rowan and Alistair and the end...

I hope you all like this chapter!

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!