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[sup][color=dimgray]Friday. June 1st. 11 AM. Reese Residence.[/color][/sup]
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[indent][indent]There were only a few short hours each day that Demitri truly had to himself, especially now that he was suddenly made the head of the household. One might think that it being summer vacation would make things easier, but all that meant was that the kids didn’t get up as early. Once they were up, they still needed to be fed a decent meal, and instead of being bussed off to school, they had to be entertained at home or elsewhere. This was the hardest part for Demi — making sure they were content and cared for in these tough times, all the while not bothering to care for himself.

School might be out for the younger Reese children, but that wasn’t the case for Demitri. When he lost his mother earlier in the semester, he had taken it incredibly hard, and the emotional turmoil impacted his school work. Upon recommendation from his academic advisor, Demi lightened his course load. There is always summer session, as his advisor suggested. Summer session was here now, and Demitri was enrolled in the junior level basic operations management class that he had dropped during the spring semester. Now that is was summer, and yet another tragedy had struck the family, Demi was looking back and wishing that he hadn’t been such a pussy before, then he’d have more time to be with his loved ones now. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty, as they say.

The other Reese’s had found things to do, so Demitri had retired to his old childhood room for the few hours before class. Demi sat glaring at the screen of his laptop, which was on an old wooden desk beside a steaming mug of jet black coffee. Caffeine and angst were the only things keeping him upright these days. He hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep in over a week, and it was beginning to show. Not that process mapping and supply chain management were ever the most [i]interesting[/i] topics, but the words were beginning to blur together as his eyelids drooped.

There was something almost hypnotic in the ticking of the clock on the wall. [i]Tick tock[/i]. There was going to be a quiz today. [i]Tick tock[/i]. He needed to study. [i]Tick tock[/i]. Just take a sip of coffee and power through. [i]Tick tock[/i]. Maybe five minutes won’t hurt. [i]Tick tock.[/i] Just a little nap…

Demitri startled awake to the sound of the front door opening. Paranoid and on high alert, as he had been for days on end, Demi stood up and frantically scanned the room for the nearest weapon. The basball bat was behind the front door, bloody lot of good that was doing him since the intruder just [i]walked right in[/i]. Which one of his siblings left the door unlocked? Demi’s money was on Robin, he wore his carelessness like it was armor. [i][color=C3D89E]Stubborn little shit.[/color][/i] Demitri settled on the letter opener, it was sharp enough to stab someone with… probably.

The redhead crept quietly down the hall towards the front room, gripping the letter opener tight in his right hand. He rounded the corner just as his older sister called out to see if anyone was home. His grip loosened and his shoulders relaxed as a flood of relief ran through him, you could practically breathe in the waves of anxiety leaving his body. 

[color=C3D89E][b]“Abi. Hi.”[/b][/color] He greeted shortly, clearly still in shock. Demi kept the hand holding the letter opener slightly behind his back. [color=C3D89E][b]“I wasn’t expecting you.”[/b][/color] His disheveled clothing and unkempt hair, which hadn’t seen a shower in just as long as he hadn’t slept, made it clear that Demitri wasn’t expecting [i]anyone[/i]. He was usually so well put together, stylish, even. The man who stood before her wasn’t the brother she grew up with. [color=C3D89E][b]“Can I get you something to eat?”[/b][/color] But parts of him were still there.[/indent][/indent]