Long Live

[Claire Standish]

Claire left go of her father and looked at John, while her mother gave her a hug as well. Her cousin's relationship with his father didn't seem to have improved at all from when he was a kid. John still avoided looking up at his father and he still have some weird, scared reflexes whenever he was near him, like some sort of a traumatic effect. She felt sorry for him, all over again. Like she always used to feel when they were kids...

"You two must be very tired after the trip. Why don't you go upstairs? You can change your cloths, maybe take a bath too... We'll call you down when dinner's ready." Claire's mom said.

"That sounds great, mom, thanks." Claire said, giving her mom a fast kiss on the cheek.

She grabbed John by the arm and started pulling him with her, dragging him up the stairs and into the room that she knew was his. She closed the door behind them and breathed calmly. They were there for only 20 minutes and she was already able to feel a big, thick cloud of tension floating in the air.

"You and your dad seriously need to get a grip... I saw strangers who are more friendly and sensitive around each other compared to you too." she stated, looking at her cousin.