Work Text:
You were with the remaining Stone family, Zeke, Saanvi, standing together in the Stone’s house, where the memories of the murder and kidnapping still lingered around. The whole room was only filled with sadness and lost hope, everything seeming to go down hill from now on.
She was gone — they had already kicked her out… how could this have happened? Why would anyone do this...
That delusional bitch Angelina killed Grace Stone — the person who was practically your second mother. And, to only make matters worse, Angelina decided to kidnap Eden. She kept blabbering on and on about how Eden was her “precious guardian angel” and that they were meant to be, which was clear bulllshit. That's why they kicked her out of the house — even before all of this, they knew how derailed that woman was. And yet she still managed to break in... it made no sense.
But, most of all, amidst all this destruction and chaos, you had lost your best friend when Cal disappeared out of nowhere, and you weren’t even there to witness is. You had only heard from Ben that Cal had touched the tailfin of the 828 plane, which resulted into a bright light to surge and the next thing he knew, Cal had disappeared into thin air (along with the tailfin). The only question was — why did he do that?
You knew that ever since the 828 incident, Cal hasn't been the same innocent kid he once was. To be fair, everyone was affected by the incident, no one's lives were the same ever since then. But it felt as though the Stone family was affected the most, and you along with it. However, it was the said plane incident that brought the Stone’s and the Bahl’s together. That was probably the one upside to this entire mess. And because of it, you simply couldn't imagine your life without them. But now, Grace, Eden, and Cal were gone, just like that.
A high-pitched noise suddenly rings in your ears, cutting off your string of horrid thoughts. The doorbell.
After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Zeke steps over and opens the door when nobody reached for it, revealing the mystery person hiding behind.
That was when you connect your eyes with the man who had doorbelled. And in that very moment, you instantly knew who it was. Every feature of the man was recognizable to you anytime of the day. It was your best friend, Cal Stone… only 4 years older than you last saw him.
"Is that..." Olive couldn't even finish her sentence as she was in a state of pure shock.
"Cal," you breathed softly, not loud enough for anyone else to hear except for your sister.
Upon realizing what you had meant, Saanvi's eyes widen as she gasps in utter disbelief. "Oh my God," Saanvi queitly exclaims.
Cal simply nods at your bewildered expressions, confirming all your seemingly absurd suspiscions. Without hesitation, he runs to Ben and wraps him in a warm embrace. "Dad!" he cries out, the tears falling from his eyes.
Ben hugs his lost son back, still in a state of shock, unable to properly process what was happening. The two share a heartwarming moment before someone breaks the silence once more.
"Mom kicked Angelina out," Olive suddenly states in a stern yet shaky tone, taking a step closer to her twin as she fights back the tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
Upon hearing Olive’s harsh voice, Cal slowly breaks the hug and turns to face her, knowing what she was going to say.
“How did she get in, huh? How?”
Cal barely manages to enunciate out the words, but it was all she needed to hear. “I let her in…”
Olive shakes her head furiously. “How could you? Now Mom is DEAD because of you!” she yells at the top of her lungs, threateningly charging towards him.
As soon as you realize what was going on, you and Mick immediately run towards the twins, not letting Olive lay even a finger on him. She was not in the best condition to see him like this. In all honesty, he wasn’t exactly in the best condition either, considering that he was… older.
Cal flinches at the sight of his twin sister being so violent towards him — something she had never done to him before. "I- I was following a Calling," he simply stutters, unable to bear the sight of seeing his sister in this state.
Mick grabs tightly onto Olive to prevent her from stepping any closer to Cal, which only aggrevates her even further as she attempts to escape her Aunt’s clutches aggresively, but to fortunately no avail.
You step in between the twins, blocking Olive from stepping any closer to Cal. "Ol, don't forget the real enemy here," you remind her cautiously, attempting to sound as calm as possible, but in reality, you had so much overwhelming emotions surging through you.
Olive continues to shake her head in between the tears, still fighting back against Mick's restraints. "Do you really think a Calling would want to kill Mom? What were you THINKING?!" she exclaims louder than ever, ignoring your statement.
Upon hearing those harsh words, Cal grips tightly onto you, which only causes you to be more defensive. "Olive!" you shout back in the same volume and tone as Olive. "This is your own twin brother we're talking about. He was gone and now he's miraculously back. Can't we just focus on that for now?"
"Exactly," Olive spits. "That's my brother and my dead mother and my lost sister. You wouldn't understand, you’re not a part of this family."
Your face drops and your heart sinks. You know that Olive wasn’t wrong, but the sharp, brutal tone in her words made you sound worthless. Like Olive had just disregarded and thrown away everything that you two went through together. And it stung you to your core more than it should have.
"Okay, that's enough for now," Mick quickly interjects as to not cause any further trouble. She drags Olive away as she continues to scream dreadful words at Cal.
Cal simply slides down onto the cold ground, cowering his face with his knees as he sobs quietly, pondering on his regretted actions that led them to this mess.
You sink onto the floor with your best friend and simply engulf him in a warm embrace as you begin to let out the tears you had been holding back.
Zeke offers a sympathetic glance towards you and Cal and kneels beside you. "Come on, let's get you two cleaned up."