Taylor opened the front door, only to see Kait lying on the couch with a despondent expression. “Hey, Kait, are you alright?” He ran to her, a memory of dread rising to his thoughts.

She snapped out of her gloom quickly, easing Tailor’s concerns, “Hey. Why’d you think I wasn’t?”

Taylor let out a sigh of relief, “It’s just your expression reminded me of Hailey.”

Kait sat up from the couch, then stretched her arms, “How so?”

“You looked similar to her after she found...” he glanced side to side, making sure no one else was in earshot, “her friend.”

Kait tilted her head in confusion, “Her friend?”

“...Abbie.”

“Who?”

“The dea-!”

Kait held out her hands apologetically, “Oh no! I’m so sorry I was being so stupid there!”

Taylor sighed out his tenseness, “That’s fine. I’m just glad we can talk together without feeling pressured to.”

Kait nodded her head, a tear suddenly forming on her left eye, “I’m happy you feel that way.”

“Huh, are you sure you’re alright? Why are you crying?!”

“Don’t ask me!”

“Who else would I ask!?”

“The milkman!”

“...I don’t...what does that even mean?”

“Look, it’s an expression! It ain’t my fault my vocabulary is 412 years old!”

“Are milkmen even from that long ago?”

“No doubt they are! Do they exist this long postgo?!”

“What’s that mean?”

“I’m figuring that out myself!”

Taylor cleared his throat, “Since you’re still fine, I can get to what I wanted to say in the first place. Hailey’s friends wanted to come over and say hi, so I invited them over.”

“Got it. I’ll go to my room while you all catch up, then.”

“Nonono! You don’t need to leave or anything! You’d be fun to have around while we talk.”

Kait shook her head, “What do you think is going to happen when they talk to her?”

“Maybe she will hole up in her room, but she can’t keep them waiting forever!”

Kait sighed, realizing how ignorant of his sister’s feelings Taylor was, “You don’t get a thing, do ye?” She put her right hand on Taylor’s shoulder, “Hailey won’t do that. You’re cutting straight to a confrontation. She’s going to tell you and her friends off.”

“But she needs to talk and get out of her room.”

“Tha-” Kait stopped herself mid-sentence, then smiled as if looking at an ambitious child, “Do your best, then.”

“Well, I will!” Taylor said defiantly.

“Hi, Abigail, Linne.” Taylor greeted both of Hailey’s friends at the front door a few minutes later.

Abigail had a confident smile on her face, dressed like she was going on a simple errand, holding a plastic grocery bag. “Yo, Taylor. Good t’ see you.” She took a step into his house.

Linne followed her in silently, nervously raising a hand to greet Taylor. She was dressed casually, just like Abigail, bar the numerous pieces of jewelry she liked to wear.

“Hailey’s upstairs...I meant to tell her you two would come to say hi yesterday, but...”

“That’s fine,” Abigail said, “Is she out here right now?”

Taylor scratched his head, “I haven’t gotten the time to talk to her since she’s usually in her room...”

“Well, let’s call her out then, right, Linne?”

“Right,” Linne said quietly.

“She probably won’t want to see you.” Taylor was confused. Had he not told them that earlier?

Abigail paused to look at him and shook her head knowingly. Abigail began climbing the stairs, then stood still in front of Hailey’s room, looking back to see the others climbing the stairs.

When they each had arrived at the top, Abigail yelled through the door, “Yo, it’s me, Abigail! Hailey, are you there?”

...no response.

Tailor shrugged, “She probably doesn’t want to come out.”

“Do you want to talk...?”

...no response.

“I don’t think she does...” Taylor responded quietly.

“We brought you some candy. It’s Wishie-Washies, your favorite...”

...a creak.

“I haven’t seen you in like, two months, are you alright...?”

...no response.

“I’m just gonna put them in your room then...I’ll come back tomorrow...” Abigail reached for the handle and twisted it a little, hitting a lock. “Darn...” she muttered.

Linne moved Abigail aside, stood in front of the door, and shouted with reckless abandon, “I’m so sorry, Hailey! I didn’t come to the library that day a-and because of that-I-I could have saved Abbie b-but I-it’s all my-”

“Shut the thatch up.”

Her friends froze in surprise. They hadn’t expected to hear her...or to her snap at them so aggressively.

Linne reached for the door handle, but Abigail pulled her back then held her close, hugging her. “Let’s just leave her alone for today, please, Linne?” She stared down at a despondent Linne cradled between her arms, then let her go. She then looked to Taylor with a forced smile. “We can just come tomorrow, right?”

Taylor nodded his head, “Unless she ducks out.”

Abigail’s smile turned real, remembering the past, “That’d be like the Hailey I know...”

She grasped Linne’s hand and walked her down the stairs.

As she reached the front door, she raised her hand, “We will be back tomorrow, bye!”

Linne raised her own hand in goodbye.

They dropped off the bag of Wishie-Washies as they left.

After standing next to Hailey’s door for a moment, Taylor heard her voice again, “Give me them.”

“W-what?”

“The Wishie-Washies.”

“Ohhh, so you’re going to act like that to them, then snatch their candy?!” Taylor didn’t know whether to be disgusted or filled with pity.

“...”

“Well, thatch you too,” Taylor said with little passion. Still, he walked down the stairs slowly and came back up, contrary to his sentiment, with the Wishie-Washies.

Taylor heard a click, then saw Hailey hold her hand out of the door, grasping at air until he placed the bag in her hands. When he did, she tried to drag the bag into her room. It failed, however, as Taylor held onto the bag. Just as he lost the strength to fight the tug of war, he saw what his struggle had been for.

“Just give it to me!” She finally snatched the bag from his hand with an aggravated yell and closed the door with a click.

Taylor sighed, unsure what to feel, despite seeing what he’d wanted to.

Yeah, she was crying alright.

Taylor was pacing around the first floor, his thoughts racing. He had known Hailey didn’t want to see her friends, but he hadn’t known why. He figured it must have been that, in some way, they were related to the incident. He’d never pried into the details of what had happened, knowing it made Hailey sad to think about...no, that was a lie.

Right now, though, he wasn’t exactly sure what to do. Hailey had been shut in at home for long over a month, and if she didn’t fix...whatever was wrong with her psyche before she inevitably had to come back...who knew what?

He heard someone descending the stairs and turned to see Kait, just as she called to him, “Hey.”

He stood still despite his preference to pace when stressed and waved a hand, “Hi, Kait.”

Kait walked into the kitchen and began preparing cereal. “You seem a little rattled,” she said in a collected manner.

Taylor rubbed his throat nervously, “I don’t know if you’d call it that...”

“Long day, then?”

“Well, it sure hasn’t been a short one. What have you been doing? It’s rare to see you in your room for so long?”

“I’ve been...trying to practice emotional control, but...”

“But...?”

“But...”

“But...?”

“Buuuuuuttt,” Kait laughed, remembering the last time they’d had a similar exchange, “I can’t think straight.”

“Why’s that?”

“Trauma, no doubt.”

“...That’s a little extreme.”

“Is it, now? Your sister seems to have some too,” she pointed to her head, “Of course, if we want to talk specifics, my trauma makes hers look like a bad dream.”

“What’s that supposed to mean...” Taylor said sheepishly.

“Genocide.” Kait said, before taking a bite of cereal. “looksh like I have chshanged-” she gulped, “Hey, am I acting a little different to you?”

“Mmmm, yeah? Like...you’re a bit...calmer...self-assured?”

“That’s good.” Kait took another bite and stretched as she swallowed it, “Back to subject, though. So you had a pothole with your sister, I presume?”

Taylor nodded glumly.

“How do you feel about some more stargazing?”

“Again? I guess...”

“Now, no doubt you want to talk about what happened. Why don’t you spit it out while we walk?”

Kait opened the gate to the garden.

“So, that’s how it went,” Taylor said.

Kait continued down the path and sniffed the air, soaking in the floral scent.

“...Any comment?”

Kait placed her hands in her jean pockets. “What comment are you looking for?”

“Could you help me?”

“Maybe, maybe not. Ye lookin’ for magic or advice?”

“Advice, mostly.”

Kait fell onto a bench and stared at the koi pond while Taylor chose to stand, too stressed to sit. “How about I say what I think about you...”

Taylor didn’t respond but gulped nervously.

“You care a ton about the people around you, you love helping those people, you’re emotional, you’re determined, and you love to pry into other’s affairs to reach those ends. You attach easily to people you don’t know much about-that last part was unnecessary to say, keep it together, Kait-” she cleared her throat, “No doubt, ye aren’t going to give up on your sister, right?”

Taylor shriveled at the description of himself and held his arms together like he was cold.

Kait smiled, keeping herself relaxed, and sat up, “Alright, sit with me.”

Taylor didn’t relax but sat down beside the witch.

“Look, things might seem difficult, but...honestly...” She shrugged. “I’m no good with family stuff. Probably cause’ I never had one.” She raised her head and stared at the full moon, “I don’t know what’ll happen if you push the issue, but I guarantee, as long as you show your sister you love her...you can come to an...understanding. Or something like that.”

“So what, I just tell her nice things till she walks out?”

“Was there a communication glitch or something? I said to show your love!”

“Isn’t that ‘showing my love’?”

“How’s telling her nice things got anything to do with showing you love her?”

“How doesn’t it...”

Kait shrugged, “What I want you to know is that as long as you try to communicate yourself with her, you’ll make progress!”

“I don’t know...”

Kait grabbed Taylor’s arm and tore it out of its reserved position.

Taylor leaned back a little, “What are you doing?”

Kait smiled at Taylor, still relaxed, “Just a little spell.” she suddenly gripped Taylor’s hand. “Now, repeat after me-”

Taylor suddenly tensed, “W-w-w-what?!”

“I said, repeat after me. I need to hold your hand for this, so pretend you aren’t skittish and do what I say.”

Taylor gulped again, “Y-you got it.”

“First, take a deeep breath.”

The two took a deep breath.

“Now, fall just a little in your chair.”

The two slacked a little on the bench, Taylor squirming uncomfortably.

Kait placed her other hand on Taylor’s shoulder, “Relax, no need to be tense. Let’s take another deep breath.”

“Got it...”

The two took a second deep breath.

Now, say what I say:

“Right now, what I can’t do I can’t do, and what I can do, I don’t feel like doing. I just want to sit here and watch the moon.”

“R-right now, I can’t do what I can’t do...” He looked to Kait for assurance he was saying it right, and when she nodded, he continued, “And what I can do, I don’t feel like doing. I just want to sit here and watch the moon.”

Kait nodded, then continued, “Now, stare straight at the moon...”

Taylor looked down at the reflection of the moon that glinted on the koi pond’s surface.

Kait laughed, “Wrong moon, silly, look up!”

She pointed to the moon, and Taylor’s gaze followed. “Ok...”

“Now, just stare at the moon, and you’ll know exactly what to do.”

Taylor stared at the moon. As its light made him squint just a little, his body relaxed, and his eyes started wishing they’d close.

“Do you feel it?”

“...” Taylor felt like sleeping. He didn’t want to think about what was happening...he just felt like staring at the moon. He felt something warm on his shoulder, and his body autonomously had his head lean against it without thinking.

Near his ear, he heard Kait whisper, “The stars are beautiful today, aren’t they?”

There wasn’t a spell, there wasn’t a certainty of ‘right advice’, there wasn’t even fear under the moonlight. All he felt was light, heat, snowflakes melting on his skin, and a longing for the new day to bring his dreams.

The stars never needed to shine for him to know they were there.