Dedicated to a friend and writer
I'm grateful to know <3

15th January 2019
Sydney, Australia

For Dayton Blackwood, some mornings start with a cup of coffee and then some mornings start with someone kissing his neck. At the feel of soft lips on his olive toned skin, Day opens one eye and peers through it. After getting an eyeful of dark hair, Day opens both of his green eyes.

"Woah, wait. I don't – I don't think this is a good idea," Day protests, stumbling over his words. He leans up to stare at his girlfriend – ex- girlfriend, before continuing, "last night was meant to be closure, I don't think taking it further is smart."

Mia Campbell blushes and quickly moves from her previous position where she was straddling him, to now, sitting on her knees beside him on his king sized bed.

"I thought..." she starts, but ends up trailing off not knowing how to word her thoughts in a way so that he can understand her and the incredibly conflicting thoughts swimming around in her brain. Of course Mia knows what they had agreed on the previous night when he had met up with her to end things; but she's also very aware of how his lips felt against hers when he had kissed her the day before.

"Look, I'm going away today. Not down the road or even across the country but to America. For how long? I don't know. Will I ever come back? I don't know. And I don't know if I'm ready for a long distance relationship right now," Day replies, hoping that she can find it in herself to understand where he is coming from.

He fights the urge to just outright tell her that he is a witch who can do magic. The chanting and rest of the package that comes along with the rush through his veins every time he mutters an incantation – even if it is a basic one that merely turns the lights on.

"You're right, I get it. I just like you a lot."

The look on Day's face softens and he lets a soft smile tip up his lips.

"Mia, I get it, I like you too. But I don't know," he replies staring as Mia begins to collect her belongings and put the rest of her clothing on, covering up her mocha coloured skin. "I'm sorry."

After pulling the green tank top on, Mia turns to face Day. "I'm sorry too."

And with the soft utter of words, she stalks out.

Day groans in frustration before running his hands through the dark strands of his hair that are sticking up in awkward places. He slumps back onto bed and hopes for sleep to devour him again.

Despite Day's desperate pleas for sleep to take him under, it eludes him. With a frustrated sigh he pulls the white covers off him and drags his body out of the bed and away from the comfort it offers.

As he makes his way to the door his eyes land on the novel he was reading last night, bookmarked and discarded on the table. And so Day Blackwood offers himself a deal: if it is ten o'clock then he would get everything ready, but if it's earlier then – and only then – would he pick up the book. He closes one eye and shoots a hopeful glance at the digital clock on his bedside, even making sure to cross his fingers for extra luck.

"Oh, fuck," he curses, once he sees the numbers 10:46 on the clock. There is no time to read - hell, he isn't sure if he has enough time to eat. And food is, and always will be priority. Unable to tolerate the horrifying situation where he will have to miss out on breakfast, Day rushes around his house getting everything ready.

Meanwhile, Aurelia Blackwood watches in amusement as her son does exactly what she had predicted last night. He should've listened to her when she had told him to pack early. After all, mothers always know best.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

After not even twenty minutes of rushing around, a quick five minute shower, and three minutes that are spent grovelling down bacon, Day stands in the living room of the small cosy house in Sydney and drops his bag and suitcase onto the couch.

"Witchling's guide to witching?"

"Check."

"Book of Incantations?"

"Check."

"History of Witches? Civisal Studies? Magical Arts?"

"Check, check and check."

"Ink, pens, paper?"

"Yeah, off course."

His mother rambles off checking things off the list that she had created mentally. Aurelia Blackwood is in her habitat and at her finest. The raven black hair that both her children had inherited from her is tied up in a bun with a simple blue apron tied around her. And a soft smile, that is ever present, plays on her lips.

Day's younger brother, who lounges lazily on a bean bag in his pyjamas feels the need to interject, "Motivation?"

"Not too sure about that one," Day replies, sending him a mischievous smile. Derek Blackwood casts a glance in the direction of his mother and grins. Only just noticing the unimpressed look on the elder witch's face, Day hurries to correct himself, "I am kidding, of course."

"Remember to always message me whenever you're free and let me know how you're doing." His mother steps forward and pats his collar down and brushes the navy blue blazer - that is compulsory to the school uniform – off, getting rid of any imaginary dust that dared to linger on it. She then makes a tsking sound before patting his firm stomach.  "You need to eat properly too, you've lost so much weight."

Propping a grape into his mouth, the younger Blackwood male drawls, "He's been trying to get abs."

"Trying? I have succeeded," Day replies, his eyebrow rising challengingly.

"If that's what you want to think, big brother," Derek retorts. When Day shoots him a daring look, Derek's eyes shift around the room aimlessly in a futile attempt to feign innocence. "Who said that? Mama? Was that you?"

Aurelia Blackwood giggles on the side, looking back at her sons. She can still remember the days when they would run around as toddlers and accidentally perform magic without knowing it. Despite only being older than Derek by two years, Day was the one taking care of his little brother; and now her baby is grown up ready to head off to the academy where she had turned from a girl into a woman. But this year is going to be different with the heirs being chosen. And as she looks at her elder son, the sinking in her stomach that follows is inevitable.

"Ma?" Aurelia turns back to look at her sons who stare back at her with a mixture of confusion and concern.

"Don't worry, just thinking," the Blackwood female replies, and when she notices the not-so-convinced stares on their faces, Aurelia hurries to divert the attention to something else. "Oh wait! That's right, I have something for you."

At the appearance of unadulterated curiosity on Day's face, Aurelia smirks and rushes back into her room. She returns not even two minutes later with a piece of jewellery enclosed tightly in the palm of her hand. Derek laughs at the idea that his elder brother is being gifted a necklace. Aurelia Blackwood angles her body around Day to stare down her younger son challengingly. Derek instantly sobers up. No one challenges mama bear, no one.

Day, who usually would say anything to make his mother happy, can't find a word to say. Until his mother unfurls her fist to reveal the piece of jewellery. As the black cord of the necklace contrasts, against his mother's hand, Day can't peel his eyes away from the cylinder-like-phial that hangs as a pendant. Intricate designs cover the top and the bottom of the glass, and in between swims a red liquid.

"Tell me that's not blood," Derek quips, from where he lounges lazily on the armchair.

Though Aurelia's lips thin into an unimpressed smile, the amusement is evident.

"No silly, it's something that means a lot to me." She raises her arms and stands on her toes so she can clasp it around Day's neck. But to no avail, Aurelia still cannot clasp it properly.

As he watches his mother struggle, Day sucks his top lip in and looks away from Aurelia in hopes that he won't burst out laughing and then be in the receiving end of the classic stern and unimpressed look that his mother constantly found herself staring at her two sons with.

Letting out a frustrated huff, Aurelia drags Day over to the stairs. He finds himself exchanging an amused look with his younger brother, who seems occupied with trying to hide his laughter by putting his fist in his mouth. With a quizzical look, Day averts his attention back to his mother who climbs on to the second step of the stairs and then reaches up to clasp the necklace around him – this time successfully.

She leans back, admires how it looks on him, brushes the imaginary dust off his navy blue blazer and then smooths out the non-existent wrinkles, all the while avoiding eye contact. That's all it takes for Day to know that tears are welling up in her bright green eyes. He gulps, and then as he awkwardly rubs the skin under his eyebrows with his thumb, Day wishes that he can use his witch powers to summon the right words to comfort his mother.

When he comes up with nothing, Day places his hands on her shoulders so she will look up and that can buy his brain more time to come up with something.

"Ma..." Day starts before trailing off. Aurelia looks up and what Day already knows is confirmed. The tears in her eyes threaten to trail down her cheeks and as Aurelia smiles sadly at her son, Day's heart constricts. She places her right hand on his cheek and caresses his skin, brushing his five o'clock shadow. As Derek watches from the side-lines he contemplates looking away, to avoid feeling like an intruder any longer.

"Promise me that you'll be careful? That you'll eat well?" Aurelia asks, looking ready to ramble off.

"Yes mama, I promise." And that is enough for Aurelia Blackwood. After all, her son can break hearts, vases, and his phone (which he makes quite the habit of doing) but he can never break a promise. Which is why he rarely uses the word, but when he does, she knows he means it. So she steps back and smiles up at him. He smiles back.

"Hate to break the moment, but Day needs to hurry unless he wants to miss the Lanium opening and then he'll have to wait till next week," Derek interrupts, staring down at the watch on his arm and then up to his brother and mother. 

"Right." Day turns around, examines the living room that he had grown up in. He shifts his eyes back to his mother and leans down, pecking her on the cheek. "I'll take care of myself, I promise. Take care of yourself for me too, please?"

She smiles in return before agreeing, "I will. I love you, never forget that."

"Love you too, ma." With that, Day turns around, lifts his suitcase, and walks towards Derek who stands up and straightens himself.

Day smirks and Derek reciprocates in kind. While his left hand grasps his suitcase, he uses his right arm to pull his younger brother into a hug, who looks to be catching up to his height at a breakneck speed. And Day smiles because he knows that by the time he comes back on birthday, Derek and him will be able to pass off as twins.

"Take care of yourself and her please," Day says, signalling to the Blackwood woman standing on the side.

"Don't worry, I got you man," Derek replies lightly, but the sincerity in his eyes assures Day.

"Right, and don't get too wrapped up with chicks. Bitches be crazy, remember?" Day reminds and Derek responds with a chuckle before he continues talking, "And please don't forget to practice your incantations otherwise by the time you'll get there you'll know jack. And you'll screw up my reputation."

Derek stares back at his brother with incredulity. "Dude, are you for real? You haven't even stepped foot on to the grounds yet. You don't have a reputation."

"You don't know that," Day remarks adding a wink for extra measure.

"Oh stop it, both of you. Day, you have to hurry."

As Day turns around ready to repentilate, Derek asks, "Aren't you meeting up with Zoe?"

"Yeah, I'm just going to repentilate to her place, and then we'll be off from there," Day explains. He takes a last glance at Derek and his mother before repentilating out of the house. "Lanium magicae."

Just like that Day disappears with a soft 'poof' leaving behind dust that slowly sinks to the carpeted floor.

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