In Love with the Prince (of Darkness, That Is)

"Morning, sunshine," Dreama said as she closed the door to the apartment behind her. "You're up early."

"Couldn't sleep," Jesse mumbled. He was sitting on the couch, staring out the window at the sunrise. "How come you're home already?"

"It was dead, so Mark let me go." She slid down the arm of the couch to sit next to her brother. "Something on your mind?"

Jesse looked down at his hands. "I just miss him."

Dreama slipped her arm around Jesse's shoulders and squeezed tightly. "I know, babe. And it's okay. But he'd want you to be strong for him. For us."

"I've been doing some thinking," Jesse began after a few minutes of staring at the landscape before the pair.

"What about?" Dreama asked tenderly.

"I don't think I want to go to UWO in September."

"What do you mean? Of course you should go."

"Things are different now. We can't afford it."

"Don't be ridiculous. That scholarship's worth thousands, and you'll know there are cheap places near the school. Your cash will just go to rent there instead of here. Hell, the rent there's a lot less than ours anyway."

"How are you guys going to manage with one less person?"

"We'll have something worked out by the end of the summer, Jess, don't you worry. Come on, now, you're going to be the great one in this family. You always were. Do you think Dad would have wanted you to give that up?"

"It just doesn't feel worth it anymore," Jesse whispered, and his voice was strangled.

Dreama couldn't reassure her brother. Ever since their father's death two months before, she felt like she had been walking around in a shell, or that she was the shell, or the shell was her heart, or something. Whatever it was, she felt empty. Her father hadn't been the most courteous drunk, but the times when he was sober--few and far between though they were at the end--were some of the best of Dreama's life.

"Remember that night he took us for dinner on top of the CN?"

"And we got kicked out for laughing so loud," Jesse finished with a nostalgic grin.

"Dad was so angry; we'd saved for months to afford it, and they wouldn't even let us finish eating up there."

The siblings shared a laugh, and Dreama stood, stretching her arms over her head as she went. "Damn, I'm sore. Hey, since you're up, I'll make you some pancakes before you go to school."

"Don't worry about it; I'll just get some cereal. You look beat."

"It's not so bad. Come on. I want to."

"I expected Tommy to come with you," Jesse said as he leaned casually against the entrance to the kitchenette. He winked, and Dreama threw a rag at him.

"What do you know about me and Tommy?" she squealed.

"I know he spends the night here."

"Only once!" Dreama looked toward Nathaniel and Craig's bedroom. "Do they know?" she whispered.

Jesse shook his head.

"Well, whatever, nothing happened, but I'd have a time convincing them of that. And anyway, Tommy won't be coming around here for a while."

"What did you do this time?"

"I didn't do anything!" Dreama defended. "He just saw me dancing and got offended again."

Jesse grinned and shook his head. "Sometimes I think you do it on purpose."