The heavy timber door clicked shut behind them, cutting off the noise of the street. The cool air of the entryway felt almost startling after the lingering Sydney heat. The house smelled of beeswax and dried protea, familiar enough to make Elara feel as though the evening had finally caught up with her. Ethan tossed his car keys toward the bowl on the side table. They missed; He stared at them on the floor. Elara stared too.
"Nice."
"I was aiming for the floor."
"Obviously."
He bent down to pick them up while Elara slipped off her heels and carried them toward the stairs.
"So," Ethan called after her. "Building something that lasts."
She glanced over her shoulder. "What about it?"
"Does that start with your eight-a.m. lectures next year, or are you planning to be a normal person for at least one weekend?"
Elara stopped on the stairs. "I am a normal person."
Ethan gave her a look.
"Okay," she admitted. "I'm mostly a normal person."
"You're considering an eight-a.m. lecture voluntarily."
"It's called having ambition."
"It's called suffering."
She laughed and turned back toward the stairs, but Ethan wasn't finished.
"You actually excited about it?"
Elara paused. "Yeah." There was no teasing in her voice this time. She looked down at the graduation sash hanging loosely from her hand, then folded it over her arm. "I think I am."
Ethan leaned against the banister. "Why?"
Elara considered the question for a moment. "Because I like understanding people," she said. "Why they care about certain things. Why they trust some people and not others. How one story can completely change the way someone sees something."
Ethan nodded slowly.
"And I don't want to spend my life doing something that feels meaningless," she added. "I want to work on things people actually remember."
He smiled. "You've always been good at making people remember you."
Elara narrowed her eyes. "Was that a compliment?"
"Don't get used to it." She nudged his shoulder as she passed.
"Too late."
They made it to the kitchen before Ethan could think of another insult. The refrigerator opened, and Elara immediately spotted the leftover pavlova.
Her eyes lit up. "Oh."
Ethan appeared beside her. "I saw it first."
"You weren't even looking."
"I sensed it."
"That's not how food works."
"It is in this family."
She pulled the plate from the fridge and held it against her chest. "You're not getting all of it."
"I drove you home."
"You drove us home."
"I provided transportation."
"You also nearly missed the turn."
"There was traffic."
"At one in the morning?"
"Very aggressive traffic."
Elara laughed as she divided the pavlova between them. They had barely taken their first bites when the front door opened. Their parents were home.
Julian stepped into the hallway, loosening his tie as he walked. Sarah followed, slipping off her sandals. The faint scent of evening jasmine clung to their clothes from the faculty dinner they'd attended.
"There they are," Julian said. His gaze moved between the twins before settling on the half-eaten dessert. "I see you've both recovered from the celebration."
"Barely," Ethan said.
"Elara practically ran the entire party."
"I did not."
"You did."
"She just likes being in charge," Ethan added.
Elara pointed her fork at him. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
Julian laughed.
Sarah came around the island and stole a piece of pavlova from Elara's plate.
"Mum."
"What?"
"That was mine."
"You have another piece."
"That isn't the point."
Sarah smiled innocently. "You're nineteen now. Surely you've learned to share."
Ethan leaned back in his chair. "She hasn't."
"Neither have you."
"True."
The four of them settled around the kitchen island, the excitement of graduation slowly giving way to the comfortable rhythm of home.
Sarah looked between the twins. "So," she said, "what happens now?"
"Sleep," Ethan answered immediately.
"University," Julian said.
"Sleep at university."
Elara laughed.
Sarah shook her head. "Have you two actually made any decisions?"
"A few," Elara said.
Ethan looked at her. "That's a generous description."
She ignored him. "I know what I want to study. I just haven't settled on where yet."
"Public Relations?" Sarah asked.
Elara nodded.
"What kind of university are you looking for?"
"One where I can actually do things."
Julian raised an eyebrow. "Things?"
"Projects. Events. Campaigns. Internships. Anything that gets me out of a lecture hall and into the real world." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't want to spend years learning what I'm supposed to do and then discover I have no idea how to actually do it."
"That sounds like you," Ethan said.
"What does that mean?"
"You've never been very good at sitting still."
"Exactly."
Julian smiled. "At least you're consistent."
Elara grinned.
She reached for her glass, then added, "I want to keep sketching too. The Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, The Rocks. There's something about old places that makes you wonder how many people have stood in the same spot before you."
Her father nodded. "Now that I understand."
"I knew you would."
"And you, Ethan?" Julian asked.
Ethan sighed dramatically. "Here we go."
"Still thinking sports science?"
"Definitely."
"Even with all the travel?"
"Especially with the travel."
He leaned forward, his earlier joking expression giving way to something more focused.
"I want somewhere with a strong rugby program and proper high-performance facilities. I want to understand what actually makes an athlete better, not just train and hope for the best."
Elara stole another bite of his dessert. "You're going to spend three years finding scientific reasons to play rugby." Ethan looked down at his plate.
"You've eaten most of mine."
"You weren't guarding it properly."
"That is not how siblings work."
"That is exactly how siblings work."
Sarah laughed. "You two haven't even left for university yet."
"Give us time," Ethan said.
Julian glanced at the clock before leaning back in his chair. "You both have plenty to figure out. There's no need to have your entire lives planned tonight."
Sarah reached across the table and squeezed Elara's hand, then Ethan's. "Exactly. Tonight, you graduated. That's enough." The twins exchanged a look.
For once, neither had anything sarcastic to add.
Sarah stood and walked toward the kettle. "The garden is planted, the history is saved, and the tea is almost ready."
Elara smiled. "Now that's something worth celebrating."
Ethan raised his glass.
"To surviving St. Ignatius."
Elara tapped hers against his.
"And surviving each other." Their parents laughed, and just like that, the night settled around them.
Tomorrow, they could worry about universities, applications, and everything waiting beyond Sydney. Tonight, they were simply home.