𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 ( 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐎𝐧𝐞)

𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

𝐋𝐢𝐚

Everyone has a story to tell. Whether privileged or not. Everyone born under the sun will have a story. The family in which I was born was no different. Today we will hold our first meeting as children of men whose legacy we are meant to carry.

If I could avoid it, I would have, but I was one of the eldest, it was my duty to be there.

I watched the moon shine brightly, its lights emitting into the room with a glare that lit the room; I walked around without switching the lights. I couldn't sleep because I kept thinking of how Luca would finally come into this house—my sanctuary—a place with no memories of his, no ghost of his presence to chase me. After three years of dodging him, it was time.

It was not easy, mainly because we would both be home for the holidays. But if he could do it for six years, I figured I could try it too. It had worked, not without him bombarding me for meetings and alone time, which I had either turned down or picked up the phone and spoke like a family member instead of the girl who'd been in love with him almost ten years ago.

Now we were twenty-three. I can believe it; time indeed flies. I still haven't come to terms with Luca coming into this house even though he has a bedroom. It's one of the many reasons why I cannot stop completely loving him, his respect for me. This was a family house, everyone had a room, but Luc wouldn't force himself in my space without my consent.

Damn Zion, if it weren't for him, Luca wouldn't have had a reason for this meeting. I thought, walking down the stairs with an afghan wrapped around me. It was a chilly night, but I didn't feel like closing the binds; my house was secluded, so I did not have neighbors within a few miles radius. My father said it was a security measure.

Standing by the window, I watched as the night slowly died away, the first sign of light appearing from the beautiful blue sky, yet I stood still, unable to walk away until my legs started cramping. The unease surrounding my heart grew; the butterflies in my stomach refused to settle and kept moving around as if in fright.

I left the window to go back to the bedroom to try to get at least a few hours of sleep until my family descended on me like a bad case of flu. I loved them, immensely so. However, this felt like it would open another chapter in my life, one I was beginning to feel I couldn't run from anymore. I thought the same when he had an accident, yet this was different.

It was time to have it out.

Entering my bedroom, I was struck by the golden glow of the sun emerging from the horizon, the beauty calling upon me with a promise of a great day.

Putting the afghan on a small bedroom chair near the window, I slid off the black satin nightgown I wore, threw it on the same chair, and slid under the comforter, cussing loudly when my brain started imagining fake scenarios instead of sleeping.

It has been years since Luc, and I had a thing, yet my mind always goes back to when we were fourteen, young, in love, and in friendship, if that was a thing; now we were more strangers than friends, except every time we were in the same room, a shimmering buzz pulled us together, but we have managed, albeit barely, to resist it.