The Memory Of Us

Chapter 27

"So-" Mina hummed, digging into her bowl of rice and veggies in her lap. She was sitting comfortably with her legs crossed, one on top of the other, on her bedroom floor. "-is this like-" She focused on chewing her food. "-a date?" She managed as she swallowed the last bite of broccoli, her cheeks and neck heating as the last word left her mouth.

Across from her, Khalil noticed, shoving a forkful of his own food into his mouth to hide his growing smile.

"Of course not." He said, talking around his food as he shook his head adamantly. "I'm still going to take you on a real date, I promise." He shoved another forkful of food into his mouth. "With expensive food and fancy candles so strong they'll give you a headache and music and everything!" He said excitedly, as if he meant every word, as if they were more than false promises.

"Before you leave?"

His adam's apple bobbed precariously as his fork stilled in his hand. "Mina, I don't want to argue." He warned.

"So don't." She offered in reply and Khalil scoffed in annoyance, placing his bowl down at his feet, his fork limply hanging over the edge.

"I don't want to leave you." He told her, consequences be damned.

That's how much he loved her. That's how much he craved her forgiveness.

"And I don't want you to spend the rest of your life in jail!" She exclaimed much too loudly, and she immediately corrected her mistake, throwing a cautionary glance to her closed door behind her before she continued on.

"You made a mistake!" She still managed to yell somehow, though her voice was barely above a whisper this time, as if she was afraid if she spoke any louder it might somehow make her words more scary than they already were.

"A mistake is getting the wrong kind of milk from the store." Khalil said softly, repeating his earlier words as he ran a haphazard hand over the top of his head idly. "I deserve to be in jail." He told her, before adding, "And we both know it."

This was the moment he had been waiting for since Mina had walked away from him in the hospital months ago, but now that it was finally here, now that she was on the cusp of forgiving him he realized that, in order for him to truly wash his hands clean, he would have to suffer like she had.

Mina had said it herself that night he had snuck into her room when Noah slept over. When he had asked her what her forgiveness would take she had answered him, "death."

He had to mentally suffer, mentally 'die,' like she had before he could be forgiven.

"Hey-" Khalil scooted closer to Mina's figure now, reaching out a hand to caress the skin of her thigh, drawing gentle circles with his thumb as he brought his other hand to rest upon her cheek which was hot and wet with tears.

"-why're you crying?" He asked, rhetorically of course and he felt his chest begin to ache as he watched Mina's shoulders shake uncontrollably with her emotions.

She buried her face in her hands.

"It's ok." Khalil lied to her. "It's ok." He repeated. "It's going to be ok, I promise."

"No, it's not." Mina's words came muffled through her hands and Khalil scooted closer until their knees were just grazing eachother's gently.

"My mom always said that when people do something wrong that they should pay, she'd be disappointed in me now if she knew that I was trying to avoid the consequences of my actions."

"People avoid the consequences of their actions all the time!" Mina exclaimed, dropping her hands now and Khalil had to shush her momentarily, her voice threatening to become too loud once more.