Gymnast Styles

Chapter 22

It was a rainy Thursday afternoon when my host family had received the call. I came running down the stairs to grab an apple when I knew something was up. The house was quiet. More quiet than normal. I could hear my host mother whispering to Tommy.

Finding out my cousin, Henry passed away hurt me beyond what words could describe. I didn't want to believe it. It felt like every time my life started to turn around I was faced with another obstacle.

Henry and I used to be really close when we were younger. We used to have family brunches every Sunday and we'd always spend our time playing outside digging in the dirt. Ya know, the normal stuff little kids do. When we were around ten, my uncle got a job promotion in America causing them to move. After they left Henry and I didn't talk as much.

•••
I gave a small smile and a very tired wave to Tommy and the rest of my host family as Alice and I boarded the plane. In a few short hours I would find myself in California burying my cousin.

Alice was trying to be understanding of the whole situation. I really do appreciate her for that. She at first tried to make some small talk, but once she realized that wasn't working she gave my hand a reassuring squeeze and told me that when I was ready to talk she was there for me.

In this time I really didn't know what I needed. It felt like I wanted to be alone, but at the same time I just wanted someone to be there for me. Don't get me wrong either, Alice was great. She was such a great mother, something I wished I had, but I guess in this moment I just wanted to be with my real family. I wanted my old family back like when I was a kid.

Before I knew it the plane had taken off and I closed my eyes. I was hoping I'd drift off to sleep, so I could escape from reality, even if it was only for a few hours.

•••
The day was Sunday. The service started at ten and it was currently nine. I had already showered and dried my hair. All I had to do was slip on the black dress that I had.

The weather was the total opposite of the mood I was in. It was sunny and warm outside. The kind of weather Henry always liked. It put a slight smile to my face as we stepped into the funeral home, knowing that Henry would've loved it.

Besides my uncle and aunt, there was one other tall, curly haired figure talking to them. My heart dropped and the lump in my throat formed. It was Harry.

Just like one of those awkward scenes from the movies, my uncle pointed to my, which caused Harry to turn around. Harry gave a small smile and slowly made his way towards me.

"Hey, uh, Mia. Can, we, uh maybe talk, like somewhere alone?" Harry's soft voice seemed nervous. Harry was actually scared to talk to me. I nodded my head and walked out towards the hallway.

Before either of us could speak tears rolled down my face and I hugged my brother like it was the last time I was going to see him. I knew the last time I saw him I had sworn to myself that I would hate him forever and I wanted to be angry at him, but I just couldn't.

With coming to the realization that you never know how long you have I just couldn't be mad. I didn't want to be mad at my brother anymore. What he did was wrong, but at the same time I can't hang onto the past anymore. I just can't, life is too short.

We probably stayed there for five minutes before Harry pulled away and wiped my tears.

"I'm so sorry Mia. I've been so selfish and that was wrong of me." Harry whispered into my ear as he pulled me back into a hug.

"Harry, I don't want to focus on the past. I've forgiven you. Right now, I just want to come home, Harry. I miss you and I just want to be home." I cried harder into his chest. I missed this. I missed being a family. Sure, we were a messed up family, but neither one of us knew what we were doing.

"But your gymnastics Mia. What are you going to do?" I sighed as Harry brought up gymnastics. I couldn't even think of that right now.

"I don't care about it. I mean I do, but I just want to come home and take a break for a bit. Life is just too much at the moment. I just need to be home."

Harry understood. He didn't press me anymore. He later told me him and the boys were taking a break for a little while. He said if I was serious about coming home he'd be more than happy to have me. It would be me and him at home for once. No more touring. With the news of that I told him we'd tell Alice that I need to go home for a bit.

•••
I hugged Alice one last time as she was getting ready to go home to her family and Harry and I were getting ready to go to ours.

She understood that I need to get away for a while. I was sad to leave her and her family because they had done so much for me, but I had to do this. Maybe one day I'd return, but for now it was just Harry and I. And with that, she got in her car as Harry and I got in ours.

A clean slate was ahead of us. A fresh start and I couldn't be happier. This was the first time in years I had finally felt at ease. I started out the window as Harry drove us home. Finally thinking to myself this is the life I've always wanted. We're finally a normal family.

A/N: I'm beyond sorry I haven't posted a chapter in forever. I had quit gymnastics myself and fell out of love with it, so it made it hard to write this. I started to fall out of love with this poorly writing and plotted story that I had started in middle, which I'm now a senior in high school, so I'm sure you could imagine how embarrassed I was to even know I wrote a story with such a poorly thought out plot. Not to mention a lot of my comments on the chapters were negative comments so it made it even harder to write, but enough with excuses. Anyway, after about a year of not logging into this account I came on and saw a lot of positive comments from you guys wanting more. I felt like I owed you guys since I've been gone for so long so this is going to be the last chapter. I thought about rewriting the whole story and plot, but then I thought to myself that I should keep it to remember how I used to write compared to now, where I'm much more mature than I was when I was 13. Anyway, thank you to those who have kindly supported this book. I'm going to be posting an epilogue soon. I'm so sorry again for leaving you guys after so many years but I appreciate and love each and everyone of you.

-C