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When Jared walked to the couch to hand Elyse her sandwich, he found her crying. He should've heard her, he thought with a frown as he sat down the two plates of food on the coffee table. Instinctively, his arms wrapped around her to pull her to his chest as she cried. He whispered soothing words against her ear as her body shook against his own. Less than ten minutes ago, she'd been on the phone with her mother, sharing short stories about the past and giggling. Once she heard her hushing her mother, followed by Elyse assuring her mother that the man in her kitchen was only a friend. And now, she was silently crying against his chest.
"It's okay," Jared whispered against her hair, his sad eyes closing as he frowned. Her head shook as her hand clutched the fabric of his shirt, her small body curling into his.
"She—" Elyse paused, choking on her words. She gasped after a moment to catch her breath as his hand ran down her back to soothe her further. "She was like a second mother."
His head nodded in a way to tell her that she could talk as much as she wanted as she looked up to him after a moment. If he hadn't been sad before, then he definitely was now. Her eyes were puffy and red, her lips pressed together as if she were stopping herself from making any noise. She looked sad, and he knew that she felt that way too.
Her eyes shut tightly for a moment before her hand slowly released his shirt. She began wiping at the tears quickly before taking a moment to catch her breath so that she could speak clearly. "She was there when my father left when he went overseas."
"Military?" He questioned thoughtfully before she nodded her head to confirm his question.
"Marine corp for thirteen years. I was four when he left. He'd come home and leave again, or we'd move around because we didn't want to leave him entirely. But when we stayed behind, my aunt stayed with us too. She helped my mom raise me, especially after my dad died."
"I'm sorry." He whispered, running his fingers gently through her hair to brush hair out of her face with a small sigh. "What was she like?"
"Wonderful." She chuckled, memories flashing through the back of her mind. Like when she fell off her bike when she was six years old and when she nearly fell down the stairs the night of her prom. She always was clumsy. "She always picked me up. Literally and not literally."
A small smile replaced the frown on Jared's lips, appreciating that he was getting a chance to hear more about Elyse and her family. "Did you fall a lot?"
As she began to nod her head, a smile broken out onto her lips. "A lot more than I probably should have fallen, but she was always there when mom would be away at work. Especially when I'd get sick and stay home from school. She was always there."
"She sounds amazing." He chuckled faintly before she leaned her head against his chest with a nod.
