Holding On | Completed

Chapter 2

I stood outside her dance studio, waiting for her to come out. I heard the sound of a few voices, one that I recognized immediately. Smiling, I watched as she walked out the door, not noticing me. Perfect, I thought. Sneaking up behind her, I placed my hands on her shoulders, watching as she jerked at the surprise.

"Graham?!" She turned and looked at me. "Why- What are you doing here?"

I shrugged. "Thought I'd visit."

I watched as the three girls she was talking to smiled as they watched us. They were the ones who told me to come. They told me to surprise her. After all, today was a special day. I stared at the three and they smiled at me, waving as they walked away. One of them mouthed good luck to me. Do I really need luck? Nah, probably not. Okay, realistically speaking, yeah I do.

"Hey, are you there?" Her hands waved in front of my face.

"Oh, sorry," I said, pulling myself back in from my own world.

"I missed you!" She said, brushing it off.

"I did too, Arianna." My smile grew as I saw her happy. "Come on, let's go."

"Where are we headed?" She slung her bag higher up her shoulder and followed me to my car.

"Somewhere." I responded.

No more words. No more spoilers. I thought to myself. All I wanted was to surprise her and knowing my sister, I could say anything and she would figure out what is going on. She shrugged and got in the car. I got in and started the engine. She was silent during the drive. I did not know why, but I decided not to ask. I knew her, it would do no good to ask her; asking her would make her hide it more. I looked to my right and watched as she slowly fell asleep against the window. I smirked. Some things just never change.

I watched as her chest rose and fell slowly. Looking her up and down, I noticed how much she had changed since the last time I saw her. It has only been six and a half months since I last saw her, and yet, she seemed to have grown up so much.

She was wearing black shorts, they looked like a skirt though. She paired it with a white crop top. Her hair was up in a ponytail and it was obvious that she had curled her hair. A simple, black choker rested against her neck; matching black studs on her ears. She was also wearing white converse. I noticed her hands, a few rings and bracelets were on her hands; I wondered where she had gotten them from.

"Arianna, wake up." I shook her shoulder.

"Huh?" Her eyes opened and she stared at me. "Where are we?"

"You'll see." I got out of the car, her following.

"Seriously, where are we, Graham?" She fell into step with me.

"Somewhere." We walked on a path which headed towards a house. I took out my keys, ready to unlock the door once we got there.

"Is this where you live?" She asked, her eyes wandering.

"Mhmm." I got to the door and unlocked it, heading inside.

"Sophia!" Arianna hurried over to the couches and sat beside her.

"How was the drive?" Sophia turned to Arianna.

"I was asleep the whole time." They laughed.

"Was she really?" Sophia looked at me.

Nodding, I replied. "She slept for what... 6 hours?"

I left the two girls alone and headed to the kitchen to prepare dinner for the three of us. Setting my phone down on the counter, I rolled up my sleeves and washed my hands. Before I could get started, I felt two hands on my shoulders.

"Did you think you'd have to do this alone?" A sweet voice said behind me.

"Well, I was supposed to." I looked over my shoulders as I dried my hands with a hand towel.

"Nope." Another voice said.

"Fine." I smiled as I watched Sophia and Arianna start to take over the kitchen.

An hour and a half later, we were sitting at the dining table, empty plates on the table as we had finished our dinner. Silently, I snuck away from the table. In reality, I had just walked away while Sophia and Arianna were immersed in their conversation about some music stars.

"Ah!" Arianna screamed. "Why'd the lights turn out?"

I walked in with a cake, lit with candles. Walking up to her, I placed the cake on the table in front of her as Sophia and I sang Happy Birthday. Her face lit up with joy as she saw why she had been taken to my house. As the song came to a finish, she blew out her candles. Immediately, she got up from the table and ran to Sophia and me, giving us a hug. After a while, she had let go of Sophia and was just hugging me.

"Thank you." Her voice was muffled because her face was buried in the folds of my shirt. "I thought you forgot."

I stroked her hair. "Me? Forget your birthday?" I laughed. "How could I forget?"

"It doesn't matter how." She laughed, letting go. "Thanks for remembering."

I nodded as a response.

"Thank you Sophia." She looked to her. "I bet you're the one who reminded him."

"Hey!" I looked to my younger sister.

She started to run away, knowing that I was going to chase her, like always. Well, here we go again. With that, I began my chase for Arianna.

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I hope you're enjoying this so far. I know, it's starting off slowly, but please keep reading!

If you guys show your support I will continue to write, but if not... well then I won't be motivated to keep writing...

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