P.S. (Please Stay)

Nineteen

Olivia's mind was racing as she strode from her parent's driveway. Her thoughts and emotions were tumbling together, crashing around in her head. They made no sense, and she found it difficult to focus on her exact feelings. She was walking blindly, having no sense of direction or purpose until she realised she was standing in front of the playground swings.

As a child, Olivia would often run away from home after a fight with her mother or sisters, but only ever made it as far as the swings. She would sit on the swings and pump her legs until she was flying as high as she could. After a while, she wasn't thinking about Denise making her do dishes or Stephanie hogging the remote. She would only focus on getting this-close to flipping over the bar, shrieking with excitement as her stomach dropped in time with the swing. It didn't take long before she calmed down and went home, giggling and out of breath.

She didn't expect the swings to work quite how they did as a child, but before she could change her mind, Olivia settled on the seat, now tighter than she recalled. She pushed herself through the sand until she took off pumping her legs.

Harry's past comments crushed Olivia. She loved him with everything she had, and to find out there had been a time when he didn't feel the same was devastating. His words were far more than just a rude gripe about her. They were the worst words anyone could speak about another. She didn't know how easy they would be to forget.

However, the intoxicated, sad boy who spoke those words wasn't her Harry. She was not sure how bad he struggled after their breakup but if she went by her own experience, every day was a fight to get through. She, too, found the bottom of bottles and had choice words about Harry. Granted, she didn't tell those words to his sister, but if she saw Gemma, would Olivia had reacted the same as Harry did? She didn't think she would have been blameless either.

Olivia was not sure how many minutes had gone by – more than the one she asked for, but not by many – when she noticed Harry walking across the playground towards her. She kept her eyes forward, legs pumping. She was unsure what to say to him. The swings hadn't worked their magic as they had in the past. She snickered to herself – did she really expect they would?

Harry had followed Olivia off the deck and down the driveway, but waited out of her sight for a few minutes. He wanted to give her the space she requested, but he wanted to make things right, too. He watched with dumbfounded amusement as she started swinging, unsure why that was her coping mechanism but he hoped she would tell him. Letting her slip through his fingers again would be the biggest mistake of his life – not dating her.

Olivia didn't slow down as Harry approached the swings. He sat down on the swing beside her, facing the opposite direction as he watched her fly through the air. He pushed back on the swing and pumped his legs. Soon, he and Olivia were swinging oppositely in sync, meeting in the middle before flying in the other direction. Neither spoke a word, and if they weren't in the middle of a fight, it would have been fun.

"A few years ago, my grandparents moved into a retirement home," Olivia began, her voice quiet. She wasn't sure if Harry even heard her speak until she saw him look in her direction. "They lived in their house forever, raised my dad and my aunt there. So it was a mess... old toys and books and shit all piled up in the basement..."

Harry didn't know where Olivia was going with her personal anecdote about her grandparents home, but he didn't ask, he only listened to the story she deemed important enough to share with him.

"Jessica and I were going through this one box and found a bunch of old Barbies," Olivia continued, keeping her eyes forward as she told Harry her tale. "There was this half-naked Totally Hair Ken. Do you...?" She trailed off, waving her hand. He wouldn't remember a Ken doll from the nineties.