Summer and Forever

I think it had been a full minute since I'd said anything. I noticed the look on his face; noted the absolute terror of my rejection and I fell in love with him all over again.

I silently held out my hand and saw the brilliant smile light up his face as he slipped the ring on my finger and stood up.

I stlil hadn't said anything. I didn't trust myself.

"Sari?" He asked gently.

One hand brushed the hair off my forehead gently and tucked it behind my ear. The familiar gesture brought back all the fears that i'd had these past few days and then like a dam, I broke.

I flung my arms around his neck and wrapped my legs around his waist. I pulled him close and buried my face in his neck, breathing in his scent and feeling the calmness that it brought.

I noticed that he was holding me as tightly as i was holding him. I felt his uneven breathing on my neck as his lips endlessly kissed every inch of skin he could reach from my shoulder all the way up to my lips.

It was a soft brush at first, like two lovers asking permission of each other. Then the hesitance was replaced by urgency and we couldn't get enough of each other.

The days he hadn't been in my life had been the worst of my life, including the days after Jordan. Therefore I had to make up for lost time.

I kissed him as if my life depended on it. I wrapped my fingers in his curly hair and secured his lips to mine. I memorized every trace and curve of his face and somehow I knew he was doing the same.

When we pulled away for breath we rested our foreheads against each others. I closed my eyes and let out all the air in my body.

"Kevin?"

"Mmm?"

"I would love to marry you."

He huffed a laugh and his warm breath sent tingles down my spine. I relaxed my legs and slid back to the floor, still refusing to let him go. He didn't seem to mind.

His fingers twined into mine and it felt so right. He kissed the corner of my mouth softly and then straightened up.

"Um Sarai?"

I turned at the tight surprise in his voice and saw my parents staring at us, mouths hanging open uselessly.

"You agreed to marry him?"

"I did." I replied firmly.

"Sarai..." My mother said helplessly. "You can't marry him."

"Why?"

"Because...because..."

"Because young lady you are under our roof." My father filled in sternly. It was at that moment I saw the gaping abyss that seperated me from my parents. I had never been so aware of it.

The emotional bridge between us was too long to ever be fully repaired. "I love him."

They didn't say anything. The silence breaking of the last tie to my family was visible only to my mother, father and I.

"So i'm to lose my last child?" My mother asked me softly. Kevin opened his mouth to say that they weren't losing me but I knew better and squeezed his hand. He shut up.

"Yes." I said quietly. My mother, for all her failures, experienced the emotional pain at the loss of her last child. I knew by the look in her eyes and the empty blankness in her stance.

"Bye Mu...Katherine." I finished sadly. My mother accepted the loss of her role as my mother with surprising grace. She inclined her head towards me slightly and then turned and walked back into the house without a backwards glance.

My father was shell shocked but still came to the same realization as my mother. I saw a careful mask fall onto his face. "Goodbye Sarai."

"Goodbye Mark." He nodded and walked away, following my mother.

"Sari, you don't have to lose your family over this! I...I can't let you do this! I mean-" I turned and silenced Kevin by putting a finger against his lips.

"It's ok. It's been coming for a long time." I reassured him softly. His hands held me by the waist as he carefully searched my face for signs that i was lying and then he pressed his lips to mine firmly.

"Are you sure you want to choose me over your family?" I thought silently for a second before letting my head rest on his chest.

"You are my family now."

***

Packing was an awkward and silent affair. I felt the painful broken silence in every step i took up to my room. I threw my clothes carelessly into a suitcase, not watching what i was doing.

Things were blindly running through my head. Marrying Kevin. Denouncing my own family. Moving on from Jordan.

Kevin was waiting for me in the car that he'd brought here. He knew I wanted to do this alone.

When my suitcase was packed with everything I wanted from this place, including clothes and precious artefacts, I crossed over to my jewelery box and opened it to see the necklace that Jordan had given me a year before he died.

I put it on, something I hadn't done in years. After looking at the black pendant resting on my chest in the mirror I turned around and saw what i expected to see in the corner of the room.

Jordan. He looked happy and well. I smiled at him and saw him return it. I raised my hand in farewell to my dead twin and he faded gently into the summer light.

I knew he wouldn't haunt me ever again. The memory of my brother had finally faded into a safe box that I would always keep close to my heart, never to be opened.

***

Kevin put the suitcases in the trunk of the car and got in the drivers seat. I got in beside him silently.

There was a silent awkward air between us and I began to get scared that I had made a mistake. He started the car and we pulled away from my house for the last time.

I felt a warmth envelop my left hand and looked over to see him holding my hand.

"Kevin?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry I left you."

"Sari?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry I let you leave me."

I smiled and held his hand tighter. "Let's go home."