I'll Wait Here for You in My Time of Dying

I grumbled as a noise made its way through my sleep and opened my eyes as I tried to work out where it was coming from. I turned my head and glared as I realised it was my phone going off. I looked down as I felt Taylor move and smiled as she muttered something in her sleep and tightened her arm around me before drifting back off.

I stretched my arm and picked up my phone, looking at the Caller ID and sighing as I saw the name Lyndsey flash up on the screen.

“What?” I grunted once I’d answered.

“Oh, so you do know how to answer a phone then,” she answered me smartly.

“Yes,” I huffed. “Now what do you want?”

Lyndsey scoffed down the phone and I dropped my head back against the pillow as she began to rant at me.

“Well I’m sorry brother of mine, if I was worried about you. The fact that you didn’t answer any of our calls yesterday and so we sent Taylor round and now she’s not answering her phone. I’m sorry for worrying and phoning to make sure everything is okay. Next time I won’t bother shall I? Next time I’ll just presume that something has gone wrong and will just leave it at that?”

I rolled my eyes and went to answer but my phone was taken away from me. I looked down at Taylor as she picked her head up and began to talk down my phone after checking to see who it was.

“Lyndsey? Let me and your brother get some more sleep. Cheers,” Taylor stated before hanging up.

I chuckled and she grinned at me and then she glared at my phone as it went off again.

“She won’t give up,” I pointed out. “She’ll keep phoning until I feel bad for not answering my phone yesterday.”

Taylor shrugged and turned my phone off before throwing it to the floor. She settled back down on my chest and grumbled when my house phone went off. I chuckled and went to answer it but she crawled over me and yanked the cord out of the wall.

“Just a few more hours of sleep,” she muttered and moved back to where she’d been.

I tightened my arms around her, swallowing as I felt her rub one of her legs up mine before slinging it over my hips. I let my arm that had been around her waist slip down slightly, my fingers dancing across the skin of Taylor’s thigh. She moved her head and propped her chin on my chest, looking up at me with a cocked eyebrow.

“Matt,” she started as I moved my hand further down and slipped it between her legs.

“Yeah?” I asked with an innocent grin.

“I wanted sleep,” she whined and wriggled against me as I moved my other hand up her side.

I chuckled and brought her on top of me.

“And you will sleep,” I told her, letting both my hands move across her body as she sat up on top of me. “But later. My front door is dead bolted and neither of my phones are now on...we have all day.”

Taylor smirked and dragged her nails down my chest, making me shudder and grip her waist tightly.

“I do like the way you think Mr Shadows.”

I smirked and flipped us over, settling my body between her legs and ducking my head down to kiss her.

“Matthew!”

I dropped my head down against Taylor’s shoulder as I heard Sarah shout through my house, shortly followed my Lyndsey also shouting my name.

“Matthew Sanders! Don’t make us come up there!”

“I thought you’d dead bolted your front door?” Taylor questioned me, a small hint of laughter in her voice.

“I had,” I groaned and lifted my head from her shoulder. “I swear to God that my sisters can get in and out of anywhere. It pisses me off.”

Taylor chuckled before putting her hands on my cheeks and bringing me down for a kiss. I smiled against her lips and kissed back, forgetting for a moment that my sisters were downstairs and would probably run up here to make me talk to them. But they knew Taylor was here, so it would really be their fault if they walked in on anything.

I let one of my hands move down Taylor’s body, loving the sound of her breath hitching due to my touch. My tongue slipped through her lips as I pulled one of her legs up and wrapped it around my waist. Just as I was about to take things further, my bedroom door burst open.

“Ew!” Sarah squeaked.

Lyndsey simply screamed before backing out of my bedroom, tugging Sarah away with her.

“Would you be mad if I killed your sisters?” Taylor asked me, batting her eyelashes innocently at me.

I chuckled and shook my head, letting her drop her leg from around me and ducking down to kiss her gently.

“You get Lyndsey,” I decided. “I’ll get Sarah.”

Taylor laughed and kissed me once more before patting my sides so I’d get off her. I grumbled but did so anyway and watched as she climbed out of my bed.

“Can I use your shower?”She asked me, her hands falling to her waist as she stood in front of me completely butt naked.

I swallowed and nodded, smiling at her as I finally looked in her eyes.

“Sure,” I told her and got up myself, pressing my lips to hers again. “I’m gonna get some clothes on and find out what my sisters want.”

Taylor smiled and kissed me once more before slipping into my en suite. I grumbled as I pulled some clothes on, not liking the fact that if my sisters hadn’t turned up that I could be having fun with my girlfriend.

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“So...Taylor knows?”Sarah asked.

I nodded and looked to the kitchen door as Taylor walked in. She smiled and walked over to the table where Sarah, Lyndsey and I were sitting. I wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her down on my lap.

“And you don’t think he’s insane?” Lyndsey questioned Taylor, who simply shrugged as she wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

“He’s insane,” Taylor commented with a smile. “But so are you two, so I figure it’s a genetic thing.”

I chuckled and tightened my grip around her as she let her fingers dance across my neck. Lyndsey grunted and folded her arms over her chest.

“I meant about the ghost thing,” Lyndsey pointed out. “You don’t think that’s insane?”

Taylor shrugged as she looked down at me. “He could be losing his mind but I’m pretty open minded to this kind of stuff.”

I smiled up at her and pressed my lips to her shoulder as she looked at my sisters.

“I mean, proof would be awesome but,” she shrugged once again. “I trust that Matt wouldn’t lie to me.”

Sarah grinned and I watched for a reaction from Lyndsey. She grumbled but I was sure that I could see a smile twitching at the corner of her lips.

“Damn you for falling for my idiot of a brother,” Lyndsey muttered and this time a smile did creep across her lips.

I stuck my tongue out at her and she did the grown up thing which was to pull a stupid face back. I laughed and looked up at Taylor as she began to massage the side of my neck gently. I smiled and leant up, pressing my lips to hers quickly.

“So, what happened when you told Lesia?” Sarah asked, an eager look on her face as she leant forward and propped her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands.

I shrugged. “She disappeared.”

“Disappeared? Do you think she’s moved on then?”

“I have no idea,” I muttered.

“What did you tell her?” Lyndsey asked and I looked over at her, making her shrug. “I may not believe you but I like to be in the loop of your craziness.”

I rolled my eyes but let Sarah answer as I watched Taylor get up and begin to make herself and me some breakfast.

“We found out why Lesia is still in our world,” Sarah explained. “Matt and I did a little investigative work and found out that her fiancé had died whilst serving in the army. Just before she died, he told her that he’d come back to her and she said that she’d be waiting. So we figured that this was her unfinished business. That she was still waiting for him to come back.”

Lyndsey nodded slowly and then looked over at me. “You know, even though I’m still not sure about all this, but if I was a ghost stuck in our world and discovered that the man I loved had died...I’d probably try and find his grave.”

I looked at my baby sister for a second, tilting my head to the side to see if she was being serious or not.

“Oh my God, that’s actually a good idea,” Sarah piped up with.

“I do have them occasionally you know,” Lyndsey defended herself. “You didn’t need to sound so shocked.”

Sarah chuckled and hugged Lyndsey tightly from the side. I looked up as Taylor sat down on my lap again, a plate of toast in her hand. She smiled and offered me some.

“So?” Taylor asked. “You going to find Tyler’s grave?”

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I shoved one of my hands in my pocket as Taylor wound one of her arms around my other one, linking her fingers with mine as we walked. Sarah and Lyndsey were quietly talking behind us about who knows what. For some reason, this had turned into a little adventure for all of us.

Not that I really minded but if they still couldn’t see Lesia than they will think I’m crazy...well more so than they already do. Except Sarah, who did have her ‘ghostly experience’ when Lesia dropped the picture frame.

I sighed and looked down as Taylor squeezed my hand, a concerned look in her eyes as she gazed up at me.

“Are you okay?” She asked quietly.

I nodded and ran my hand through my hair. “Just...my thoughts are going a mile a minute at the moment.”

Taylor smiled sympathetically. “What are you thinking about?”

“Wondering if Lesia will even be there...and wondering if you guys will even be able to see her or not. If you can’t, then you’re just going to think that I’ve definitely gone insane.”

Taylor chuckled and shrugged. “I can deal with a little insanity.”

I smiled and tugged her closer to me, stopping us from walking and ducking my head down to press my lips to hers gently.

“I love you,” I muttered against her lips.

I felt her lips curve into a smile beneath mine.

“I love you too Matt.”

“Come on now lovebirds,” Sarah interrupted us as she and Lyndsey skipped past and through the cemetery gates.

I rolled my eyes and took Taylor’s hand in mine again, following my sisters into the cemetery and stopping as we all just stood there and looked around for a moment.

“How will we know where to start?” Taylor voiced.

I shrugged. “I have no clue.”

“Maybe they’ve got some kind of registry like thing,” Lyndsey suggested. “Saying who’s buried here and which lot they are in?”

I nodded and thought that it would be a good idea to look for one when Sarah gasped.

“Oh my God, Matt,” she breathed and reached for me.

I stepped closer, my brow knotting together as Sarah looked at me wide-eyed.

“I can see her,” she whispered and looked away from me.

I frowned a little more before looking away from Sarah and towards where she was looking, a sad smile breaking on my lips as I saw Lesia standing by a grave.

“Wait,” I stuttered over that one word. “You can see her?”

Sarah jerkily nodded and I looked at Lyndsey and Taylor to see if they could. By the looks on their faces I’d say they could.

“That’s her?” Taylor asked and all I did was nod.

Taylor smiled and leaned up to kiss my cheek gently.

“Go to her.”

I smiled and dropped a kiss to the top of her head before making my way up the slight hill and over to Lesia. I stood quietly beside her and stared down at the headstone in front of her.

Tyler Jacobs

Son, brother, loving fiancé

14.01.83 – 15.05.06

“I’m sorry Lesia,” I stated quietly.

She sniffed and wrapped her arms around her body tighter.

“At least I know now,” she whimpered a little. “I’ll be able to move on.”

As I watched the tears fall down her cheeks, I wanted nothing more than to take her in my arms and to hold her. But I knew I couldn’t.

“I’m sorry if I worried you,” she told me, turning her head to look at me. “I didn’t have any control about where I went. I was just...somewhere. And then when I came back I just had to see it for myself. I had to find his grave.”

I nodded and shoved my hands in my pockets.

“What do you think will happen now?”

Lesia shrugged. “I thought that I had moved on. When I disappeared from here...but I’m still here. I...I don’t know if I have to now move on from this before I can move on from here.”

She broke her stare with me and glanced around the cemetery, her brow furrowing a little.

“Is that your sisters and Taylor?”

I nodded. “Yeah, they believe me now.”

“What?”

“They can see you.”

Lesia gaped at me, something that did make me chuckle a little regardless of the circumstance. I nodded towards the girls standing at the entrance and raised my eyebrows slightly.

“You want to meet them?”

Lesia chewed her lip and I saw her take what would have been a shaky breath in life before she nodded slowly. I smiled and began to walk towards my sisters and girlfriend.

“You’ve got nothing to be scared of,” I told her.

“I know,” she replied quietly. “Seems silly that I’m the one that’s scared when I’m the one that’s dead.”

I smiled a little and came to a stop in front of three of the girls that meant the world to me.

“Lesia, these are my sisters Sarah and Lyndsey,” I introduced her to them and then took Taylor’s hand in mine. “And this is Taylor, my girlfriend.”

Taylor smiled at Lesia and took a deep breath.

“I just want to say...thank you,” Taylor told her and I looked at her for a second wondering why the hell she was thanking her.

“Erm...okay?” Lesia questioned more than answered.

Taylor chuckled and cleared her throat before explaining as she shot me a fond smile.

“Matt told me how you were the one that convinced him to phone me,” she explained. “So...thank you. If it wasn’t for you then I doubt I’d have Matt in my life right now.”

Lesia smiled and looked at me before looking at Taylor.

“I just wanted to see Matt happy again,” she answered Taylor.

I looked down at Taylor when Lesia said that and smiled a little as Taylor glanced up at me. I pressed my lips to her forehead gently and then looked over at my sisters who’d been rather quiet during this whole thing. I rolled my eyes as I saw Sarah was grinning, staring at Lesia with great interest and I could just imagine the amount of questions that were bubbling in her mind.

I was slightly worried when I looked at Lyndsey. She had no colour in her face at all and her mouth was opening and shutting, almost as if she was gasping for air though she wasn’t making a sound to suggest she was. I stepped forward as Lyndsey swayed a little and managed to reach out to catch her just as she collapsed.

“Lyndsey?” I questioned, shifting her weight in my arms as Sarah tapped Lyndsey’s cheek gently.

I looked over at Taylor who was now laughing and looked at Lesia who was looking at me a little apologetically.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

I chuckled and shrugged, looking at Sarah so she’d help get Lyndsey in my arms better. We managed to move her so she was in my arms bridal style and then we decided it was probably best to get home.

“See you at home?” I asked Lesia.

She smiled and nodded before fading away from view.

“Do you think it was all a bit too much for Lyndsey?” Sarah questioned as she peered at our unconscious sister.