Such a Surreal Place

“I want to give you a picture of your father,” Mom suddenly said, snapping me out of the whole Ronnie thing. “I know you already have a few, but I think this would be appropriate for you, since yours is only a week away.” She took one of the wedding photos off the mantelpiece and handed it to me. I gave her a massive hug in return.

“Um, without sounding too strange or anything, but why is there a picture of me and Ronnie?” I questioned her and I noticed Brian staring at her, waiting for her answer.

“Because I don’t have one of you and your fiancé,” she answered smoothly with a smile. “I might’ve overreacted earlier about him, but now that I’ve met him, he seems to be perfect for you Ashleigh. I’m very proud of you.” Wow. My mother was proud of me for picking Brian to get married to. Was this reality? Or was I dreaming again?

“Well, I actually brought you a photo of us,” Brian said, taking a step towards my mother. “I thought you might want one, considering the fact we’re getting married and all...” He pulled out a picture out of his back pocket and handed it over to my mother. I got a quick glance at it and saw that it was a picture of me and him hanging out in the snow. I remembered back to that night. I absolutely love that memory. And those pictures.

“Aw, that’s such a sweet picture. Thank you so much, Brian,” Mom said and she took out the very old picture of me and Ronnie and put the new one of me and Brian in it. “Well, that is yours.” She passed me the picture of me and Ronnie to me. What the hell was I meant to do with this? I found myself ripping it in half, separating me and Ronnie, and then ripping it into smaller pieces. It was over. I looked at the picture with me and Brian in it. I saw how big my smile was, then compared it to my brother’s smile. I think I won. I was more in love...

*Later that night*

“My God, I feel really sick...” Brian groaned in the back of the taxi as we headed back to the hotel. After he’d made that comment, he let his head fall sideways and it made a loud clunk as it hit the window. I winced at how much that must’ve hurt and how much my mother’s food must be killing him.

“Aw, hun... I told you to stop eating that so called ‘food’,” I said, but he just moaned again while holding his stomach. When we got to the hotel, he went straight to the bathroom, went to the toilet to empty what must’ve been a full bladder, and then started puking. I followed and rubbed his back, trying to help him to not feel so shit. “You’re just about as bad as us girls when we eat too much.” I was just kidding; he was forcing himself to be sick so he could feel better, not to be skinny, I knew that. But he was hurting, and I never wanted to see him hurting.

“I NEVER wanna eat your mother’s food again,” he grumbled as he leant away from the toilet. “Can I have some water?”

“You haven’t had enough tonight?” I joked as I stood up.

“Ha ha...” he mumbled as sarcastically as a sick man can. I went and got him a glass of water and sat next to him again as he continued to be sick in the toilet. It’s not the first time I had seen Syn be sick. He was a heavy drinker so usually had a hangover and usually spewed. But tonight, because he was being sensible and NOT drinking, I guess I felt guilty about making him this sick. Food poisoning from my mother’s cooking was probably worse than a hangover... After he’d finished, and cleaned himself up a bit, he fell into me, his head colliding into my chest. He was silent as he just lay on me, resting his head perfectly where he’d usually want it. I put my arms around him, holding him up off the floor and against me. Damn he was heavy...

“No lame comment about how that was a good shot?” I questioned, just joking around again. I paused, giving him time to answer. “No? Nothing?” God, he must really be unwell... Why did my mother have to be such a bad cook?

“I just wanna go to bed...” he mumbled into my chest, so I helped him up and into the bed. I decided to just let him rest. After all, he had been through a traumatic experience – meeting my mother. I joined him and cuddled up into his sexy chest. “I love you heaps, baby.”

“I love you too,” I said and he rubbed his hand down my back. He still managed to make me shiver slightly. His touch was so special, even though I got it constantly.

“I really can’t wait ‘till we’re married, hun,” he said and my heart skipped a beat. “I wanna be with you forever...” Oh my God. Did he really mean that? He did say what I thought he just said, didn’t he? This isn’t a dream?

“So do I...” I said back and then fell asleep quickly.