Don't You Ever Fear I'm Always Near

Josh and I left Kylee’s race early so we could go to her house and decorate it to surprise her. I was so excited. Josh and I made a big ‘congratulations’ banner, got balloons, and wrapped crepe paper around her railings.

“She’s here,” Josh told me a while later.

“Okay,” I beamed as we walked over near the door and she came sulking in. “Surprise!”

But once I saw Kylee’s face my smile disappeared. Her cheeks were stained with tears and she was trembling from them.

“Ky,” I cooed while pulling her into a big hug. “What’s wrong?”

Her cries just grew harder as her arms eventually came around me. I gently rubbed her back and tried to soothe her. Once her tears started to lessen I lead her over to the couch where we sat down.

Josh plopped down on the other side of Kylee and being the sweetheart he is, draped an arm around her shoulder. I wanted to go give him a kiss for how sweet he was being but I managed to hold myself back. I slipped my hand into Kylee’s and tried to soothe her.

“Tanner and I… broke up,” She choked out through her tears.

“Aw, Ky, I’m sorry,” I empathized.

“I thought you didn’t like him?” Kylee asked me.

“Well, we were kind of arguing but if it was any guy, whether I liked him or not, I’d still be here for you,” I told her with a smile.

“I love you, Kirstie,” She said while hugging me.

“I love you too, Ky,” I told her.

After we parted she let out a big sigh and Josh put his arm back around her. He rubbed the top of her arm to try to tell her that he was supporting her too. That guy is just too sweet.

“Did you guys have a fight or…” I trailed off.

“Well yeah, kind of. But he just said we should take a break from each other,” she explained. “But I don’t want to take a break,” Kylee went on as her tears grew again. I pulled her into another hug and let her cry on my shoulder.

“I’ll let you two have your sister time,” Josh smiled as he got up.

Kylee and I parted from our hug and Josh leaned over and pressed his lips to mine for a short kiss.

“I love you, I’ll call ya’ later,” He told me.

“Okay, love you too,” I replied.

“Can you manage my greasiness long enough for a hug?” Josh asked, turning to my sister.

“I guess, just this once though,” She weakly smiled as the two embraced. It made me let out a big ’aww’

“We need chocolate milkshakes to talk about break ups,” I said after Josh left, trying to get her to smile….it worked a little.

“I just thought that we really had a good thing,” Kylee sniffled after I came back with our chocolate milkshakes.

“You’ll find another guy though Ky,” I tried to encourage her.

“I really liked him though,” She said after she swallowed some of the cold, creamy goodness.

“I’m sorry,” I said heartfelt.

“I never got to tell him that I loved him,” she softly said.

“You loved him?” I asked.

“I think I did,” She replied.

I just gave her a sympathetic look.

“The whole reason I started drifting was to spend time with him and now I don’t even want to do it anymore because I don’t want to see him,” Kylee conveyed.

“I’m sorry Kylee,” I said. “You know what Josh always tells me?”

“What?” she asked while taking a drink of her milkshake.

“Whenever I’m upset he always says, if you need to cry on somebody’s shoulder then mine’s always open, just pick one,” I smiled over at her. “So if you need to cry then go for it, you’re still strong person.”

“I miss him,” she said with tears welling up.

I scooted over to her and gave her a big hug. She eventually rested her head on my shoulder and a while later I heard her let out a small whimper before her tears were spilling onto my shoulder.

Kylee doesn’t cry very much which tells me that this has her pretty upset. I’m glad that I could be the one that was there for her though.