Damn the Day I Met You

The two and a half weeks of school flew by quicker than I thought they would. Tests, projects, presentations, and papers filled our days and nights, leaving barely anytime for Tristan, Lucy, and I. But we somehow made it through. Lucy finished up school the same time we did, making my last few days here a joy around the house.

“I know you said no party.”

“Tristan…” I say with my warning face. I really didn’t want a party tonight. I just wanted to make sure what I needed was packed and then stay in with my boyfriend and his sister.

“It’s just, there was someone who I’m pretty sure was going to kill me if I didn’t let him see you.” I roll my eyes, automatically knowing it would be Toby before he appeared from the other room. “I’ll leave you two to it.”

“This isn’t forever Tobes.” I say, sitting down on the bed. “I’ll be coming back to visit like usual.”

“Still doesn’t mean I can’t say bye to my best friend.” He takes a seat across from me and helps me fold some clothes. “Are you sure about this Katie?”

“No.”

“Then why are you doing it?”

“Because if I stay any longer I don’t think I could leave.”

“And would that be so bad? I’ve never seen you so happy. It’s not just your relationship with Tristan, its Lucy too. This family, you being a part of this family, makes you happy. Why throw that away?”

“Can we not Toby? I’m leaving tomorrow and nothing you say is going to change that. I’m leaving. So please just drop the rest. Say goodbye, and let me finish getting ready.”

He smirks and pulls me into a tight hug. “You’re not getting rid of me that fast. I’ll be downstairs hanging out with Tristan for a bit.”

“Since when did you two get close?”

“Since our one thing in common is leaving us.” I roll my eyes and push him out the room. Everything seemed to be packed and ready to load. I just didn’t want to do that last step. I didn’t want to make this move real. Deep down I knew that if Tristan or Lucy asked me to stay at this point, I would. I didn’t realize I could fall more in love with the two of them but these past weeks allowed that to happen. I also knew neither of them would ask that of me, Tristan the least of all. He took me for my word and didn’t try to change my mind after that night.

I also know that he had something on his mind throughout the time. What about I have no idea, but there was always a look in his eyes like he was planning something. Whenever I asked him about it he just brushed the topic away. Part of me was afraid it would be something extravagant for me, something that would be his way of winning me back. But every time that thought came to mind I laughed. Extravagance was anything but Tristan. He wouldn’t put that much time and effort into something, especially for a simple girlfriend. He had more important things to worry about, like Lucy.

Lucy. Now there’s a girl who became good at doing anything except for hanging out with me. She seemed to always be busy and didn’t have much time to hang out before my move. But I planned on spending most of the evening with her. I know Tristan would understand.

When I step downstairs I notice the guys playing some videogame. No matter where you go in the world, it seems like that’s one thing that never changes. I walk over to them and stand behind Tristan, “Do you guys know where Lucy is?” I ask, interrupting them. Tristan pauses the game and turns to me. His hand rests on top of mine, another gesture that became more and more common. He did anything to just touch me, as if he were trying to memorize my body through feel.

“She’s up in her room,” he answers glancing at the time on the clock. “Do you want dinner soon?”

“Sure. Can you work on it though? I want to spend some one on one time with Luce.”

Tristan laughs and it echoes through the halls. “Katie, honey, I wouldn’t make you cook on your last night here. Go upstairs and relax. I’ll get started on the food.”

I nod and say my thanks. Before I made it upstairs though, I noticed Toby saying his goodbyes to Tristan and walking towards me. “I’m going to head home.”

“Toby, you can stay. Tristan isn’t going to kick you out or something.”

“No, I know. But you need to spend some time with your—” He cuts off there and changes his sentence, “you need to spend time with them. I’ll be sure to visit soon though.”

“Okay. I love you and just call me whenever you need.” I tell him and pull him into a hug. Even though we saw each other often enough it was still hard saying goodbye.

Before fully pulling away he whispers in my ear, “Don’t let your pride get in the way of your happiness.”

I bite my lip to keep from crying and pull away. He knew me all too well. Of course he’d be able to tell that leaving seemed to be the hardest choice in my life. “I won’t.” After waving goodbye I head up to Lucy’s room where loud music was streaming out of the cracks.

A knock on the door earned no response so I simply opened it. I expected to find a crying Lucy or an angry Lucy. Instead I found the room to be empty. The curtains were being pulled out by the wind and blowing outside of the window. Walking over I saw the emergency ladder she had in case of a fire connected to the windowsill.

With a hand cover my mouth to keep the scream away, I ran downstairs to the kitchen, running straight into Tristan. “Katie, what’s wrong?”

“Lucy—Lucy she’s—” I took a deep breath trying to calm myself. “She’s gone. Tristan, she ran away.” I couldn’t hold the tears back anymore.

Tristan drops the spoon he was working with, “Dammit.”

“What is it?” I ask, trying to bring back my calmness. It wasn’t working all too well.

“Ah shit, come here.” Tristan pulls me into a hug and I didn’t protest, “I didn’t think to warn you because she hasn’t ran off in a while. I figured she had stopped, I guess I was a bit too hopeful.”

“Stopped what? What are you talking about Tristan?”

“Since she was about seven she’s been running off. Usually she comes home a few hours later. She’s a smart girl Katie; she knows what she is doing. Doesn’t mean it’s safe though. We’ll go pick her up once I get all of this put away. Sound good?”

I step out of his arms to let him get stuff back onto the shelves. “Why does she run off?”

“I know you’re worried, and I am too. But it’s not like she’s running away. Sometimes Lucy gets some thought in her head that no one cares, or at least during that time it seemed as though no one cared. It can be a specific person, she ran away once because I grounded her for a few days for not doing her chores. She wanted to know that I still cared though and honestly it took me like twenty minutes to find her. She can also just be mad or need to think about something. Lucy is a pre-teen girl; don’t start asking me what’s going on in that head of yours.”

“I don’t understand. Why would you provide her with a ladder and all if you just know she’ll use it to climb down?”

This earned me a laugh, one that I wasn’t expecting during such a serious conversation. “Katie, honey, before the ladder, she jumped to the tree branch and swung down. I gave her the ladder for, as stated, fire reasons. It’s just a plus she uses it to run off too. I’d rather she clear her mind, than break any bones.” He closes the cupboard door and grabs my hand, “now come on let’s go ease that mind of yours.”

It only took about five minutes in the car for me to realize where we were headed. Then another few steps into the park to stop walking and pull Tristan back. Sitting there on the same bench that we hung out at that first day was Lucy. She wasn’t doing anything but sitting and waiting, probably for us to find her. “I think I should head over there myself. I’m obviously the one who caused this.”

“You didn’t cause anything, Katie. Don’t blame yourself for this, but I will let you head over. Do you want to meet at the coffee shop?”

“Sure, that sounds good.” I give him a quick kiss before heading over to the bench. Lucy was bent over, playing with a flower in her hand. I take a seat next to her and she glances up at me. “Hey.”

“Hi.” She mumbles, looking back at her flower. “I figured Tristan would be here. He always is.”

“He’s over at the coffee shop.” I reply, “You gave me quite a scare you know.”

“That’s the point of running away, right? To see who follows.”

“Lucy, did you think I wouldn’t come looking for you?” She shrugs but doesn’t answer. “Luce, can you look at me please?” She turns her head slightly, but not all the way. “I love you; nothing is going to change that. Of course I care for you and of course you missing nearly gave me a heart attack. If anything happens to you, if you need anything at all, you can call me up in a heartbeat and I’ll be there. It doesn’t matter the topic, time, or day.”

She seemed hesitant but then leaned into me a bit. “It’s just you’re going to be so far away. No one asked me what I wanted or how I felt. I’ve gotten so used to you being around I don’t want that to change.”

“I’ll still come and visit. I already have three trips back here planned before the holidays.”

Her eyes light up and I couldn’t help but smile. “Really?! When?”

“That, sweetie, is a secret. But you’ll be the first to know when I touch foot in Italy. How does that sound?”

“It still pisses me off that you’re leaving though.”

“Lucy, you knew this wasn’t forever. I have to get back to school and graduate.”

She was silent for a moment and I didn’t speak either. Sometimes silence is exactly what is needed. “Then what?” she finally asks.

“What?”

“After graduation, what are you going to do? If you’re moving back to New York to finish up school, does that mean you’ll be back here after you graduate? You know, to do whatever it is you want to do—”

“Marketing. I want to go into marketing.”

“great! Then you can be the marketing person for my brother’s restaurant. And then you guys will get married and soon after I’ll be done with school. It sounds like a good set-up to me.”

My god this girl makes it hard to say no to her. She practically just planned the perfect life for me. But none of us knew what could happen in a year and though that sounded like a good future to me the chances of it working out are slim. “Let’s figure that out when it comes around.”

“Fine,” She pouts, obviously attempting to make that puppy dog look work on me.

I laugh, “That only works on your brother.”

“Darn.” Lucy glances around the park and then back up at me, “Can we go get some hot chocolate now?”

“Of course.” I stand up and grab her hand. “And how about we keep that post-grad idea of yours between us.”

Lucy stops and starts to laugh. Not just a small giggle, but a full out laugh. “It was Tristan’s idea, not mine. If I had it my way you guys would have been married months ago.”

With that she lets go of my hand and starts to walk off towards the café, leaving me frozen near the bench. “Wait! What do you mean his idea!?” I yell after her. Lucy breaks out into a run and I couldn’t help but laugh. It was moments like this that I wish I wasn’t leaving behind. Moments that almost made me change my mind and stay. But the plan was already decided upon; in less than 24 hours I would be back in my New York apartment missing the two people have come to mean the most to me.