Dear Mister Summers

twenty eight

"I do not like it," she confessed, putting down her head and running harder towards the house.

She barely got a glimpse of it before they were at the front door. He banged loudly on it, pushing her under the slight overhang of the lintel to escape the worst of the rain. There was no answer. He banged with his fist, shouting, "Piers, it is me. Sebastian!"

Silence answered them. She looked at him questioningly. "What are we going to do?"

He tried the door, but it was locked. "Stay here," he said grimly, moving round the side of the house. She leaned against the door, her chest heaving after her running, brushing the wet hair out of her eyes. Thunder rolled again and again as if it reverberated around the hills. Through a line of willows, she saw the muddy brown waters of the river whirling rapidly, realizing that the cottage stood a mere hundred feet from the green banks.

She heard the front door open and turned, expecting to see a stranger, but it was not Sebastian's brother Piers, but Sebastian himself. "I had to break the kitchen window," he said tersely. "Get in here before you drown."

She went into the house, finding herself in a narrow vestibule, from which led two doors at right angles. He shut the front door and pushed her through one of the others. In astonishment and bewilderment, she surveyed a totally empty room. She turned towards him, her eyes wide. "Tian."

"I know. He is not here either," replied Sebastian with a sigh.

"I am sorry."

"Don't be. It is fine. He and I are both adults. We take care of ourselves." He shrugged off his shirt and squeezed the water out then wore it again. "I only came here because of my mother's incessant whining anyway." He pointed at her shirt and said, "We should get you dry."

"You don't mean it," she answered with a sad smile on her face.

"Oh, I do. If you do not get yourself dry, you might catch a cold."

"I mean about coming here." She took a step forward and put one hand on her shoulder. "You did not come all the way here because your mother told you to. You have gone looking for him yesterday so you could simply tell your mom that you have tried but could not find him." She moved her hand to cup the side of his face, her thumb rubbing his cheekbone. "No, you came here, you looked for him twice, because you care." He was about to open his mouth and argue but she put one finger on it and said, "Don't say that you don't because deep down inside, you know it is the truth."

"Perhaps I do," he cast his gaze down, a deep frown forming on his forehead. "But I should not. He had hurt me, Andin. I should not forgive him. I should not look for him. I shouldn't have cared."

"Yes, he has hurt you in the past but he is also your big brother. Someone you looked up to growing up, right? What happened sucks but it does not immediately throw away the many years of relationship. He is your big brother, still." Andin slid her hand to the back of his neck and hugged him. Slowly but surely she felt his arms enveloping her. "It is okay, Tian. It is not a weakness to show that you care."

"I hope not." He let out a deep sigh and then added, "And I do mean what I said, Andin. I do care about you."

"I know." She smiled against his shoulder. "And I care about you too."

At her words, Sebastian abruptly pulled away, his hands on her shoulders. His eyes widened. Water dripped down his forehead and stuck his eyelashes together but he did not move. He just stood there staring at her like he was lost. Droplets ran down his cheeks as his gaze lowered from her eyes to her mouth. "Do you?"

"Yes. I do care about you despite everything that happened."

He watched her mouth when she said it as if to make sure he was not hallucinating. His breathing grew hard and he swallowed. "You have no idea how much that means to me. You have no idea—"