Graceland: Family Affair

Chapter Nine

I lunge towards Paul, but he jumps off the ground and starts running towards away from me and towards the house.

"You're gonna have to catch me first!" He exclaims. I run after him, trying to grab him. I leap from the ground and land on his back with my arms around his neck. He carries on running, but soon falls to the ground in defeat, us both howling with laughter. We lie there in the sand, looking up at the night sky as we catch try to regain regular breathing.

"So...you were sweet on Warren, huh?" He smirks, digging me in the ribs.

"We were just good friends", I say, nipping his arm.

            "Whatever..." He rolls his eyes. I slap the back of his head. "What was that for?" He gasps wide-eyed.

            "You totally manipulated that phone call!"

            "And I had no idea that it would reap the rewards it did!" He laughs. He stands up and offers me a hand as he helps me up and we dust ourselves off. The rest of the guys walk past us and into the house, carrying everything back inside, and we follow them.

            "Well, I'm going to sleep...gotta put this baby to bed..." Charlie says, patting her stomach. She's not showing any signs of pregnancy yet, which is why I never noticed, but it's mind-blowing to think that there's already a little human growing inside of her.

            "Goodnight, Charlie", I give her a hug. "And thanks for everything today. You've made me feel very welcome".

            "It's good to have you here, Sarah. See you in the morning..."  She heads towards the staircase after shouting goodnight to Mike, Dale (Jakes) and Johnny who are now lounging on the sofas and armchairs, channel surfing.

            "I'll be up shortly, honey. I'll see you up there..." Paul calls after Charlie as she heads upstairs. He turns back to face me once we're left alone in the kitchen. "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you..."

            "Well thank you...but I really have nothing to be embarrassed about...Mike and I have never...I mean we haven't...there's nothing..." I stumble over my words. "We're just friends!"

            "And, thank you for listening to everything I had to say earlier...I know it's a lot to take in. I know you need time to process it all...and you must have a lot of thoughts swirling around in there, if not now...then later", he points to his head to demonstrate. "So, if you need to talk, or have any questions at all...then please do...I don't want you to suffer because of what I've told you...and I don't want you to keep anything bottled up..."

            "I will..." I smile. He puts his arms around me and kisses my head goodnight. I hold him tightly and rest my head on his shoulder. "...And...thank you...for telling me what you did...It couldn't have been easy to do so...but I'm so glad you felt like you could tell me...so...just...thank you for trusting me...I love you, Paul".  

            "I love you too, Sarah..." He kisses my head once more, and then we break apart. "Are you heading to bed?"

            "No...I think I'll sit on the beach some more...I just...I need to clear my head...get my thoughts together..." I smile.

            "Are you okay? I hope I didn't make a mistake by telling you...I don't want you to worry..."

            "Oh, of course you didn't...I'm fine..." I smile to reassure him. "It's just been a long day, that's all..."

            "Okay, well...goodnight. I'll see you in the morning...let me know if you need anything". He gives me a thumbs up and heads upstairs. I watch him leave and then head out to the beach again, lifting a blanket to take with me. Fortunately, the boys haven't put the fire out yet, and so I sit by the fire, looking out at the ocean.

I sit and think about everything. About my family back home, about the loss of my dream D.C. job, about Paul and the ghosts of his past, and about how Charlie and him are going to have a family of their own – that's a lot of information to take in in one day. I stare at the ocean, feeling the breeze blow through my hair, with the stars shining down above. The light of the moon glistens on the water, and the waves splash on the sand – and it is truly beautiful. As much as I disliked the idea of coming to Graceland, I can't deny that it's an incredibly lovely place to be – a paradise almost – especially when it's quiet and uncrowded. It makes a wonderful and relaxing thinking-space.

            "Nice, isn't it?" I hear a voice say. I turn my head to see Mike standing there. "Mind if I join you?" He grins.

            "Not at all", I smile back as he sits close beside me. We sit there in contended silence for a while, just taking in the moment. From the corner of my eye, I see Mike's arm moving toward me, and then moving back again. He does it a few more times, not knowing that I'm watching it all in my peripheral vision. A small smile tries to escape from my lips at Mike's endearing awkwardness, but I try to supress it, which makes the corner of my mouth twitch a little. He tries for a third time, and fails again – its painful viewing. So I decide to use my initiative and shuffle closer to him, laying my head on his shoulder. I slowly feel his arm reaching around me, holding me, and if I listen hard enough, I can almost hear Mike slowly exhaling in relief.

            "We never did talk about what happened..." He starts, breaking the silence.

            "When?" I'm very confused.

            "Well...I graduated...and then we never saw each other again...I really did think that I'd lost you..." He sighs. "...your friendship, I mean...I thought I'd lost you and your friendship..." He adds quickly.

            "Me too..."

            "Do you remember that one night?" He smiles as he recalls a memory.

            "There were a lot of nights, Mike...you'll need to be more specific", I laugh.

            "The night of the little graduation ball thing for my graduating class", he beams.

            "I didn't go...remember", I correct him.

            "Yeah, I remember...I asked you to go with me, and you turned me down..." He looks away, perhaps a little embarrassed at that particular memory.         

"I didn't turn you down..." I shake my head. "I had an exam the next day that I had to cram for!" I playfully slap his arm.

"I know..." He runs a hand through his hair and smiles.

            "And anyway, there were plenty of girls just lining up for a dance with Michael Warren –"

            "But there was only one girl that Michael Warren cared about dancing with..."

            "And you got your dance, didn't you?" I remind him.