Finding A Ghost (Completed)

Chapter 16

"You moved passed it."

I shook my head.

"No," I whispered. "No, I didn't. I couldn't. I did for a while, when I met Sang. She made it all seem okay, as if all that shit didn't hurt me, but then we left and only Silas was able to keep me afloat. Barely."

Luke jumped to his feet and paced back and forth.

"No, you're wrong," he said and shook his head, his brown eyes dark with frustration and worry as he shook his head, his braid whipping back and forth behind him like a tail. "You're wrong, North. You did move past it."

I looked away because I definitely didn't feel like I did. I was so easily angry and I needed control. I needed it so fucking badly and having a brother like Luke made that difficult.

Luke stopped in front of me and glared down at me. "I love you, North, but dammit, you are stupid stubborn."

"Wha—"

"You're being an idiot. If that sperm donor bastard really broke you, you wouldn't be here, you wouldn't have given a damn about this Sang woman. You wouldn't be trying so desperately to find some woman you knew years ago. You wouldn't yell at me when I do something stupid. You wouldn't try to stuff stupid disgusting vegetables down my throat. You wouldn't have even hunted down my stash of sweets to take away from me. And you sure as hell wouldn't have tried to get to know Sang. You wouldn't have kept meeting up with her, chasing her around this city as she explored every nook and cranny. You would have let her be, you wouldn't have cared. So stop lying to yourself because you were able to move past it."

I gaped at Luke, at the way he stood over me, glaring, his hands fisted at his side. He rarely got like this, maybe a handful of times and each time was always a shock to my system.

"You're a survivor, North, and whatever the hell happens here you'll get past. We will find Sang. We will get you your answers. And we will move on from this."

I finally nodded, never knowing how to respond to him when he got like this.

He pushed out a breath and then flopped down next to me, leaning back on his hands, his eyes up, staring up at the canopy of the tree. We fell into a comfortable silence because there wasn't much else to say. He said his part and I listened.

Luke only last about ten minutes of silence before he was on his feet. I could hear him behind me and I knew he was climbing the damn tree. I pressed my lips together, keeping myself from yelling up to him. He was a grown ass adult and if he fell...well he needed to learn.

"This is amazing, I can see why Sang would come up here," he called down to me. "Maybe you should come up and check this out."

I shook my head. "Not happening."

He laughed, "Come on, lil bro. Don't you want to see the world through Sang's eyes."

I paused at his words.

It's beautiful up here, North Star. A world we rarely get to see.

I blew out a breath and rubbed at my jaw, turning and squinting up at Luke. He was pretty far up there, almost as high as Sang used to climb.

Come on, North. The world is spinning without you.

Luke's words with the echo's of Sang's had me climbing up to him.

And I quickly remembered why I hated doing it.

When I made it to where Luke sat on a thick branch, laughing at me, eyes sparkling, I sighed, refusing to look down. I didn't hate heights, but I did hate the idea of the branch being the only thinking keeping me from falling. I liked something a little more solid underneath me when I was high up.