Too Far

38: Her

My reaction to seeing Sarah could be described as one thing: panic attack. Then, when she started talking, lying through her teeth about how it was so dreadful that her father had hit her with a car and tried to kill me, I felt a hope I didn't know I had in me blossom.

I couldn't thank her enough.

"Where are you staying?" Selena asked, smiling hopefully.

"With my husband," Sarah replied in amusement. "I'm not Sarah Walsh anymore. I'm Sarah Collins." Her smile was still snakelike, but with a hint of adoration as she thought of her husband.

My eyes absentmindedly flickered to Emmett, and I found him looking at me with a small smirk. "Aren't you, like, nineteen?" Selena demanded, crossing her arms with her eyebrows practically in her hairline.

"Twenty," Sarah replied, her eyes narrowing. "I married him more for survival at the time, but I actually love him now." I almost snorted. What was he, a bodyguard she fell in love with? How cliché. "We have a hotel right now."

"How old is he?" Selena asked, not moving.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Twenty two. You done?"

"Well, where is he?" Emmett asked, crossing his own arms. I smiled at the sight; I had never pegged him as the overly protective type.

As I thought about that, I realized that he was actually pretty overprotective. That was annoying.

"Right here," a man said, walking up. He was about Jay's height and size, which made my lips twitch. I suppose both sisters had the same taste. He had blond hair and an award-winning smile. It was practiced. I couldn't help myself; my eyes swept over him, analyzing him as Sarah clutched onto his hand.

He had a tattoo on his arm, just peeking out above his collar. The suit wasn't worn, and there was a logo partially showing from behind his blazer. He didn't even have a proper under shirt. It was a tattoo parlor's logo. My eyebrow rose and I glanced over at Selena, who hadn't even bothered to look at any of that.

"So what, you met while you were getting a tattoo?" I asked, trying to suppress a smirk. Sarah's cheeks flamed and her husband's mouth opened and closed for lack of response.

"Control yourself," Emmett murmured, his hand on my uninjured shoulder. My lips twitched. Sarah's catty eyes narrowed and her husband looked absolutely flustered. Were they about to feed us a story about how they met under poetic circumstances? I wouldn't have been surprised if the tattoo was on her rear.

"Well, if you need a place to stay," Selena began, smiling. Emmett moved to object, but she stepped on his foot before the words got out. "You're more than welcome at Emmett's. There's a guest house."

We were all steering clear of the guest house. I knew why; none of us could bring ourselves to stay in it. If the two did decide to stay, they'd have to take the guest house. There were only so many rooms at Emmett's old house.

I hoped they didn't. Sarah's presence, though welcomed since she helped out a lot, unnerved me. It was like there was an extra snake in the room, like you'd have to control how you acted around her.

Selena was oblivious, though. She was obviously beyond excited, and who could blame her? Her sister had just come back from the dead. "Did you ever see your burial?" Selena asked, smiling sadly. "We all flew to Ohio for it. It was beautiful. Dad wasn't even there."

Sarah looked uncomfortable, so her eyes shifted to me. "Did you?"

My eyes widened. "A-attend your burial?" I asked in confusion.

"Not mine," she said, cocking an eyebrow. "Yours."

Shocked, I looked at Emmett and Selena. They were both watching me, obviously truly wondering if I had. "Yes," I murmured, staring at the floor guiltily. They didn't say anything, obviously not fazed. Had they assumed I'd attended? Going to your own funeral was weird. They buried an empty casket.