A Sweet Disaster

Chapter 16

“Hurry up!” Gabriel bellowed from inside the car. “Stop being a girl!”

“Okay, okay, I’m coming,” Steph shouted back, flustered, as she gave her hair one last comb and hurried to the garage. “Jeez, relax, would you?”

Gabriel gave a heart stopping grin. “Sorry,” he said, not sounding sorry at all. Steph gunned the engine and they began to drive to the grotto.

“You seem really excited,” Steph noted as Gabriel all but bounced in his seat. “Well, duh,” he replied like it was obvious. Rolling her eyes as she made a left turn, Steph realized that they were actually acting like brother and sister.

“Why didn’t you bring me in the morning?” Gabriel asked curiously, dark hair falling into his eyes. Shrugging, she said, “Dad was at home. He would never have let me bring you.”

“Ah. Good point.”

She turned the radio on. Bizarre techno music filled the air, and making a face, Steph switched to a country station. A warm feeling encased her as her mother’s favorite song, “I’d Lie” by Taylor Swift, filled the car.

“Change back,” Gabriel complained. Popping a grin, Steph shook her head. “This is my mother’s favorite song.”

Dusk filled the sky as they drove further down the road. The traffic began to thin and by the time they reached the beach, they were alone.

Persian princes and princesses. The thought randomly came into Steph’s mind as they made their way on the sand in the fading light to the cluster of rocks as the base of the cliff. She blocked it out. It did no good relieving the past, especially when it was so far gone.

She was wearing her favorite pumps. Strange things always happened when she wore these pumps.

“Don’t run,” Steph half shouted at Gabriel as he tore off down the sand. “You’ll rip your stiches!” Giving her a backward glance, Gabriel ran back and took her hand, and laughing, Steph allowed herself to be pulled to the grotto. They reached there, panting hard.

She had to help him inside, not the other way around. He showed her where the matches were, and the grotto blossomed with flickering lamp light.

“It’s just as beautiful as I remembered,” Steph breathed softly, taking in the shelves of objects. The cave wall was rough and pocked marked, throwing shadows everywhere, but it only added to the beauty.

A thump behind brought her back to her senses, and she whipped around. Gabriel was on his knees, clutching his head, gasping for breath.

“Gabriel!” she cried, lunging for him. Hands on his shoulders, she shook him slightly. “What’s happening?” Panic tinged her voice.

“Flashes-” he managed to say, but whatever was in his head pulled him down under again. She only wait and watch as Gabriel moaned in the sand, fighting an internal battle.

Gabriel had been watching Steph, the way the firelight danced in her hair and her slender frame, wondering if she really was his sister, when the pain started.

It began as a minor headache, very easy to ignore. But the pain was like a huge, spiked ball ricocheting around in his skull, blossoming into a full blown migraine. Clutching his head he fell to his knees in the sand.

Distantly he realized Steph was shaking him, shouting his name, but he could barely even open his eyes. And instead of blackness behind his lids, there were images.

Steph kissing him under the covers, their lips moving in perfect sync. Himself bursting in through the door after a day of drinking, and crushing his lips to hers like he couldn’t take it anymore. Professing his love while he was hung over. The memories came rushing back in a tidal wave. Everything about Steph, because just being in the grotto was enough.