Love Is Not The Enemy

I AM HOME

Shannon's PoV

I knew it was her. The second I opened the door and saw the look on Bobby's face I knew it was my girlfriend. His eyes were filled with worry and his hands were thrown in every direction as he tried to explain. I stared at him as an incoherent porridge of letters left his mouth, resulting in a painful balloon of fear building up in my chest. I couldn't understand a word he was saying, the letters he spoke didn't make sense. It was almost like my fear of what had happened to the most important person in my life, made my brain unable to put letters together and make understandable words. And my ability to make coherent sentences of the words I thought he said, was nowhere to be seen.

I couldn't tell him I didn't understand either, my brain couldn't produce a single word. I could only stare at him and watch his mouth move in foreign ways. My brain felt blank, everything I had ever learned was gone. Eventually my knees gave up on supporting the weight of my body and I ended up sitting on the floor with my head in my hands. I rubbed my eyes in confusion and slowly looked back up at my girlfriend's brother.

Bobby sat down in front of me on his knees and moved my hands away from my face. He carefully cupped my face to get my attention and slapped one of my cheeks lightly. I blinked a few times and stared up at him. Bobby opened his mouth again and spoke slowly. I listened intently, trying my best to make sense of his words.

I managed to understand some words, "Cari... crying."

Cari was crying? Then why didn't she just come over. Those were the only thoughts filling my mind, until I picked up a few more of Bobby's words.

"Left... gone."

The balloon in my chest increased. Cari was gone? Then why didn't anyone look for her? At that point I was starting to get mad. If Cari had left without telling anyone where she went, when she was crying, why didn't anyone try to find her?

But then I remembered. I knew where she was. I knew exactly where she was. Cari was crying and left her house without telling anybody where she left, not even me. There's only one place she could be. A flash of adrenaline filled my body and gave me enough strength to stand up. I quickly slipped on a pair of black converse and ran out of my house, without any form of explanation. The second I knew where my girlfriend was, everything else left my mind. All I could think about was finding Cari.

And now, standing in front of the familiar bushes, trying to catch my breath, I know I was right. Even though I can't see Cari, I can hear her. I can hear the silent sniffles from the other side of the bushes. With one last deep breath, I push the bushes out of my way and walk through them. A relieved sigh leaves my lips when my girlfriend comes into view. Even though I knew she was there, the sight of her sitting there, is what I needed to calm down.

I swallow deeply as I look around the familiar place. I had just been here once before, but I already had the place memorized and engraved in my mind. Everything is exactly the way I remember them, everything except one thing. And it broke my heart. On the rock where Cari and I had been sitting on our first date, smiling, laughing and talking about anything that came to minds, is Cari sitting, with her knees pressed up to her chest and her chin leaning on top of them. Her shoulders are shaking lightly and her hands are constantly wiping her cheeks.

Careful not to scare my girlfriend, I walk up to her and sit down behind her on the huge rock, one leg on each side of her trembling body. I slowly wrap my arms around her and pull her into my body. Cari immediately curls into me and turns her head to the side, hiding it in my neck. I help her turn her entire body sideways, never letting go of her body as she cries quietly into my neck.

I don't really know what to say, neither do I know what exactly is causing the sudden sadness. I can't figure out what it is that could make her this upset. Since we came back home, after driving to get Becca, everything has been better than ever. There is nothing between then and right now, that I can think of, that can be the cause of this. I sigh silently in frustration to myself, mad that I can't seem to figure out why she's crying. I lean my head down on top of hers carefully and start drawing small circles on her lower back.