As the first week of the Christmas holidays progressed Beth and Viv started to call each other more and more often. Eventually calling at least twice a day, to much annoyance of both of their families. But Viv and Beth didn't care. They both just couldn't go without each other. As soon as their phone call had ended they wanted to call again. And if they weren't calling each other they were constantly texting. This made time go very slowly and very fast at the same time. Both Viv and Beth couldn't wait for it to be Sunday so that they didn't have to use a phone to stay in contact.
After a week of mainly staying in her room, it was finally time for Viv to start packing up her things and putting them back in her suitcase. She was so glad this week was over. It had not been fun at all. Right after telling her grandma of her breakup her mom started droning on and on about how she should not give up and that she should keep fighting for the "love of her life" as she always called Lisa. It was no good telling her or anyone for that matter that it was really over and that she wouldn't get back together with her. In the end, Viv decided it was better for her to just stay in her room and only come down at meal times. It pained her to do it because it had been so long since she had been home properly and she wanted to spend a lot more time with her brother than she was doing now, but every time she wanted to spend time with him her parents seemed to be around too.
Viv was halfway done packing up her suitcase when she heard a soft knock on the door. "can I come Viv?" It was her brother. Viv got up quickly and opened her bedroom door to let her brother in. "hey" he said softly as he closed the door. "Can we talk?" Viv nodded and sat down on her bed. Her brother meanwhile looked around the room with a puzzled look on his face. "Are you packing?" he asked, with a hint of sadness in his voice. Viv could've hit herself. Because she was so worked up about her parents she had completely forgotten to tell them that she was going back a week earlier than originally planned. "Uh yeah, I am," she said quietly. "But why?"
"I think you know why" Viv said not meeting Lars's eyes. "Can't you give it a go one more time? I know they have been less than understanding towards you but please can you just try to reason with them?" Viv knew why her brother was trying to get her to talk to their parents. He hated any sort of conflict and by trying to mend things between them he was also trying to get her to stay. "I've tried Lars but they just won't listen to me." Lars sighed and sat down next to her. "Okay, what if we go down together and just sit them down for a proper conversation. I will be by your side the whole time and can back you up whenever you need me to." Viv just stared at the ground wanting to respond but the words just didn't seem to come. Of course it was very heartwarming to hear that her brother wanted to support her so badly but she also felt that it was not his battle to fight but hers and right now she just did not feel up to fighting. "That's very sweet of you but... I just can't do it. Not right now at least." Lars put his arm around his big sister and squeezed her arm. "I know it is difficult but you'll have to face it some day and by pushing something way down isn't going to help you. In fact it will only make things worse because if you're not going to do it now then when? I mean it will only get harder the longer you wait." Viv knew that he was right. Of course he was but everytime she wanted to have a sit down conversation with either of her parents she got a big lump in her throat and she couldn't get a word out.
"Like I said I'll be with you the whole time and if at any moment you feel like it's too much we just stop okay?" Viv knew she had to give in and so she agreed to come downstairs to talk to their parents.
They sat down in the livingroom, Lars with his arm still tight around his sister he called for his parents. They came from the kitchen as they just had breakfast. They both halted when they saw that Viv was sitting there too.
"finally decided to show up then?" her mother said with a light sneer. "Cut it out" Lars said quickly. "please, just sit down and listen okay?" Lars looked over at Viv and she knew that this was the moment to say everything that was on her mind. "You can do it" Lars whispered in her ear and so Viv took a deep breath and started to talk. She told them about everything that happened that led up to the breakup. She told them about Lisa staying out late, not even bothering to ask her. Always staying up late waiting for her to come home mainly because she was not able to sleep without her by her side. She even told them about the time when Lisa had cheated on her, which she hadn't ever told anyone not even her brother. And once she was past this point, she kept rambling on and on, telling them how hurt she was that her parents were not there for her and how she had really needed a shoulder to cry on and the fact that, that wasn't them had really broken her. She told them how hard it had been on her after the breakup. How she had sleepless nights because she had so much trouble falling asleep now a days because Lisa always used to hold her while she fell asleep, and if she was finally asleep that she had nightmares, nightmares about everything from that past few months.
Viv had been talking for so long that her throat went all dry. She also couldn't even remember starting to cry but she suddenly felt tears streaming down her face and falling onto her lap. She quickly wiped her face with the back of the sleeve and looked down at her lap. She couldn't look her parents in the eye just yet.
It took a while for anyone to say anything but it was Viv's dad who broke the silence first. "I just want to say..." Viv could hear his voice cracking up "I'm really, really sorry Viv that I've ever made you feel that way. Like you couldn't come to us when you needed to." Viv knew that her dad had started crying and for the first time since the start of the week, she looked up and into her dad's eyes. She did not quite meet her mother's eyes yet though, she still needed to hear it from her too. She waited for her mother to say something but it didn't come, instead, she stood up, walked over to the couch and hugged her so tightly she could barely breathe. "oh Viv, I'm so sorry." her mother sobbed whilst hugging her more and more tightly. "I never in a million years would have thought that you were having all these struggles in your relationship. Oh I'm so sorry." Viv knew that it would take a bit more time for the wounds that her parents had made to heal but she felt that this conversation had put them in the right direction. It was like Beth had said: Wounds take time to heal but eventually they always do, even though you might get left with a little scar to remind you of your battles and how you pushed through them.
"So does this mean you'll stay?" Lars asked. It had been an hour since the conversation with her parents and they were all sitting at the dining table. "Stay? what do you mean, stay?" renée asked confused. Viv immediately averted her eyes to the ground. She had not been able to tell her parents that she was going back to England a week earlier than planned. She knew how much it would mean to her brother if she stayed but she just couldn't. Yes, the conversation she'd had with her parents relieved a lot of the tension but there was still too much hurt for Viv to deal with right now.
"No," Viv said plainly without looking up. "But weren't you staying the two full weeks of the holidays?" Viv nodded. "I was supposed to but I..." she broke off not wanting to hurt her parent's feelings. "Well, I... I wasn't really looking forward to this visit beforehand, because you know everything that we've just discussed and a friend of mine knew that I was struggling so she asked if I wanted to come over to her place for the remainder of the holidays and I uhm said yes." "I am very sorry" she added quickly. "no" it was her mum who spoke this time and Viv looked up. "No?" Her mother was looking rather stern. "No, don't be sorry. We understand that you need a bit more time and space to let it all sink in." Viv smiled. She was so glad that her parents were there for her again and that they fully supported her going back to England a bit earlier than expected. "So, what time do you need to be at the airport?" Viv quickly checked her watch. "I need to leave in an hour so I can catch the 7 o'clock flight to New Castle," she said as she took a sip of her coffee. "an hour?!" both her mum and dad exclaimed. Viv nodded and said "yeah, but I'll manage. I've packed up my suitcase already so the only thing left to do is drive up there." It stayed silent for a while after this whilst everyone drank their coffees and stared out of the window.
"New Castle eah? Why all the way up to New Castle? I didn't know you knew anybody from around there".
"Not New Castle specifically but a small town near there and she doesn't actually live there she is just there for the holidays as her parents live there. She lives in London like me and you've met her as well. It's my teammate Beth" Viv felt a small rush of excitment when she mentioned Beth's name. "Oh, the one that you keep calling all the time" her mum said with a small smirk on her face. Viv just shrugged her shoulders and said "She's good company to have around when you're going through a tough time." "I bet she is" her mum said with a little to much glee in her voice. "Oh, please don't be like that. It's really not like that at all. She is just a really good friend okay plus she is funny, kind, caring and c..." Viv caught herself just in time. She wanted to say cute but she obviously couldn't say that.
"yes? what was that last bit?" Her brother asked smirking. Viv flushed scarlet and tried to look anywhere but at her brother. "Oh my god your face is so red!" he laughed. "You're reading way too much into this. Me and Beth are just friends okay. Nothing more." Lars shrugged his shoulders but he gave her a look that said all too plainly that he did not believe a single word of it.
At the airport
"Have you got everything?" Her mum asked as they made their way to the entrance. "Yes, I've got everything and you don't have to walk the whole way down with me." Normally her parents would've just let her out of the car and drove off but she knew they wanted to make up for what they'd done. "I know sweetheart but we thought it would be nice as we're not seeing you for at least a couple of months or so."
Right before Viv had to queue for security they said their goodbyes and hugged each other perhaps a little more tightly than they usually would have done. Viv hugged her brother last and right before she let go of him he whispered something in her ear. "If it feels right then you shouldn't be feeling guilty for chasing after it." And with that he let her go. Lars always knew more than he was letting on Viv thought. Viv knew that Lars had a knack for these sorts of things especially when it came down to how Viv was feeling but it nevertheless surprised her every time it happened. She waved to her brother and her parents one last time before stepping into the queue and vanishing out of sight.
New Castle Airport
Viv had finally arrived at the airport and was about to get her phone to text Beth that she was getting a taxi when somebody covered her eyes with their hands. "uhm" Viv stammered as she tried to wriggle free of whoever was holding her. "guess who" a voice said behind her and Viv felt her muscles relax immediately. She could recognise that voice anywhere. "hmm I have absolutely no idea" Viv said sarcastically. Viv felt Beth remove her hands from her eyes and turned around to face her. "Hey you" Viv said softly and before she knew it Beth had flung her arms around her. It was the best feeling in the world thought Viv and she soaked up every little second of it. This moment felt like it could last forever, just the two of them together and it was lime nothing else mattered in the world.
After what felt like an eternity they let go of each other both looking a bit flushed. They did not think that seeing each other again would mean so much to both of them. It had only been a week after all. It wasn't like it was a whole year and yet it felt like one. It was insane to think how close they'd grown in the short amount of time that they'd spent together but here they were, so glad to see each other that they were temporarily speechless. "Uhm I think we need to go" beth said softly and they broke apart. All Viv wanted to do was stare into those mesmerising blue eyes the whole time but resisted the urge and went to grab her bag, but when she turned to see where it was it had gone. "My bag!? It's gone" she said a little frantically looking around. Beth started to giggle. "I have it silly" she said and showed Viv what she was holding. Viv gave a sigh of relief and made a gesture to take the bag from Beth but she simply shook her head and said "No, I will be carrying this" and with that she turned on her heel and started to walk towards the exit. Viv quickly followed her. "Thank you" she said as she caught up with Beth. Beth smiled and linked her arm in Viv's.
This really is going to be the greatest week ever Viv thought.