Lyra-
I excitedly shook Nathan's arm "He's here!!"
I couldn't wait. I threw open the door and ran down the steps. Dad jumped out of his truck and gaped at me, relief and shock in his eyes. I launched myself at him, throwing my arms around his neck.
He caught me and hugged me back tightly. I sobbed happily into his shoulder and breathed in the smell of his old work shirt.
"I knew you were alive...I knew it..." He cried.
"I missed you so much," I sobbed softly.
"I missed you too, life hasn't been the same without you," Dad said, kissing my hair.
After a moment, we pulled away and he wiped my tears away.
He squinted at me, "What happened to your-"
"Nothing! Nothing at all! Aha- Want to go inside? I have someone I want you to meet," I hurriedly as I smiled and took his arm.
"Sure," Dad just nodded, a silly grin on his face.
Nathan's family smiled when we walked through the door. I gestured to Nathan, "Daddy, this is Nathan."
"Nice to meet you sir," Nathan smiled and stuck his hand out. Dad shook his hand with a grin, "You too young man. Are you the one who brought my daughter back to me?"
Nathan and I exchanged glances. I dreaded telling my dad about what had all happened. We sat dad down and told him everything that had happened. Minus Nathan and I being more than friends..we didn't want to overload dad.
By the time we were done, he just stared at me in shock. I took his hand, "Dad? Say something..."
"I-I knew you could survive the worst but I never imagined..." He said quietly and looked at Nathan, "What can I say? Can I- ...could I pay you? I don't know how to thank you..."
"That won't be necessary sir," Nathan smiled.
"Call me David son," Dad grinned and I did a happy dance eternally. Dad likes Nathan...god I can breath again.
"Lyra hon, I think we should be going. I want to start home," Dad stood up, smiling at me.
I suddenly didn't want to go, "Well..don't you want to wait till morning-"
"No, no. I'd like to get home sooner than later. Go get your stuff," He grinned happily.
"I'll help you," Nathan pushed back his chair quickly and I nodded, going towards Ally's room. As soon as we rounded the corner and were out of sight, I was pushed against the wall and Nathan took over my lips.
I kissed him back deeply and he grabbed my hips to pull me towards him. I pulled away for air as he kissed my cheek.
"Please don't go..." He mumbled into the crook of my neck.
I took a deep breath and hugged him to me, "Nathan I have to."
"You'll call everyday?"
"Of course," I promised. I reached into my back pocket, "Here. A memory I guess. I wondered when to give it to you."
I handed Nathan the bear claw on a silver chain. I'd cleaned it up and put it on one of my own old necklace chains I'd brought. I reached into my shirt and pulled out the arrowhead on the string of leather, "We've got one each now."
Nathan put the necklace over his head and held the single claw tightly. He took a deep breath, "Let's go get your bags."
He mostly grabbed my stuff-there wasn't much. I just wanted one more kiss... Before we walked out of the bedroom, I pressed my lips to his one last time.
He kissed me as passionately as possible. It was more of a loving kiss that made you never want to pull away and feel safe and treasured. But I had to. I smiled a little at him before going back to the kitchen.
"Ready?" Dad asked with a grin.
I only nodded. I hugged May and thanked her for letting me stay.
"Any time dear," May smiled.
Ally was next to hug me goodbye, "You can come back anytime. Maybe next summer? I mean, I teach a vet technician class, but I'll still have time to hang out."
"Class!" My dad said suddenly and we all turned.
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Nathan-
I tried to hold back from grabbing Lyra in the middle of her goodbyes and running off with her.
"Class!" Her dad said suddenly and opened his small bag he carried.
He pulled out three big yellow envelopes, "Guess what these are?"
"You got me?" Lyra pulled away from my sister with a raised eyebrow.
"Acceptance letters!" David said excitedly.
"To where?!" Lyra gasped and my heart thudded painfully.
"UCC college and two others," He grinned at her.
"I got accepted into UCC?! Oh my gosh, that was my top pick!" She cried and grabbed them.
"You can read over them in the car but I just remembered them. Class starts this fall."
Lyra nodded and turned to us, "Well, bye guys. Call me when the baby's born."
We nodded. Her eyes lingered on me and I resisted from grabbing her as she walked out the door. I watched her get in the truck with her dad and Baine...and leave. The farther away from me she got, the more my heart throbbed.
Ally came to my side, "Why are you letting her go?"
I took a deep breath, "Her dad needs her.."
"Well so do you," Ally pushed my shoulder and made me turn towards her. She put her hands on her hips and I knew this wasn't going to be a brief argument.
"She's got her whole life...I can't take her away from it just because I fell for her. She's going to call me anyway," I mumbled, staring out the window over my sisters shoulder.
"Do you really think that's going to work? With her in California and you here?" Ally asked stubbornly.
"Yes," I lied. I knew deep down that if we stayed apart, nothing good would come of it.
"You liar. Why don't you go get her?! We love her when-"
"Don't you think I love her too?!" I shouted at Ally, turning on her.
She snapped her mouth shut and took a few steps back.
"Did you not hear her dad?! She got accepted to college Al!! College! She's got her whole life ahead of her now. Damn right I love her! I love her so much that I'm not going to keep her here and keep her from going to college and meeting some down to earth guy and just getting around with someone better than me because that's what she deserves! Better!" I raged, too upset to stop yelling. I wasn't mad at Ally, she's just the one in my way.
"Is that what you think-"
I turned away from my sister and walked towards the doorway. I stalked past my silent parents. Mom had watery eyes and dad had a solemn look on his face but I didn't care.
I walked out the door and slammed it shut. Elvis and Campbell's tried to get me to pet them but I pushed them away. I walked to the barn and climbed the ladder to the loft. Once there, I pulled myself onto the roof.
This use to be the spot my friends and I would steal up to. We'd drink and throw things off the edge and have fun but, I wasn't here for fun anymore.
You know, they say guys don't cry. That's a flat out lie. It just takes more for us to cry sometimes. I cried when I was fourteen and broke my leg. I cried when Mamaw and Papy died.
I cried when Tommy Peterson broke my nose before I learned how to fight for myself. There's just things that can push people over the edge. My edge is actually pretty long but this tossed me over. I didn't sob or anything, I just looked at the night sky and willed myself to man up.
I started trying to remember constellations Lyra taught me. That's Orion's Belt. The Big Dipper. Cancer. The Pegasus.....
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Lyra-
I'll spare you the long story home. Nothing happened really, we just drove and talked the whole way there. We stopped at a motel when it got really late.
Dad talked non stop on the way. I loved how excited he was and frequently grinned at him. At first, he was a little freaked out about Baine but got used to him.
I couldn't help but instantly start missing Nathan. I desperately wanted one more kiss or hug, anything. Dad insisted on carrying my bags inside for me, so I called Baine and led him into the house. It did feel good to be home though. Baine ran past me to explore, but I took my time.
Everything was just like it was months ago. I grabbed an apple out of the fruit basket and bit into it, wandering around.
There was a screech and I heard Baine growl. Rolling my eyes, I walked towards the living room. Alexandra was standing on the couch, flapping a magazine at Baine with one hand and holding a sandwich in the other.
Baine watched the sandwich with great interest.
"Help me! There's a wild animal in here!" She yelled erratically.
"Sit Baine," I commanded and he sat, still looking at the sandwich.
"Is that thing yours? He's making hungry eyes at me!" Alexandra looked up at me.
"The wolfs name is Baine and the only thing he's giving hungry eyes is that sandwich," I said, plopping into the recliner.
"O-okay. Um, it's uh, it's nice that you're home..." She mumbled, sitting down. Baine sat at her feet, waiting for handouts.
Eventually she tossed him her whole sandwich so he'd leave her alone.
"Thanks?" I raised an eyebrow. Why was she being nice?
Dad came in and started to excitedly tell Alexandra about what had happened. When he finished, she just kinda sat there stunned. Then again, that had been everyone's reaction.
"Isn't it amazing?" Dad grinned.
"Y-yes. It's nearly impossible," She smiled forcefully, sitting rigidly on the couch.
"Come on Lyra, I wanna show you something," Dad smiled and I stood up, reaching to pet Baine.
Alexandra flinched as if I was going to hit her. Maybe she finally learned to be afraid of me. I followed dad to my room. He opened the door and I stepped inside.
"Everything looks the same?" I raised an eyebrow, wondering if I was missing something.
"Exactly. I left it just like you had it," He said happily. I grinned at him, "Thank you Dad."
"So how about we go get ice cream at Darcy's parlor in a little while?" He smiled.
I nodded, "Okay dad."
"I'm just going to take a shower, I'll be quick," He grinned before darting out the door.
I walked back into the kitchen and pulled a water out of the fridge. Alexandra wandered in.
"So...that was a crazy few months huh?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah. Pretty insane," I sat on the counter. She eyed me and took a seat at the table.
"Your dad missed you..."
"I missed him," I nodded and took another drink.
Alexandra watched me and swallowed, "My, you've got some muscle there."
"I guess. I needed them to climb out of the mountains," I chuckled and she forced a little laugh.
"And you're got really tan."
"Baked in the sun while fishing," I murmured. She was acting strange. Careful and timid. It was starting to freak me out and I didn't like it not one bit. Was she not going to try to argue with me?
I took in her grungy appearance. Her hair looked unkept, like she'd ran her fingers through it multiple times within the same hour. She was missing her usual business attire. Seeing her in a sweatshirt and yoga pants was unsettling.
There was no bright eyeshadow on her. Her lips weren't red. Matter of fact, she looked pretty pale. Like she'd seen a ghost or something scary. Well...she did get a look at Baine.
She folded her hands on the table and I noticed her nails. The usual red paint was chipped or not even there. The nails didn't look like claws, they were bitten down to stumps. This was very strange and I was a little unnerved by it all.
Dad came into the kitchen and looked at me, "How about that ice cream, huh?"
I smiled at him, "Yeah, let's go."
"You gonna get your regular?" He asked, grabbing his keys.
"Of course! Cookie dough is the shit," I laughed and followed him out the door.
"I think you may have picked up some southern accent," He chuckled.
"I guess," I shrugged, I was with a southern man for months on end, him being the only person to talk to.
"Well, now you can forget it all. Just forget everything that happened," Dad hopped into the truck.
"Everything?" I mumbled.
"Yeah, you're home now. Doesn't it feel great?" He grinned as I got into the passenger side.
It did for the first few minutes, but now, not so much. I didn't feel like I was home and I didn't want to forget it all. There was no way I was ever going to forget Nathan.
I don't want to forget.
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Fuck, I'm crying again- LEAVE ME IN PEACE SO I MAY CHOKE ON MY SOBS!! Poor Nathan, the dreaded day is here....she must leave him. Neither know what to do nor what to say and hope they will see each other another day- wow, got deep right there and I just came up with that on the fly omg. *wipes eyes* Cry with me guys....
Vote, comment, share!!
-KJ