Noah sat on the sofa, staring blankly at the wall.
“Say it again, please.” His pleading hazel eyes looking at his younger sister, Abbie, pain riddled in them, anger mixed with the hurt of Ruth’s name.
“I saw Ruth at work earlier. I dunno if she’s on holiday or back down here for good, but she is here.” Abbie sighed, looking down at the shaking hands of her big brother. Noah was like any other 25-year-old young science teacher: still scrawny from recovering from his student diet; messy light brown hair; but his normally sparkling eyes were dulled and hollowed by the memory of the strangest girl he’d ever known. A girl from school, now a woman, with long chocolate brown hair that she hated being cut; huge glistening dark blue eyes surrounded by long dark eyelashes; and freckled, unblemished skin. Just looking at her made Noah’s heart beat increase seven-fold.
“Abbie why is she back?” Noah asked, his voice shaky, cracking, worried, terrified.
“If I knew, and wasn’t at work, I would have broken her nose.” Abbie snapped. She was a boxer with a pixie crop and the same features as her brother, only softer and more feminine.
“I can’t…” Noah stammered before looking up at his sister with tears filling his eyes. Abbie placed a mug of coffee next to her brother. “I cannot see her. She means too much to me for her to hurt me.” Abbie took hold of his quivering hands, kneeling in front of him.
“You don’t have to.” Abbie whispered. Noah looked down to her.
“What if I see her and… and…” Tears began to cascade down Noah’s whitewashed face. Abbie didn’t know what to do as her brother broke down and cried over the girl only he was trusted to hug, to comfort, the girl that spoke only to him outside of her family. And she had smashed his heart into a billion little pieces as she couldn’t understand what he wanted. It hurt Abbie so much to see Noah sob so much over something as small as seeing Ruth Anthony even after nearly 2 years of her being away.