Avery Adley
Erica cried herself to sleep on the couch.
I picked up some tissues and the empty cup from her tea.
She didn't really say much and just cried. Oliver walked out with messy hair and a slight scowl on his face.
It looked like he had run his hand through his hair a million times. I was surprised he didn't pull it out entirely.
"She's asleep." I whispered.
He sighed and walked over to his little sister. His face softened as he looked at her with love.
It must have been hard for him to see her so distraught.
He scooped her up and gestured to the door of the guest room.
I scurried off to open up the room and pull back the covers of the bed.
Gently, he placed her in bed and tucked her in.
A soft smile reached my lips at the sight.
I picked up her surprisingly heavy bag and placed it inside the room. I believed this was her packing light.
"I'm going to kill him." He growled quietly.
I shut the door softly and followed him to the living room.
"Let her calm down. You don't know what happened yet."
"Avery, you saw her! He's hurt her!" He himself looked a little distressed.
He slumped onto the sofa and closed his eyes.
I stood behind the sofa and tried to fix the mess of his silky black hair. It was bugging me a bit.
"I don't want to see my little sister hurt." He said after awhile of silence.
I smiled a little. "I know."
He slowly and gently trailed a hand along my arm. Goosebumps followed his long fingers.
He held both of my arms and I yelped a little as he pulled my arms to his chest. My head landed in his neck.
Oliver heaved a sigh.
"This wasn't exactly how I planned it to go." He played with my hands and fingers.
I woke up and saw Oliver fast asleep. He was on his stomach while an arm was draped over my waist. I slipped out but heard an unhappy groan behind me.
I showered and changed.
When I walked out to the kitchen I was met with a load of breakfast foods. Eggs, toast, bacon, sausages, muffins, omelettes and fruits.
Erica was dancing around the kitchen, springing from one side to another to get utensils. Her brown hair bounced around following after her and pop music played.
She finally noticed me and her lips curved into a huge smile.
"Come and eat!" She said giddily and switched off the music.
If I didn't see it, I wouldn't have guessed she had cried herself dry yesterday.
I obeyed and sat down. She piled my plate with more food than my stomach could handle.
"How about we go swimming?" She asked. Her blue eyes sparkled.
She gave me such a happy look I felt I couldn't refuse her.
"Sure." I smiled and winced when she squealed.
Oliver walked out dressed in a tshirt and shorts. His hair was still slightly wet but he obviously didn't care.
"Jesus, Erica." He said when he saw the amount of food. "We're not going to be able to eat all this."
She giggled. "You're big enough. You could probably fit it all in there somewhere."
He rolled his eyes and dug into a huge plate of food.
"We're going swimming after." Erica announced.
Oliver huffed. "Fine."
"Just us two." She smirked at him.
His blue eyes glared at her, but he didn't say anything and kept eating with a small frown on his face.
I was later dragged off to get changed. Erica fished out swimmers for me to wear. I had no say in the matter.
They weren't too revealing, much to my relief.
What bothered me wasn't the fact I had exposed skin. It was the fact that that exposed skin had bruises that were still clearing up. My neck was still discolored, but my stomach was the worst.
Afterall, I received the most hits there. As I thought and looked at them I could almost feel the fist plummeting into my gut.
I snapped out of it and tied a wrap around my waist and grabbed my sunglasses.
"Looking good Avery!" Erica all but yelled from outside.
I walked over to the patio where she looked me over. She did her best not to linger on the marks, but I could see it bothered her.
She walked behind me and pulled the elastic out of my hair.
My curls and waves fell down my shoulders and tickled my skin.
"That's better!" She grinned and grabbed my hand. "Let's go."
We found a nice spot on the beach and sat on our towels. I lathered on the sunscreen like it would protect me from a nuclear war.
After situating ourselves we walked to the water.
The water was cool and counteracted the sun's effects.
"Are you okay?" I asked Erica. She had a faraway look in her eyes.
She nodded and smiled at me. "Yeah." It was a very unconvincing response but I left it.
We talked about nonsense. Tv shows that I didn't follow, fashion that was definitely not my expertise and trips I had never been on.
I heard loud footsteps slapping along the wet sand. As I turned around to see a large body barreling towards us I was thrown over a shoulder.
I squealed at the shock.
"Olly!" Erica shrieked but ended up laughing like a maniac.
"Oliver!" I squealed. I was thrown in the air and splashed in the water.
I surfaced and saw Oliver approaching Erica who was cautiously backing away.
"You said you wanted to swim." He shrugged.
Erica tried to run but with Oliver's long muscular legs she had no chance.
I watched as she flew through the air and splashed me when she landed.
We both turned on Oliver and pulled him down with us.
Erica jumped on his back while I just aided in pushing his chest so he'd fall back. He caught my arm and pulled me with him.
We all had so much fun.
I didn't know when the last time I really had fun was.
It seemed like something that was so rare and precious.
After lunch Erica and I showered and cleaned up and I met her on the deck.
I sat next to her and we just sat in silence.
"How do you feel about Oliver?" She had a knowing look in her eyes.
"I don't know." I said simply. It was the truth. I didn't really know.
"Do you like being with him?" She asked.
A soft smile played on my lips. I nodded my head shyly.
"Judging by the way you look at him, you're falling in love with him."
I stopped breathing and looked at her in alarm.
Love?!
I had never thought about love since I was 15 years old. The moment she said love I stopped listening to the rest.
"I don't understand." I breathed out.
She sent me an understanding smile. "You will."
I gulped.
Her face became sullen and the little spark in her eye was gone. "I don't know where my love is going though." She mumbled and raised the glass to her lips.
"You can talk to me if you need to."
She analysed my face and started to speak.
"Tom has been working nonstop. He goes on business trips all the time. He never calls or even messages, I'm always the one who calls so I at least know he's alive." She sighed.
"I brought it up and asked if he was seeing someone else, he got incredibly defensive. He said that I'm ungrateful and he works so he can provide the lifestyle I'm used to." Tears welled in her eyes. "I honestly don't care about that! I thought he knew me better!" I rubbed her back and she sniffed and wiped her tears away. "I just love him so damn much!" Erica cried.
"Erica." Oliver's voice was soft and gentle as it came from behind us. He rounded the lounge and sat down next to her.
"I don't know what to do Olly!" She flung herself onto Oliver. He cooed and shushed her to stop her cries.
I silently got up and let them be alone.
Love is painful.
I started to prepare dinner, to keep myself busy.
As I was cooking I heard a knock on the front door. I looked outside to see Oliver still trying to calm Erica.
I walked to the door and swung it open.
A man with dark blonde hair stood in the doorway. He didn't even look at me once. He rushed past me almost knocking me over.
"Excuse me?" I frowned and followed him.
"Erica." He had a deep voice with an English accent.
Erica raised her puffy red eyes and looked at him. "Tom?"