I FUMBLED NERVOUSLY with my fingers as I made my way through the busy airport, carrying nothing but a small backpack on my back filled with the last belongings I had left from the fire that had taken my parents.
Not a lot of stuff survived, but I guess me being alive was good enough.
"Oh my god, dad," I heard a loud voice exclaim as I made my way down the escalator heading towards the baggage claim. "She's not five anymore, I'm sure she can spot us without a sign!"
Looking up from my feet, I pass a few people getting off to grab their belongings before a head of platinum blonde hair invades my vision as she reaches over to grab the sign reading "Welcome home, Eloise!" out of her father's hand to chuck it halfway across the airport as a cheeky brunette just giggles and watches her father scold her older sister for being inconsiderate of the rest of the people in the airport who had to dodge the flying sign.
"Lizabeth!" Alaric exclaims, shaking his head at his eldest daughter before apologizing to the people around him.
Despite the sadness still eating away at my heart, I can't help but smile at the only family I had left bickering back in forth in the middle of the airport. I hadn't seen them since I was a kid, but the familiarity felt so good after spending a month and a half at my old neighbor's house while everyone figured out where I would go after my parent's funeral.
"Eloiseee!" Josie, the brunette, squeals loudly as she's the first to spot me. I smile and open my arms wide as she engulfs me into a tight hug, swaying me back and forth as she giggles. "I'm so glad you're okay!"
I take in the scent of her strong lavender perfume, feeling calm as she lets me go and moves to the side so her sister could have a turn with embracing me.
"Come here, my dear cousin." Lizzie smiles down as she hugs me and swats her father away. "Wait your turn, old man!"
Uncle Alaric just laughs and shakes his head, watching as Lizzie pulls her sister into the hug so that they both could embrace me at the same time.
He didn't seem to mind being pushed out of the hug, he was just happy to see us all together again. Despite losing his brother and sister-in-law, Alaric focused on keeping their only child safe with him instead of allowing some random family to take me in.
I was his family, and he was not about to let me slip into the foster system.
"Alright, alright, you've had your turn." Alaric pulls his two girls away and chuckles as they mumble nonsense under their breath as he wraps me tightly in his arms.
I smile and lean into his hug, feeling like a weight was slowly being lifted off my chest as he kisses the top of my forehead and guides us all out of the airport.
I PEERED OUTSIDE the window of my uncle's SUV as he drove through the terrain that made up Washington State. It hadn't been raining that much in Seattle, but the more we got closer to my new home the more it began to rain. It was much different than Sunny California, and at first it made me sad that I was trading in palm trees for pine trees, but the more the rain collected on the windows the calmer I became. There isn't any wild fires here like California.
"Punch buggy!" Lizzie shouted out, causing me to jump and whip my head towards her as she punches me in the shoulder and gives me the biggest grin she could muster.
I wanted to roll my eyes and yell at her for scaring me, but seeing her face light up as she tried to make me smile stopped me from doing anything but shake my head and give her exactly what she wanted from me.
Seeing my lips turn upwards at her, Lizzie nods her head before putting her earpods back into her ears and leans back in her seat as Josie shifts her head against the window as she napped.
"How ya feeling, kid?" Alaric questions as he stares at me from the rearview mirror.
I turn my gaze to him and shrug my shoulders softly, trying to find the words to express how I was feeling. "I'm happy to be with you guys."
I say weakly, feeling my eyes drift down as I notice I didn't have it in me to call this place home. I may never be able to, but at least I wasn't alone anymore.
The month and a half spent at my neighbor's house was awful. Planning a funeral at the age of sixteen was not how I wanted to spent the rest of my summer vacation.
Now I was on the verge of seventeen and it felt like I spent the last of my days as a sixteen-year-old just grieving the loss of my parents.
Uncle Alaric nodded his head, smiling softly in understanding as he turned a corner and finally passed the welcome sign for Forks, Washington.
"Finally!" Lizzie cries out as we pull into the driveway, waking up Josie as she unbuckles her seatbelt and nudges her sister to move so that she could get out of the car to get into the house as quickly as possible. "I have got to stop drinking soda on roadtrips!"
I can hear her scold herself as she manages to finally unlock the front door and disappear behind it.
I can't help but laugh with Josie and uncle Alaric as we pile out of the car and I grab my backpack and pull it over my right shoulder. Holding the straps tightly as I bounce on the balls of my feet and peer up at the house I had spent my childhood running through with Lizzie and Josie while my parent's and Uncle Alaric tried to get us to eat Thanksgiving dinner.
It didn't look much different, despite a few cracks in the foundation that seemed to be in the process of being fixed, and maybe a new coat of paint on the veranda.
"It's a work in progress, but we cleared out the spare bedroom for you."
Uncle Alaric says as he leads me inside, taking off his jacket and placing it on the hook next to the front door. Josie does the same as she closes the door behind her and disappears into the kitchen.
I smile and nod my head, looking around the large foyer that held so many good memories filled with family. The staircase I had fallen down when I was five, only for my mother to safely catch me before I got hurt. The hardwood floors my father had helped my uncle put in after a painting accident that had destroyed the old floors.
I take in a deep breath, and for a moment I could still feel the presence of my parents still lingering the halls.
This was where my father had grown up, alongside my uncle Alaric. This was where he had met my mother, who had grew up just three doors down.
I had lived here with them up until I was seven, before they decided to move us out to California to start a new life.
Shaking my head, I follow my uncle up the stairs and down the hall before he opens up the last door on the right and shows me my new room.
"I know you've probably changed your favorite color since the last time I saw you, but the girls and I still wanted to make it as comfortable for you as possible. We can change it if you don't like it."
Walking into the room, I'm greeted with forest green walls with a forest style wallpaper to match it. I smile softly at how pretty it was and that I had a nice bay window I could sit and read by since it had a bench built under it.
The bed had the same colored linen and comforter set that went nicely with the color of the walls, and was accompanied by two nightstands on either side of it with a lamp so I could choose which side to sleep on myself.
There were two other doors on each side of the room, and I assumed one was a closet and the other a bathroom that I would have to share with one of the girls.
Before I could turn around and say thank you to my uncle, I catch a painting next to the bed and I feel tears form in the corner of my eyes. I walk closer to it, running my fingers along the frame in fear of damaging it as I stare at my parents and I next to a bunch of palm trees.
"Josie thought you would like that." Uncle Alaric says as he rubs my back in a comforting manner.
I wipe my tears from my face and smile up at him as I turn and embrace him.
He holds me tightly as I cry, patiently letting me release my grief into his chest as he continues to rub my back.
"Everything is going to be okay, I promise." He says softly.
I pull away and nod my head, before peering over his shoulder at the sight of flickering lights that were illuminating both Lizzie and Josie's faces.
Alaric turns around and chuckles as the two girls enter my room holding a small cake that had a large candle stuck in the middle of it. Reading the number 17, I can't help but chuckle along with him as I realize what they're doing.
"We know we couldn't make it to your 16th birthday, so we're making up for it by celebrating your 17th a littler earlier." Lizzie belts out as Josie holds out the cake for me.
"Make a wish, and make a good one!" Josie giggles, and for a moment I forget my sadness and all I'm left with is pure joy as I take in a deep breath and blow out my candle.
I wish for this to never end.