-Part Three-
She sat there for a further ten minutes before the clouds began to enclose on her. After the waves grew even wilder and began to crash upon the rocks, she looked up to see the dark, grey clouds rumble together before bursting, letting a shower of rain water crash down on her. She sighed knowing that she'd now have to leave and head back home, to her giant, lonely white house which was encircled by trees and meadows.
She didn't mind her house. In fact, she loved it. She always had, since the day her parents bought it as their Summer house, to the day they passed it on to her, and to now. However, she loved it most when she stopped using it as a Summer house and began using it as a permanent house, one where she could raise a family in. She loved it most when she could call it, not just hers, but his too. She loved it most when it was filled with only the people she loved and cared about. But now- Now they were all gone. All the things that she loved most about the house were gone, and there was no possible way of getting them back.
Wrapping her thick, warm jacket around her tighter, she began heading home, with the wet wind whipping through her hair and the hard rain splashing her already wet cheeks. She decided to pick up her pace, as she wasn't even off the beach and she was already soaked through from head to foot.
She quickly left the beach and decided to head along the small lane that led to her house, rather than taking the long route which consisted of following the main road, as she had earlier done when arriving at the beach. However, as she got to the top of the lane where a large oak tree stood, covered with thick branches and thin, crispy leaves, she stopped. She no longer cared that she was getting even wetter due to the heavy rain. She hadn't realised until she got there. It had just slipped her mind.
-
"Here you are," he panted, taking a few deep breaths before looking back up at her from where she sat on one of thicker branches of the oak tree. "Are you okay?" There was no response from the teary eyed, fragile looking 17 year old that sat 6 feet above him. He sighed and looked back up at her. "Come on, you can talk to me. You know you can."
She finally diverted her eyes from the never-ending meadow and met his gaze. "Talk to you?" she almost laughed. "I can't even look at you right now."
He flashed her a confused stare before shaking his head dumbfounded. "Me?" he asked, pointing to himself. "I don't understand. What have I done?"
"It's what you didn't do!" she snapped, only to receive another puzzled expression from the chocolate eyed man below her. She let out a frustrated groan and he couldn't help but notice how her soft eyes blazed with fury. "You didn't tell me!" she screamed. "You knew all along and you didn't tell me!"
"Is that what all this is about?" he almost laughed. "The fact that I didn't tell you Nathan wants you to live with us?" He paused for a second to see her eyes return to their droopy, saddened state. "I'm sorry, but I didn't think it was all that important."
"Didn't think it was important?!" she shrieked again, causing a few seagulls sitting on a nearby fence to spread their wings and fly off into the sky. "You know how much my family means to me! You know that I could never leave them! You should know that I don't want to leave them!" By this point, fresh, ripe tears had escaped the corners of her bright eyes and were streaming down her red, puffy cheeks. She buried her head in her hands and sobbed, uncontrollably, her cries echoing through the meadow.
Dropping his head in guilt and sorrow, he took a breath and began to climb the giant oak tree in which sat the sobbing girl. As he sat beside her, he sighed and placed a hand on the small of her back. "I'm sorry," he apologized, sounding genuine. "I know you love them, and I know you wouldn't want to leave them."
She slowly raised her head and turned to look into his soft eyes. "Then why?" she whispered. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Her voice was so soft and feeble, it was impossible for him not to tell her the truth. He dropped his gaze and fixated it on his hands, but noticed how she remained staring at him, her eyes burning through to his soul. He took a breath and looked back up at her, meeting her eyes once again. "I..." he began. "I guess I just wanted Nathan to be the one to tell you," he shrugged.
"But, we're not just family, we're best friends," she replied softly. "We tell each other everything. So why couldn't you just tell me?" she asked again.
"Because..." he began, after a long pause and a large intake of oxygen. "I knew how much you love your family and love living with them, so I didn't want to be the one to tell you and watch you get upset. I didn't want to be the one making you upset."
After a pause, she let out a long sigh and dropped her head. "I know Nathan's my father, but they're my family. They mean the word to me, and they're always there for me. Who's going to be there for me now? I can't exactly see Nathan jumping up to the chance."
"I'll be there," he said after a pause, causing her to look back up at him. "I'm not going anywhere. And I know I don't and never will live up to your dad, but I'll be there. I'll never leave you."
There was nothing much she could say to that, so she simply smiled and rested her head on his shoulder while he wrapped an arm around her waist and planted a small kiss to her head.
-
She wiped the tears away from under her sore, red eyes sharply before walking on, passing the familiar oak tree in her hardest attempt of ignorance.
She marched home, now no longer caring that she was soaking wet and freezing cold. As she approached her drive, she kicked the gate open and stormed towards the house. Thrusting the door open, she stomped up the stairs and quickly ran herself a bath.
As she lay there, hiding beneath the bubbles, she sighed frustrated. She had wanted to capture some memories, she knew that, but she didn't want the memories to reply in her head over and over, each one getting more and more heartbreaking as they went on. She didn't want to be haunted by them or end up getting upset by them, but that's what she was getting, and she wasn't sure of how much more she could take of it.