Chapter 28: Reminiscing

The next few days went by and it was a week until Rae's move. It really started to hit her that she was leaving when she slowly started packing up her things. Ashley tried to help but Rae would get annoyed because she was messing up her system. Almost everything in her room was in bags and boxes, ready to be loaded up and driven two hours to her new home. Once she was done she went out to the living room with Ashley and Scott. They'd ordered Chinese and were watching a Jersey Shore marathon on MTV. Rae ate her dinner and when she couldn't stand to watch the reality series anymore, she went in her room to go to bed. Rae slept in until ten am then woke up and spent a couple hours on the computer. She was still looking for furniture she could get her mother as a gift. She couldn't decide on which pieces she'd like best so she saved a bunch to go back and look at again later. When she went to her saved images, she saw the pictures she'd saved to her computer when she got back from vacation with Olivia. She clicked through photo after photo and couldn't help but smile as she remembered every moment depicted in the images. It was as if they'd just returned from their trip only days ago. They looked so completely happy and for those two weeks, they truly were. None of their problems mattered. It was all about the two of them. She still wasn't sure of the exact moment their relationship had gone so wrong or why they weren't able to work through it. All she could tell herself was that everything happens for a reason. Her phone rang on the nightstand next to her. She reached over and grabbed it, not bothering to check the caller id. She swiped her finger across the screen to accept the call and put the phone to her ear.

"Hello" she answered.

"What's my favorite sister doing today?" Jimmy asked on the other end of the phone.

"Ummm, you mean your only sister?" she asked amused.

"Yeah. You're that too" he joked. Rae laughed.

"I'm not doing anything. I have absolutely no plans" she said. She continued to click through the vacation pictures on her computer as she talked to her brother. He was counting down the days until she was moving to Connecticut and realized they hadn't spent any one on one time together in a while. He asked her to ditch her girlfriend and her friends, her discovery channel and her health books and whatever else would keep her from going out on a spontaneous adventure with him. "I would love to" she said smiling.

"Good. It's a date". He told her he'd picked her up in a couple hours then got off the phone so she could get ready. She was in the bathroom when there was a knock on her bedroom door. She yelled for, she assumed, Ashley to come in. A few seconds later, Ashley, Simone and Maureen were standing at her bathroom door watching her brush her hair. She was wearing white shorts and a black floral belly shirt with white sneakers.

"You wanna go out to lunch with us?" Ashley asked.

"Oh, I can't" she said still brushing knots out of her hair. "I have a date".

"Where's Amanda taking you?" Ashley asked jealously. She'd been better about not giving Rae a hard time about spending time with Amanda since their talk but she still had her moments. Maureen looked at her and shook her head, disapproving of the question. Rae finished brushing her hair and started to make a braid in the front.

"I'm not going out with Amanda" she said. She was past getting upset with Ashley for her jealously at this point. "I'm hanging out with Jimmy today".

"Oh, that's nice" Simone said. Maureen and Ashley agreed and Ashley's jealousy went away. Rae didn't understand why Ashley wasn't threatened by anyone except Amanda. It made no sense to her. But that was irrelevant now. Knowing wouldn't make a difference. She finished her hair and went out to the living room to wait with her friends. They sat and talked until Jimmy came to pick her up then they all left the apartment together. They ended up all going to lunch together then split up afterwards. Ashley, Maureen and Simone went on about their plans and Rae went with Jimmy to have some quality brother-sister time together. When she came home later that night, she was dragging a bunch of bags behind her. Ashley heard her come in and came out of her room to see her struggling with all of her stuff.

"Where did all of this come from?" she asked as she went over to help.

"Jimmy" she answered. "Apparently this is everything I'm going to need to survive on my own". They carried all her bags to her room and put them in the closet. Rae went back out to the hallway and grabbed the last thing she needed to bring in then shut and locked the door behind her. It was a big stuffed panda bear and she had no idea where she was going to put it. Ashley looked stunned by the ginormous stuffed animal. "For me to cuddle with" Rae said as its uses were obvious. "I just have to find somewhere to put it until I leave. My room's alreadya death trap with all the boxes". Ashley laughed and took the bear from her.

"I'll put it in our room". She went in her room to find a nice spot for the bear.

"What the hell" Rae heard Scott say when Ashley walked in with her stuffed animal. Ashley explained that it was Rae's and she didn't have anywhere to put it. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. Rae went back into her room to change for bed when Ashley came in a minute later.

"So did you have fun with your brother today?" she asked as she climbed on the bed and made herself comfortable.

"Yes, I did" she answered from inside the bathroom. The door opened and she came out in shorts and a t shirt with her hair freely flowing down her back.

"What all did you do?"

"Well we went shopping. Jimmy thinks I'm heading into a zombie apocalypse". Ashley laughed. "I swear, over half of the stuff he bought me could make up like three survival kits. He also bought me some posters and other things to decorate with. We had Mexican for dinner, then we went to the frozen yogurt shop, then we went to the arcade where he won enough tickets to get my panda" she said smiling.

"It's adorable".

"I know" she said happily. The doorbell rang and Scott yelled that he was getting it. They heard him talking to someone about sports and as the voice got closer, Rae could tell it was Amanda. She walked into Rae's bedroom and said hi to Ashley before going over to her girlfriend.

"Rae, you better talk to your girl" Scott said from the doorway. "She thinks her team is gonna make it to the super bowl over mine".

"Oh honey, I don't think" she said in her southern drawl. "I know".

"Is that all you two ever talk about, sports?" Rae asked. They looked at other then back at Rae.

"Yeah" they both said simultaneously. Rae and Ashley both laughed while Scott and Amanda looked confused as to what they were laughing about. Ashley got up from the bed and went to leave. She was sure that Rae wanted her time alone with Amanda even though she was also sure that they'd talked to each other that day; probably more than once. Ashely and Scott said goodnight and went to their own door, shutting Rae's door as they went. Amanda had a bag with her that she'd packed before leaving home that morning. It had clothes for her to sleep in and wear to work the next day along with a smaller personal hygiene bag. This time she'd even brought her own soap. The soap that Rae was using right now was a bar her mother gave her. Amanda refused to use it because the last time she did, Fin teased her all day at work for smelling like a bouquet of flowers. She took her bag and went to the bathroom to shower. Rae leaned against the headboard and pulled out her laptop. When she opened it, the screen went to the pictures she'd been looking at of her vacation with Olivia. Again, she couldn't help the smile that grew on her face. There were so many pictures, she hadn't gotten through all of them. She didn't know if it was a good idea but she grabbed her phone and texted Olivia, asking if she had any plans the next day. She said she didn't. It was her day off and Brian would be working so she'd most likely be lounging at home by herself.

We should go out or something

Would Amanda be okay with that?

Idk but I don't plan on asking for her permission

Ok. Sounds good to me

Good. I'll see you tomorrow

Rae put her phone back down and went back to clicking through her vacation photos. Ten minutes passed, Amanda came out of the shower and she was still clicking through the pictures. Amanda got in bed with her and laid her head on her shoulder. "Are those from your trip to Iran with your mother?" she asked.

"No" Rae said shaking her head. "These are from my trip to Italy and India with Liv. I swear I gained like ten pounds in Florence". Amanda laughed and watched as Rae continued to go through the pictures.

"That's beautiful". It was the picture she'd taken of the sun rising over a lake.

"That was our last day, I think. We got up really early to watch the sun rise over the Ponte Vecchio. We met a woman who told us that we absolutely couldn't leave without seeing it. It was so early and so cold but she was right. It's not something anyone should miss" she said softly. She clicked the next picture which showed her trying to hide her face from the camera. Then another and another and another. It seemed like there were an infinite amount. There was one picture of her and Olivia kissing on a bridge that overlooked the water. Another of them kissing at the top of Vitale G Poggi. And another of them kissing on a ride they took in a rowboat. She wondered how it made Amanda feel to see those. She didn't say anything about them so Rae didn't either. "Oh my god" Rae groaned. It was twenty minutes later and she still hadn't gotten through all of the pictures. "I didn't realize we took this many pictures". She was getting tired so she closed out of the folder and shut down her computer then settled down next to her girlfriend. Amanda played with Rae's hair while her head laid on her chest.

"I'm gonna miss going to bed with you" she said quietly. Rae took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I'm gonna miss going to bed with you too" she whispered. She closed her eyes, took another deep breath and drifted off to sleep. She woke up early the next morning when Amanda's alarm went off. She told her to go back to sleep then got up to get ready for work. Fifteen minutes later, Amanda's lips pressed against her forehead and she heard her whisper "I love you". Her eyes still shut and her voice heavy with sleep, she whispered the sentiment back to her. She woke up hours later and made her way to the bathroom. An hour later she was on her way out the door to start her day. She and Olivia had agreed to hang out that day but they hadn't set a time. She went to get coffee and bagels then drove to Olivia's apartment, not even bothering to call in advance. She knocked on the door and waited for an answer. After a couple minutes, the door opened and she was greeted by a half dressed Brian.

"Uh, morning" he said. His hair was disheveled and he squinted his eyes as if the sun was beaming down on him. Rae was amused to say the least to see what he looked like fresh out of bed.

"Morning" she said back.

"Ummm, is, uh, is Liv expecting you?" he asked confused.

"Sort of" she said. He yawned as he stepped to the side to let her in. She set the coffee and bagels on the table then sat in one of the chairs. She felt bad that she only had enough for her and Olivia. She hadn't expected him to be there. He went back in the bedroom and shut the door. A few minutes later, Olivia emerged wearing only an oversized t shirt. Her hair was messy too, just like Rae remembered. It was a little awkward to see her half naked now, especially knowing her boyfriend was in the bedroom. She put those feelings aside offered her a coffee. Olivia happily took it before leaning down to kiss Rae on the cheek.

"I didn't know you were coming this early" she said sitting down at the table with her. "I would've gotten ready".

"It's almost noon" Rae pointed out.

"Oh". Rae put a napkin in front of Olivia then set her bagel on top and her cream cheese alongside it. Plain with honey nut spread, just the way she liked it. Rae took out her cinnamon swirl and strawberry spread and they ate quietly and enjoyed their coffee. Brian came out of the bedroom in his uniform, kissed Olivia goodbye then headed out the door to work. A smile spread across Rae's face and Olivia was interested to know what it was for. "What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing" she said trying to erase the smile from her face. "It's just weird to….see you with someone else" she said honestly.

"Yeah, well it's weird for me to see you with Rollins". She finished her bagel and gathered the trash to throw away. Rae was regretting saying anything. She didn't want their time together to be awkward. She wanted to have a fun day. It was probably the last time she'd have a chance to spend time with Olivia before her move. She wanted them to enjoy it. She decided it'd be best not to talk anymore about it. She finished her bagel and her coffee and threw her trash away.

"Go get dressed" she said pushing Olivia towards her bedroom. Olivia looked her over, just to get an idea of what she should wear. Rae was wearing shorts and shirt with Marilyn Monroe's face on it with sandals. She went to her bedroom and shut the door. Rae waited on the couch while she got dressed. It wasn't long before they were walking out the door arguing over who should drive and whose car they should take. Olivia won the argument. She would drive and they'd take her car. Once they were in the car, they argued about where they should go. Olivia wanted Rae decide and Rae wanted Olivia to decide and it just went back and forth between the two of them. Rae was starting to think that this was a mistake. Olivia could tell that Rae was getting frustrated with her and apologized for being difficult. "The beach" Rae said.

"What?"

"That's where I wanna go" she clarified. "The beach".

"Ok. Well then how about we take a trip to Jersey" she suggested. "The boardwalk?" Rae smiled and nodded in agreement. Olivia started the car, pulled out onto the street and started the drive to Jersey. She couldn't help taking glances over at Rae as she sat in her seat and stared out the window. The afternoon sun gave a beautiful glow to her skin and her hair blew softly around her face from the breeze coming in through her cracked window. Olivia was really looking forward to spending the day with Araeyah. She hoped to say all the things she'd been wanting to say to her for a long time. She knew that Rae's relationship with Amanda and her relationship with Brian would probably mean that what she wanted to say would be over the line but she had to say it. She couldn't hold it in any longer. Rae would be gone in a few days. She couldn't let her leave without telling her how she felt and what she wanted, even Rae didn't respond the way she hoped.