Heyy,

I know it's short, but I didn't want too add to it, I think what's there says it all.

I hope you like it.

FloatingFree, your review left me smiling for days. I find it hard to believe that anyone could enjoy something I've written that much. I am completely flattered. Thank you.

Reviews are always welcome :)

Leaning back in the car I watched her go, my eyes squeezing closed as she entered the house. Her taste lingering in my mouth, moistness resting on my lips. She had broken the kiss, which in all honesty was just as well because I couldn't have pulled back had I wanted too. I flick my tongue out, gently running my tongue across my lips, pulling the last remaining elements of her into my mouth, and sighing in content; before dragging my eyes open and starting the car. Silence engulfing it as I follow the road home.

The car sitting in the driveway informs me that the sweet and peaceful silence is not destined to last. Slipping into the house, my eyes roam around the delicate fragments of my, our life displayed. Old photos of my father and I scattered, even older ones in which my mother is present. Where would we stand now if she was still here? My finger tips reach out to gently stroke a frame, my eyes focused; but my brain only half comprehending. My eyes flicker closed as I let out a sigh and turn, unease filling through me as I feel arms wrap around me and in turn mine respond.

The gesture is unfamiliar, yet recognisable, a distant memory almost. One which has been buried in the back of my mind for several years, I had become accustomed to living without this, yet his scent filling my nose as he holds me close brings me back to a child like state. We don't do this. We don't show that we care; we coexist beside each other, a carefully built wall separating our lives. I'm not even sure who built it anymore. Minutes pass, both of us to stubborn to break the eerie silence, yet not letting go. As if breaking the contact will return everything to its former state, I'm not ready for that.

A deep sigh leaves his lips as he pulls away; I match it with one of my own. Stepping back, the barricade between us is still very much present, pained eyes meet pained eyes before his flick over to the frame I had been staring into only moments before. Taking a step forwards, through the rubble which is our relationship he reaches out and lays the frame down flat, his eyes glistening. I hear my voice without realising I have spoken, the words he has heard all too many times before falling.

"Why did you let her go?"

A deep from settles in his brow as he steps back behind the wall, I meet his gaze with a scowl. I know the answer, yet something within me always pushes me to search for something, anything more. I refuse to believe that it can be so simple to watch someone you love walk away. Knowing that were it Tori, I would fight to the bitter end, to death, rather than sit back and watch her leave. Yet that's what he did. He took a back seat and let the credits roll as my mother departed from our lives.

I learnt early on in life that nothing is permanent, life itself is fluid, flowing like a river tangling you up in the twists and turns. You can dig in and struggle against the movement; yet the potential is always present, all that is or was ever considered set in stone hangs in a fragile balance, waiting to crumble beneath your feet. My mother's leaving had proved this. The kiss on the cheek, the solemn 'I love you', empty words and gestures. I'd cried, but he hadn't. His face remained hard; no movement was made, and from that day forward I never once saw him smile again.

We carried on as if nothing had happened, but the sad reality was that everything had been altered. So much of her was present in me, that he couldn't bear to get close, bonds were lost, and our once close relationship slowly drifted to the awkward coexistence in which we now function. Living side by side, yet being on completely different parallels.

Looking up at him with challenging eyes I repeat my question, anger edging on my voice, the tone raising.

"Why did you let her go?" his eyes lock with mine and his jaw clenches.

"Because I loved her." The words I have needed to hear; the humanising words, drop from his lips, little more than a whisper. And my expression softens immediately.

Biting my lip I reach over, my hand squeezing his arm slightly. His face seems to age with a sigh as he looks at me, seeming to be searching my eyes for something.

"This girl. You love her?"

I nod still biting my lip, feeling tears in my eyes. "I really do."

Our eyes lock, an unreadable expression consuming his face, my nerves shot. Silence echoing around us, seemingly to loud to bear. My mind screaming for him to say something. Anything. He bows his head, and I feel a hot wetness glide down my cheek. My hand still resting on his arm, connecting us, fighting against the distance. The lines which had been drawn years before blurring slightly as he looks back up. Our gazes meet and any sense of battle seems to wash away, a softness present in his eyes, a faint smile playing on his lips for the first time in years. I let out a breath which I had been unaware I was holding as I weakly return the smile.

"Then that's all that matters." He mumbles nodding to turn away.

Watching him go, does for once not leave a bitter after taste in my mouth. The tears continuing to fall yet sadness leaves me. Knowing that we have taken the first step to rebuilding what we once had.