And I needed her. Even if it was for just a couple of more hours. I would take minutes, seconds, mere moments… I would take anything she was willing to give.
“Okay.” I nodded.
“Okay?”
“Yeah.” I lifted my shirt and wiped my face, hoping that my eyes weren’t that red. “I’ll go back with you.”
The walk toward the house felt like an eternity, each step heavier than the previous one. I was not a religious man; I never prayed, never went to church, but now I did.
I prayed to all the forces that might exist to give us a miracle. I prayed and pleaded, begging for a miracle to happen. Like walking through a dream, Andrew led me toward the house, all the way to her room.
She was still in the same spot where I left her; sitting and staring through the window. I had no idea how much time passed since I ran out. I didn’t have my phone on me, and I didn’t really care.
What I did care about was the way her face lit up when she saw me standing there with my hands in my pockets and my heart in my throat.
“Where did you go?”
“I, uh.” I cleared my throat. “I had to run home real quick.”
“Hmm.” She lifted her blanket and stood up, then walked toward me. “Was it the diarrhea?”
“The what?”
“Diarrhea. Did you have to poop but were too shy to do it here in my house?”
“That’s… That’s not what—” And I laughed.
So did she.
We laughed throughout the evening, and through dinner with her family. She made jokes, making us all snicker. Her dad recalled some of the first times she skated and how she looked like a newborn foal.
We laughed as I carried her upstairs to her room. And we laughed as we laid in bed, with her head on my chest and my arm around her shoulders.
“Will you stay with me tonight?” she asked, as if that wasn’t what I’d been doing all these nights. “Will you hold me?”
I dropped my lips to her scalp, inhaling her clean scent of vanilla shampoo. “Of course, baby. You wouldn’t be able to get rid of me even if you wanted to. But tomorrow…” I tickled her side, making her laugh even more. “Tomorrow we will plan that trip to the Grand Canyon.”
“Really?” She looked up at me, her lips pulled into a blinding smile.
“Really. We have the whole summer, baby. We need to do something before I go to school.”
“Hmm.” She bit her lower lip. “I’m gonna have to fight some girls, won’t I?”
“You have nothing to worry about, Angel.” I pulled her up, right on top of me, and pressed our lips together. “They have nothing on you.”
Her fingers danced over my collarbone as her head slowly lowered down on my chest.
“You are the best thing that has happened to me, Noah. Don’t you ever forget that.”
My eyes shut, one traitorous tear slipping down, falling right on top of her head. “And you are mine, Sophie.”
“Always,” she started.
“And forever,” I finished.
We fell asleep holding each other, talking about the trip to the Grand Canyon, until her eyes closed, and her body went slack on top of me. Small puffs of air tickled my neck, but I didn’t dare move.
She was right where she belonged—with me.
