Chasing Daylight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I had the best day with you
-Taylor Swift

Maria
About an hour after Max and Mason left, I went to pick up my Uncle from the airport.

"Oh Maria angel, look how big you are," he grinned wrapping me in a tight bear hug. He hugged like my dad and he sounded like my dad, so sometimes I liked to close my eyes and pretend it was him.

"Hi Uncle Mark," I said. "How was your flight?"

"It was just fine sweetheart. Wish I didn't have to take a plane to see my sweet girl, but I'm just happy to be here," he smiled patting my back. I had always been close with my Uncle. He had never had a wife or kids, so he had always been around to play with us and take care of us. He definitely saw Kailey and I as daughters more than nieces, especially now.

"Do you want to stop by your hotel first and then go get some dinner?" I asked leading him out to my car.

"Yes, I need to drop these bags off and get out my big coat," he nodded. I drove to his hotel, which was only about a block away from my apartment.

"This is really a beautiful area," he said as we drove.

"Yeah, there's lots of stuff to do and the area is pretty safe too," I nodded.

"I can't wait to see campus and your apartment. I try to picture it in my mind when we talk on the phone, but I just can't."

"You'll love campus," I smiled. "It's so much prettier than U Maine."

I parked the car across the street from the hotel and got out with my Uncle. He checked into the hotel and made his way up to his room. I waited in the lobby scrolling through my phone.

Mason: Just made it home, is your Uncle here?

Maria: Yup, just got to the hotel

Mason: Wish I could have met him

Maria: Same

Mason: My mom is telling me to come to dinner. I love you

Maria: Love you too

"Ready to go?" Uncle Mark asked pulling me from my phone.

"Yeah," I nodded. "There's this great little café right on the outskirts of campus, I think you'll like it."

"Sounds great," he smiled. We took the car because it was so cold.

During dinner we talked about school and the birds that ate out of my Uncle's birdfeeders. "You know your friends really miss you? They all constantly ask me where you are and when you're coming home."

"I know," I sighed. "Somehow they got my number and they constantly call me. Sometimes I have Mason or Max answer, but most the time I have to just let it go to voicemail."

"Which one is the boyfriend again?" He asked raising an eyebrow. I knew it was all just teasing. He knew how happy I was and supported my decisions fully.

"Mason," I laughed.

"I don't know why you don't just answer. They were your friends for almost twenty one years of your life," he said shaking his head. "I just don't understand what they could have possibly done for you to cut them out. They were there for you during everything..."

"They are not my friends," I answered sharply. "I don't ever want to see any of them again."

"Maria angel what did they do to you? You know I can help you if you tell me what happened," he sighed. He had asked me so many times what had happened. I knew he was worried and just wanted to help, but the things that had happened I had never even said out loud. I wasn't ready to talk about them yet, especially not with him. I loved him and I knew he would support me no matter what, but half of this secret wasn't mine to tell.

"I can't tell you," I shrugged biting my cheek hard to keep from crying. "I can't even talk about it."

"I just wish you would talk to me," he sighed. "I wish you would come home."

"I'm really happy here," I replied. "I don't really think I would come back to Maine even if I had been happy back home."

"That boy really has a hold on you," he said shaking his head.

"I love him and he loves me," I shrugged. "He looks at me the way that dad used to look at mom. And it's not just him. I joined Kesem here and I have some really close friends. My roommate Max is a really good guy too. I'm really close with a lot of people here and they are all genuinely good people, who love and support me."

"I didn't realize you had joined Kesem here," he said his eyes instantly softening. He had seen how much Kesem had changed and saved my life. I knew it was a comfort for him to know I still had that support system following me when I was so far from home.

"I did," I nodded. "It's not just a guy I'm here for. I actually had to go to a funeral a couple weekends ago, for one of my close friend's mom. I'm not planning on coming back anytime soon."

"I just miss you and I wish I could understand why you refuse to come back," he sighed.

"It's not because of you," I replied. "I miss you a lot. Thanksgiving really wasn't the same this year. I missed your special smoked turkey."

"I missed you. This was the first year I didn't have anyone to cook for," he said his face instantly sad. "Made me felt like I lost you too."

  I could feel the guilt pooling in my stomach. I knew how hard Thanksgiving had been for me, but I couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for my Uncle. I had moved away without any explanation and left him alone for his first holiday without my sister.
"I'm sorry," I sighed. "I wish we could have spent it together. Maybe after this visit you'll love it so much, you'll move here."

"We'll see," he chuckled. "Would like to be a little closer to my only daughter."

"I'd like to be closer to you too," I replied. "Phone calls aren't really the same."

"No they're not," he laughed lightly.

Over the next week we took a few trips to campus and had dinner in my apartment. I told him about Max and Mason and my friends. He told me about his crazy new neighbors and his poker nights. We talked about old memories and One Direction and Taylor Swift. It was so nice to be around him again. It made me realize how much I missed him being so close by.