Now I See You | ✓

Twenty-One

I spend the rest of the week just excited for Zeb's arrival on Friday afternoon, despite how many other things I have to do.

On Thursday, Aubin and I meet up on the ground floor of the library, where group studying and talking is allowed, with every intention to study, but we spend most of it chatting.

After class on Friday, I head into downtown Vancouver for my counselling session, which unfortunately overlaps with Zeb's arrival time, but Manal kindly offered to pick him up from the airport in her car.

I feel bad that I can't go with her, but I sent them both a picture of each other and connected them on WhatsApp, in case they can't find each other. They have actually met each other before, but it's been around a year since Zeb last visited, so I send the pictures just in case they've forgotten each other.

The session itself is draining, and we spend a lot of time talking about the upcoming hearing, that I've agreed to participate in next week and just definitely don't want to do.

By the time we're done, I'm pretty tired, but I manage to push past that because I'm just so hyped to see my brother again. I saw him briefly at Christmas, but it still feels like such a long time ago.

As I get on the bus, I check my phone, smiling when I get a message from both Zeb and Manal, to say that they successfully found each other.

There's another one sitting in my inbox from Aubin, asking how today went, so I just quickly reply that it was fine, before locking my phone and looking out of the window for the rest of the journey, trying to clear my tired mind before heading into a full-on weekend.

Once I finally make it back to the apartment, Zeb swings me up in his arms, laughing.

Giggling, I bury my face in his neck and return the hug. "It's so good to see you!"

"You too, Judah," he replies warmly, kissing the top of my head affectionately. "I've missed you."

I squeeze him tight for a little longer, before pulling back to look at him properly. His sandy brown hair is trimmed neatly at the sides and longer on top, a much neater look than the shaggy mop he was sporting at Christmas, but other than that, he looks much the same.

"Was everything okay with your flight? You and Manal found each other okay?"

My brother nods, his lips splitting into a smile. "Yeah, it was all good. Manal's a great taxi driver, it turns out," he winks in her direction.

Of course.

My brother is amazing, but when it's just the two of us talking, I forget how much of a flirt he can be. He's not a playboy, necessarily, but he certainly enjoys conversation with the opposite gender.

I glance at Manal, who's just rolling her eyes, not the faintest blush on her cheeks. It looks like she's got this handled, so I just lightly slap my brother's shoulder and forget about it.

There's no way she'd read too much into his teasing, anyway. She's smarter than that.

"Well, are you hungry, big brother?" I ask, stepping away from him.

He nods. "Yeah, I'm starving. Let's go out to eat, my treat."

Unfortunately, because it's Friday night, Josie's working, so the three of us head out together to a local pizza joint. It's pretty close, so we walk there, and Zeb wraps an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side. "It's been far too long since I've visited."

It really has, but I know that he's not the only one to blame. "I mean, I definitely should have been to see you too, so it's even."

"Well, we'll just have to get better at it then," he decides, reaching out for the door as we arrive at the pizza place, holding it open for both Manal and me.