Simultaneous // Josh & Jake Kiszka

Chapter Six

4 Months Later...

They say when you meet the love of your life, time stands still...

There was a ticking of a clock. The sound of a car engine as it pulled out of the driveway. A dog barking somewhere in the distance.

And then there was him. Standing there on the porch.

Had you ever known a moments peace since the day you'd met him? Even when he'd been a hundred miles away, he had haunted you. He looked like a dream you'd yet to wake from. That was where he existed now, only in your dreams.

A warm breeze through his hair and a singular rose in his hand. You could feel the grain of the wood as you stepped out onto the patio. It felt real. The stem as you took it between your fingers, felt smooth and moist. As if he had taken it straight from a vase of water to place in your hand.

"Am I dreaming?" You asked, feeling the velvet softness of the petals against your palm.

"If you're dreaming, then I'm dreaming." He replied, limping a little as he came forward.

"Oh, Jake..." You cried softly, falling into his arms with all the weak resolve you'd considered over sleepless nights gone on the breeze.

He winced a little, but he wouldn't let you go. You could feel the pain resonating as he fought to hold you. Refusing to let it win.

You still didn't want to believe it was real, even as he took your face in his hands and studied it as if he were seeing it for the very first time. Those deep brown eyes you would have known were seeking you out, even in darkness, scanning you for a look of reproach or reluctance.

He would find none. You were crying softly as he looked at you. Sweet relief that he still walked the earth and wasn't languishing in that cursed hospital bed where you'd last seen him.

"May I kiss you?" He asked tentatively, the tip of his tongue running along the edge of his lips in anticipation.

He had never asked for permission before. It felt strange that he would now that you were no longer tied to his brother by the bonds of commitment. You nodded your consent anyway, leaning in slowly to meet his lips in a kiss that propelled you into another realm.

In this kiss there was only Jake. No ticking clock. No barking dog. No warm breeze. Just this man who you had loved and lost, inexplicably returned to you without any explanation. And you melted into it, feeling your body soften against him as his mouth opened. The gentle graze of his tongue against yours. The slow motion of his head as he tilted it, an errant thumb tracing a line down the curve of your jaw down towards your throat. The way he held you, even though his body was still weak, finally bringing you to realise that all of it was real.

"It would be you that came, wouldn't it..." You whispered, guiding him back into another kiss that elicited that smile you had never let go of.

He giggled a little against your ear. "With his permission..."

You looked over towards the empty driveway and noticed your parents had gone.

"You'd better come inside." You sighed, ill prepared for the conversation you knew needed to be had.

Jake followed you, a tiny limp in his step. He held his left arm a little closer to his chest than he had before. You noticed how he seemed to brace his entire body for any movement that required a change of position, lowering himself into the kitchen chair you pulled out for him a little slower than before.

"I'm still healing." He said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "But I can still play the guitar and that's all that matters to me. I'll walk with a limp for the rest of my life as long as I can still play."