Beyond Boundaries

Chapter Two

This chapter is dedicated to my friend Nancy. You've been waiting for this book for so long, it's only right I do this. Thank you for being one of my biggest fans.

~CHRISTIAN~

It's past noon by the time we arrive "Hey, you take Micah and I'll bring our stuff up." Elvis tells me as we get down and I nod, carrying my little brother over my shoulder, his tab in my other hand as I unlock the door.

The vacation houses belonged to the maternal side of my family. I thought they were more of mini mansions but my mum had taught me from an early age that I had to be humble. There were three of such houses, two of them faced each other with one in the middle which had a slope that ran down towards it.

They each had gates and fences of course, that cordoned them off from each other. To respect privacy, I was told. The only way you could get in to any of them was either through the main gates or through the little gates each house had to get into the other.

The first from the left belonged to my late uncle who passed way back then, Uncle Arthur. His family sometimes stays there but during holidays it is was meant for the elders only, my uncles and aunts.

The middle house belonged to my Uncle William who was married to Leilani's aunt. His was the family house. Where everyone was under obligation to go down to everyday for breakfast and dinner.

The third belonged to my Aunt Lillian. But during the holidays, it housed all the young adults. The perks? We had our own pool, game room, home cinema and most importantly, no parental supervision whatsoever.

I drop Micah on my bed and sigh, the nostalgia of being back here rushing in at full speed but before I am fully absorbed by it, Elvis comes in with my luggage.

He drops it by the wardrobe " How does it feel being back?" He asks, casually leaning against my wardrobe.

I immediately know he's asking about her. He's the one person who I had told every single thing about Lani and I. He knew when it all ended and what the break up did to me especially since he helped me through it.

"It feels pretty much the same." I say, not wanting to talk much about it "Plus, she's not here so I'll be fine."

He stares at me for a while as if trying to point out something I wasn't telling him before he shrugs "If shit goes sideways, you know to call on me right?"

I nod forcing a smile as I watch him leave before slumping on the couch.

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"It's so nice to have you back here." My cousin Chloe gushed as we took a walk around the house "God I've missed you so much."

I manage a little laugh in response, deciding to focus on my footsteps. Chloe was one of my aunt's five children and the only one I was actually close to. We were each other's favorite cousin. Her twin Connor was a nice guy but we just weren't as close.

"Others arrive tomorrow." She continued "And by others, I mean everyone. From Aunt Maeve to Uncle Tyrone, it's the mass return especially since everyone has been going on non-stop about how much they miss everybody."

"Or maybe they just want to spy on everyone's lives. " I wasn't big on family reunions. Too much drama and fake compassion.

A loud shrill pierces the atmosphere just after I respond and we both turn at the same time to see her sister Hailey running towards us, her teddy flailing in the air as she did so.

"They're here, they're here, they're hereee." She announces once she gets to us, jumping and laughing because of how excited she was.

Chloe laughs, holding her still and fixing her hair" Who's here Hailey?"

She giggles, shaking her teddy "Cousins Claire and Leilani are."

Chloe immediately makes eye contact with me as Hailey's words fully sink in and I feel myself tensing up at once"Are you being for real Hailey?"

"Mhm." She nods vigorously "They just drove in and they've got a young boy with them. Is he our cousin too?" She asks looking up at her older sister.

"You said she wouldn't be here" I hear myself say and I'm surprised I could form any words from how disoriented I am.

"She said she wasn't sure." She tries to explain "And I didn't think to tell you that because then you would've changed your mind and stayed back and she probably wouldn't have come and I'd have missed out on having both of you over." Since Chloe and I were so close, she knew a bit about Lani too.

"Can we go welcome them now?" Hailey asks and we turn to her realizing we had forgotten she was here.

"Sure, let's go." Chloe takes her by the hand before turning to me "Are you coming?"

I don't answer her and she walks away with Hailey. I don't realize I'm following her till I see a car at the distance, luggage spilling out of it. I watch as Chloe hugs one of the girls but I can't tell which it is because her back is faced to me.

The said girl pulls back with a smile on her face and I feel my heart slam against my chest as I'm left staring at Leilani.

My Leilani.

The cute little curly haired girl I once knew had now transformed into a gorgeous woman who radiated so much confidence, I could feel it where I stood.

She had dropped the glasses and I felt some kind of jealousy because I liked that I was the only one who really knew what her eyes looked like beneath them. The only one she had ever let stare into them.

Truth is, despite the amount of times I've thought about her, I've never actually pictured meeting her again and even if I did, I'd have envisioned her as her eleven year old self and not what was in front of me right now.

She glances towards me and I feel all the breath leave my lungs as we both stare at each other. I'm reminded of how many times I've conjured up this sight in my head and now that it was happening, I could barely move as all my thoughts were jumbled.

"Hey Christian." Chloe waves me over "Come here." My feet which now felt more like lead blocks than actual feet, move towards her till I'm standing beside her.

"You remember my cousin Chris right?" Chloe introduces and I suppress the urge to glare at her.

Lani doesn't say anything in response but the glint in her eyes as I stare at her tells me she remembers as much of us as I do.

"You've gotten taller." She comments and I feel my resentment towards her start to chip away just at that. I try to say something but come up with nothing and I feel pathetic because of it.

"Hi, I'm Jeremiah." Her younger brother interrupts stretching out his hand, managing to ease the tension for a second.

I don't take it and instead walk away from them feeling Lani's gaze pierce through me. I hear Chloe making an excuse for me as I do so.

Anger rolls off me in waves and it takes me a minute to realize that I'm mad at myself. For being so pathetic. For taking it out on her little brother who had nothing to do with this and most of all, I was mad at myself for letting her have this much effect on me despite everything she had put me through. All it took was one look and I was already making the same mistake again.

I think to call my brother but settle for a voice note instead "She's here man, she's fucking here and I don't know what to do about it." I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself " I'll be out for a while. Don't look for me." I drop the voice note for my brother and pulling out my keys, I make my way to my car.

I had no idea where I was going. All I knew was I had to leave here. Fast.

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So I got some dm's that said you guys don't know where to vote. You just tap on that little star down below.

Gracias. (I'm not sure what language I'm learning at this point either)