Holding Her

Reunite

The driver that gave me a lift left me at the entrance of the McKeon's country house. I thanked him nonstop as I grabbed my backpack and suitcase from the backseat, slightly bumping my head on the door.

I waited until I couldn't see the car anymore, staring at the dust cloud it formed before turning to look at the wooden gates that separated the dusty road from the family's property.

I jumped the gate and started slowly walking towards the field. It was a long walk and running wouldn't help my anxiety, so a slow walk it is. I knew she wasn't expecting me until after lunch, so obviously I arrived earlier to surprise her. I've always loved surprises, and more, even her reactions to them.

After walking for five minutes, a dumbfounded Brian glared at me from a few feet away. Her brother. We stared at each other for a few seconds until a smile broke on his face, making me smile too. I missed him, too. We had a great relationship and I knew he looked up to me a lot. Brian laughed and walked the steps separating us until he strangled me in a hug.

"How is she?" was the first thing I asked when he stepped back. He kept grinning at me.

"She's fine... listen, wait here, ok? I'll go for her but stay here! Don't leave", he begged. He was turning seventeen in three months, but he still reminded me of the twelve years old kid I met years ago.

"I'm not going anywhere, don't worry."

"Don't even move, alright? I'll be right back", he blabbered as he started to run, always looking back to check if I was still there. "Stay there!", he yelled once more.

I yelled back, "I will!", watching him run faster calling her name.

I dropped my bags on the ground and shook off my jacket. It was nearly ten in the morning and the heat started to bother me. I dried off the cold sweat running down my neck and forehead, drying my hands in my jeans. I knew I wasn't sweating because of the weather: Anxiety was getting the best of me after all. The already known agony that clenched my chest and stomach every time I was about to see her made itself present. I'd definitely need a shower after seeing her because, despite the high temperature, my hands and neck were covered in ice cold sweat. Damn it, why was she taking so long? I squinted, trying to visualize the house so far away, but the sun made it all weird looking, like a mirage. I dried my hands in my jeans again and took a deep breath. My heart was palpitating with the idea of seeing her any moment now.

My breath hitched when I finally did. She was so beautiful... lose strands of hair out of her pony tail were flying with the wind as she ran. I realized she was barefoot and presumed she left the house as soon as Brian reached her. My girl...

My legs started moving before I was even aware of it and I saw myself running just like her. As I ran, a smile broke into my face as the silly lover boy I was. The clench in my heart a reminder of how much I had missed her, my mind wondering how I managed to go for so long without her.

We collided with force and she curled into me, her legs and arms encaging me with despair. I felt her body, humid from sweat, molding to my own and I hugged her closer - I didn't want any space between us.

I heard my name being whispered by her, almost like another breath of her uneven breathing and I heard my hoarse voice whispering her name, too. We hugged for longer than I cared to count, but really, it doesn't matter. Our breaths were still wheezy when I backed away for a second to finally look at her reddened and sweaty face.

"Hi", I whispered, smiling.

She laughed a little, still clinging from my neck, "Hey."

My heart felt like it could burst with her presence, and I felt like I could explode from happiness any second now. For five seconds we stared at each other, our breaths still ragged from all the running and from our closeness. I'm not sure who moved first, but I found myself ferociously kissing her. Had Brian been watching that scene, he'd probably think of it as a mutual act of cannibalism.

It was a violent frenzy of lips, tongues, teeth, saliva, sweat and hair. She pushed her hair back whilst I kissed down her warm neck. I felt her hand at the back of my neck, pulling me back to her lips and I happily went back to kissing her. I don't know how long we were at it until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I broke the kiss and looked for the source of my annoyance.

"Don't you want to continue this inside? I made more juice." Brian smirked. Suddenly I realized the view he was having from us. My hands were inside her shirt, her legs still clinging to my waist. Our lips swollen from all the kissing and our breaths uneven. Even then, she didn't let go of me, and I had no plans of changing our current situation either, even if she wanted to. I was here, finally, with her and I wouldn't let go of her for anything. I was home.

"I love you", I whispered in her ear, ignoring the malicious smirk on Brian's face, who still stared at us.

She squeezed her legs harder against my torso and smile in response, "I love you, too."

I was in heaven.

She was smiling.

I was here.

She was out of the hospital.

I was kissing her again.

She finished her last round of chemo.

I was holding her.

She was cancer free.

And together, we walked hand in hand back into the house. Back into normal, happy life. A life that I was lucky to share with her.