The Phoenix

Yes

Lucy sat on the couch waiting to throw a barrage of questions at her sister, who hadn't made it home last night. To her surprise, Emily was actually fully clothed this time.

"What the hell happened yesterday?" she yelled.

"What?"

"I swear the two of you went into that office and I don't think you came out all day. Plus, you're just now getting home."

"Yesterday was stressful." Emily shrugged.

"You know, if you want to be able to take things here, I can move back into the dorm at Georgetown. Eliza's moving down in a few weeks anyways, and dad's car is at Grandma's house. I can go get it and drive it to work."

"No, Lucy. You and Aaron are the only constant things in my life right now, and I need that. Besides, no matter how annoying you may be sometimes, I still like having you around," She teased. "So, tell me about your relationship. What's going on between you and Leo?"

Lucy was about to tell Emily everything, but then her phone rang. It was Eliza.

"Hey, Liz. What's up?"

"Okay, so, big news. As my graduation gift, my parents are letting me bring Arielle and Jeremy down to Washington with me for a week."

"Seriously? That's awesome!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Yeah. Ari is super excited to see you, and Jeremy's really looking forward to seeing Sawyer again. I think he really missed him."
"Oh. Sawyer lives in Baltimore with my grandma, but I'm sure he could stay with Em and me for a week."

"I forgot that he moved up there after your dad died."

"Yeah. I actually haven't seen him in a while."

"Alright well, I just wanted to call you and let you know."

"Okay. I'll talk to you later. Bye Liz." she said, hanging up.

"Start talking. What about you and Leo?"

"Well," Lucy said, faking sadness, then perking up. "We're dating now."

"Lucy, I swear to God if you're messing with me,"

"No. I'm being serious."

"That's great."

"Yeah. I don't know, he really helps me with my anxiety without even meaning to. Just his presence seems to calm my nerves."

"I get it. Everyone benefits from relationships in their own ways. Aaron is the first constant I've ever had. Dad was never there, and you and Sawyer relied on me, so I was always on my own."

"He really is good for you, Em. You weren't happy the last time I came and visited you before the bombing, but when I moved in, things were totally different. For the first time I could remember, you were actually happy."

"Well, finally having some much-needed stability can do that to a person. You know what he told me yesterday? We were okay. That even when the rest of the world was anything but, we would be okay. And it was at that moment, I realized something," Emily said, staring off dreamily.

"What?"

"That he's the best thing to ever happen to me. One time he asked me if I could go back and stop the bombing, would I? I told him no. This is horribly selfish but had the bombing never happened, I would never have known him."

"You really love him, don't you."

It took Emily a few seconds to respond.

"No. I'm in love with him. There's a difference."