To Forget The Past (Draft 1)

To Forget The Past: XXVIII

"Oh, my god, I've missed you so much!" Liz said, hugging me tightly.

"I did too, these three months—"

"You regret it?" She asked, pulling away.

"No, of course not. It was just hard not being able to talk to you." Liz nodded gently, knowing she was the one who didn't answer the phone, but I don't blame her, I was in a whole different city, hours away.

"Sorry, I just was going through a lot..." I nodded, understanding.

"You wanna talk about it?" I asked, sitting down next to her on my bed.

"Sure," She breathed in deeply ready to tell me everything that had happened between her parents throughout the three months.

"So, you know how my parents always fought, right? It's why we hung out at your place all the time." I nodded, though her eyes were looking down at the bedsheets, her fingers pulling at a loose thread.

"It got worse, especially this year, I don't know why exactly. I never was at home, I was always out, which they were too busy yelling at each other to notice, nor care." Liz's voice began to shake.

I put my hand on her back as she continued. "And this sum-this summer-they fully got a divorce." She sniffed, whipping her eyes with the back of her hands. "My dad moved out, rented a place so, when all the legal stuff is done...I'll have two houses, I guess."

"My dad, he was talking about moving out of state," She spoke softly, barely audible.

"What?" I asked, the first time I spoke while she explained all this.

"Yeah," Her voice cracked. I put my arm around her shoulder, giving her another hug as she tried not to cry.

"Anyway," She pulled away, whipping her cheeks and put a fake smile on her face, though I let her, I knew she felt more comfortable not talking about things going on with her. "How was your trip?"

I smiled weakly, trying to move on from what she told me. "It-it was good."

She smirked, looking at me. "Anything about Kane?"

I laughed, shaking my head, breathing in deeply before telling her. "We may have kissed"

"Finally, that boy has been crushing on you for, like, the past few years" She chuckled, a smile on her face.

"Wait, what? Really?" I asked, my face going red.

"Yeah, how did you not know?" She looked at me dumbfounding. "I guess you were with Aaron"

Aaron.
Oh, my god, Aaron.

"Whoa, whoa" Liz raised her hands and put them on my shoulders. "What just happened there, you're freaking out?"

"I-I kissed Kane" I spoke softly, my voice getting rough.

"And?" Liz asked, but before I could answer, she realized and spoke. "Aaron?"

I nodded, my eyes glazed over as I stared blankly at the bedsheets, my breath heavy.

"Everest," Liz's voice came out soft, trying to hold my attention. She moved one of her hands to my cheeks, bringing my eyes to her's. "Everest, it's okay to move on, you know that, right?"

"But...Aaron"

"I know, but Everest, it's been two years."

"That's not long enough," I snapped, glaring at Liz.

She didn't even flinch at my out-lash, she knew I was frustrated at myself still for what I had said to Aaron a week before he died. "Okay.." Her voice was small and comfortable, like you could just get wrapped in it like a blanket and feel safe throughout all the shit times.

"When you kissed Kane," Liz started, pulling her hands away from me, letting me stare off at the floor. "Did you think of Aaron? Did you regret it afterwards or feel like it was wrong?"

I shook my head, "No, I was happy, I always am when I'm with Kane."

"Everest, I know two years isn't a lot with this, but...you have something really great. I haven't seen you genuinely happy in the past two years, and, just in that few seconds I talked to you on the phone when Kane was being immature," I found myself slightly smiling at the thought of it. "You were laughing, genuinely laughing"

    "And here you are smiling at the thought of him," I glanced at Liz, I could see what she was saying; maybe she was right.

    "You're happy with Kane, and if you wait...you don't know what could happen. You could lose him to someone else, or something could happen to him, you just don't know."

    I breathed in deeply, nodding. "But, still, what about Aa-"

    "Everest, Aaron would want you to be happy, you know that, that's all he ever wanted, and you know that's why he waited to tell you he was sick; he wanted you to be happy for as long as possible."

    "Don't let something great go if it'll make you happy"

    "You sound like Isaac," I chuckled, sniffing, trying not to cry.

    "Who's Isaac?" Liz asked confused.

    "Ohhh, I have a lot to tell you," I chuckled happily, genuinely smiling, ready to tell her everything.