Speak Now

XXIX

Saying goodbye to my family is never easy, especially when it's not time to go yet. Thanks to the phone call yesterday, mine and James' stay in London has been cut short and I've had to explain to my father and Charlotte that I'm needed back in California for work. Of course, they were really understanding, even if Dad was sulking about the news, but telling my sister and my brothers that I was leaving them- again- was harder. 

Sera was used to it. With her being the oldest, she's had to deal with my coming and going more than the others but Joseph is a wholly different story. He doesn't cope well with change and usually needs longer than twelve hours to process that someone who has been around for a while is suddenly disappearing. I can still see his poor little face when I explained that I was going home. As always, he wanted to know all the details, even pulling me to the large map that was on his bedroom wall so I could show him where I was going. 

"That's a long way away," he said, pouting at me. "Why can't you stay here?"

I'd contemplated staying. I'd be lying if I said that it hadn't crossed my mind, especially when I had to tell Sam that my plans had changed. It was painful seeing his face fall at the news I was leaving and my heart tugged while my head whispered, 'Don't leave him.' For a brief moment, I thought he might ask me to postpone my trip but that wasn't his style, especially considering the reasons he let me go before. All he said before he left last night was that he'd stop by in the morning to wish me a good flight. I'd winced at how detached he sounded. 

The rest of the evening was spent packing and cleaning the mews house, while some of our London based family and friends stopped by to say bye. Sophie and Dan were the first to come over, both saying that it had been nice to see me and that they were glad that the trip had started to mend the relationship between myself and Sam. Daniel even took me aside and apologised about his attitude over the years but I told him that he was apologising to the wrong person. I didn't need his 'sorry'; I needed him to be there for Sam, to make sure that history wasn't repeating itself. He took my words on board and quickly left, telling Sophie that they needed to pay Sam a visit. Not long after, I text their sister, Evie, and asked if she could keep an eye out on the bothers. Being the wonderful, most amazing superhuman that she is, Evie text back that she'd be a helicopter sister for the next few days and assured me that I shouldn't worry over Dan and Sam- she would keep them both in check. 

Michael and Lyanna were the next to visit and I couldn't help but be glad to see Lyanna Taylor. Not many people know this but after mine and Sam's first break up, when I'd gone to stay at Michael's house, it was Lyanna who spurred me into bouncing back. Knowing what I know now about her own past, she'd been through a horrible break up and was one of the few in my life that knew what true heartbreak felt like. The day she rescued me, I was at my lowest, and she stormed in like a true heroine, telling me that it was okay to cry but when someone shatters your heart, they don't deserve your tears. She'd been right then and the advice she gave me last night was spot on, too.