Moving Forward (Completed)

Chapter Twenty Nine

Time had somehow shifted them into July and Katherine still hadn't unpacked that last box. Instead she had tried to hide it in the closet, but given how organized the closet was it ended up sitting quite noticeably in the corner. Rafael hadn't said anything. He had definitely noticed it sitting there, but given her OCD's on everything having a place he felt there was a reason she hadn't opened it yet. Still, she had lived there for close to a month...

"Hey Katherine..."

"Yes." She smiled, poking her head in the closet from the bathroom where she had been brushing her teeth.

"Do you want to see if we can find something so you can unpack your last box while we're out today?" It was Saturday and the only plans they had were to run a few errands, but from the look that briefly flashed across her face he could tell she had hoped he had forgotten about the box.

"Umm... I guess."

Rafael's curiosity got the better of him. "Lets open it and get a feel for what's inside so we can get something everything will fit in. I'm sure you need another glance at it." He knew she didn't want to, that there was something in it she didn't seem to want unpacked, but she had also agreed to marry him... she should be able to share with him whatever it was she was hiding away in that box.

"Oh... umm..." Katherine stammered as she tried to think of a reason to procrastinate dealing with the box a little longer.

"What is in there that's causing you so much turmoil about me seeing it?" He chuckled, assuming he was why she had left it closed since he hadn't noticed an unpacked box at her old apartment.

Katherine exhaled and dragged the box to the middle of the closet. "Mementos," she shrugged, "do you have scissors or something?"

Rafael picked the box up and carried it out of the closet. "Let's open it in the office, you'll have more room to spread it out there."

Katherine took a deep breath and followed him to the office, sitting on the couch so she could reach the box from where he had set it next to the coffee table.

"Here." He smiled, handing her a pair of scissors as he sat next to her.

Katherine cut the tape and began pulling the contents from the box. Rafael picked up the first photo album and chuckled as he flipped through it. "How old are you in these?"

The one he had in his hands contained pictures of her and her friends when she was in elementary and junior high.

Katherine smiled. "That ones first through eighth grade."

"Who are these people?" He was looking at a group photo of her and her best friends while in junior high, the group had remained close through high school.

"That's Erin," she said pointing to the short red hair girl in the middle of the photo, "and that's Jessica, Dan, Rodger, Anna, Stacy, and me." She continued pointing to each person as she named them.

"I knew which one you were." Rafael smiled.

"They were my best friends all through high school and one of the reason I was so mad at my parents for moving me to Atlanta my senior year... One year was not enough time to make friends in a new school, especially when everyone was already set in their groupings and ready to graduate." Katherine grumbled, pulling out the album from high school and handing it to him.

"You're sitting on that Rodger guys lap." Rafael smirked when he flipped to a picture clearly indicating she and Rodger had been more than friends.

"Awe, yes... Rodger," Katherine smiled, "we were inseparable in high school. He was my first boyfriend... my first everything."

"Everything?"