Chasing Elliott - Published

chapter forty three ... who I used to be

Eleutheromania - (n.)
a great desire for or obsession with freedom.
———

"Are you sure this is what you want to do, sweetie?" My aunt asked as she helped me pack the last of my stuff in the bedroom at the apartment. "You can always just move back home with us. Your room is still the same way you left it."

"I'm sure, auntie," I reassured her as I flashed her a weak smile. "This will be good for me. A fresh start and going for my masters is a good thing."

My uncle entered the room and leaned against the doorframe with his arms folded over his chest. "We just want to make sure you're going for the right reasons. We are so proud of you for pursuing your dreams, we just want to check in and make sure you aren't running away from the bad here and actually picked Florida because you want to be there."

Sighing as I dropped a photo album in the box in front of me, I closed my eyes to contain my tears before slowly opening them to look at the two people who saved me from the horrible life I was given. The people who helped shaped me into the person I am today.

"I just need to go somewhere new and I think Brandon could really help me," I told them sadly as a stray tear fell from my eye. "I need something that's somewhat familiar to help me start piecing my life back together. I need to find myself again and I really think that I can do that out there."

"Okay, bug," my aunt mumbled sadly as she put a hand on my shoulder. "We'll support you no matter what. We love you so much."

Throwing my arms around her, I hugged her tightly as the tears poured from my eyes. It killed me to think about leaving them and not being able to go and see them whenever I wanted but it was time I take a leap and do something I wouldn't normally do to try and reconnect with who I used to be.

"Alright guys, stop getting so emotional," Alex interrupted as he burst into the room. "She's not dying. She'll be home plenty and you'll go visit her plenty so you'll be fine. We're supposed to be helping her move, not making her cry so come on you three, get it together."

Laughing at my cousin, I pulled away from my aunt and shook my head as I wiped at my eyes. "Thanks, Lex. Is the kitchen done?"

"Yes it is," my uncle answered as he grabbed two boxes I had sitting by the door. "Everything is in the truck already so it's just getting the last few things in here and your mattress and then we can go."

Nodding, I gave them a small smile as they disappeared with some boxes. Walking over to my end table, I grabbed the last picture I had in the room and tears sprung to my eyes again. The picture was of me, Kingsley, Benjamin, and Cooper at karaoke when we all sang a song together. Smiling at the memory, I walked back over to my aunt and put the picture on the top.

"It's a beautiful picture," she said softly as she rested a hand on my back before I closed the box and reached for the masking tape.

"It was a great memory."

My aunt pressed a kiss to my temple before picking up the box and heading out of the room. Looking over at Mia who lay on my bed, I grabbed the leash off the floor and clipped it onto her collar. She instantly jumped off the bed and followed beside me as I walked to the front door.

Alex and my uncle came walking by me, heading toward my room to collect my mattress. Heading down the stairs with Mia, I walked out into the nice sunny weather and made my way over to the car where my aunt stood leaning against the hood.

I opened up the back door and let Mia jump in before closing it behind her. She rested her head against the opened window as I watched the boys carry the mattress outside and disappear into the back of the moving van.

Once they had my things loaded up, they closed up the back of the van and hoped in. Giving my aunt a small smile over the hood of the car, I slid into the passenger seat and turned on the radio as we drove off to the house.

———

Pulling up to my aunt and uncle's house, a genuine smile came to my face as I looked up at the large modern home. So many memories from my childhood after I moved in here flashed through my head and a sense of nostalgia rushed over me.

"It's been empty without you three in it," my aunt commented as we climbed out of the car. Opening up the back seat, Mia jumped out and I unhooked her leash. She wasted no time in running around the yard, enjoying the open space to run around on.

"I bet, but I'm sure it's cheaper," I teased as I bumped my shoulder into hers before linking our arms together and walking up to the front door.

Alex and my uncle came walking up behind us and I turned around to narrow my eyes at Alex as he kicked my foot, trying to trip me up. "Since we have to leave in two hours for the airport, want me to order a pizza?"

"Works for me," I told him as I followed my aunt inside after calling for Mia. "You know what I like."

I spent the next half an hour following Mia around the house as she explored, reminiscing on the years I spent in these walls. From all the head butting me and my cousins did when I first moved in to saving their asses at school. The parties we threw when the parents were away and getting ratted out by the neighbors. Helping Brandon heal his heart from his first breakup after he came out and getting tutored by Alex because I wasn't a good student at the time.

A tear came to my eye as I came to a stop outside my bedroom and a knot formed in my stomach as my hand hesitated on the handle but suddenly the doorbell ringing was my saving grace.

"I got it," I called out as I trotted down the stairs with Mia hot on my heels. Walking toward the front door, I pulled my wallet out of my back pocket and started counting out cash. As I pulled open the front door my jaw practically dropped to the floor as I saw who stood there.

"Kingsley?"