1985
Boston, Massachusetts
"June?" she heard the voice of her mother, smoothly calling her.
She groaned as her mother called again. "June?"
She frowned a bit, as the light hit her eyes. "Hm?"
"Wake up, June. Conan is here."
Her mom was standing in her room, folding some clothes. June smiled, still a bit sleepy. She still took some time to get up; her bed was way too comfortable. But he was there. Conan would usually call to let June know he was back in town, he probably did; and her mom answered the call. He didn't mention he would come in his last letter, but she didn't care anyway. She knew he was close to graduate from Harvard and she was looking forward to talk to him in person again.
Thinking about it, she suddenly stormed to her wardrobe to get dressed. Her mom reminded her that he wouldn't be in Boston for long, and that he was waiting for her in the living room. She felt nervous for the first time in years, looking in the mirror and wondering if she looked good enough; a thing that she hasn't done in a long time. It was Conan, just Conan, right? They had not seen each other for a while. He wrote at least once every two months, and he called a lot but she missed his presence. Her mom smiled as she awkwardly ran to his encounter.
He was casually sitting in the living room, arms over the top and the arm of the couch, with crossed legs. The couch was facing the corridor she was in. She walked to him while he was distracted for a second, looking around, until their eyes met. He smiled warmly, showing genuine happiness on seeing her. He immediately stood up and she gave him a tight hug, which made him giggle.
"Hello, July." Conan said, changing her name every month, as an inside joke.
She giggled as well. "Hello, Barbarian. How are you?"
"Great." He said, both of them acknowledging unconsciously they were still hugged, but not bothering to separate. He smelled delicious, as always. He was wearing a red Harvard jacket and jeans, his hair was a bit messy; that boyish look she was used to. He had a cute little boy haircut, short but with bangs, it made him look younger, a good contrast with his massive height. They stared at each other for too long until they realized – and Conan remembered – someone else was in the room.
"Hi, June." A warm voice came from the other couch. She blushed as she realized Luke was also there.
June separated from Conan's embrace and walked to Luke, scratching her head as a sign of embarrassment. She smiled at him. Both hugged as well, but not for that long. Luke also hadn't seen June in a while and he thought it would be nice to pay her a visit.
"Hi, Luke" she said. "Long time no see."
He nodded, smiling. "How are you?"
"I'm fine." she smiled. "Better now."
They decided to sit on the couch again, Luke by June's right side and Conan by her left side. Both of them were huge in height, like she was sitting between two walls. They looked like they had something to say. Conan's eyes were sparkling; he was so overwhelmed by seeing June again that Luke had to reach his shoulder and poke him. June giggled at the scene.
"I came to ask you to go to my graduation and Luke tagged along." Conan said a bit too fast to be perceived as normal.
"Oh yes, yes. I was thinking about that. When is it?"
"Two weeks from now." Conan answered. "I came here basically to invite you. Will you come?"
The way he spoke made her laugh; there was an unusual urgency on his voice. "Of course I'm coming."
"Don't forget about mine, as well." Luke said, calmly. "I'm hoping to see you there. It's a few months from now."
"I will, yes." She gave Luke a sweet look. He nodded. "I'm proud of my future historian and lawyer ginger brothers."
Both laughed. "That's a weird way to put it." Luke said. "We are also proud of you, English major."
"You never talked about your graduation though." Conan pointed out.
"Next month, Conan. I told you the last time you called." she smiled.
"Oh yes, I forgot. We'll be there. You don't need to invite us. I'm inviting myself."
"You don't need an invitation. You know that." She giggled.
June looked at Conan for a while. She missed him so much that her only desire was to jump on his lap and hug him again. It would be weird of course; Luke was there, looking at the two. He looked so... handsome. He was always handsome, but he managed to look way more handsome than she remembered. Maybe his time away changed something. She didn't know what it was.
"Well..." Luke said, and startled both Conan and June. "We have to go. I'm sorry we can't stay longer. We promised mom we would be there for lunch and it's almost noon."
"Oh... okay, okay." June giggled, a bit embarrassed. "See you later, guys"
Both of them got up and June walked them to the front door. June was invited by Conan to have lunch with the O'Briens, but she knew it was going to be intimate. The boys were back home after a long time and for sure their parents would want some privacy, so she declined politely; and promised Conan she would go visit him later that same day. Conan smiled and his smile illuminated his eyes and his whole face in yet another moment of short, but genuine happiness.
The brothers and June hugged one last time, Conan still smelled like he used to, it brought back memories. A brief moment of satisfaction came when his large hands were on her waist and she wanted the hug to last longer than it did. She smiled at them, trying not to show how much she missed the two. In reality, as much as she wanted to suppress, she had eyes just for one.
