Forked Roads Back

65 - ARCHIE

Now arriving, Flight BA 473 from London Heathrow.

MY HEAD SNAPS UP from the crossword as the familiar number rings over the tannoy. I jump up, and make my way towards Arrivals.

Today has been a very long time coming. It's been a very stressful few months for me, with what happened between Lara and me, and this has been the only thing I've been looking forward to. I'd barely got any sleep, with today feeling akin to waking up on Christmas morning, although I'm sure all of that will catch up with me later once the excitement of seeing my sister wears off.

Leaning on the wall, I scroll through my newly-acquired Instagram whilst I wait for a message from Millie. She isn't one that rushes off as soon as the plane lands, so I expect she will be one of the last ones through the doors.

Twenty minutes later, a message comes through with a photo of the two of them next to baggage reclaim. Millie looks as excited as I feel, but Greg looks exhausted. He's barely keeping his eyes open, and his beanie is pulled low, almost over his eyes.

I'm here, and tell Greg I have coffees.

See you soon little sis xx

I made the point of making sure I was here to pick her up this time. To be fair to me, I had just come out of the hospital, but that didn't matter to Millie. Even if I had just come out of hospital, I had let her down, and that was one time too many.

A long time has passed since I first told Millie about those nightmares, since I finally let that first person in. After that,life got that little bit easier, because I could phone Millie when I had a nightmare, talk it through rather than just endure it and let it consume me. I was finally able to start living properly, living a normal life, and despite those hefty ups and downs I've endured the last month or so, I've been able to keep my head above water. I'm proud because the Archie of three years ago would have drowned long ago.

As I watch passenger after passenger unload through the main doors, my stomach fills with butterflies. It seems every flight has emptied out before their one has, but soon I hear that bubbly voice over the noise of the airport crowd.

I spot her before she spots me, so I leap frog over the barrier and sprint towards her, only just managing to stop before we both go sprawling.

"It's so good to see you guys!" I say into her shoulder as she jumps up into my arms for hug as Greg puts a hand on my shoulder. "So good!" When I finally put Millie down, she has tears in her eyes, same as me.

It feels so good to have her here again, after nearly a year and a half without her. It was way too long, and that's why my little sister was about to get the surprise of her life... when she finds out I'm not just coming home for Christmas, I'm coming home for good.

"Arch, are you crying?" She laughs, wiping her own tears.

"Nope. Just got a stick in my eye or something," I laugh as I put my arm around Greg's shoulder, posing gallantly for Millie's selfie.

She takes a quick snap but doesn't linger, so Greg and I take the two bags and start off towards the car park.

"So how was your flight?" I ask, swinging Millie's hiking backpack over my shoulder. My ribs pull slightly but they hurt nowhere near as bad as they did a few weeks ago.

"Too long," Greg yawns from behind us.

Not only does Greg have an intense fear of flying, he always has to factor in jet lag, which has been known to leave him incapacitated. Millie had told me, but I didn't really believe it until I'd seen it first hand last summer. He had invited me down to North Carolina to watch him surf, so I invited Jared, Pete and Ollie, knowing Jared was a surf nut himself. After bigging him up, it seemed like Greg was half asleep on his board on his board to begin with. However, as the competition was over four days, he caught up enough to reach the surf off, eventually winning silver. On this trip, he'd be out of it for a few days, but for Millie and I that meant we could go exploring by ourselves, and give us a chance to catch up again, just the two of us.