The Imperishable Flame⎪✓

❨15❩

♀︎

"And then Relly hooked up with this guy, like, she fucked him in the bed right above mine and unfortunately for me, I wasn't asleep! Can you believe that, Kota? Her moans are literally the source of my nightmares now and I don't know if I should tell her or not, that dude sure knew how to treat her though," Dani laughs through the phone, my face reddens when I grab milk from the shelf in the store. For some reason I fear the other shoppers around me can hear her crude words, but I know they can't.

"I'm so sorry for you," I laugh at her misery. "That's something I feel very appreciative to have missed. I'm here to talk if you need it, I can even open the clinic for you."

"Did I tell you that Brock and I met a week ago?" She suddenly changes the subject, her voice drops and I know how much she misses him. "I didn't tell him about the guys I've slept with, he asked, but I couldn't bring myself to say the words."

"Dani," I sigh for her. "There's nothing wrong with sleeping around. The two of you agreed to stay single, he simply can't judge you for being with someone other than him."

"No, I know," She says, the sadness to her voice truly makes my heart break for her. "We still can't be together, he has such a busy schedule and is so close to making it big. I would only be a hassle to him and I truly don't want to make our relationship a negative thing in his life."

"Give yourself this time alone, I'm sure the two of you will find each other when the time is right. He adores you, Dani, he would be an idiot to let go of what you can have together."

"You know how much I love you, right?"

"I love you, too."

"And you need to come out to Welston, the three of us need a serious party with loads of junk. When can you be here?" She asks with humor in her voice. 

"Give me three days, then I have weekend and no school Monday."

"No way! Are you serious?" She shrieks in excitement. 

It has been too long since I saw them last and I'm in need of my girls, they are the closest I have to a family and I will never not need them in my life. I can easily drive the six hours to them and have a blast for four days. 

*********

Parking my car in front of Relly and Dani's dorms by Welston College, I barely make it outside before both of them tackle me into a rough hug. I tear up by finally being here with them, they are here and I'm here, the last time the three of us were together was one whole year ago. Which is too long for a family.

"Kota!" Relly screams and grabs my cheeks between her hands. The tears are streaming down her face, "I've missed you so much."

All of us have changed a lot over the years, we grew up at some point. There is something very sad about it, being able to see it this visibly how mature their faces are becoming, but I feel happy to witness it. I feared that we would grow apart and especially with the distance. None of us have though and I'm so incredibly blessed to have these two girls in my life. 

"I've missed you guys, so much," I say and look at Dani, her familiar gaze makes a sense of belonging sing in my heart. These girls are my home and I don't want it any other way. "Now, I have been driving for six hours and seriously need to pee."

They laugh and direct me inside their beautiful dorms. I do my business in the restroom and come out to an entire dorm decorated in pillows and comforters, there is a big tv mounted onto the wall and the floor is covered in every snack I could have imagined. They went out of their way with this. "Girls, these days are going to be the best."

"We won't leave this room at all, I need to get my Kota fix," Dani jokes and pats the spot between her and Relly in the fort of pillows. 

Throwing myself next to them, we watch Twilight and my mind immediately flees to when Elijah and I watched this series in high school. That night led to some very intimate moments for me, moments that have forever etched themselves into my mind and now no man can compare. He ruined it for me. 

We watch 20 minutes and decide to pause the movie, there's too much to catch up on. They inform me that Relly apparently enjoys sleeping with every guy, ever since one guy here hurt her feelings and ghosted her, she deserves to be happy and I'm pleased if she does what she feels the need to do. Dani can't stop thinking about Brock, but she allowed herself to sleep with other guys. Apparently, she even brought some of them home to the family, but she felt wrong and broke it off with them immediately after. 

"So Kota, is there an important man in your life?" Relly teases and wiggles her eyebrows. I throw the pillow in her direction and all of us laugh loudly. "Okay, I know how hooked you've been on Elijah, so I was wondering if any dude stole your attention away from your high school sweetheart."

"What if I say, that the high school sweetheart himself stole my attention once again?" I try and close my eyes in anticipation. There is no answer and when I look at them, their mouths and eyes are opened wide. 

"What did you just say?" Dani shrieks suddenly. 

"Yeah," I laugh. "Guess who made an appearance in Barnsley."

Relly seems completely shocked, "No. Fucking. Way."

Laughing, "Who would've thought that his hometown is Barnsley, I surely didn't."

"You ain't getting out of this one, sis, spill," Dani says and gets comfortable with a bag of popcorn. 

Taking a deep breath I start the story of how I found him again, informing them of the trial and how he is my client. I choose not to tell them about the custody battle, but I mention the underground fighting. They're shocked and none of them utter a word before I'm done with filling them in on everything. My gut feels relieved to finally tell someone, it was hard to carry around and lie to Lucy about it all the time. 

"I don't know what to say," Dani mutters, the bag of popcorn long forgotten. 

"I do," Relly states and smiles at me. "If this isn't fate working in mysterious ways, then I don't know what it is. Clearly someone up there wants the two of you together."

We talk aimlessly until all of us are knocked out on the floor, the little smile on my face isn't to be mistaken and I finally feel a little bit at peace. There is something highly therapeutic about talking to your loved ones. They know you and know what you come from. These girls are so important to me, so when I finally fall asleep, the heartbeat in my chest sings with a secureness of love and safety.