Forever Yours

Chapter 20: Marcus Mitchell

As soon as the song played, I could see her face. Her beautiful smile and radiant beauty lit up in my head like a spotlight. Her singing voice ringed in my ears and that 5-year-old inside me wanted to reach out to touch her. However, as quickly as the image came, reality set in.

She wasn't there.

She was gone.

I couldn't listen to the song anymore after Aunt Ruby passed and this is the reason why. I had to walk away from Evan to get myself together. Flashes upon flashes of memories of us playing this song together ran through my head. I had to get to the bathroom fast before I broke down again.

Finally making it to the bathroom, I locked the door. I closed my eyes as I gripped the sink hard with the memories quickly coming. Now I remembered the night terrors and the many times she held me afterwards. I felt my hand grip the marble top even harder, almost digging my palm into it. I had to calm down because this wasn't normal. I thought I was getting better. My sessions were going great but why couldn't I get a hold of myself? I just had to breath, so I did. Even though I could feel my tears on the top of my lip, I had to breath. I stomped my foot against the floor and counted down from 10.

Again.

And again.

Then, as I took my last breath, I opened my eyes. The images were gone as I stared at my puffy face in the mirror. My grip loosens and I pulled my hands off the sink. I decided to splash a little water on my face to help with my eyes swelling before I heard a knock at the door.

"Hey Marcus," Evan's voice came through the door, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I answered him wiping my face off, "I'll be out in a minute."

"Okay...are you sure?"

I smiled hearing his concerned tone. He was trying and I would explain it later, but I just wanted to enjoy the night. I just had to keep in mind how special this night is going to be. We were both planning on it being just a perfect day and I was messing it up. I took a deep breath before getting myself together. I smiled to myself in the mirror and got ready to walk out of the bathroom. When I opened the door, I saw Evan holding a banged-up Gabe in his arms. He still looked so innocent with the small scratch on his face and the blood visible on the blue and white colors on his shirt.

"Are you okay Marcus?" He asked me so sweetly and I touched his face warmly before answering, "Yes Gabe, I'm fine. I just got overwhelmed a little bit."

"Okay," he nodded, "Daddy said he wants to clean me up before the firecrackers."

"Yeah," Evan added, "I didn't want him all dirty, so Leo gave me some extra clothes he had bought for him."

"Aww that's sweet," I said moving out of their way so they can get into the bathroom, "I'll be outside."

I had turned to walk away when Evan lightly grabbed my arm and said, "We are going to talk later."

I nodded as they went inside. I made way back into the backyard and was met by a frantic Kayla and Tre. Kayla and I had a bit of a relationship now because she would be sitting right next to Tre whenever I video chatted from California, so I wasn't surprised to see her get a bit anxious when I ran off.

"Are you okay Marcus?" She asked giving me a coco scented hug with her long dark curls almost covering my face, "You were crying and I didn't know what to do."

"Yeah man," Tre chimed in standing behind her, "We was ready to jump Evan."

"What?" I laughed but I knew both were serious as Kayla added, "Yeah but I calmed him down and told him it may not be him because he ran after you but- "