I Love You, Always

Chapter 19

June

Day and I walk along the lake in silence. Above us, seagulls cry out as they fly by. Children laugh and run on the pier. The waves roll up gently along the sand. The sun shines bright as rays of light reflect off the brilliant blue water. It is so much more different than before. Gone is the dark, grey water and sky, replaced instead with warm colours. The once lonely, and empty streets now crowded.

I look at Day. His golden hair is exactly the way I remember it; soft, and luxurious. His bright blue eyes scan the buildings, and I know he's instinctively analyzing how he'd run each one. Every so often I see him turn his head and look down at me. Sometimes he opens his mouth, as if to say something, only to close it and resume looking around.

We reach the staircase that leads up to the pier. As we climb it, my heart does a double take. I don't have many moments left with Day. Soon he'll leave for Antarctica, and I'll stay here. Which means I must savour each and every minute I have left with him. My brain starts working, and suddenly I'm running down the street.

"Where are you going?" Day shouts behind me. I hear his footsteps behind me, each one in sync with mine.

"Just follow me," I call back.

Day pants and manages a laugh. "There better be a good reason for this."

I smile to myself. He'll like this, I think.

We round the corner and I skid to a stop. Day just manages to stop without careening into me. "So," he pants. "Would you like to tell me why you just made me run three blocks?"

"Close your eyes," I tell him.

He does as he's told, no objections made. "If I'm going to be blind, you might want to hang on to me, sweetheart," he says and holds out his hand.

I blush, thankful that his eyes are closed, and grab a hold of his extended hand. Instantly warmth courses through me. I'm half content to stay here, holding onto him, but I give my head a shake and begin walking. I pass houses until I get to the one I came for. I let go of Day and turn to him.

"Open your eyes."

Slowly, Day opens his eyes and looks around. Green grass surrounds us. In front of us, a house stands, it's once boarded up windows and doors refinished. The ominous red "X" now gone, no sign of sickness in sight. Day's mouth opens in a slight gasp. "It's my house," he breathes.

I open the door and we both step inside. Day gazes around in awe.

I smile. "I bought it when it was put up for sale," I say.

He turns to me. "Why?"

I sigh. "I don't know. I guess...I just always hoped-" I look down.

"Hoped for what?" He asks gently.

"Hoped that you'd come back," I sigh.

He gives me a small smile. I look in his eyes. "When you didn't come back, I thought about selling it...but, I couldn't. This place is like my second home now."

"Thank you," he whispers. "Thank you for keeping this."

I look at him and see a small tear run down his cheek. His hands run across the table in the middle of the room, and I know he's remembering his childhood. So I step back and give him space. In a little while, we'll have to return to Batalla, but for now, we stay in Lake, both of us lost in the past.