Touch The Sky | ✓

Four

Sundays were always a big deal when we were growing up. We would all spend the day together, having a big feast at lunch time and then play games in the afternoon, or maybe go for a walk, and then watch a film together in the evening. Whatever we did, it was always family day.

Even though we both left home quite a while ago, my brother Terry and I still meet up every Sunday to spend time together. We've always wanted to continue the tradition.

Our parents still live back in Ohio and our sister moved to California for college and stayed there. So, both of us being in New York is great, because we don't see everyone else that often.

Usually, we take it in turns to have the other round and make lunch for them, so this weekend it's my turn. We never go too fancy, so I've made a simple pasta bake and salad to go on the side.

Terry's in the living room, chatting with Rose about some film they've both seen recently, but as soon as I shout to say lunch is ready, he's through in a flash, his face full of anticipation. 'I love it when it's your turn to cook, even if it is always vegetarian.'

Rose laughs as she takes a seat next to him at the table. 'Terry, she's been vegetarian for forever, you know that nothing you say can make her change back.'

'I know,' he grumbles. 'But at least I get to eat meat the rest of the week. When we were growing up, she used to get so upset that the rest of us were eating dead animal right in front of her. It was hilarious.'

I scowl at him as I dish up the meal. 'You don't have to eat here, Terry,' I tell him, without any heat. We talk about this almost every single week and nothing ever changes. Despite this, though, he always cooks us both a vegetarian meal whenever we're at his flat.

He just smirks at me and shrugs, pouring himself a glass of juice. 'You wouldn't have it any other way, though, don't lie.'

My only response is to smile lightly and shake my head. He's right, though, because I wouldn't ever be able to dream of changing anything about our relationship in the slightest. We've been so close for so long and have always gotten on well. Throughout childhood, if I ever had a bad day, it wasn't my parents I went running to, but Terry. He's always had an uncanny ability to make me laugh like nobody else.

I was so glad when he chose to study at NYU, because that meant we got to stay close to each other and it was even better when he got a job here in New York once he graduated, just like I did. We're not even really all that far from home, unlike our sister.

After we've had lunch, we move through to the living room and start on a game of Scrabble, like we often do. We try to vary the games we play each week, but Scrabble is definitely one of our favourites.

'So, what have you been up to this week?' Terry asks me conversationally, as Rose takes a while debating what word to make with her letters. 'I'm sorry for not texting you much this week, my bad.'

I shrug. 'No, don't worry about it. I've just been to work, really.'

There's a pause and he looks severely unimpressed. 'Oh, yeah? What happened on Friday night?'

I frown for a second, before remembering that he and Rory were both keen for me to go on this date with Keith.

I sigh, shaking my head. 'I mean it was fine, but it wasn't that interesting, really.'

One thing I really appreciate about Terry is that while he cares about me, he's not one of those ridiculously overprotective brothers that you often read about in books or see on TV. Obviously, he doesn't like it if somebody is messing me around, but he doesn't go to all the lengths that brothers do in the movies sometimes. I couldn't imagine him even bothering to threaten to beat up someone, let alone actually following through with it. He's far too gentle for that. Instead, he just trusts my judgement and gets excited if I ever have anything like that to tell him.