"Adiós hermoso, te veré más tarde."

(Goodbye Beautiful, I will see you later)

Soft lips pressing against my temple is what wakes me up. Well, that and the slam of the bedroom door. I feel around the side of the bed, His side. It's empty.

I shift my body to look at the clock on the bedside table: 6:36 A.M.

Ugh

My body hurts. My arms feel as if every time I move them, my shoulder blades will be ripped right out of their sockets.

After a very quick debate with myself. I realize that I will not be able to go back to sleep. While pulling my legs over to the side of the bed, the aching pain in my deep thigh makes me want to punch the devil myself.

The cute one and the red one

I slowly but surely make my way to the shower. The warm water will relax my muscles. It might make moving a little more bearable.

The hot water cascades down my face, trickling over my back. I enjoy the warm showers here. I'd almost forgotten what one felt like. I'd almost forgotten what a lot of things felt like.

A proper bed

Confidence

Being wanted

The sting of my knuckles is what catches my attention next. They hurt last night but the color and pain had changed immensely throughout my sleep. My knuckles were caressed in a reddish yellow color. Even after taking them out from under the water, they still burned. I quickly finished my shower, throwing something on, so I can hunt for first aid and ice.

I don't know how this stupid high-tech fridge works. I've been trying to get ice from it for a solid ten minutes.

Really? Is an ice tray too much work?

"You have to push 'ice' then pull down," The loud voice comes out of nowhere. I didn't jump until I closed the fridge and Elijah was standing right next to it.

"You do it then," I huff sitting on the island of the kitchen. My knuckles hurt and he's being a know-it-all.

Just like when we were kids

"What's the ice for?" He asks turning to face me with a cup. I lift up my hand for him to see, surprisingly he doesn't flinch at the ugly sight.

"You ran hot water over it I assume?" He reaches up in one of the cabinets and pulls out a small white box.

"I took a shower," I state rather bluntly.

"When you get back from the gym. Go ahead and put ointment on before bed," He applies a cream, which instantly starts to cool my irritated hand, "It will speed up the healing process for your bruise,"

I nod, allowing him to fix up my hand.

"Get dressed, you're hanging out with me today," He states after packing up the first aid, returning it to its cabinet.

"I am dressed," I frown, looking down at the cute Sofie shorts I had on accompanied with Cole's shirts.

"You look homeless," Elijah's face contorts into disgust, I roll my eyes.

"You know," I slide off the counter looking for some shoes, "You're a very judgemental person. So much hatred in your heart is not good for the soul."

"Whatever, let's go," He opens the door, leaving.

"Wait," I call after him,

***

I look around at the nostalgic restaurant. It almost brought tears to my eyes.

Our father use to take us here for everything we'd celebrate. We had plans to have our graduation parties here. It seemed so dumb then, to plan a graduation party at 8. Looking back on it now:

All I really want is to have that party

I didn't know then that I wouldn't graduate, I didn't know then that Daddy wouldn't even live to see my next birthday.

Elijah whispered hushed words to the server and then lead us back to a booth. I soon realized it's the exact booth we had every time we'd come here. Elijah sat facing the door, as he and Daddy always did.

It's a 'protection' thing

"Hey, look," I laugh point at the spot behind him, "I think that's the same ice cream stain from when I threw my mint chocolate chip at you for taking one of my fries," My laughter was loud, unbashful.

He began chuckling with me.

"I was so mad at you," He says between laughs "You got it on my new shirt and Dad did nothing about it!"

"This is from when I was playing with Dad's pocket knife when he went to the bathroom" Elijah pulls at the cut in the red retro diner seat.

"I still don't think Daddy knew about that. You'd sit in front of it every time we came," I look longingly at the scarred seating.

The seat was broken and worn, no doubt: But it was broken beautifully with memories.

The server comes by, asking for our orders. I didn't even have to look at the menu to know what I wanted.

"May I get the original burger with no pickles and extra fries," The order reminded me of a nursery rhyme. The one that every time it plays, it seems like your heart sings along with it.

Elijah states his boring order: Chicken tenders and fries.

When we were kids he was such a picky eater, that's why he was just skin and bones. The server turns to leave but Elijah pipes up again.

"Oh," He gets the lady's attention, "Can we have two banana splits with that, please?"

The smile stays on my face as I remember our favorite dessert. The smile doesn't seem to fade when we fall into a comfortable silence and I observe our surroundings.

From the smell of the restaurant and the background music, to the small chatter of other citizens inside of it. It was all calming to the soul. Everyone is happy, everyone is contempt.

"What happened?" I ask suddenly feeling the reality of it all.

"What happened to what?" My brother smiles up at the lady as she brings us our food.

"What happened to our lives? We use to be so happy," I didn't mean for my voice to come out as desperate as it sounded.

"We're still happy, at this moment, we're happy," He answers calmly, "You have been through some shit in your life and you will go through more. There will be points where you feel on top of the world, like nothing can bring you down,"

His voice reminds me of the boy that I used to know. The one that had all the answers and all the solutions. I had an ache in my heart for being so bland with him. Maybe I've been too harsh on him.

This was my brother.

That much would always be true, despite how I feel about him.

"Then, there will be times that you feeling like nothing is going right. Like there's nothing left," He takes the biggest fucking bite out of the small chicken tender that was on his plate.

"But it's important during these times to understand that everyone goes through ups and downs. You have to be strong to live a fulfilling life. Life isn't fair. You know this. At the same time, that doesn't mean it's not worth living,"

"No one will hurt you again, or I'd kill them," He smiles, mouth full of chicken.

You should make promises you can't keep

"You have so much more ahead of you," He continues digging into the chicken tenders, "Your past is not your future,"

"Now," He perks up, popping the last chicken tender in his mouth.

"Let's destroy these banana splits."