Chapter Twenty-Nine

Christmas Day

Having Mitchell as someone Savannah could call a friend again was like welcoming back the sun after years of dark grey skies.

Having someone who was going through the same thing, having another shoulder to lean on and being a shoulder for Mitchell to cry on, was all it took to remind Savannah that all hope was not lost.

Savannah felt more and more like herself as the days went by. Time really does heal, even the deepest of wounds.

Mitchell and herself reminisced, relived and told each other stories about their memories of Leon, they laughed and cried, and hugged each other every time the other felt down.

One thing they never mentioned was the night it happened.

The night when Leon was no more.

Savannah couldn't pretend like she didn't want to know.

After all, Leon was like a brother to her, to whom she felt like she was joint in the hip.

But asking Mitchell to relive such traumatic events is something Savannah would never want to do.

She figured if Mitchell is ready to tell her, he will, but until then, they will continue to be each other's back bones and support systems.

Mitchell spent the majority of his days at Savannah's house.

He couldn't stand being alone in his home and Savannah dreaded the thought of leaving the house, in that matter, things seemed to sort out well.

It was Christmas day.

Savannah had spent her entire Christmas eve with her parents and Ben in the house, preparing meals, decorating the house and wrapping last minute presents.

It was a tradition that she appreciated this year more than she ever did any other year.

After they finished setting the table, Savannah put a beautiful centrepiece that Mitchell had made for her in the middle of the dining table.

He used maple tree leaves and formed them into a snowflake.

He was a truly gifted artist.

Savannah had gone three days without seeing him, which was the longest time they spent apart since reuniting.

She got butterflies every time she thought about him, but thought nothing of it.

He was a friend who loved her, they were brought together for their love of a friend who was no longer with them.

Mitchell could never replace Leon, nor did he ever try to, but it felt nice to have someone Savannah could laugh with, cry with and cuddle with after the person who had been doing it for fourteen years couldn't no longer.

She felt excited knowing that she will see Mitchell again that evening, after he promised to stop by and possibly stay for dinner.

Savannah was also expecting to see her grandparents from her mother's side and all her cousins from her father's side of the family.

All of whom she hadn't seen in years.

She took off her food stained clothes and jumped into the shower, grateful that no guests arrived to witness her in her dreadful attire.

When she got out of the shower and looked out the window of her bedroom, she saw many cars parked outside her house, a minivan, a Mercedes, (no doubt belonging to her grandfather,) a four-wheel drive and a Ute.

She heard a ruckus downstairs, people squealing and roaring as they greeted each other.

She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when she saw no sign of Mitchell's car.

Nonetheless she got dressed in a beige halter-top sundress with lace details.

Her curls fell freely, framing her brown face.

She pinned her hair to the side with a pin, decorated with daisies.

She put on white flats and matching earrings that her mother had given her for Christmas.

She walked to the mirror and stared at herself.

She felt like she had been thirty different people for the past twelve months.

She remembered looking at herself on the first day back at school when she struggled to put her hair in a bun.

It was so humid; her mane had become an afro. She laughed to herself. That seemed like so long ago.

She remembered putting her hair into a neater bun on the night of Mitchell's birthday when they went to the diner.

Savannah remembered how anxious she felt and how Leon, like he always used to do, made her feel at ease.

She remembered putting her hair into four cornrows on the night of Leon's birthday, it was a hairstyle her mother always used give her in her primary school days.

She actually quiet liked it and made a mental note to revisit that look one of these days, especially because it's summer again.

She remembered looking into the mirror at her battered and bruised face, beyond recognition.

Rough times.

Then she remembered the night of her formal, when she was in the beautiful lilac gown that her father picked out.

She looked at her half open wardrobe and admired the exact gown she wore that night.

Except it was still torn at the hem and covered in grass and mud stains.

What a night that was.

She laughed at herself. She actually believed she was in love with Leon.

Her crazy hormones got the best of her, she confused her feelings of love for Leon with being in love with Leon.

The things loneliness does to people.

She remembered staring into the mirror into her dark brown eyes that were lit up with excitement on the night of her graduation.

Admiring every inch of her hour-glass body and smiling to herself, overwhelmed with her beauty.

Then she remembered staring at herself not too long ago, at her skinny face as her cheekbones poked out and her skull swallowed her eyeballs, leaving darks circles around them.

She was crippled by the pain of losing Leon; she was living a life that was close to hell but realer than a nightmare.

Travelling down a dark road, destined for a fate darker than death.

Now she sees herself, she stares at her firm yet slightly chubby cheeks, her eyes are full of life and her smile was as bright as the stars on the darkest night of the year.

Savannah was a flourishing flower, the death of Leon may have caused a few of her petals to fall off.

Days were it was nothing but darkness, but the sun came back out and Savannah grew stronger, vibrant more beautiful petals.

She was proud of herself, of how far she had come.

Leon would be proud of her.

She twirled in her dress and stared back at herself, beaming with confidence.

She felt beautiful again.

"Savannah!" she heard her mother shout.

She laughed to herself, she'd been too busy admiring herself, she'd completely forgotten she had a house full of family member's eager to see her.

She walked down the stairs and was hit with the hypnotic aroma of home cooked meals that they worked tirelessly on, making it with love.

The living room was packed with brown people with dark, curly hair.

Savannah took an embarrassingly long time to notice Ben from her curly haired cousin Kai.

He'd grown tremendously, Savannah remembered him being a couple months older then Ben and though they didn't look much alike, they're height and the exact same hair, had Savannah boggled for a moment.

Kai caught Savannah looking at him and he approached her as Ben followed.

"Kai, do you remember my little sister Savannah?" said Ben jokingly as the two guffawed manically as Savannah punched Ben on the shoulder.

The two towered over Savannah, anyone would think Ben was older than Savannah, instead o being eye to eye, they were not eye-to-shoulder.

'Puberty isn't the same for boys as it is for girls' thought Savannah.

"Hiya cuz," sad Kai reaching down and hugging Savannah.

His voice had gotten a lot deeper too.

After greeting her cousin Kai, his younger sister Jaeda and his older brother Samuel, Savannah greeted her Uncles, (Her father's brothers.)

Her uncle Benjamin and Uncle Kai Sr. who were her father's older brothers, and her uncle Jackson, her father's younger brother and their wives.

Savannah caught up with her cousin Desirae, her closest cousin.

As children they would dress up and paint each other's faces.

Savannah wasn't surprised to hear her plans after graduating the following year was to go to one of Melbourne's top art schools.

She always was a gifted artist.

Savannah was so swept up in reuniting with her family, she hadn't realised until that point, the figure standing in the background staring at her like she was a full moon.

She smiled at Mitchell and approached him.

He looked as if he couldn't take his eyes off her, admiring and taking in her every detail, paralysed by Savannah's beauty.

Savannah was equally delighted to see Mitchell, her heart fluttered and a smile etched on her face.

"Savannah... you look... beautiful," he said looking like he was about to cry.

Savannah let out an airy laugh, "thanks mate... so do you."

He stared towards the crowd of people in the living room,

"can I talk to you outside for a moment?" he asked, reaching down and holding Savannah's hand.

She felt all warm and tingly inside.

She nodded and followed him out the back door.

She didn't even wonder what this might be about.

They sat on the porch bench.

"Look Savannah I wouldn't get involved or interfere if I didn't love you-"

he stopped speaking immediately and looked away.

'Did he just say he loved me?'

Mitchell let out a sigh and focused his attention back on Savannah, his deep blue eyes locking with hers.

Now she started wondering what this was about.

"Savannah I care for you... and I don't want you to get angry at me or take this the wrong way but... I think you and Mike should, well... talk, talk things out," he finishes looking rather nervous to see Savannah's reaction.

Savannah doesn't say anything, she's thinking.

Mitchell senses it and begins, "I can see that it bothers the both of you, Savannah look at him," he says looking inside through a window at a very glum looking Mike slumped on the sofa as he stares into the distance, playing with his hair absentmindedly.

"Life's too short for things like this." He finishes.

Savannah tried not to feel defensive, after all, what did Mitchell know about her relationship with her brother?

Apparently a lot by the looks of it.

"You're right," she confessed.

Mitchell's face lit up brighter than the Christmas tree they had inside.

He beamed at her, "right well I've gotta go,"

"What? no,"

"I'll see you tomorrow, I promise... just promise me that you'll work things out?"

Savannah nodded with a weak smile.

"Leave me some leftovers ey? Merry Christmas!" and with that, Mitchell was off.

Leaving Savannah alone with her thoughts.

If she was being honest with herself, she was over it too.

The house was too small to pretend like Mike didn't exist.

And life is way too short, they spent a year hating each other for crying out loud.

Savannah got up and walked inside to find Mike with confidence in her stride.

She walked right over to him, he looked up at her in surprise, he was either really frustrated or really confused.

Savannah's heart was in her mouth but she stood her ground.

It has been too long since she looked into the dark brown eyes of her older brother that reminded her so much of herself.

A years' worth of anger, hatred, violence, pain and foolishness was about to be history in a matter of seconds.

This was either going to go really well or really bad.

Her heart was pounding like a drum in her chest.

"Hey Mike, can I have a word?"