May 26, 2018

Jonah had fallen into the habit of not asking how Eliska was doing on any given day, but instead what book she was reading. She would talk endlessly if she could, and he knew that. She had a passion for a novel's ability to pull her into a world that wasn't hers, to involve her with the characters, to make her love them, to make her feel what they felt, hate who they hated, want what they wanted, and understand why they took action in every situation.

He loved her voice, and that's why he asked what she was reading every time they spoke. More often than not, it was a different book than the day before, and she would be so overcome with excitement—she had a knack for picking the "good books", she had told him—that she just couldn't stop herself from telling him about the people and the setting and plot, unless, of course, she stumbled on one that she refused to tell him about because he just had to read it for himself.

The two had grown incredibly comfortable with one another. They threw insults at each other left and right—which he discovered she was also very good at, due to her wit and unique mindset—and that almost always left him in a fit of laughter. She adored his laugh, to say the least.

And that, ultimately, was how they fell into each other. It took time, and neither of them were consciously aware of it, but it happened all the same.

***

Being home had never felt so good to Jonah. He had greeted his two younger sisters, Esther and Svea, and his mom with absolute glee; it'd been weeks since he'd seen them.

He and Esther sat at the table where they'd had a feast of a dinner long after it was cleared. He loved spending time with her. Even though she was younger than him, she was full of more wisdom than most people he knew.

After talking about what she'd been doing in his absence and the chaos and beauty of tour, he told her about Eliska.

She watched him carefully as he talked about her and her undying passion for books and traveling. She watched his eyes, since he had always been one to show the most emotion there.

He didn't know how long he'd been talking when he finished, glancing at his sister to find her staring at him with gentle understanding evident in her expression.

"Have you come to terms with it yet?" she asked him, keeping eye contact.

"With what?" he said quietly.

"Jonah... you're in love with her."