Always

Chapter Fifteen: The Truth

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   I turn up my stereo as I start to clean my messy room. 

   Journey blasts through the speakers as I sing along. I was too distracted with my room and my music, that I didn’t realize Brian standing in my doorway. He was grinning at me. 

   I turn down my music, throwing the pillow in my hand on my bed. “What’s up?” 

   “Aunt Becky wants to see you.” Even though I had the most amazing thing in my life right in front of me, I suddenly felt nervous to see Aunt Becky again. I guess Brian could tell I was uneasy. 

   “Don’t worry. I told her everything.” 

   “What does she think about it?” 

   “Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Brian steps aside, and in the walks Aunt Becky. 

   Her face brightens up once she sees me. “Oh June.” 

   “Aunt Becky!” I run into her open arms, feeling tears sting my eyes. 

   “I’ve missed you so much Honey.” 

   Hearing her call me Honey again lifted my spirits. “I’ve missed you too.” 

   I look up to thank Brian, but he left the room, leaving me and Aunt Becky to talk. 

   “How have you been Honey?” Aunt Becky asks once we’re done holding each other. 

   “Great. You?” 

   “The same as I’ll ever be.” I smile at her, she returns it. 

   “Brian’s been happy a lot recently. I just had to find out why.” 

   I give her a nod. “Turns out, it was me.” 

   “It was you.” Aunt Becky studies me, making me feel more nervous than I started out being.

   “So. Do you feel like this is the right choice?” 

   Her question startles me. 

   “You mean, Brian?” 

   She nods. 

   “Well…” Then I tell her everything. No stop button, no pause button, just the play button. I tell her how I felt, how I feel now. All of this weight and pressure just escapes my body. I finally sigh once I’m done explaining myself. 

   “Oh Honey. Is that really how you’ve felt for all those months?” She was talking about the past. My past. 

   I slowly nod. 

   “Did you ever think that he felt the exact same way when you told him to go away? He was devastated Honey. He wasn’t the same Brian that I used to know and love. Losing you killed him all over again. And now that he’s got you back? He’s never going to let you out of his life again Honey. You know what he told me when I found out that you two were seeing another again?” 

   “What?” I whisper. 

   “He told me that you were his life now. And that he’d give anything for you to be truly happy.”

   My heart cried with such love for him. Never in my life have I ever thought he felt that way towards me. And now that I do? I never want to lose him again. “Thank you so much Aunt Becky.” 

   I pull her close to me, smelling her sweet lemon perfume. “Don’t thank me Honey. Thank your dear Brian.” 

   And she was right. I did thank him. Many times, I did. I just wish I could’ve said it more than I already did. 

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