"Really. Now please put those things away before I do something stupid."
"Like what?" she'd looked at him funny."Like shove my face in them," he joked."Seriously?" she'd laughed and taken a step towards him."Yes. No!" he had
로그인"Really. Now please put those things away before I do something stupid."
"Like what?" she'd looked at him funny."Like shove my face in them," he joked."Seriously?" she'd laughed and taken a step towards him."Yes. No!" he hadOur parents occupied the two rocking chairs we had picked up from a neighbor while Carrie sat on the couch. She was tense and confused."Hello, Norman. Just the person we were waiting for." Shit, it was the Dad voice. Not good."What's up? Is everything okay?" The thoughts going through my mind as I sat down an appropriate distance from Carrie weren't pleasant.The silence was uncomfortable, so no, things were not okay.Mom kept shifting her gaze from me to Carrie and back, sizing us up. Dad stared at a spot over our heads, collecting his thoughts. Carrie sat almost perfectly still, like prey hoping to avoid detection.Me? I'm a dumbass. "What's going on? Why are you here?""I think you know." Oh, shit. Carr
"After the accident, when people I thought were my friends ignored me and after what Allen did, it made me wonder if I was a bad person or something. I keep thinking everything is going to go wrong."I kissed her forehead, since my lower face was coated with her fluids. "No, baby. You're stuck with me."Carrie mumbled something into my chest and was instantly asleep. I held her and stared at the ceiling fan as it sat there, as immobile as I was.I didn't have a lot of friends growing up so I hadn't experienced that kind of rejection. I didn't know of any way to reassure her besides showing up everyday and loving her as hard as I could.It wasn't as hard as it sounds. Carrie woke me up with soft kisses and gentle strok
"A shower sounds good. Food sounds better. I'm going to need to keep my strength up." I started to play with one of her nipples and she slapped my hand away."Shower, food, and then me. In that order." It ended up being her, shower, her again, more shower, and then food. Carrie promised to make me pay for it later. I promised to hold her to that. Turns out she meant changing the sheets.The roads were pretty clear by three in the afternoon so we went to my place to pick up enough clothes for the rest of the weekend. Carrie went through my fridge to take whatever would go bad before Monday. There wasn't much and I heard all about it.Carrie waited until after dinner to continue her lecture series, concentrating on my clothi
Mom found us when they went to bed around midnight, sound asleep and propped up against each other, the empty pie plate and milk container in front of us. Looking back at it now, that was the beginning of our going from family to friends, the seed that brought us to the present.Carrie handed me the stuff and crawled into bed. We watched one of the Batman movies while we tore into the pie, eating it right from the pie pan like savages, laughing and joking the entire time, and drinking milk right from the container.When the movie was over, I took everything back to the kitchen. Carrie had gotten into bed and presented me with a present when I settled in next to her. My very own blindfold."Put it on." Carrie's voice was ba
"She was in love with her friend. She made a promise that one day, he would see the best version of her she could be. She didn't mean to say it loud but she did. He turned his head as she went to kiss his cheek to seal the promise and they kissed. It felt perfect. They kissed again, for real. It was better than perfect."I felt her hands touch my face as she lifted the blindfold. "I wanted to tear those glasses off your face and make love to you right there on the roof, but I wasn't the person I needed to be. Maybe I'm still not. I love you, Norman. So much I can't take it anymore." Her face was the way I remembered it, with only one tiny keloid by her eye. I could see the concern in her eyes as she searched my face for a reaction.I did the only thing I could think of. I kissed her. Her soft "Oh" as she kissed me back said everything I needed to know.We separated to catch our breath and I made my own admission. "That kiss ruined me for anyone else. I loved you before that night but
"Yeah. Worried that they'll come back but he said their method is very successful. It's going to take some time to heal." I heard her sip the beer and then felt it being placed in my other hand."Concentrate on the good thoughts.""That was my therapist's advice, too. Remember the lessons I learned.""Not making a left turn on red?""Among other things, jerk." Her laugh was relaxed and easy."Including having an awesome brother?"Carrie went quiet and squeezed my hand. "Awesome isn't the word I would use." Her voice was soft and low, as if she was talking to herself and not me."Anyway, did you need someone there?""No, Liz will help me for a couple of days. Then I should be okay until the bandages come off." Her voice changed slightly. "I want to wait to do this again until they come off, if that's all right.""Honestly, I was hoping to be there for the great reveal but if you want to wait, of course it's okay. Think of it as torturing me." That made her laugh again.We finished the









