Page 5 of After All This Time

My vision starts to blur and that’s when I lose it. “It’s…Ben and Lizzie.”

CHAPTER TWO

dani

Have you ever felt like your entire world is falling apart?

That moment when the world somersaults and here you are, trying to figure out which way is up while your lungs are constricted in an unexpected state of panic.

Yeah, that’s me right now.

My hands are shaking.

Everything is a blur.

All of this brings back the memories I wanted to store away forever, but they always seem to rise above the surface no matter how deep I shove them down.

When I was fourteen years old, my mom called my school to pick me up early. She told me that my dad got into a car accident on the way to work and passed away due to the impact.

I remember how I couldn’t move or speak the entire drive home. All I wanted to do was curl up in a ball in my bedroom and never come out. I couldn’t go to school for a month. I couldn’t get out of bed. I could barely form cohesive thoughts.

Goddammit.

I can't help but think about Ben and Lizzie.

They're my found family, the kind you piece together like a puzzle and fits perfectly together.

Ben did everything he could to make sure I had a father figure in my life after my dad passed away.

He’d congratulate me when I got a good grade on a test.

He’d give me constant motivation to continue writing my book.

He’d always be there if I ever needed someone to talk to.

It seems like normal things to do, but the smallest gestures that he did meant the world to me.

Ben’s relationship with Lizzie has always reminded me of the relationship I had with my father. He’d always take care of her when she got sick or hurt. He’d always be there for her if something bad happened at school. He’d protect her as if his life depended on it.

I didn’t just have Ben as my protector.

I had Lizzie too.

Growing up, Lizzie was like an older sister to me.

We were inseparable when we were younger, despite her being five years older than me. If I wasn’t hanging out with Bella, I’d be with Lizzie. We were two peas in a pod.

I loved it so much when she’d team up with me to take down her younger brother, Noah, when he was being a prick to me.

No matter what happened, I knew I'd always have a home to go to.

Them.

And now, it feels like my home is shattering like broken glass.

I hear snippets of Bella’s voice from time to time.

All I can concentrate on is how heavy my body feels. The weight of it crushing me and all that I am.

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