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I dropped my chin to my chest for a moment, not wanting this for her, then sat down beside her and gathered her up in my arms. I slipped the cell phone from her hand.
“Hi, Amber. This is Vander,” I said softly. “I’m so sorry. I’ll get her to call you back in a few minutes.”
“Is she okay? What is she doing? Is she okay?” Amber panicked.
“She’s shocked. I’ll stay with her. Please email her any pertinent information, and I’ll get her to call you back as soon as she can.”
Ruby needed to see everything in print to process it. She couldn’t retain information that she received verbally. It felt odd to ask her grieving sister to send an email, but we both knew Ruby needed it, and in her grief, Amber needed the reminder.
A full half hour later, Ruby climbed off my lap. She swiped her palms across her cheeks and released a shuddering breath.
“I’m going to head back to my apartment and call my sister back,” she stated, her eyes red-rimmed and slightly glazed. She looked without seeing, seemingly having retreated deep into her head, and disconnected from everything around her, including me.
The change sent a chill down my spine.
“I’m coming with you.”
She looked vaguely in my direction. “I don’t want to ruin your night. Go back in with everybody else, and I’ll call you tomorrow when I know what’s going on.” She nodded decisively.
She lifted her chin for my kiss, and I obliged her before pulling her in for a hug. She shivered. I pulled off my university hoodie and slipped it over her head.
Drawing her close under my arm, we began the walk back to her apartment. She held herself rigidly at first, but by the time we reached her place, she leaned, soft and yielding, against my side.
Twelve hours later, I slipped my cross from around my neck and looped it around hers, tucking it inside her t-shirt.
“Vander,” she gasped. “I can’t take this!”
It was my baptism cross that I’d had since I was a baby. It was sacred, holy, and I wore it every day. It represented my heritage, my family, and my faith.
“Wear it, moro mou. Wear it and keep me with you until you come back.”
She placed her hand over the cross, and that action alone took away some of the chill of her impending absence. “Thank you.”
She gifted me with the ghost of her smile, and I soaked up its faint warmth. I kissed her gently, then released her to catch her flight.
Six weeks later, when she made the decision to leave school, I got on a plane and flew to her. I had only two days to change her mind, and at the end of those, I’d made exactly zero headway. Standing in the minuscule vestibule of her house, before heading to the train station, she turned to me and started to slip my cross over her head.
“No, absolutely fuckin’ not,” I stated grimly.
She looked at me in shock. “It’s yours. You need it back.”
“What I need,” I spoke gruffly and wrapped my hands around her wrists, stopping her from removing my cross, “is for you to be safe. For you to be with me somehow, someway.”
“Vander,” she whispered, her eyes wide. “I can’t keep this. It’s too important.”
I needed her to keep it. I needed the connection. I dropped my head for a moment, then looked up at her from beneath my brow. “We’ll see each other again, Ruby-mine. Don’t take away my hope.”
She dropped her hands, her face pained, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Pressing her lips together, she tucked my cross back inside her shirt, snaked her arms around my waist, and lay her cheek against my chest.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
I splayed my hands over her back, and lay my cheek on top of her head, sharing her light.
Twelve hours and three thousand miles away from her, there was no promise of warmth or sunshine anywhere.
Chapter Two – Hi-jacked
Ruby
