Just Remember to Breathe (Thompson Sisters)

dozens of pictures of us together. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that I’d fallen in love.
    What Carrie didn’t know was how hard it had been, so I told her. About the doubts, the distance. Knowing that he was planning on going off after high school to gain experience and write novels. Knowing that we’d be separated. I broke it off with Mike as soon as I got back to San Francisco, but I’d been anchorless, my existence for those first few months revolving around phone calls, emails and Facebook exchanges with Dylan.
    What she didn’t know was he’d joined the Army the day after I broke up with him. Which meant that, in a big way, his subsequent injuries were my fault.
    I told her about how we’d slowly re-tangled our lives after encountering each other outside Doctor Forrester’s office in September. How his injuries had impacted him, and how we ran together every other morning.
    “I can believe that. I’ve never seen you looking so… svelte,” she said.
    “Well, we run about seven miles. Lots of exercise together.”
    “Oh?” she asked coyly, eyebrows raised.
    Heat rushed to my cheeks. “Oh, my God! I didn’t mean that, Carrie!”
    She smiled. “It’s okay, Alexandra. I wouldn’t tell Dad. You can talk to me.”
    I looked down at the table, embarrassed, then said, “I’ve sort of decided we’re finally going to.”
    Her mouth formed a big O. “Really?” she said.
    I nodded. “I love him, Carrie. More than you can imagine. I want to spend my life with him.”
    She sighed. “I’m envious.”
    I sat back in my seat, shocked.
    “You’re envious of me?”
    She gave me a bittersweet smile. “My life is all planned out, Alex. I guess all of our lives are, except Julia’s. There’s been no room for men. And … let’s just say I’ve been regretting that. I’m so happy for you.”
    “You’ll get to meet him at the party tonight. Oh, and speaking of men,” I said, leaning forward and grinning at her. “I promised to introduce you to his friend. Ray Sherman. Sherman just got home from Afghanistan.”
    Carrie blinked. “Dad would have a conniption if I were to date a soldier. Look at how he treated you.”
    I laughed. “You’ll like him,” I said. “He’s a nice guy. And … objectively, knowing I’ve got a boyfriend I am absolutely in love with… Sherman is still really hot.”
    Her eyes twinkled. “Well, in that case, I’m looking forward to meeting him!”
    “You really mean it? You’re not going to report all this back to Dad? I don’t think I can take all the grilling over Thanksgiving. It’s going to be bad enough as is.”
    “I promise, sis. Not a word. I’ll tell him you’re happy and to leave you alone. ”
    “That ought to go well,” I replied, and we laughed, but there was an edge to the laugh. We both knew it wouldn’t go over well at all.

CHAPTER NINE

    Whatever (Dylan)

    Okay. Yeah, reading through her emails, and seeing the heartache that poured through them… it put me in a pretty craptastic mood. I’m not usually the best at expressing myself, and even though my new therapist down at the VA has told me repeatedly that I have to let go of the guilt for killing Roberts, the fact is, what the hell does she know? Why does the VA have some non-combat veteran twenty-something girl as a therapist anyway?
    Whatever.
    When Sherman woke up, he could tell my mood had soured, but he didn’t intrude, just treated it as normal. It probably was. I’ve always been pretty damn moody, and with the on-again, off-again nature of my long-distance relationship, well… let’s just say I had some down times over in Afghanistan.
    Maybe I needed to talk about it. With Alex, or Sherman, or someone who gave a damn. I don’t know. How do you say the words, “I’m sorry,” and have them mean something? You hear that crap all the time, but it’s not sufficient when it comes to heartbreak. And that’s just about all I’d accomplished in the last year: grief and heartache for other people.
    Whatever. I needed to stop dwelling on all that crap. Sherman was in town, and Alex’s sister, and Alex apparently had special plans for us tonight, which she’d hinted at, and I needed to just get over it, and stop ruining everyone else’s night with my own problems.
    I dressed in the tight pair of jeans and black t-shirt Alex had shown her appreciation for a week earlier by sort of… throwing herself at me. At least I think it was a hint she liked it, when she chewed