Never Forget (Memories)

better than a bad change, I guess.''
    ''Yeah. Mum, I'm sorry for earlier-''
    ''Don't be.'' She meets my eyes. ''Don't ever be sorry for hurting, baby girl. Don't ever be afraid to cry. Tears are the soothing balm for the soul, the mother's magic kiss on a grazed knee. You have twice the pain because your heart is broken too. And Lexy, baby, I am sorry we didn't tell you, I really am.'' She steps towards me and strokes my face gently. ''She wanted to tell you herself when she was ready. I should have made her tell you because now..''
    ''He made the decision not to tell me. Not you, not Gram. He could have tried harder,'' I say sadly, feeling my heart break all over again. ''He told me he loves me, do you know that? He begged me to believe him, to let him take the pain away. But Mum.. He lied, didn't he? Because you don't keep stuff like that from the person you love, do you? You don't keep secrets.''
    ''What would you have done, if you were him?'' She raises an eyebrow. ''Would you have told you, or would you have kept that smile on your face? You're right. You don't keep secrets from the person you love, but you don't hurt them either. The person you love becomes the centre of your universe and you'd do anything to protect them. He wasn't lying to you, baby girl, he was protecting you from the pain he knew you'd feel when you found out.''
    'I didn't tell you because there isn't a single part of me that could bear to see the pain in your eyes that's there now.'
    I nod once at Mum and turn my attention back to the garden.
    ''Remember the look in his eyes whenever he saw you, the way he would look at you,'' Mum pushes softly and backs from the room. ''If you think he really did lie to you, then maybe, you didn't really know him that well at all.''
    And then.. Silence, again.
    Do I know Alec? Yes. I do.
    Do I believe he'd hurt me deliberately? I.. I.. No, not really.
    But sometimes, no matter how much you believe something, it doesn't change what's already happened. He has hurt me, and for me, that's the bottom line. The end of a simple boy meets girl love story.
    Not quite Romeo and Juliet, but close enough.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

    ALEXIS

    There might as well be a huge rain cloud hanging over the cottage, thick, dark and heavy. Without Grammy the old building has no life, no soul.
    My foot taps against the floor as I stare at the clock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Round and round the arms go, never stopping, never ending, ticking away every second of your life. If it does stop it's simple. You simply replace the batteries, give it another lease of life, but it doesn't stop ticking away.
    No. Time doesn't stop just because your life has. The world doesn't stop spinning just because yours is upside down.
    ''She's coming round,'' Mum says softly, a small smile daring to play on her lips. ''They expect her to be fully awake in an hour or so.''
    ''Does that mean we can go and see her?'' I look away from the clock.
    She smiles in response and I nod.
    ''I..''
    ''You don't have to, baby girl. She'll understand. You can see her tomorrow.'' Dad squeezes my shoulder and I smile gratefully.
    ''Thanks, Dad.'' I turn to my brother. ''Are you going?''
    He shrugs one shoulder. ''I guess I did promise her Vino.''
    ''I don't think they'll accept that as an excuse in ICU, Sam.'' Dad half-smiles.
    ''I was kidding. I guess I'll come see her. I don't want her getting excited though.''
    ''Excited? Gram? Never.'' I roll my eyes and everyone laughs.
    ''Come on then.'' Mum claps her hands. ''By the time we've got into Barnstaple and had coffee she'll be ready for us.''
    ''Hospital coffee?'' Dad mumbles to himself and kisses my head. ''Why does she torture me this way?''
    I giggle slightly and the sound surprises me. I guess I got all my sadness out last night.
    ''Be safe, baby girl.'' Mum kisses my cheek and they leave, Bing sending me a wary look. The door shuts with a deafening sound and I'm alone in the cottage.
    I walk from room to room downstairs. Gram's trinkets line shelves, surfaces, family pictures cover every wall. The cottage is so her, so delicate yet so lively at the same time.
    Delicate.. I never imagined I'd have to think of her as delicate. But she is. She's delicate like the first snowflake falling from the sky at winter, a single touch and it's gone.

    ALEC

    I amble downstairs looking like shit because I haven't slept. Every time I shut my eyes I see her face the moment she realised I'd lied. I'd betrayed her by not telling her.