12. Epiphany

Ryan arrived home from his classes at 5:00 pm. I was still sitting outside listening to the still falling rain.

“You’re not going to get better like that,” he comments.

“It’s peaceful and calming though,” I reply.

“It’s gloomy, I prefer the sunshine,” he continues.

That was him. A light in the darkness for me.

“What did you think?” I started.

“What?” he asks.

“When you found out Alice was dead, what did you think?” I ask.

“She’s gone. I’ll never see her smile, or hear her voice, or…I don’t know. I thought about all our memories together. I regretted our fights. I’d wish I spent more time with her, I wished I knew how much she was hurting. But it was too late…” he answers quietly. “Maybe that’s why I noticed you, it wasn’t too late. And I knew the signs.”

“For the first time in months when I was alone, I didn’t think about Alice and how she could be there if I’d done more. I thought about you, and how I could do more,” he continues.