When Time Runs Out (Part 2) - Story Day

Well. You guys surprised me last week by responding very well to my first attempt at romance, which means you now get to suffer through part two! XD You brought it upon yourselves. *nodnod*

I'm going to post a before where I left off last week just to make remembering the important stuff a little easier. ;) And if you want to find Part 1, it's right here!

The Prompt

"As she flicked through the letters, a small, handwritten envelope caught her attention and her heart began to beat against her ribcage."

-TMDWA (The Most Dangerous Writing App)

The Story

Do you remember that day I found you crying in your car, and you told me to go away, to leave you be? Do you remember how I broke into your car because I knew you couldn't be alone? Do you remember letting me hold you as you told me how alone you felt in your family, how unloved and worthless?

Kara stopped reading again. Her sister had never said a thing about that. Of course she had been loved! Why would she think she wasn't? She swallowed and glanced back at the page.

That was the day I determined to love you as much as a poor boy like I could. That's when I started buying you gifts, do you remember? You would blush every time and stammer something about how nice it was.

A half-smile lifted Kara's lips. Ahh, so that's where all her random junk came from. None of the knick-knacks had ever served any purpose, and all of them were ridiculously ugly, but Gracie had doted on them.

After a while, you said I had to stop or your parents and sister would get suspicious of your sudden wealth. So I tried to be there for you, to show you that I was willing to clear anything out of my schedule in order to spend time with you. To show you that you were important with me. I would do little things for you, like open doors or pull out a chair for you. I'm not sure you ever noticed those little things, but they were my way of trying to say, "I love you."

This letter is the hardest way of showing my love I've ever had to do. I've always felt incapable with my words, like I'm too blundering or too wordy. So I never wrote you any notes or said all the things I should have said so long ago.

I love you, Grace Marie. More than life itself.

I know it broke your heart when I moved away, and now I'm doing my fumbling best to provide any sort of healing I can.

Will you come here, to me? I want to marry you. I want to call you mine and spend the rest of my life loving you and showing you that you have worth to at least one person in this world. I want you, darling.

I know you never told your family about us, and I know why you didn't. And if you want to keep it that way until we're married, I will follow your lead. But if you want to tell them everything, know that I am with you in heart and am supporting you as you confess.

They do love you, Gracie. They just never tell you.

Tears welled up in Kara's eyes again, and this time she couldn't hold them back. They spattered across the beautifully handwritten pages, smearing ink and turning it into more of a mess than anything else. Choking on a sob, Kara put the letter back on the desk and curled up in her chair, covering her face.

That was her biggest regret. That she had never, not once, told her sister that she loved her. And now she never could. Gracie was gone from this earth, forever, and Kara wasn't sure she'd ever see her again.

I loved you, I did, she thought, hugging her knees to her chest and burying her face in them. I did, I promise.

Maybe she had just never realized how much she'd loved her sister until Gracie was gone.

***

Two months later, a man pacing his apartment floor received a letter from Kara Trasek. The lettering was simple but elegant, and it seemed normal, except for the wrinkled tearstains scattered across the envelope.

The man swallowed. Why was Gracie's sister contacting him instead of Gracie herself?

Bracing himself, he opened the letter.

---

Yes, that's where it ends. XD Let me know your thoughts, and feel free to keep writing the story after Unnamed-Hopeless-Romantic-Secret-Admirer-Dude reads Kara's letter. :P

Until next time,

Take courage, pursue God, and smile while you still have teeth!! ^_^

-Joelle