Chapter Text
𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐘
𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐘 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀 𝐊𝐈𝐃.
They're wrong.
I remember everything.
I remember the smell of my dad's burgers burning on Uncle Gibsie's barbecue because the two of them were too busy arguing about Gibsie still saying inappropriate stuff around the kids after all these years.
I remember Aunt Claire teaching all the girls how to play camogie in the backyard.
I remember Uncle Patrick teaching us to ride horses while Auntie Katie played her guitar for us.
I remember Uncle Hugh laughing so hard beer came out of his nose.
I remember Mam pretending to be annoyed when Aunt Lizzie stole food off her plate.
I remember music floating across the garden while all the grown-ups sat around the firepit, talking about things that seemed important back then.
To us, they weren't.
The world ended at the back fence.
Beyond it didn't matter.
"Liam!" A high-pitched, girly voice shrieks.
"Give it back!" Another one yells.
"You've got cooties!"
"I do not!"
"You definitely do!"
I laughed so hard my stomach hurt as Brenna chased Liam around the garden with a water gun nearly as big as she was.
Brenna Gibson looked like sunshine.
She was sunshine.
My heart always did this weird thing when I saw her.
I didn't know what it was.
It felt like my heart was trying to fight its way out my chest. Like my entire world revolved around her.
Her blonde curls wild and messy, wearing this stupid little pastel yellow dress with ruffles. Her feet covered in mud and grass from running around barefoot all day.
Liam chased after her, same wild blonde curls and light yellow shorts.
"You started it!" Liam yelled.
"I'll finish it!" She shot back, scowling at him.
"You have tiny legs!" He stuck his tongue out at her.
"I'M TELLING MAM!" Brenna screamed.
"You tell her everything!" Liam hissed.
Brendan Biggs climbed halfway up the old oak tree before Uncle Hughie shouted from across the garden.
"Get down before your mother kills me!" He scolded, his eyes wide as he pointed a spatula at Brendan.
"I'm not that high!" Brendan whined.
"Yer literally in the clouds!" Hughie exaggerated.
"I'm basically a bird!"
"You'll basically be grounded!" Auntie Lizzie barked from where she was sitting beside Aunt Claire.
Everyone laughed.
The treehouse sat at the very back of the garden.
It wasn't much.
A little crooked. Paint peeling. One missing window. All our names carved into the tree it stood on.
But to us...
It was a castle.
A pirate ship.
A clubhouse.
A secret headquarters.
The only place in the world that belonged to us.
By the time I climbed the ladder, everyone else was already there.
Liam was sprawled across the floor.
Brendan was trying to balance on the windowsill.
Evelynn was organizing snacks because someone had to, her ginger curls in a ponytail sitting at the top of her head.
Caoimhe was attempting to convince everyone we should jump out of the treehouse using blankets as parachutes.
"You'd die," I told her.
"You don't know that." She planted her hands on her hips.
"I literally do." I blinked like it was obvious.
"We'd glide."
"We'd fall."
"We'd glide."
"We'd die."
She shrugged. "Worth finding out."
Brenna squeezed in beside me.
Our shoulders bumped.
They always did.
She looked out over the garden. "You think we'll still come here when we're grown up?"
"Obviously." I shrugged, letting her lean against me and rest her head against my shoulder.
"What if we live somewhere else?"
"We won't."
"What if we do?"
I frowned because the idea didn't make sense.
Why would anyone leave?
Everything we loved was here.
Our parents.
Our friends.
Uncle Patrick's farm.
Gibson Bakery.
Mam's veterinary clinic.
Tony's Garage where Uncle Joey worked.
Auntie Aoife's hair salon.
Each other.
We didn't need to leave when we had all this life around us.
"We'll still come back." I said finally, wrapping a arm around her shoulders.
"You promise?" She looked up at me with hopeful eyes, almost gray irises focused on me.
"I promise." I whispered back, my face breaking into a wide grin.
Evelynn stood up first. "We should make it official." She declared, clapping her hands together.
"Official?" Liam repeated, staring at his best friend..
"A friendship promise." She clarified.
Brendan gasped dramatically. "Like brave knights!"
"We're not brave knights." Caoimhe rolled her eyes at him.
"We could be." He whined, his bottom lip jutting out as he pouted.
"We're kids," Liam deadpanned.
"So?" Evelynn shrugged.
"So... we're still not knights."
"We should swear," Caoimhe declared.
"Not bad words!" Evelynn said immediately.
"That's boring." Caoimhe groaned. "We all put our hands in."
One by one, we did.
Brendan Biggs.
Evelynn Feely.
Liam Gibson.
Caoimhe Kavanagh.
Me.
Then Brenna Gibson.
Her hand landed on top of mine.
Small.
Warm.
Like it belonged there.
And maybe it did.
"No matter what happens," Evelynn said. "We have to come back."
"And we have to stay friends," Brendan added.
"Forever," Caoimhe grinned.
Liam rolled his eyes. "That's so cheesy."
"But you're still saying it." She shoved his head lightly.
"...Yeah."
We all laughed.
Everyone ran back down the ladder.
Everyone except Brenna.
She stayed sitting beside me.
The music drifted through the trees.
Someone by the fire laughed.
The sun was starting to disappear.
"You really mean it?" she asked quietly.
I looked at her like she'd asked the silliest question in the world. "Of course."
"What if everything changes?" She frowned, still resting against my shoulder with my arm around her.
"It won't." I assured her, letting my cheek rest on top of her head.
"But if it does?"
I didn't have an answer for that.
So I gave her the only one I could.
I hooked my pinky around hers.
"No matter what, Bren."
She smiled. The kind of smile that made everything feel okay.
"No matter what, Rory."