After Reed Read online

  “Mmmm,” she hummed, pulling my other hand around her back to get me to hold her.

  I rest my eyes in the crook of her neck and clung on like I used to.

  We slow-danced without music like we’d done in the beginning in that hotel room that very first time.

  “Hey, remember when I used to tell you: I can’t.”

  “I do,” I laughed, hitting her lightly with my hand. Her skin felt so nice.

  When we first started dating she was too scared to get in too deep, she tried to resist.

  “I’m glad I can,” she said, covering everything.

  Eventually we ended up in the shower and she took to kissing me like she used to, pulling every little bit out of me and barely keeping me alive with how weak she made me feel.

  The hot water streamed down on the both of us and she pushed me up on the wall, lifting me up like she always did.

  “Everything,” her ghost of a voice kept invading me. Her hand on one side of my neck and her lips kissing and dragging up the other side. Fingers slipped inside my sex and nearly broke me in an instant. She wasn’t hard or fast. She was real and that was unbelievable right now.

  I cried, I know I did. But she probably couldn't see with all the water. She fucked me slow until I whined and cried out unable to take any more of my dreams coming true.

  She shut the water off and carried me wet, back to the bed, laying me down and kissing me everywhere.

  She was so gentle and it really felt like a dream.

  When I fell asleep again she came in and she kissed me to wake.

  It was like she couldn’t take another second without me, not again.

  I was bathed in her love, dripping with it and loving her.

  When I woke up again we actually did get up and get dressed for the day.

  She took time to be invisible out of fear that being real too long could be bad.

  We were careful with these things but her parents wanted to cook for her so I pretended to go get her even though she’d been right by my side all morning and watching tv. They’d taken even longer than me to really wake. That surprised me a lot.

  Reed’s dad used to be on military time, his whole life must’ve changed.

  My mom came down after everyone else was awake. She’d retired I guess and taken to golfing a lot and picked up photography again. Hearing her talk about her good medium friend made my heart ache. I wanted to invite her down, see her again. She, out of everyone, would be the most open to Reed’s current situation. Verona was very spiritual to say the least.

  We ate together and Reed and I managed to keep our touching minimal for a large span of time.

  The morning haunted me pleasantly. My body ached from Reed’s hands and Reed’s love.

  My physical marks from the first time were already starting to fade.

  The Evanses stayed a long time. Eventually I convinced Reed to go invisible again and we swam together in the lake.

  Her parents watched and so did Nora, Nat, and my mom.

  Reed splashed through the water like she used to and you could tell where she was by her wake.

  She held me a lot and we floated together, talking alone.

  It was perfect somehow.

  I didn’t have fear of her being killed now and that was good. I didn’t have fear of her dreams since she didn’t dream.

  All our problems had been reversed, all our fears.

  She worried about Daniel coming for me but I didn’t.

  The security men came and set up the cameras and a lot of my old clothes and things came down in a moving van from back home. We decided to let the van sit for a day. There were too many people around to be rifling through things and ignoring everyone.

  My dad arrived around 4 o’clock when the Evans’s were just going into town to grab groceries so that they could barbeque a small feast.

  “Leah,” he said, eyes squinting as he wore his serious face.

  He’d lost weight. He looked pale.

  From what my mom said he hadn’t been hiding away so that startled me.

  “Dad?” I met him halfway to the door and he hugged me so tight.

  I didn’t have the heart to ask him to be careful.

  Reed was out back with Nat and Nora and we had this moment alone which made me happy. I hadn’t gotten to see people respond to just me. This was new.

  “How are you?” He asked. “Are-are you okay?”

  “I’m okay,” I said, nodding. “I’m getting back some of my muscle and I’m staying awake a lot longer than I could before.”

  “That’s good,” he said, still holding me. I could tell he wanted to pick me up like I was a kid.

  He was sort of frozen and stunted and I didn’t know what to do.

  “Natalie’s taking care of you?” He asked.

  “Oh, yeah,” I said, trying to be normal. “Natalie’s been great.”

  A life saver...

  “I’m so happy you’re feeling better,” he said.

  “Me too,” I answered him. I didn’t know what to say. “How’s work?” I asked.

  “Work?” He seemed confused. “Oh, uh, it’s good, it’s good. We’re making some breakthroughs. Could use your help though,” he laughed awkwardly.

  “Well, I’m here,” I shrugged.

  It was silent and I was nervous. Dad and I never knew what to say. If we weren’t playing games, we weren’t talking. This was so different. This wasn’t us.

  The door behind me opened and Reed walked out.

  My face dropped a little, she kept sort of bombing people with her presence. It wasn’t really nice.

  My dad stood up and sort of froze but Reed walked to my side and took my hand, she leaned forward and pat my dad on his chest. “Hi Mr. Grayson,” she said, like it was no fucking big deal.

  “Wha-ah- Reed? Um- Reed?? Hi. Hi.” He decided to say.

  “I can’t explain it,” I shrugged. He was having his crisis and I knew there was nothing I could do.

  He leaned forward and touched Reed’s arms.

  “Whoa,” she laughed as he pulled her forward a little and pat down her arms and legs like this was the airport and he was hired for TSA. “Ahhh, Leah? Wanna help me out here?” She asked nervously.

  “Dad, stop,” I laughed, taking his hand and pulling him to stand so he’d stop touching her. “She’s real,” I said. “I don’t know how,” I shrugged again.

  “Well, this- this is-”

  “Shhh,” I said, needing him not to give me ideas. I didn’t want to be thinking about what this meant in terms of matter and physics and space and on and on and on. I couldn’t deal with that right now. I had to shut that side of me down.

  “Sorry,” he coughed, straightening up. “It’s uh- it’s, good to see you Reed. You’ve been missed.”

  I chuckled and fell into her as she hugged me. My dad was so weird. The apple did not fall far.

  “You too Mr. Grayson,” her cute voice soothed and healed me. She was so dreamy all the time. This new chance, this extra life, was really too much.

  I couldn’t wait for all of these moments to be done so that it could just feel normal again. We still had several people we needed to show. New people wouldn’t be a trouble. With new people Reed could just decide to fully be invisible or fully be present and we wouldn’t have to explain.

  “Your parents left,” I said.

  “Oh shoot, I was trying to catch them.”

  “I can call ‘em if you want.”

  They’d been trying to decide if they should make steaks or burgers. I think they just got restless after a while. I also think they were probably talking about us right now wherever they were. Either way, they’d be back.

  We went inside and brought my dad to my mom.

  My dad asked me more normal questions about my health and then he went off with Natalie for a while and I watched from afar as they had some sort of deep discussion that ended up in a tight hug.

  Nat stared off at me in her listless way and I worr
ied.

  We couldn’t talk now though, there was too much going on. No choice though, I had to at least try to help.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Nat

  Everyone was very animated now. It had been about 24 hours since the last awkward silence and I liked that a lot.

  The Evanses were funny. Seeing Reed made them both seem so alive.

  I could see in everyone how they must’ve been as small children. The only one who was good at hiding that was Lily.

  Reed made me laugh a little. She apparently popped into my room for a second and got an eyeful last night. I had to tell her to stop being a perv.

  It was fun to be able to push her again.

  I missed that…

  Leah’s dad coming was the biggest surprise. I could take the cameras and the moving truck and the Evans’s. I could take Nora saying she loved me. I could take a lot of random things. But Leah’s Dad seeking me out and talking to me? Now that was really quite fucking new.

  “How’d you do it?” He asked, looking between me and Leah awkwardly.

  I pulled him aside so that Leah wouldn’t worry but I couldn’t get too far away.

  “I didn’t do anything,” I said, looking him up and down and wondering what he meant.

  “She’s back,” he said. He was probably talking about Reed.

  “I know,” I said. “It’s a miracle.”

  “It is,” he said seriously.

  “I - uh… I can’t- There’s-” He kept cutting off his own words. “There’s nothing I can do to repay you,” he said. “I know my wife tried. Tried to give you money. Tried to ask you what you would want. Anything-” He looked at me vulnerably. It was the first time he had ever looked vulnerable in front of me.

  “You saved my baby's life,” he said, breaking me. He’d been talking about Leah and I should’ve known. They were just so strange, I couldn’t ever read them. God knows that’s why I liked her so much, she wasn’t easy. “You brought her back when no one else could.” He was getting emotional and it was weird for me.

  Usually I wouldn’t mind emotions. Mr. Grayson wasn’t an emotional person though. I’d never ever seen him like this. This was more than weird.

  “Natalie, I owe you everything,” he said, shaking.

  “Mr. Grayson,” I tried.

  “No,” he said. “I do.”

  Before I could say anything else he pulled me into a hug and squeezed me.

  I took a second but I adjusted to just let it go on.

  Over his shoulder I could see Leah watching and it worried me.

  Everyone here was emotionally unstable, including me.

  I sort of longed for the simplicity of last week when Nora first arrived. A lot had changed for the better but right now this was certainly too much and I worried about Leah’s delicate mind.

  Leah got up and came over to us.

  “Can I talk to you for a second?” she asked sweetly.

  “Sure,” I said, looking to her dad and hoping he would let us both go.

  “I’ll-I’ll just be over there,” he said, to her or to me, I couldn’t say.

  Leah took my hand and led me quietly down toward the water.

  The edge wasn’t enough, she walked us onto the planks of the dock until no one could hear us. I even saw Reed waiting and watching from far off.

  “Are you okay?” Leah asked.

  “Sure,” I nodded my head. Was I okay with what though? With her Dad? With all these people?

  “Is this what it’s been like for you?” Her voice was quiet and shaky. It worried me. I didn’t even like her standing this long, she wasn’t strong enough yet.

  “No, no,” I said. “Everyone’s a lot more present right now. It wasn’t like this at all. It was quiet and sad and I was more concerned about you to be bothered by any of them.” My voice trailed off with the breeze.

  There was a chair set up on the end of the dock. I walked toward it and sat, pulling Leah to sit on my lap.

  “I don’t like you standing this long,” I said, pulling her to rest her back onto me.

  She entwined her fingers with mine and let me hold her.

  The water was so still and calm. I stared out and so did she. She had sandals on and her feet were cute. The last manicure I gave her had no problem sticking since she didn’t do much.

  “This is what it was like,” I said, putting up a divide between us and all of them.“I had you. That was enough.”

  “I love you,” she said.

  “I know, baby,” I let my soft tears fall and I squeezed her a little tighter in my arms, breathing her in. It was so good to have her back.

  “Nora’s gonna stay,” I said. “I’m gonna try.”

  “I’m glad,” she said.

  “Me too,” I answered, still a little worried about everything else.

  “I like it like this,” Leah said. “You picked the perfect place for us.”

  “I know,” I said, happy that she was telling me again.

  I didn’t want her to feel like she owed me things. That was the last thing I wanted from her.

  There was a gentle squeaking on the planks of the dock, I heard footsteps behind us, felt hands on my shoulders, and I knew it was her.

  “We’re alright,” Reed said. Her voice was no longer a memory and I loved that so much.

  For the first time in a long time, I actually agreed.

  “We are,” I said.

  “I love it,” Leah followed. I felt her free hand twist up and tug on two of Reed’s fingers so we all could touch.

  There wasn’t a moment in this world worth more. We were all together again. We were all safe.

  THE END

  Afterword

  Confession: we wrote this one on accident. Fingers started to move and a story came out without much thought. There is easily enough here for an elaborate sequel. All the mysterious mentioning of Daniel and other characters, and the exploration of possibilities in how and why Reed was able to come back and live, they all lend to creative storytelling and it would be very easy to slip right back into this world again and write a second book.

  For now, we’ll just wait and see if anyone has interest in reading this specific fictional path.

  Paper Dolls Book 3 is in the editing stage. If you liked what you read here and are looking for something similar you can check out the Paper Dolls Series available on Amazon and at: paperdollsbooks.com.

  Thanks for reading and we hoped you enjoyed the small tale!

  <3 B & E