I Love You to Death(33)

I smiled back at her as I said, "Yeah, he’s not exactly subtle about these things."
Laughing, Lara asked, "So what do you think I should do?"
I’ll be honest, I was surprised. Surprised she would ask me, but even more so that she would care what I think. "You’re asking me?"
"Yeah Ash, I am," she said still smiling at me.
"Why?"
"Well, I’ve seen the way he is with you. You’re the number one girl in his life. I mean, it’s obvious he adores you, so I’m asking what you think."
If I wasn’t sure I liked her before, I definitely knew I did now. And I definitely wanted her to go out with Seth. Anyone who would care what I thought, like she did, had to be a good thing. "I think you should go out with him," I said confidently. "I think you should put him out of his misery and I think you won’t regret it."
She stood there smiling at me as I said all this, before she surprised me even more by asking, "And you’d be okay with me going out with him?"
And it was in that moment with that one little question that I knew what Lara was really asking me. She wanted to know if I was okay with her becoming the number one girl in Seth’s life, would I be alright sharing my brother with someone else now. Realising this only made me like her even more, so without thinking, I reached out, put my arm around her waist and said, "Lara, I would love it if you went out with him."
Laughing, Lara wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "Okay then," she said and together we walked slowly down the street as we waited for Seth to come back.
After Seth caught up with us, the three of us spent the afternoon together. Lara teaching me loads about photography and lining up shots, the rule of thirds. Seth finally relaxed too, enough that he could talk to Lara normally, without trying so hard anymore. It’s almost as if he knew she’d made her decision now and it was just a matter of time before it happened. And at six o’clock, as we headed back to the car, I smiled as I watched Lara, who was walking beside Seth, silently reach out and take his hand. Seth held hers tightly and wrapped his other arm around my shoulder, pulling me close to him. Quickly, so she wouldn’t hear, he leant down and whispered in my ear, "Thank you Smash, for today." I could only smile in response.
And after that day, they were officially a couple. Seth was so unbelievably happy he’d finally gotten the girl he wanted. I was happy because now, I had a big sister who would talk to me, hang out with me, was nice to me. I remember asking her much later on why she’d finally changed her mind about him.
Lara just smiled as she watched Seth chatting with Dad as they cooked some steaks on the grill, before turning to me. "I think it was seeing the way he was with you that did it," she said.
"Huh?" I asked, confused.
Lara turned to me now, "Seeing how much he loved you Ash, and how protective and caring he was towards you. I’d say that pretty much sealed the deal for me."
And it was right then that I understood how Seth had fallen in love with her, because I loved her too. She became the sister I never had and despite how close she and Seth were, she never took him away from me or felt threatened by our relationship. And I was right about her and Seth, because they were perfect for each other and Seth did change for her, completely changed. Suddenly he was the perfect boyfriend, completely devoted to her and never even looked at another girl again. Dad and I were amazed at the change in him, but we both loved it, because we both loved Lara, she was perfect for him. I’m not sure if Lara ever regretted it though, especially after what happened in the end.
Of course that wasn’t Seth’s fault.
That was mine.
∞

Luke hung out with me for the rest of the afternoon. We listened to music, he kicked my butt at scrabble multiple times and we watched a bunch of crappy TV. I watched as he made himself at home in my apartment and I’ll admit, it helped, having him here. I stopped thinking about how shit my life was for a fraction of a second and he made me laugh enough to feel something closer towards real happiness. Somewhere along the way I also managed to eat more of his cupcakes.
"I like these photos you have Ash," he said to me at one point in the afternoon. "Did you take them?"
"Yeah," I say, watching him look at the pictures I’d put up on the walls. Various pictures of landmarks, streets, beaches and other sights from in and around Providence and Boston. Pictures of Sam; pictures of me and Sam together. "I used to play around with it, but I never took any lessons. I’m not sure I’m any good."
Luke turns to look at me. "Yeah you are Ash, they’re really great."
Again, I find myself smiling at him as he turns back to look at my photos. There’s something slightly surreal about Luke looking at pictures of Sam and I, but there’s no point hiding it, he must know. I don’t know what I’d say to him anyway, I can’t even bring myself to tell him who taught me to do all this. But, just for a second I do let myself remember all of the trips Lara and I made, especially when Seth was away. God I’d loved having her for a sister and for some reason, it makes me happy that Luke actually thinks my photos are good, because it was her who taught me how to take them.
By the time darkness falls however, it’s started to snow, and that gets me thinking bad thoughts all over again.
Luke somehow senses the change in me immediately. "You wanna talk about it?" he asks.
I look at him, just shake my head and flick through the channels on the TV. "Want to watch a movie?" I eventually ask, glancing at my watch. "Or I guess you probably have somewhere else you need to be?"