The smile slowly crawled back on Tora's face, but she was still wary. She kept her head low while occasionally looking in the corner of her eyes every time she sensed someone approaching.
"Why did you want to see them?" She asked.
"I wanted to see you naturally to see if what I was going to give you would look good with them."
She looked at him with her brow quirked as she waited.
"Happy birthday, Etora." He placed the gift on the sofa in front of her.
She looked at the gift, then she looked at Darren before slowly taking the box from his hands. Placing the box on her lap, Tora began unwrapping the present. After peeling the bow, she neatly untapped every corner of the wrapping paper.
Right. Darren had almost forgotten about that habit. Every time she received a gift, she would always carefully remove the wrapping paper and fold it neatly. She would keep anything decorated with astronomical bodies like stars, planets or constellations. That was the reason Darren always got her presents wrapped in paper with astronomic decorations.
Darren chuckled softly, hiding his mouth behind his hand.
"What?"
"I didn't say anything." He feigned ignorance.
"Don't laugh. I'm not going to let such beautiful paper go to waste."
It took a while, but she finally got the wrapping paper off and folded it neatly before putting it aside.
Darren's eyes remained glued on her face, carefully observing her reaction as she lifted the lid off the box.
Her eyes trembled, and her hands shook as she picked up her present out of the box. She raised it up to get a closer look at the red sweater that was in the box. She looked at the shirt, fully splayed on her lap as she lightly passed her fingers along the seams of the fabric.
She looked up at him again. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She gulped and tried again. "This is…"
"Your sweater. I lost it a long time ago, but it turns out it was at Isabella's house. I know how much it means to you."
Her eyes glimmered as tears began to run down her cheeks. She pulled Darren to her in a tight hug, holding him as she let her tears fall onto his shoulder. Darren wrapped an arm behind her back and used his other hand to pat her head until she calmed down.
For the first time in a long time, the gap between them disappeared in just a moment. It was like they were back to being kids when they only had each other to rely on. Whenever Tora would cry about her father and brother, he held her close, letting her cry her heart out.
She did the same for Darren. Whenever he would have nightmares about losing his father and mother, he would wake up in a start. He often had panic attacks, and it was Tora who would hold him until he calmed down.
Darren and Tora had lost their parents around the same time when they were children, and they bonded over that. Although they did not have their parents, they had each other since they first met. They were together at the group homes they went to, doing their very best to stay together at all times.
But, as time passes, things will inevitably change. As they grew up, the gap between them grew as they each had their own goals in life. The different paths they wanted to take naturally pulled them apart.
Tora finally stopped crying and released Darren.
"Thank you," she whispered. She wiped away the last of her tears. She looked at the red sweater, passing her hands over the small circular grooves. "The sweater was my father's. I remember our last night together. It was cold, but I was sick. My father wrapped my brother and me in the sweater while he worked." She paused, looked at Darren, and back at the sweater. "My father was so tall, his clothes were like a blanket on me."
She stood up and unfolded the sweater watching at it fall to the floor. She placed one arm through the left sleeve, then the other through the right. The sweater draped over her body like a long robe with large sleeves and a hood that held her full head of wild curls.
She laughed as she sniffled. It was still the same, the feeling she feels when she sniffed the sweater. She could remember being held in her father's arms, burying her head in his shoulder whenever he carried her. She sensed a warmth around her like when he squeezed her small body in his arms. She had lost that feeling and yearned for it all her life, and now, she felt it again. She felt close to her father for the first time in a long time.
"Thank you," she said to Darren again.
"You're welcome, Tora," Darren said. "I'm glad you like your present. You look good in it."
"It's been almost thirty years and it's still so big."
"Well, you were like a foot taller than me when we first met. You were eight years old, and I was seven, so I guess tall genes run in the family."
Tora laughed again.
When was the last time she laughed so much her tummy ached? When was the last time she smiled so widely her jaws hurt? When was the last time she felt so emotional, so open?
"The last thing I remember about my dad was when he put me on the-"
The room suddenly became louder as the ground began to shake that Tora fell back onto the couch. There was a massive explosion outside before a giant ball of lightning passed outside their window. As they looked out, they saw a man hovering in front of the window with lightning crackling around him like a storm. He wore a white suit with metallic accents all over and a white mask on his face that was more so accentuated against his dark skin.
"Hey, look, it's Electro," someone cried out in the lounge. Everyone rushed to the window to get a close look right before he seemingly turned into a bolt of lightning and flew away.
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