#UnfoldCharacter

I awoke to the sounds of someone pounding on the front door of my apartment. I sleepily raised up in bed, my gaze darting to the alarm clock resting on my nightstand. 3:54 A.M. "Who the heck is here at this hour?" I muttered as I drew the comforter back and swung my legs over the bedside. The pounding hadn't subsided; in fact, it was even louder now. As if someone was desperate to see me. The question was, who?
I swiftly dressed in a pair of jeans and a purple mid-sleeve. With shaking hands, I drew a dagger out of my desk drawer and tightly clutched it. While I prayed whoever was at my door was a friend, I needed to be prepared in case they weren't.
With the weapon tightly within my grasp, I made my way to the front door. The rapping still sounded from the other side. "Who is it?" I questioned, my voice a lot more confident than I felt.
"Rach? it....it's me." Immediately, I recognized the voice. The dagger clattered to the ground as I unlocked the door. Before I had a chance to speak or even look up into the familiar face, I was seized and pulled into an embrace so tight I found it difficult to breathe.
"Rach," The voice said softly into my light brown hair. "I missed you so much." I felt a tear land on my shoulder. The man holding me was crying.
"Kevin, let me go." I drew back. When he finally released me, I looked up into the face of my older brother. The one person I had never expected to see again.
"Rach," Kevin repeated, growing more urgent by the second. "I'm sorry if I woke you, but I couldn't bare us not talking for another day."
As he spoke, I thought back to the night we had swore on our graves we would never speak again. It may have been four years ago, but I'll never forget it. We got into a huge fight. My boyfriend had been physically abusing me, and Kevin swore he was going to kill him. I still remember grabbing him by the arm, forcing him to stop or practically drag me away with him. Then he got angry. Madder than I'd ever seen him. I started yelling that it was my life, and he should just mind his own business. He had literly pinned me to the wall, screaming in my face. I knew he was just scared I would be seriously hurt, but at the time I had been hungover so bad I can barely even remember half of our argument to this very day. I can't recall what I said, but whatever it was it must have been pretty bad. The last thing I remember was him letting me go and telling me that when my boyfriend killed me not to expect sympathy or sorrow from him. He said he didn't care whether I lived or died.
Now, four years later, here Kevin stood, crying on my doorstep. "Come on in," I gestured, still dumbfounded. "I'm got a spare bedroom."
"Seriously?" He asked, shocked. "You're seriously going to just let me come in, after how bad I hurt you?"
I turned to look at him, holding back tears. I rushed into his arms, savoring the feeling of knowing I could call him if I needed him. "I'm just grateful to have my brother back." I whispered.
He hugged me super tight. "Me, too. I love you, Rachel."
"I love you too, Kev."



If you enjoyed this please like and comment! Thanks for reading!
© Shelby Pryor