After everything that happened when I came back from NYC, the revelations about the Reever family's intentions where I was concerned, and the cold shoulder that I got from Damian, I cut off contact with both boys. I sat in different seats, I didn't sit alone in the dining hall and I stopped going for walks. I needed space from the myths, the signs, and anything connected to fate in the stars. I needed space for myself.

I wasn't sure where Damian and I would stand in the future, but for a while, there needed to be distance. I kept my head down until the winter break. I studied my heart out when I needed to, spent time with Lizbeth and Angie, and played with the band whenever I could. I threw myself into my family and spent a lot of time at the Wyndham Estate with my brother Miles and even went out several times on dates with Killian, in nearby towns. I had to admit that once you separated Killian from the house and his work, he was interesting to be around. 

I learned things about his childhood and about my grandparents who were deceased. He asked me to tell him stories about my own childhood and several times we talked about my mom. Those were the hard moments for Killian, the moments that took a lot of out him; the moments when you saw that vicious tear in his heart, that was left behind by my mom. The tear that never properly healed. 

Just seeing how Killian reacted when we spoke about her, showed me that I couldn't waste any more time on getting wrapped up in the what ifs; I needed to live in the what nows. Exams came and went, and finally, winter break was upon us. It was a much needed break away from this new life and I was excited more than ever to go home and see my hometown and spend time the Carters.

I stood in the airport, duffle bag in hand and my guitar case in the other. I scanned the surrounding area near baggage claim, searching the faces, looking for those forest green eyes that I longed to see so much. I saw him walk in my direction, his skinny jean clad long legs, moved in their long strides. His neck tattoo peaked out from the top of his blue button up shirt, that was buttoned all the way to the top, underneath his black leather jacket. I almost didn't recognize him, he looked more put together than he normally did and his unruly inky black mohawk was curling down on his forehead, underneath the safety of a dark army green beanie.

He looked lost in the moment, walking towards baggage claim, until his head raised and his stunning green eyes locked on me. Just the sight of me, made him stop dead in his tracks. I saw him release the breath he was holding tightly inside his chiseled chest, his perfect pink lips parted and then formed into the largest smile that I had ever seen on his face. I heard my bags and case drop to the ground next to me and then followed the sounds of the slapping of my combat boot clad feet against the hard floor as my legs propelled me towards him. He stretched out his firm arms and I leaped into his embrace.

He stalled for a moment and just stared into my eyes, before he leaned in and wrapped his strong lips around mine and kissed me. The feel of his mouth on mine was electric and the instant he touched me, it took away all my pain, all the doubts, and all the feelings of anyone else but him. His kiss saved me; his lips being the glue that mended all the broken pieces back together. I had never believed in fate, but if I did, I would have believed that Seth and I were destined for each other.

He had been there through all the pain, all the tears, and all the laughs; he had been there for everything that mattered. His grip tightened around my waist as he held me in his arms, my feet dangling over the cream colored floor of the airport, while people just milled around us. When he broke the kiss, he pressed his forehead against mine and just sighed.

"I don't know if I'm going to be able to let you go home in two weeks," Seth whispered, as he rubbed his smooth cheek over mine and just inhaled my scent. Finally, he set me down and walked over to fetch my duffle and guitar case up off the floor, gripping my hand in his and intertwining our fingers. When we stepped out into the freezing cold Minnesota air, the little flakes of snow swirled around me, threatening to kiss my exposed flesh with their bitterly cold edges.

Seth walked us towards the parking lot and as we approached his dad's old grey Jeep, I heard a shrill scream and saw a head of long black hair waving in the cold wind, as she sat on the hood waiting. "Holy hell, if it isn't my favorite ginger in the world!" Kimmy Carter yelled across the parking lot, as she jumped down and ran in my direction.

"Kimmers!" I screamed, as I rushed in her direction. She wrapped her long arms around my neck and gave me the tightest hug she had ever given me. "Hey! Black hearts don't cry." I pushed her away from me slightly the minute I felt her sobs. She looked at me with her dangerously cerulean colored eyes, that were currently filled with tears.

"Black hearts have feelings too, Talia, we just only cry when we are hungry," she said in between sniffles.

"I've missed you, Kimmy." I buried my face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her signature scent of baby powder and hints of jasmine. Kimmy Carter was the other piece of glue in my life and if the thought of leaving Seth behind killed me, leaving her just ripped the serrated blade from my chest even quicker. I didn't realize how much of Minnesota was ingrained in me, until I stepped foot back into its winter grasp. Anthabask had quickly started to attached its nails into my heart, but Minnesota was the barrier of love that kept those fingernails from ripping the flesh off.

"I missed you, infinity!" she sobbed, as Seth came over and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He towered over her slim five foot, four inch, frame as he leaned in and gave her a little kiss on the top of her head. "Alright, I'm good, Seth! Let's get back before it gets dark," she turned to look at Seth and then squeezed out from underneath his muscular arms and made her way into the backseat.

I began to get in the front, but I felt his strong arms wrap around my waist and pull me back into his chest, "I missed you, baby." He sucked in a breath as he kissed the back of my shoulder, before letting go. Just the feel of his touch made being back home feel right. I'd never really stopped to think about what I had left behind or how those little pieces were so significant to who Talia Grey actually was.

I suppose people took for granted the small pieces; those small things like the first home you grew up in, or the first friend you ever made when you went to school. We took for granted the first time we looked up at the stars at night, or the first time our eyes met that one boy that made time stop. All of those little things that made up who I grew into were rooted right there in Northfield and finally, I was back and ready to be reunited with all the little pieces I left behind.

"We ready?" Seth inquired, as he started up the Jeep.

I looked back at Kimmy, who was smiling and simply said, " Electric guitars?"

"Roller skates, all the way," she replied and it warmed my heart that we still had our little inside jokes. It warmed my heart that some things would never change, because they were perfect just the way they were.

The drive to Northfield was short and the first stop was to drop Kimmy and our stuff off at the house. Seth had explained on the drive, that everyone was off at the high school for the annual Kids Without Limits Basketball Charity Game, which was held yearly. Seth's dad was the coach for the Northfield team and the whole town would come out and support the young boys and girls with disabilities, as they played their hearts out for donations. This year they were raising money to build a special play area at the local playground, so that kids who were limited to using a wheelchair had an area with special swings and other play equipment. 

Pulling up to Seth's house seemed surreal. It felt like forever had passed since I had been there, but in reality, it had only been a matter of months. The house looked the same as it always had, the two story Victorian home was still that robin's egg blue with the white trim. The big wrap around porch with its white railing, held the porch swing that Seth and his dad had built with their bare hands. It was the same swing that we used to sit on late at night and eat ice cream or play our guitars. I looked up and saw Seth's window, with its bay window-like front; the same window that I would hurl small pebbles at whenever I snuck down the long dirt road at night to see him. When he would hear me, he would open up his window and climb out onto the flat roof that sheltered the porch. I would always climb up the side lattice and we would sit for hours and just look up at the stars.

That house had a lot of memories and it had been my sanctuary, shielding me from the pain of having lost everything after my mom died. It was where I shed all those tears for her and where Seth had held me, lightly stroking my hair with his strong tattooed hands as he told me stories or sang songs to soothe me in my time of need. It was the same house where I fell in love with Seth, before I was willing to admit it to myself or anyone else and it was the same house where I had my first thoughts of a life with Seth, maybe in a house just like that; but at the time, I had viewed it as a silly, childish thought that a crush would have. There was just so much love that was contained within those simple walls, that the thought of being anywhere else seemed to open that small hole in my heart, where all the pain hid.

Kimmy grabbed my duffel and guitar case from the back of the Jeep and hurried into the house, blowing a kiss back at us. Instead of heading inside, Seth turned the Jeep around on the long dirt driveway and we sped down it into the night, hand in hand. 

He knew exactly where I need to go.

...........................

We pulled onto the dirt road, which was lined with large pine trees, that were so overgrown they blocked out the moonlight. We drove past the few houses along the way, until we came to the end of the road. Sitting at the end of the dirt road was a small gravel lined driveway that led up to a vacant single story home. It wasn't fancy and Victorian like Seth's home was; it looked more like a prefabricated home. It was a light cream colored home, with blue trim. We parked in front of the single car garage and just sat there. I looked over at the mahogany colored deck, where our wooden lounge chairs used to sit; the chairs that Seth and his dad had made for us in their woodworking shop off of their garage. 

The two Royal Star Magnolia trees that sat in the front yard were bare and lined with snow. They looked so small and feeble sitting there in their dwarf-like state, all alone in the darkness. In the pitch black night, there was silence. The snow had made sure to silence the crickets that chirped in the springtime. The small stream behind the house had frozen over and no sounds of running water peeped through to pierce the still and calm night. I found myself opening up the Jeep door and getting out. Seth stayed inside;  he knew I needed to do this for myself. I needed to say goodbye, one final time.

Part of me was terribly sad that no one had stepped up to buy this beautiful little home, whose walls held so many memories and was often encased in the sounds of laughter and joy. No one had made sure to fill its barren walls with their own sounds of chuckling or lined it with their own reminders of wonderful times of past. It broke my heart to see it looking so void and unloved, but then I realized that it became broken the day that she sat there on that tiled floor, waiting for someone to find her.

I felt my heart lurch at the thought that the last time I had been in that home, which held so many pieces of me, was the day I found her. The same day I had gone looking for her in order to find out if she wanted me to order pizza, so we could veg out on the couch and watch a movie. I remember calling for her when I opened the back door, after being with some of my friends. I remember hearing the faint sounds of music coming from the living room, but when I went in and looked, it was just the notes of the song that hung to the stale air.

I walked through the narrow hallway, looking into the laundry, where often I would find her bent over, pulling something out of the dryer. When I would see her doing that, I would make it a point to take my foot and lightly poke her on the behind. She would always chuckle and then make a funny noise, which would sound awfully similar to a fart noise, but it would always make me laugh. That day there was no mom bent over, making fart noises when I poked her in the butt.

I ventured down the hall, peeking into her bedroom; with its pale blue colored walls, which were adorned with abstract art prints of paint splotches in soft strokes and drips of color. Her four poster bed was neatly made, with its freshly laundered white duvet and pale blue throw pillows. I ran my hand over the top of her dresser, which was lined with her perfume bottles and the antique hairbrush and mirror set, that had belonged to her grandma.

I noticed that day that the bathroom door was slightly ajar, so I went over and attempted to push it open, but it was jammed on something. I remember pushing it more forcefully, opening it enough that I could peak my head through and looked at the ground to see what it was caught on. Often, it would be caught on the mint green bathmat, that would get rumpled. It wasn't the bathmat that time though, it was a dainty porcelain skinned foot. My eyes wandered up and saw her slumped over next to the small sink, her one foot curled up underneath her. Her head was resting on her chest and her famous red curls were coming undone from their bobby pins.

It looked like she was simply resting, maybe taking a short breather on the tiled floor, before she kept going with her day. However, she wasn't simply taking a breather. Her one perfectly polished hand was sitting in her lap, with the palm twisted upright and the other was resting beneath her. I was able to squeeze through the small opening in the door and came to kneel beside her, pushing her hair back from her face. I lifted her chin in my direction and her beautiful amber brown eyes stared up at me, except this time, they were void. There was no life in them anymore, just my reflection in their glassiness.

Her lips were pale pink and slightly open, but no breaths escaped them. I knew instantly that she was gone, my whole world was gone. To this very day, I don't know how I remained so calm, but I simply slid my phone out of my back pocket and dialed Seth's number. I remember him answering it excited that I was calling for us to hang out that evening. All I said to him was three simple words, Seth she's dead, before I hung up. My next call was to the services, informing them that my mother had died.

While I waited for someone, anyone to come, I just held her head in my lap and stroked her hair; her skin becoming cold against my bare flesh. I didn't realize that the tears had just streamed down my face, until I looked down and saw that her once dry hair was now slightly wet in places. I just held her, my fingertips telling her how much she meant to me with each individual stroke and caress. I held her until I heard Seth barrel through the front door and run down the hall. I held her until I heard him gasp, as he came to sit beside me and the feel of him brushing the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs. He pried her out of my grasp as he lifted me off the tiled floor, her head coming to rest on the cold tiles. He carried me into the living room and just held me as I cried. I never went back to that house after I watched them wheel my mother's lifeless body out on that gurney.

I never went back, because everything I had ever loved had been ripped away from me. It was no longer a house that had been a home.

It was and would forever be simply a house where my broken heart resided..

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Hey Guys!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, please don't forget to vote and comment!

So I wanted to take Talia back. It's time for her to confront some of her baggage, so she can finally heal those deep scars that she hides from so many people.

So, Seth is back!! <3 He just makes everything better in my opinion!! We are going to finally meet his family and the famous Kimmy "Hermoine SLAYher" Carter (who I see as maybe a younger Megan Fox)

I wonder what kind of stuff Minnesota has in store for Talia! Can't wait..

<3 Amina