"I'm so sorry!" he said, holding his hands in the air as if under arrest. "I didn't..."

She shook her head. "Not your fault," she said, turning her face away from him.

"I just wanted..." he began. I just wanted to thank you for the shirt. He didn't expect her to react like that. She had jumped, yelled at him and tried to take his hand, all within a second. It wasn't the same as when he'd surprised her while she was scrolling on her phone and she'd shrieked. This had been fear and she was frightened. Her eyes were bigger than usual and all her muscles were tensed. Was it the physical contact that bothered her? Had he gone too far?

"Don't worry about it," she said quickly. She took her brand new bag of the counter while putting her wallet back in the old one in a swift motion. Before he realized what was going on, she started walking towards the exit, leaving him behind in the store.

"Emily, wait!"

Having to wait for the automatic doors of the store to open, he tried to run after her, the sun meeting his skin the moment he stepped outside. He was just fast enough to see someone with short, dark brown hair turn the corner into a different street. Emily.

It didn't take him long to catch up with her, for she wasn't even running or making a big effort to get away from him as fast as she could.

"Emily, please," he said. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be," she said. Her tone was cold and formal. "I'm sorry for overreacting. Now, if you'll excuse me..." She tried to walk past River, but he wasn't one to give up.

"You didn't scare me," he tried. He didn't know exactly what had made her walk away from him, but was hoping he was on the right track to convincing her to stay.

"Don't be too nice," she said. She didn't look him in the eyes and averted her gaze so she wasn't looking in his direction.

He bit his lip. She gave him a compliment and he didn't even know how to say 'thank you'. "I have a lot more places to show you," he said.

"You should go to your sister," she said. "I'm just standing in your way."

Was that the problem? Did she feel like she was bothering him? "You're not!" he said. "I'll be there for her tomorrow, there's no rush. She'll survive one day without me. And now that you're in Miami, you have to make it worth it."

She sighed and looked down at her feet. "But-"

"You're not bothering me," he said softly, searching for eye contact. "I love to guide you around and show you the best places." He lifted his hand up, about to lay it on her shoulder, before he thought back to what happened last time he put his hand on her shoulder and reconsidered. Instead, he brushed his hand through his hair which had been tangled by the soft February wind. "I have to admit, I was taken off guard when you reacted the way you did, but now that I know I shouldn't do that, I won't. Just..." He let a short silence fall, giving her time to think. "Don't let this adventure be over yet."

She still didn't look him in the eyes, but seemed to consider his offer.

"It was just a short moment," he tried. It worried him that she didn't answer. The silence made him aware of his heartbeat and the time passing by.

"If you really don't mind..." she then said.

"I don't!" he said, his voice surprisingly high-pitched. In his normal voice he continued, "I mean, I don't."

It was then that she looked up. He realized how close they were standing to each other after he'd blocked her, preventing her from getting away, and he quickly took a step back.

"Alright," she said slowly. "If you don't have any other plans..."

He shook his head and couldn't hold back a smile.

"I'll stay," she said.

His heart jumped upon hearing those words.

"But I really need to eat now," she said. Her tone was sweet again and he recognized the Emily from before the little incident again when she chuckled. "I'm hungry."

*

River loved Italian food. He didn't know if it was because of his Italian roots or that it was just the best food in the world - which, in his opinion, it really was - so when Emily said she loved eating Italian too, he felt a little spark. It was like a perfect puzzle and their pieces fit together perfectly.

"There's a really good Italian restaurant nearby," he'd said. "I can take you there, if you want." His heart had beat a little quicker as he'd waited for her answer to his invitation.

Her eyes glistened as she smiled. "Perfect," she'd said, and it was all he'd wanted to hear.

They walked there together and this time Emily hadn't complained about having to walk. Instead, she'd talked a lot about home and was really open suddenly. River loved hearing her talk and hadn't interrupted her with questions.

But when they were in the restaurant, she suddenly asked him one. "Why do you call your sister Jessie?" she asked.

The waiter had just taken their orders after putting down an espresso and a cappuccino in front of them.

He remembered the call with his sister just before they'd started shopping. Her name was Talia, which Emily knew, but he'd called her Jessie instead. "Oh, that?" he said. It was a long story, but personal.

"Doesn't she like the name Talia?" Emily asked.

"Well..." River started. There was some truth to what she'd said, but the story was way longer than that. He averted his gaze to the left and his eyes fell on a happy couple, their faces lit yellowy by a candle standing on the table. He was reminded of his desire to want to be more than just a guide, but realized that he needed to tell the full story if he wanted to achieve that.

He chuckled and turned back to her. "It's a long story," he said.

"We've got time," she said.

That was true.

"Okay," he said, "if you're ready for it." He cleared his throat. "So, my parents... I think it began with them."

She laughed a little. "Well, they came up with her name, I assume."

He didn't laugh, but pressed his lips together. "They died," he said then. The accident happened years ago, but it was still difficult for him to hold the tears back.

Emily's expression changed in an instant. She already knew about his parents because he'd told her on the beach, but it was different to be reminded of it once again and to know it was on his mind constantly. Her muscles tensed and she didn't say anything, so he continued.

"It was an accident," he explained. He remembered the day vividly and didn't think that would ever change. The phone call, the stress and the trip to the hospital, to find out it was too late... It was engraved in his memory, and probably in Talia's too. "Talia was still very young, and one day - the accident had happened a few weeks before that - , when I called her by her name, she just said she didn't like it."

Emily was all-ears now; her attention was solely focused on him.

"It was just an ordinary day and we were sitting in the home of our parents," he continued. "And I asked her why she didn't like it." He remembered the moment very clearly and could envision the brown, worn out couch they'd been sitting on - or rather laying on, with their legs stretched out. They still had a TV then and it had been turned on, playing Disney Channel. "She answered that her name reminded her of our parents and therefore she didn't want me to call her 'Talia' anymore."

He bit his lip in an attempt to hold his tears back. Thinking about his parents made him emotional, even after four years. Emily didn't say a word, but the silence was in no way awkward. Actually, it was rather comforting.

"And when I asked her what she wanted her name to be," he continued, "she turned away from me, thought for a second, and then said, 'Jessie,' with a small but content smile, 'I want to be called Jessie.'" He chuckled then. "It was this girl from a TV show that was playing at that moment - but the name stuck, and even though she's okay with being called Talia now, I still call her Jessie."

"That's a beautiful story," Emily said quietly, the corners of her mouth curling up. Then she took a pause before asking, "Is it hard without your parents?"

He licked his lips. He felt that sting between his shoulder blades again that was there every time his parents were mentioned. "Yes, it is," he said. His voice was now much quieter than before. "It's way harder without them here." He and Talia first had to deal with the loss of their parents, but then came the financial problems.

"Do you miss them?" There was a kind look in her eyes and it eased him. When she asked these questions, it wasn't at all hard to answer - and these were truths that he wasn't even comfortable sharing with his own sister, despite them being very close.

"A lot," he said, and his voice broke when he said those two words. "Every single day." He wanted to see them one more time, hold them in his arms. He'd never even gotten to say goodbye when they were taken away from him. "I just want to see them again, you know?" he said after a short silence in which he'd collected himself again, holding back the tears that tried to escape his eyes every time he talked about his parents. "I want them here, next to me, alive. Not that same picture with the folded edges and the faded colours I see of them every day, frozen in time - I want them to be real."

Their eyes met; his were watery, hers were curious and patient. She didn't say anything to him, giving him the chance to let it all out and use her as an outlet. And it was in that short moment that he decided to do another stupid thing.

"It's not the same with Talia," he confessed. "She's not the same anymore - of course she isn't, I wouldn't want her to be. She's way stronger now, and I've changed too, but it's different. She could be so happy if they were still alive."

His hand that was laying on the table all this time was touched by Emily's; first it was just a small touch, but then she held his hand in hers. She didn't seem to be scared by the touch or overly cautious, as if she'd forgotten the moment in the store - something that he had in the moment. But he'd remember it later and realize the significance of this small gesture.

"I don't think she minds it," Emily started, "living with you."

He stared at their hands, not capable of looking her in the eye. He'd cry, he knew, when seeing the genuine interest and worry.

"But..." He didn't even know what to say, but Emily did.

"I'm sure she misses her parents too," she continued. "It's not easy for a young girl to go through something like that. But she's so incredibly lucky to have a caring brother like you, do you know that?"

Was she? He'd never tried to see all the events from Talia's perspective - and when he did, he just felt sorry for not having been able to protect their parents. He also often felt like he couldn't help her like his parents could have and that he wasn't worthy as a replacement of them. He struggled with having a steady income, he couldn't help her with school, he forgot photo shoots he'd promised to do...

But he tried. 

* * *

I'm feeling so good today, you have NO idea... Remember #FinishYourNovel that I talked about? 

Well...

I finished.

As in, I finished writing this story.

No, this chapter is not the end--there's a lot more awaiting you. You have no clue what's about to happen! But I'm just super excited and hope that you're still enjoying this story, because I'm surely not ready to say goodbye yet :)