Theirs Read Online Free

strength.
    “What
am I going to do?” Ava whispered.
    Lilly
glanced over at Ava, the freckles covering her cheeks a startling contrast to
her porcelain-colored skin. Ava’s features were so much like Christian’s that
it made Lilly’s breath halt. Ava's blue eyes were bright and moist, but Lilly
could tell the girl hadn’t shed any tears yet.
    “We
were supposed to go to Steamboat in the summer. He told me they had the most
beautiful hiking trails.”
    “Oh,
honey.” Lilly embraced Ava, the girl finally crying as her slender body shook
from the force of her emotions. “I’m so sorry. You have to stay strong,
though.” Grief overtook her, and with fat tears falling down her cheeks, Lilly
pulled Ava away.
    “I
can’t. It hurts too bad ,” Ava said, her voice pained.
    Lilly’s
heart was breaking, and she couldn’t stop her own tears from falling. “I know,
but you know how your brother would have scoffed over us crying. You know how
stubborn he was, demanding that we smile because it uses less muscles.”
    The
corner of Ava’s lips lifted slightly, and Lilly brushed a tear away from her
cheek. Even though she told Ava to be strong, Lilly really was a hypocrite
because she was weak, so very weak that it took so much effort to even breathe
in this moment. She didn’t know what to do either, but she felt something
inside of her grow stronger at seeing Christian’s baby sister crying. Ava had
the same startling color of blue eyes as Christian, and it broke Lilly’s heart
more because if she zoned everything out it was almost as if she were looking
into his. She couldn’t show weakness in front of her. No, she needed to be
strong so that Ava could draw strength from her, so that she could know life
wasn’t over.
    “It’s
going to be painful, but that’s how you know you’re alive.” Lilly brushed a
strand of stray hair from Ava’s forehead, quoting one of Christian’s many
sayings and knowing the young girl had recognized it.
    “The
first time he told me that, Collin Spencer had just broken up with me. I had
been acting like a madwoman, crying and snapping at everyone. He had sat me
down and told me that exact statement. I had been so pissed at him, telling him
to shove it up his ass.” Ava started to laugh, but soon that became a hard sob.
“I wish I never told him that,” Ava said, sounding heartbroken.
    Lilly
remembered when, years ago, Collin Spencer, Ava’s first real boyfriend whom she
had loved, had broken up with her. Christian had told her how crazed his sister
was acting, crying nonstop, yelling at everyone. Lilly had told him she was an
emotional teenager and had just had her heart broken. He had wanted to strangle
Collin. Being the devoted big brother he was, he’d felt the need to protect his
baby sister. That was Christian, always so caring, dedicated, loyal, and
loving.
    “Christian
had laughed about that actually.”
    Ava
looked into her face, her cheeks streaked with her drying tears as she sniffed.
    “Really?”
    “Of
course. You know how Christian was. He laughed about stuff like that.” Lilly
could tell by the way Ava’s shoulders slightly relaxed that since her brother’s
death, she had done nothing but think about every fight they’d had and every
detrimental thing she had ever said. Marie, Christian’s mother, stepped up next
to her daughter, the woman having the same auburn hair and blue eyes as her
children. Marie’s eyes were red-rimmed and swollen, and even though Marie
smiled and feigned strength, Lilly couldn’t even imagine how hard it was for
her.
    Lilly
had spoken with Marie earlier, both of them talking about Christian as a child
and about how rambunctious he had been. They had shared memories and tears for
the man Christian had been. That had been a hard conversation for Lilly, but
she was glad she had been able to talk about them.
    Marie
pulled her daughter into an embrace, but after a few seconds led Ava over to
Michael, Christian and Ava’s