The Lifetimes I Remembered

Chapter Nineteen: Hannah

The past few days, Hannah had taken Emerson’s shift so her friend could head directly to the hospital to care for Juliet as her Mom couldn’t do so since one of them had to work. The entire weekdays, Hannah had headed directly to the café to work both her and Emerson’s shift, went home late and did her homework and evidently fell into restless sleep.

To say she was tired would be an understatement.

“You look like hell,” Hazel said, tying her apron behind her back. It was Friday afternoon and the café was busier than usual, “You know you didn’t have to take all of Emerson’s shifts. Ivan volunteered to take some.”

It was true. When Ivan found out that Juliet had been hospitalized and that Hannah had practically taken all of Emerson’s shifts for the entire week, he offered to take some of the load from her but she refused. She felt like it was all she could do to help Juliet and Emmy because staying at the hospital by Juliet’s side would simply break her heart, seeing her friend in that kind of state.

“I’m fine, Hazel,” Hannah replied, tying her hair in a high ponytail before starting with the orders that were already piling up, “Besides, it was better for Ivan to drive Emmy to and fro the hospital. It saves Emmy transport money.”

It was her who suggested this to Ivan when he seemed adamant to help. “But driving you home from work?”

Hannah turned away. Hazel had been privy recently, asking about her and Ivan. She had been claiming that they had gotten suddenly close, which was true. Ivan seemed to be around all the time and even when she knew that she should mind, she didn’t, she couldn’t. She liked his presence, no matter how many times she tried to deny it and push him away.

“How many times do we have to talk about this, Hazel?”

Hazel crossed her arms. “You two text every night and sometimes he calls you. Tell me, Hannah, are you two a thing now?”

Hannah had learned to like Hazel in the past few weeks but had grown irritated with the way she kept on asking questions about her and Ivan. “If something was going on between Ivan and I, would it bother you?”

Hazel pursed her lips and turned away. “He just got off a breakup. I don’t want you to be his rebound.”

Or you simply don’t want Ivan and I to be together. Hannah thought but chided herself for thinking that way. She wasn’t entirely sure what Hazel’s role was since she never met her in previous lifetimes. But it was clear that Hazel didn’t just see Ivan as a step-brother. The way she cared for him and the way she hung around him when he had been pushing her away was obvious enough.

“Thanks for the concern but I think I know how to handle myself,” Hannah said. She didn’t want to sound mean but she had been tired lately and Hazel’s prying just added to more of her stress.

Hazel just merely shrugged and returned to waiting on customers and getting their orders. Hannah manned the counter and neither of them spoke until their shift was nearing to an end when Ivan walked in the café.

Hannah watched as he entered. His dark hair was wet and sticking to the nape of his neck and somehow, it managed to intensify the color of his ocean eyes. He briefly greeted Hazel before heading right to the counter and smiling at Hannah. With the way he looked and how he smiled, any girl would’ve swooned at the sight.

Hannah tried her best not to.

“Hey,” Ivan said, the smile on his face bright and charming, “You done?”

“Finishing up,” Hannah answered, flashing him a small smile, aware that Hazel was watching their interaction. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she fished it out, opening the text message from Dom.

I’m passing by your work. We can head home together.

Just on cue, the café doors opened and Dominic strolled in. Ivan turned to see who came in and the smile on his face vanished the moment he saw Dom. Tension suddenly filled the room the moment Dom reached the counter.

He completely ignored Ivan and then turned to Hannah with a smile, “Am I right on time?”

She missed the times when she and Dominic used to go home when they were younger and had the house to themselves before Mitch or her parents came home. They used to watch movies or play board games as they waited for the rest of the family to arrive. Sometimes she would successfully persuade him to play dolls and dress-up with her.

Now that they seemed to have gotten their old relationship back, it was clear that Dom was trying to make up for the lost time. He’d bring him her favorite meals each time he came home from work recently and drove her to school on mornings before he would head off to work.

Hannah nodded and looked at Ivan apologetically. “I didn’t know he was picking me up. He just texted and now he’s here.”

Ivan tried to look unfazed. “It’s okay.”

“We can head home together,” Hazel stated, butting in on the conversation and grinning at her step-brother, “I was about to text Mom for a ride home since my car’s still in the shop.”

“Well, at least you didn’t waste time getting here,” Hannah said, smiling at Ivan sweetly. She turned back to Dom, “Give me five minutes and Hazel and I can wrap up around here.”

“Do you need some help?” Dom asked.

Hannah could see Ivan staring at the two of them, his ocean eyes darkening at the sight. For a moment, her mind flashed to the three of them in similar situations that didn’t end well. “It’s fine. You can wait in the car.”

Dom glanced at Ivan for a moment but headed back to the car. Hannah finished wiping the counter and washing the cups and evidently, helped Hazel close the café. “I’ll see you two at school tomorrow.”

“Hannah!”

She stopped and turned to Ivan. “Yes?”

Ivan looked unsure of what he was supposed to say. He glanced at Dominic waiting in the car that was idling. “Can I call you tonight?”

She bit her lip. The calls and texts were becoming constant especially after they spent a whole day together. “I’ll text you when you can.”

“Are you going to visit Juliet tomorrow?”

Neither she nor Emerson had a shift for her to take, her first break since Juliet was hospitalized. She nodded. “Yes.”

“I’ll come with. We can head there right after school.”

“Sure, goodnight Ivan.”

She rushed back to Dom who was waiting in the car. She strapped her seatbelt on as Dom exited the café. He turned to her. “Was he the guy you keep texting?”

Hannah raised her eyebrows, looking at Dom who just shrugged innocently. “Yes. He was.”

“Are you two dating?”

“Why are you asking?”

Dom hit the break at the stop sign and faced her for a moment. “Because the last time you were dating someone, you were almost raped. I’m just concerned for your well-being.”

“Protective brother?”

Dom was quiet for a moment, not sure if he was willing to be labeled that. “Just taking on Mitch’s job. Anyways, I have a surprise for you.”

“What?”

“I rented a movie,” he said grinning.

Hannah felt her heart melt a little. They used to watch movies after school before her parents and Mitch arrived and Mom started working on dinner and they were forced to do their homework. They would make a fort in the little room and put on a movie and pretend that they were in a cinema as they lay on pillows and ate popcorns.

“Grease?” Hannah whispered, knowing that Dom knew it was her all-time favorite. She used to be obsessed with John Travolta.

The grin on his face only grew wider. “Of course. So what do you say? Are you up to building a fort in the living room and stuffing our face with popcorn as we belt out on Summer Lovin’?”

Hannah laughed and the two of them finally reached their home. “I think I’d rather stuff myself with Chinese takeout and not have the fort because Mom would freak-out. We’re not exactly kids anymore, Dom.”

Dom chuckled. “I thought you might say that so I already bought us takeout.”

Hannah couldn’t help but look at him in amusement. “Look at you all prepared.”

He rolled his eyes. “Let’s just change in our pajamas and pig out on the couch as we watch, ‘kay?”

Hannah showered first and Dom followed right after she was done. As she dried her hair and changed into comfortable clothes, she couldn’t help but think of how different her relationship was with Dominic in this lifetime, how their situation seemed to make things easier and harder at the same time, if another choice was made.

“You ready for this?” Dom asked when he saw her settled on the couch and already munching on her dinner, “You couldn’t even wait for me?”

She smiled sheepishly as he put the movie on and plopped next to her. “You do know you didn’t have to rent one.”

“But it’ll ruin the tradition if I simply downloaded it and we don’t have Netflix.”

Hannah chuckled and the two of them focused on their movie and food, neither one speaking and they simultaneously sang together when You’re the One that I Need came on. She looked at Dom. He looked the same as he always did, the same Dominic in her previous life. The best friend. The neighbor. The childhood crush.

“How come you’ve never dated?” Hannah asked out of the blue.

Dom turned to her with eyebrows raised. “My love life has never been a topic of discussion.”

“Because you barely dated!” Hannah said, shaking her head.

Dom rolled his eyes. “I dated. Mitch knew that.”

“But you’ve never introduced them to us.”

He shrugged and returned his attention to the TV. “They were all short-lived.”

“Why is that?” Hannah didn’t want to privy. She was actually scared that by opening the topic, she could open another door that would refuse to close. But it was always something that she wondered about.

“Well aren’t you privy,” Dom commented and then ran a hand through his blonde hair, tousling it, “Well, I guess the girls I dated never amounted to the girl I like. And I’ve liked that girl for a long time.”

Hannah felt her heart race. She was treading in deep water and she was scared that she might drown. “I never knew about this. Did Mitch?”

Dom looked at her and she noted how dark his brown eyes had become. She watched the flurry of emotions that flashed in his eyes. “Mitch knew. He knew everything. The truth of who I was, the girl I’ve always been in love with. That’s why it broke me so much when he died because I had no one to understand me.”

“I’m here,” Hannah whispered and she suddenly noted how their faces were inches apart. Thousands of memories flashed before her eyes, of moments that were similar to the one happening now, and she recoiled as she remembered them, leaning back a little bit to avoid a mistake.

Dom closed his eyes and when he opened them, she saw the sadness and pain that wallowed beneath that warmth that he masked. “I know. Because even when we’re not biologically related, you’re still my sister. And one of the things that Dad taught us…”

“We don’t let family go through things alone,” she whispered, remembering the day when her father said that.

“Yes,” Dom said with a small smile, “We don’t let family go through things alone.”

Sister.

Family.

Hannah felt the weight of the simple words and she saw how Dominic’s heart broke through his eyes. The words pained him as much as it confused her. But there was one thing that was clear for the both of them.

They couldn’t be together.