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Knock-knock.
The sudden sound was enough to immediately jolt Terri out of her thoughts. She lifted her head, looking up from her computer screen, and turned towards the doorway.
Her door wasn’t closed, at least not all the way. The pressure against it was enough to push it open a bit more, and Terri saw that it was Dani at the door.
“Hey,” her sister said, giving her an awkward smile.
Terri blinked at her for a second, before allowing herself to relax.
“Hey,” she echoed back, with a lopsided smile of her own.
Dani stepped through the doorway, shoving her hands into the pockets of her hoodie. Her whole stance was heavy with things that she wanted to say, but couldn’t.
“I’m, uh...I’m gonna be heading out soon,” she told her.
“Okay,” Terri replied, though she could tell there was something more to it. It was written all over Dani’s face.
“So, I...I wanted to say goodbye.”
Terri took a moment to take this in, and process it.
Dani was going off to university. By the end of the day, she would be over a thousand miles away, in New York -- on to bigger and better things.
Terri wasn’t going to see her again...at least, not for a while, anyway.
“Right,” she murmured, absently. She still seemed distant, but after a second, she seemed to snap herself out of it. “Sorry, um...come here, I’m gonna hug you now.”
As she spoke, Terri finally rose from her desk chair, turning fully towards her sister. Dani moved forward, a look of clear relief on her face. Terri knew her sister well -- she’d come in wanting to hug her goodbye, but was never going to ask for it herself.
Terri opened her arms, and Dani all but sank into them, holding her tightly. Terri wasn’t usually the sort of person who welcomed physical affection, but in this case, it was more than warranted. It was necessary.
The two sisters held each other there, letting the moment stretch out as long as it willed.
“I’m really gonna miss you,” Dani whispered into Terri’s shoulder.
In spite of herself, Terri felt her heart swoop a little in her chest.
“I’m gonna miss you, too…” she said quietly.
She and Dani had always been close. As kids, they were best friends. Now...Terri appreciated her older sister in ways she didn’t know how to put into words.
Even though no one in her family really got what she was going through, Dani was the only one who at least tried.
Their mom usually just tried to pretend it wasn’t happening, and their dad was too emotionally stunted to help at all.
Dani had been the one to take her to the hospital, the first time.
Dani had set the reminders on Terri’s phone to take her medication.
Dani had brought her food on the days when just leaving the house was too much for Terri.
It was always Dani, who made mood-boosting playlists and gave her new pens on her birthday and always, always, always answered the phone.
What was Terri gonna do, once she was gone?
She was going to be alone, in that house, with her parents. That was a recipe for disaster, and they both knew it.
Dani lifted her head up, giving Terri one more tight squeeze before she loosened her hold on her, drawing back to look her in the eyes.
“If you need anything, Terri,” Dani told her, very seriously. “If something happens, you call me, text me, email me, whatever, just let me know, and I will be there.”
Terri shook her head.
“I’ll be fine, Dani,” she said. “Don’t worry about me. You need to focus on school right now.”
“You’re my sister,” Dani insisted. “I can retake a test, or ask for an extension, or something. With you, there’s no do-overs.”
Terri swallowed hard.
“I know,” she breathed.
For a moment, she started to drift again, but she was able to pull herself back, and give Dani a reassuring smile.
“But I’m doing okay right now,” she went on. “The meds are helping. I meet with Anna every Tuesday. Things are good. So...don’t worry, okay?”
Knowing Dani, she would probably worry anyway. But for the moment, that seemed to put her at least a little more at ease.
She smiled warmly at her sister, and moved in for one more quick hug.
“I love you,” Dani whispered.
Terri returned the hug, smiling against her sister’s shoulder.
“Love you, too.”
They held onto each other for just a moment longer before letting go.
“Take care of yourself out there, okay?” Terri said, and Dani nodded.
“I will. You, too.”
As the two of them shared another smile, the insistent voice of their mother drifted up from the entryway.
“Dani!! You ready to go?”
“Yep!” Dani called back over her shoulder. “Just a second!”
She turned back at Terri, giving her an apologetic smile.
“You’ll have to tell me about all the hot guys you meet out in Brooklyn,” Terri joked dryly, the ghost of a smile lingering on her lips.
Dani scoffed, shaking her head.
“As if,” she laughed, finally taking a step back towards the open doorway. “I will call you as soon as I get settled, though.”
She reached down to pick up her backpack where she had left it on the floor, outside Terri’s room.
“See you, Terri!”
Terri, too, stepped back, moving to sit back down at her desk. Even as she did so, she lifted her hand in a brief wave as her sister left the room.
“Bye, Dani.”