Beautiful Mountain

“I’ve never been more fucked up in my life, Ian,” Mariah screamed as she slammed the door in his teary-eyed face.

Every bang of his fists on the creaky door in agony felt like a mimic of how fast Mariah’s heart was beating. She regretted admitting that immediately after those words climbed out of the darkest chest in her cluttered mind and jumped out of her throat. Her lips, burning with every syllable. She promised herself, when her sister died, that she would never admit to how fucked up her life was. Nia was her new excuse to isolate herself.

“Mariah, please… pl- please… don’t… don’t do this, please,” replied Ian between sobs.

Maybe I was a coward for not being able to open up to him, thought Mariah to herself, but maybe he should’ve just accepted the fact that I wasn’t ready to speak yet. I was the reason my sister was gone, and all she was trying to do was save my life.

“Ian, I can’t…” Mariah’s cry cut her sentence short. “I should’ve just given her the keys… or- or just stayed in that night at the hotel,” she whispered out of breath.

Mariah couldn’t handle the pressure anymore, everyone trying to make sure she was alright when she just needed space to breathe. Every day since that night, she’d tasted the different liquors in her mouth. The real question was, what didn’t she drink that night? She begged herself in prayer to be able to forget, but the one thing that would’ve taken this all away, was the very thing that haunted her every day.

“If you could just give me 5 minutes to explain the situation-” Ian let out in a soft tone.

This was the first time she was seeing him since the hospital after the accident. All while on her way to see him of course. He was the other car in the accident. Mariah quivered with resentment, confusion, disgust, fear. She nervously walked to the door and Ian heard the quiet click. He slowly opened the door while she inched herself backwards towards the kitchen counter. She saw the scars on his face, but everything reminded her that her sister was now gone.

“I asked Nia to keep you at the hotel. The only reason I ended things was because I wanted you to be free in college. I was stuck here in Louisiana at Dillard. You were going all the way to Howard for a new beginning. 15 hours just seemed like too much stress on you because I know you’re an empath. I know you want to do everything in your power to make sure the people you love are happy,” Ian started to break down. “But as soon as I’d made the decision, it felt like my entire world fell apart. I’ve never loved anyone like this before. So intense, so raw and pure, so passionate. Someone who makes me melt with every glance and takes my breath away with every smile. Whose presence can always ease my energy and sooth my spirit. Honestly, I was ready to give up everything for you, but I wanted to let your wings spread.”

Mariah gasped. She’d never experienced anything like this before. Every word that slipped from his tongue caressed her heart, real intimacy. They sat in silence, staring into each other’s eyes as the tears started to dress their cheeks.

“So, you were on your way to tell me this?” Mariah was sobbing, her body began to give out as she started to drop to the floor. “That’s why Nia was begging me to hold out on leaving to meet you. I was so drunk… and all she asked me to do was wait, but I was too selfish. I just had to fix things with you.”

“Mariah, please don’t punish yourself. It was an accident,” replied Ian trying to comfort her. Mariah was too uneasy by the harsh truth.

“How can I feel any other way? I was drinking and driving, I had a temper tantrum, and all at the cost of my sister, my best friend, the only person who made this all seem bearable,” Mariah said with voice crack after voice crack as she cried. “And why did you feel like the day before Valentine’s Day was the perfect time?”

Ian grabbed Mariah’s hand and helped her off the floor. He wiped the tears from her face and grabbed her chin, forcing the eye contact. “We had something for you. I knew I’d made a mistake and she was helping me fix things with you. One of the gifts were in my car and your sister had the other,” Ian said frantically.

He changed his grip and put both hands on her flushed brown cheeks, wet and burning up from her crying. Her long curly hair was falling in her face, but Ian thought that was when she was the most beautiful. With that, he pushed the curls behind her shoulder and out of her face. If only she knew that the gift would’ve fixed everything, Ian thought to himself. He was starting to shake anxiously as he let a few words utter from his lips.

“The reason I came here tonight was because I got a call. They found a few things in the car that was left after the accident. Nia’s sister ring, your lucky car charms, and a brown package,” Ian said with a little excitement, and a slight distaste with regret and hurt. Nia was Ian’s classmate. They were a year older than Mariah, but Nia had set them up after he was dealing with his tough rejection from Morehouse. They instantly clicked and were inseparable.

We’re literally a match made in heaven, Ian always thought to himself, and even told Nia. He’d wanted Mariah Belmonte to be Mrs. Mariah Lapión. He was so anxious in showing her the gifts, as he questioned if they would have actually fixed everything. He pulled the brown package from behind his back and another box from his pocket.

“Mariah, there is something I must say.” Ian got down on one knee. He was confused, grieving, and still so utterly in love. “There is not one single person in this world that could ever budge the way I feel about you. It’s been four months, but you can’t punish yourself for the rest of your life. If there is anything that the great Nia Kiaila Belmonte would have wanted, it would be that you fulfill your dreams and clear your mind. Before I give you this package, there is one thing I want to ask you. Will you let me help you heal while we make your dreams come true? Will you marry me?” He was lost in her eyes, in the moment, in her energy. He felt her decision before the words came out of her mouth.

“I- this… this is a lot to take in Ian-” Mariah uttered as Ian cut her off.

“In this package, is what you’ve been wanting for eight years, since the Belmonte family adopted you. Nia and I worked something out with your parents. We found your birth parents and set up a meeting for you guys, but we never got it to happen because of the accident. In this package are 3 round trip plane tickets to go finally meet them. We wanted a proper farewell to send you to Howard and to make things right. She told me about your last argument,” Ian couldn’t help but sob. “She said how she’d called you out of your name and made you feel like a stranger.”

Mariah lifted his chin and mouthed, “It’s okay… and yes. I will marry you,” unable to let out words. This was all she’d wanted since she was only twelve years old. She helped him off the floor, looked him in his eyes, and fell into his chest. “Thank you so much for coming here today. I’m so sorry for avoiding you,” said Mariah.

“Stop apologizing. You were hurting, but we can trade in these tickets for new ones. Can we start your journey by meeting your birth parents? Nia did help me pull all the strings. She would have wanted you to still be able to meet them. And I want to spend every last second I have, with you. It could’ve been either of us that night too. I'll go with you and we can do this together. I love you Mariah," said Ian.

"I love you more," replied Mariah.