Fleeting moment...

As you rise from the couch your mind races.

Of course you want them to stay... but is that really up for you to argue? You don't want to pressure them to give in to your demands. That feels predatory. Maybe you should just have faith in the power of the last week and how good it has been.
Yes, maybe that is for the best.

Noon rolls in and as Ollie and Vee approach you nervously you know it's time.

Vee looks into your blue eyes with a sad look. She grabs the back of your head and kisses you deeply. You want to enjoy it, but you have a bad feeling about all of this.
Vanessa confirms your suspicions.

"Thank you Astrid... for everything." she gives you a nervous smile: "if it wasn't for you, Olivia may well have been dead, and I would have been lost and alone forever."
You want to say something to her, but you don't want to decide for her. A tear rolls down your cheek.

Olivia gets it for you. She affectionately grab your face and uses her thumb to wipe the tear away. She looks deeply into your eyes, and then she wipes your brown hair away from your face.
"We'll be okay. Don't worry." she says as she gives you a timid smile. You know her well enough to know that her timidness betrays what she has just said. To your surprise she then kisses you deeply as well.

"That was my first real kiss." she says with a flood of melancholy dripping from her voice: "I'm glad I gave it to you, Asta."

You need to say something to avoid letting the only week you've ever truly enjoyed become meaningless.

But you can't. You cannot save them. You know now that you cannot solve all of their problems. You cannot fix it. You cannot provide them the home that they deserve. You cannot do it. You cannot do anything. You cannot.

You're useless.

As they say their goodbyes and leave, your mind is an empty space. You miss them already. You know that life will go back to how it once was. You know that your standard routine of wake, eat, work, cry, sleep, repeat, will become the norm again...

And in the end this will all just become a fleeting moment. You drown in your guilt.

The End