First Kiss, Last Kiss, Every Kiss
Copyright© 2026 by SpankLord40k
Chapter 13: Moving Out
It happened a month after prom, in the middle of a hot August night.
Emily woke up gasping, her heart pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears. She’d been dreaming about Lars - about being Lars. Not the vague, distant memories she’d grown used to over the years, but vivid, immediate ones. His hands. His voice. The emptiness inside him that had defined his entire existence.
She sat up in bed, her tank top soaked with sweat, tears streaming down her face. It had been years since she’d thought about him - about who she used to be. That life felt so far away now, like it had belonged to someone else entirely. And in a way, it had.
But tonight, the memories had come flooding back with a clarity that shook her. She’d felt what it was like to be him again - tall and cruel and completely disconnected from everything good in the world. And then she’d remembered the transformation, the terror and relief of becoming small and vulnerable and herself.
Emily grabbed her phone with shaking hands. 2:47 AM. She knew she shouldn’t call, knew Sarah had work in the morning, but she couldn’t be alone with this. Not now.
Sarah answered on the second ring, her voice thick with sleep. “Em? What’s wrong?”
“I had a dream about...” Emily whispered, her voice breaking. “About being him. I haven’t thought about him in so long, Sarah, and it all came rushing back. I could remember everything - what it felt like to be him, I saw him in the mirror, this life felt so wrong.”
There was a pause, then Sarah’s voice came back, fully awake now and alert. “I’m coming over. Right now. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“You don’t have to...”
“I’m already getting dressed. Hang on, Em. I’m coming.”
True to her word, Sarah let herself into the house exactly nineteen minutes later. Emily heard the quiet click of the front door, footsteps on the stairs, and then Sarah was there, silhouetted in the doorway in sweatpants and a t-shirt, her hair messy from sleep.
“Hey,” Sarah said softly, closing the door behind her. “I’m here.”
Emily didn’t say anything, just held out her arms, and Sarah crossed the room and climbed into bed beside her, pulling her little sister close.
“Tell me about it,” Sarah murmured, stroking Emily’s hair.
“I remembered being him,” Emily whispered against Sarah’s shoulder. Her voice cracked. “Really remembered. Not the fuzzy stuff I usually get. I could feel what it was like to be Lars. How cruel he was. How empty inside.”
Her body shook with fresh sobs. “Sarah, I remembered things I never told you. Things I’d almost forgotten he did.”
Sarah held her tighter, stroking her hair. “It’s okay, Em. You’re not him anymore.”
“But I was!” The anguish in Emily’s voice was raw. “I remember being so mean to you. Not just the wand thing. There were so many other times.”
Emily’s eyes squeezed shut, tears streaming down her face. “Like that time in middle school. Mom’s special cake for her book club. Lars ate half of it and blamed you.”
“Em...”
“You tried to tell them it wasn’t you! That you hadn’t even been in the kitchen! But Lars acted so convincing.” Emily’s voice broke. “And Mom and Dad believed him. They grounded you for two months! Two whole months, Sarah, and you hadn’t done anything!”
For a split second, Sarah’s face changed. Her jaw clenched. Her eyes flashed with something dark and angry. A muscle twitched in her cheek.
The memory hit her hard. Twelve years old. Locked in her room for two months. Missing her friends’ birthdays. Missing the school dance. All because her brother lied and their parents believed him without question.
But it vanished just as fast. Emily’s eyes were still closed, tears streaming down her face. She didn’t see it. Years of practice smoothed it over. Love for the sister Emily had become pushed it down.
“Em, hey, it’s okay,” Sarah said softly. Her voice stayed steady even though that flash of old anger still burned somewhere deep. “That’s in the past. Lars is gone. You’re Emily now.”
“But I remember it!” Emily sobbed harder. Her hands clutched Sarah’s shirt. “I remember doing it and not even feeling bad! I thought it was funny that you got in trouble! What kind of person does that?”
“You were lost,” Sarah said firmly. She pushed down the ghost of that hurt fourteen-year-old. Pulled Emily back to look at her face. Wiped away her tears with gentle thumbs. “Lars didn’t know how to be kind. He hurt people because he was hurting inside. But Em, you’re not that person anymore. You haven’t been for years.”
“But what if I still am?” Emily’s voice got small. Terrified. “What if that cruelty is still inside me somewhere?”
“It’s not,” Sarah said. No hesitation. “Em, I’ve watched you grow up. I’ve seen who you’ve become. You cry when you see sad movies. You apologize when you accidentally step on someone’s foot. You draw pictures for people when they’re sad. That’s who you are. That’s who you’ve always been meant to be.”
“But I hurt you so much,” Emily whispered. “For years and years, Lars hurt you. You had to live with him. Deal with his cruelty every single day. How can you even stand to be near me?”
Sarah’s expression softened. All traces of that anger gone. She pulled Emily close again. Held her like she had when Emily was still little Emmy, scared and confused.
“Because you’re not him,” Sarah said fiercely. “You’re my sister. My sweet, sensitive, amazing little sister who I love more than anything. And yes, Lars hurt me. Yes, he was cruel. But Emily?” She pulled back to look into Emily’s eyes. “Emily has spent eight years being nothing but wonderful. Being my best friend. Being the sister I always wished Lars could have been.”
“I’m so sorry,” Emily sobbed. “For everything he did. For that cake thing, and for all the other times, and for breaking your wand, and...”
“Stop,” Sarah interrupted gently. “Em, you don’t have to apologize for Lars anymore. He’s gone. And honestly?” She smiled through her own tears. “What he did, breaking my wand, being cruel, it led to the spell. And the spell gave me you. My real sister. The one I was meant to have all along.”
“You really mean that?” Emily’s voice was so small. So hopeful.
“I really mean that,” Sarah said. “I promise you, Em. Everything is better now. You’re better. We’re better. Our family is better. Lars is in the past. Emily is the present and the future. And I wouldn’t change that for anything.”
Emily clung to her, crying into her shoulder. But the sobs were gentler now. More release than anguish. Sarah held her through it all. One hand stroking her hair. The other rubbing soothing circles on her back.
And deep down, buried so far that even Sarah barely acknowledged it, there was still a tiny spark of satisfaction. Lars had gotten what he deserved. He’d been cruel and horrible. And the universe, through Sarah’s magic, had corrected that wrong.
But Emily? Emily deserved all the love and comfort Sarah could give her.
“I’ve got you,” Sarah whispered. “I’ve always got you. That’s what big sisters are for.”
“I’m glad I’m not him anymore,” Emily whispered. “I’m so glad. But it’s strange, you know? To remember being someone completely different. To know that person was me, but also not me at all.”
“I can’t imagine what that’s like,” Sarah admitted. “But Em, look at who you are now. You’re kind and talented and loved. You have Sophie and your friends and your art. You have a whole beautiful life ahead of you. Lars never had any of that. You do.”
Emily nodded against Sarah’s shoulder. “Stay with me?” she asked quietly. “Please? I don’t want to be alone.”
“Of course I’ll stay,” Sarah promised. “I’m not going anywhere.”
They settled into the bed together. Emily curled up against Sarah’s side. Sarah’s arm wrapped protectively around her. Emily felt herself finally relaxing. The intensity of the memories fading in the safety of her sister’s presence.
“I love you, Sarah,” Emily mumbled, already half asleep.
“I love you too, Em,” Sarah whispered back. “So much.”
Emily snuggled closer, feeling safe and secure in her sister’s arms, and drifted into a dreamless sleep.
When they woke up the next morning, tangled together in Emily’s bed with sunlight streaming through the butterfly curtains, Emily felt peaceful. The memories of Lars were back where they belonged - distant and faded, part of her history but not her present.
“Thank you for coming,” Emily said. They sat together eating breakfast. Their mother had made it, giving them curious looks but not asking questions.
“Always,” Sarah said.
Emily smiled, touching the locket at her throat - the one Sophie had given her. That was her life now. Not Lars’s empty existence, but this one, full of love and art and possibility.
She would always remember being him. But she would never be him again
The following month, in September, came the hardest day.
Emily and Sophie had both been accepted to NYU - Emily for her prestigious art program, Sophie for her Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. They’d found a small apartment in Brooklyn to share, and their flight left in four hours.
The Morrison house was full of suitcases and boxes, everything Emily owned packed up and ready to be shipped or carried. She stood in her pink bedroom - soon to be just a guest room again - and felt tears prick her eyes.
This had been her space for her entire life. This was where she’d grown up, figured out who she was, fallen in love. This was where she’d kept Mr. Hoppers, where she’d written in her journals, where she’d dreamed of the future.
And now that future was here.
“You ready, Em?” Sophie called from downstairs.
“Yeah,” Emily called back, her voice thick. “Just ... one more minute.”
She looked around the room one final time. Most of her stuffed animals were staying, donated to charity or left for Sarah’s future children. But Mr. Hoppers was carefully packed in her carry-on bag. Some things you didn’t leave behind.
Downstairs, her parents and Sarah were waiting. Her father was trying to look stoic but his eyes were red. Her mother was crying openly. Sarah looked like she was holding it together through sheer force of will.
“I can’t believe my baby is moving to New York,” her mother said, pulling Emily into a tight hug. “It seems like just yesterday you were this little girl in pigtails.”
“I’m going to be fine, Mom,” Emily said, though she was crying too. “I promise. I’ll call every week. Every day if you want.”
“Every day,” her mother confirmed firmly.
Her father hugged her next, and Emily felt him shaking slightly. “You take care of yourself out there, kiddo. And you take care of each other,” he added, nodding at Sophie.
“We will,” Sophie promised.
Then it was Sarah’s turn. They stood looking at each other for a long moment, and then Sarah pulled Emily into a hug so tight it almost hurt.
“I’m going to miss you so much,” Sarah whispered fiercely. “So, so much.”
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