Jade Fern Grove a saint bernard sits at the top of the driveway

The moments between his greeting and Polaris's approach feel like hours. His heart pounds in his ears, a distant drum-beat set under the high shriek of thoughts racing too quickly to make any sense. The tension grows, fills him, and he thinks he'll break under it despite his moment to prepare —
But then she says his name and rushes toward him, and the feeling shatters like waves against the shoreline. His shoulders drop slightly as his sister makes contact, and the force of the embrace unbalances him a little. He manages to absorb the impact and keep his footing, but he doesn't return the embrace at first. The shock of it leaves him still for a moment, breath fast and tremulous.
Yeah, The word slips from him breathlessly, vague and a little too late as a response. He doesn't even know what she'd meant to say; he just needs to say something back, anything. He leans into the embrace slowly, trying desperately to organize his thoughts. He hadn't expected it to go this way, or feel this way; this is different from his reunions with his father and Maman, and Lainie. You — You don't hate me? He swallows the words. I missed you.