| FIVE |
| Tara Anna yawned, and opened her eyes. For a moment, she simply lay in her bed, smiling at the ceiling, and remember what a wonderful night it had been. That is, what a wonderful night it had been after AJ had left. "You up yet, cuz?" She heard Kevin's voice calling her from downstairs, and she crawled out of bed, put on her bathrobe and ran a comb through her hair before she left the guest room. "Coming!" She called, even though he probably already knew she was coming by the sound of her footsteps on the stairs. "Yummy!" She exclaimed when she reached the kitchen, and saw a plate of waffles resting in the middle of the table. "You made breakfast." She grinned at him and sat down. "Mind if I start?" Kevin, who was standing at the counter, pouring two glasses of orange juice, shook his head. "Help yourself." He said, then grabbed the juice, and walked over to the table to join her. They ate in silence for a few minutes, but before they were finished with the meal, Tara Anna looked up from her plate, and noticed Kevin staring across the table at her. He looked thoughtful, and like he was thinking very hard about something. "Penny for your thoughts." She said, smiling at him. Kevin snapped out of his daze. "What? Oh, thanks." Tara Anna just looked at him, waiting for him to clue her in on whatever it was that was troubling him. "Terry," He began, using the nickname that he only used when something was wrong. "it's been over a year now. . ." Tara Anna sighed, and bit her lip. "I don't want to talk about it." She muttered, avoiding her cousin's eye. "I know, but, I really think that it would do you a lot of good to get it off your chest." "I don't care what you think." Her harshness surprised even herself, but once the words were out, she couldn't take them back. "And I don't want to talk about it. I don't even want to think about it." She took one look at her cousin's hurt face, and calmed down. She stood up, and walked to the other side of the table. She sat down on Kevin's lap, and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Kev, you're the only real family I have. That's why you're the one that I confided in. But I'm still not ready to deal with it. I'm sorry." Now it was Kevin's turn to feel bad. He ran his hand over her hair, and didn't say anything else. He didn't need to. All he needed to do was stay there and comfort her. Brian sighed, and sat down on one of the mall benches. He was carrying two shopping bags, and usually buying new clothes made him happy, but this time, it just despressed him. He'd bought one shirt that caught his eye because it reminded him of the shirt he wore the first time he met Aimee, and another shirt because it was Aimee's favorite color. He was pathetic. He knew that. Aimee wasn't his to obsess about anymore. She had John now, whoever that was. Not that it really mattered John or no John, Aimee didn't have feelings for him anymore. She'd made that very clear, many times. And there was no point in him worrying about her now. Besides, he had Leighanne. And Leighanne actually liked him. So she was one up on Aimee already. But, then there was also the slight problem that Brian didn't love Leighanne. Which was a con. And, as hard as it was for him to admit it, he still loved Aimee. Even after all that time, almost a year now, his feelings for her were no less intesnse than when they'd first met in Club Shaker, down in LA. He could still remember everything about her- how her hair was swept off her face and up into a ponytail, and her red top sparkled in the disco light, and how her pants hugged her legs so tightly he wondered how she could walk. He remembered the martini glass she was holding when he sat down next to her, and the way she leaned over to him, smelling like a cross between vanilla and liquor, and asked him to dance. And the way their bodies melted together on the dance floor, like they were made for each other. And how they'd kissed, like they were never meant to be apart, and promised that they'd stay together forever. He couldn't, however, remember things like that about Leighanne. He vaguely remembered when he met her- when Aimee was sick in her hotel room, and not going out. He remembered walking into her room, and seeing her with a pile of tissues on the side of her bed, her nose red and scratchy, and her eyes puffed up, wearing the same old sweatsuit that she'd been wearing for the last week, and he couldn't help think that she was beautiful. That's when everything got to be too much. When he knew that Aimee could have gotten up, and said she was leaving him, and he couldn't have done anything but watch her go. He was in love with her, and she had the power to make or break him. So, when Brian went down to the hotel bar, scared and confused, and met Leighanne. And when Leighanne asked him if he had a girlfriend, what with all his confusion and the gallon of liquor inside of ihm, he said no. And he didn't remember much after that- just that the next day he woke up beside Leighanne, and after they'd gotten dressed, she pulled him in for another kiss, and at that exact moment, Aimee had decided to walk into the room, and that was the end of the best thing that ever happened to him. He groaned, and rested her head in his hands. "God, what I wouldn't do to take that back." He muttered to himself, and he meant it, too. There was nothing in the world that he wouldn't give up, just to hold Aimee in his arms one more time. |