The People I'd Die For (Part 15)

Amy led the way as the four of them walked out of Brian's house. She felt, although they still had plenty of time before they were expected at the airport, that she was in a rush. She hopped into the backseat of Brian's car and buckled her seatbelt. She lifted her right hand to the top of her head and felt how messy her hair was. It was halfway pulled out of her ponytail and bunched at the top. While everybody follwed in her footsteps and settled themselves into the car, she pulled her hair loose and retied it. It wasn't perfect, but at least presentable. It'd be a while before she needed to get out of the car again anyway.

Kat was sitting in the backseat next to Amy. She felt only slightly better than before, but still was uncomfortable with panic. It seemed like forever since she'd been at that hospital. Already the details of that specific memory were fading away in her mind. Although she was sure that sometime soon she would break down in tears again, for now she was unable to produce even one. It was as if there was a pressure, a sort of forcefield maybe, preventing her from doing so. All the thoughts and feelings of the past day were clawing her from the inside out and making its way up to her throat. Kat soon found herself not able to, and really not wanting, to speak.

"Come on, girl." Carl whispered to the car as it sputtered in protest. "I'd carry these kids myself but you're bigger than me." Nobody responded to Carl's attempt at a joke.

'Don't try, not now.'Brian thought to himself. He doubted that anything could lighten the mood in this car. He thought about how he knew his father was really hurting too, and admired him for at least trying to make things seem better. Brian's mind drifted back to his long talk in the kitchen with his father. He was glad that Amy and Kat were talking so they couldn't hear. God, if they had heard...

"I know he was like a brother to you, son." Carl said. "It's going to be like hell for a while. I ain't gonna lie to you. But you'll get through this. We both will. Trust me."

"I know, dad." Brian said, irritation in his voice. "I know because everybody that I've seen or heard from or talked to today has told me that already. So I'm thinking if everybody's saying it, they're either all in on some big joke against me, or it's got to be true."

"Brian, I'm just trying to help." Carl said as gently as he could. "It's fine with me if you don't want to talk about it."

"Good." Brian replied. "Cause I'm pretty sure I'd like to talk about something else." He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms.

Carl nodded. "Alright." He paused for a moment. "How are you and Amelia getting along?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well she didn't come around here for about three weeks then you up and bought her a corsage."

"Dad, I..." Brian paused, getting quickly more frustrated. "She didn't have a date for prom, and we got in a fight before so I figured... You know what? It doesn't matter."

"No, come on, son. You're the one who told me to change the subject."

Brian was too mad to figure out what his father was trying to do. Like a caring father, Carl was trying to get his son's mind off of death. So far, he was doing a good job.

"Okay, fine, dad. Amy got mad at me one day for... asking her about her problems and she kind of told me that she loved me."

"Kind of?"

"She did, okay? She did. Then she got upset and went home and did some stuff and got herself hurt." Brian paused, wondering why he was telling these things to his father. "Then I told her I couldn't love her because of her problems I guess and then I went to Kat's house and... and I kissed her."

"You kissed Amelia?"

"No, Kat."

"You kissed Kat?"

"Yes, dad."

"Who was...nevermind."

It hit both of them at the same time that Brian had kissed Kat when her heart already belonged to Jake. It stung at Brian and made him want to scream. He wanted to say he was sorry. Just one apology...

"Go on, son."

"We had reserved a limo together a long time ago together. I guess we'd rather put up with each other than waste money. Then there was prom and... the...um, the accident."

"We wanted to get off that subject for right now, remember? So Brian... Why did you buy Amelia the corsage?"

Brian quickly went over answers to that question in his head. He could lie but he figured that had only been good for making problems.

"Well she... I didn't..." Brian sighed and put his head in his hands while his elbows were resting on his knees. "Dad... I did it because...I think I'm in love with her."

"With little Amelia?"

"Dad, come on." Brian said pleadingly. Carl had always called Amy 'little Amelia' because of how young she had looked for years after they had been introduced. 'She doesn't look so little anymore.' Brian thought.

"I know, I apologize." Carl looked down at his knees for a second, then looked back up to meet his son's eyes. "Brian, if you're in love with her like you say, then you need to tell her. Don't lose her in all of this... this bad stuff."

Brian looked back at Amy sleeping on his couch, her hand gently holding the corsage. "Oh no..."

"What?" Carl asked.

"She found the corsage. I left it on the table."

"All the more reason to give her an explanation." Carl replied.

"If only it were that simple."

Carl shook his head and gave Brian a half smile. "Son, I've been married. You ain't seen complicated yet."

Brian gave a forced smile in return and looked back at Amy. He didn't want to wake her up for anything. 'I'll wake her up when this is all over.' he thought wishfully.

"Go wake them up." Carl said. "We need to get going anyway."

With a pat on the shoulder, Brian snapped back to reality. It was Carl's large hand that had brought him back from his memory. "For the third time, we're here, son. You all go up to the gate and wait for Mister and Missus Riley. I just need to find a parking spot and I'll be right up."

Kat looked at Carl in disbelief. She wanted Carl to be up there with them when the Riley's arrived. The last thing she wanted was to face Jake's parents by herself.

Amy squeezed Kat's hand. She could tell Kat was afraid. "It's okay." Amy said gently. "We'll be there too."

Brian looked to the back seat and nodded. "We'll be fine. Come on."

The three of them all got out of the car and onto the walkway before Carl pulled away to find a parking spot. A short walk and an escalator away, the were at the gate to meet Jake's mourning parents.

Kat turned to Amy and Brian. "I'm not ready for-"

Before she could finish her sentence, her gaze landed on the familiar faces of the Riley's. As they walked toward each other, and as the face of Mrs. Riley got colder, each step became more frightening to Kat, and the faces of the Riley's less and less familiar.