Chapter
25
Two hours
later, Katelyn was sitting in her bedroom, reading a book. Harold was working
and Jackie had gone shopping for a new dress to wear for the wedding.
Katelyn jumped
when she heard the garage door opening. It had become an instinct for her to
jump every time she heard a car pull into the drive because months ago, that
meant she was usually in for a beating. Now, she knew she had nothing to worry
about, but she still naturally jumped.
Katelyn set
down her book on the bed and went downstairs to see who was home. She figured
it must be Brian because Jackie had only been gone for half an hour. Katelyn
gasped when she entered the kitchen and saw Brian. He was slumped down in one
of the kitchen chairs, his arms resting on the table, and his head buried in
them.
"Bri,
what's wrong?" she asked, taking a seat next to him at the table. She put
her arm on his back. She could feel him trembling and realized he was crying.
"What's the matter?" she asked again.
He finally
looked up. His eyes were red and puffy from crying. She saw tearstains down the
front of his shirt and knew that he had done some heavy crying.
"What
happened?" she asked gently, her green eyes full of concern.
"There
isn't going to be any wedding in four days," Brian said, his voice soft
and choked up sounding.
"What?!"
Katelyn cried. "Oh, Bri, what happened?"
"Leigh
dumped me," he said, his eyes filling with fresh tears.
"Oh,
Brian, hun," Katelyn whispered. She reached out and pulled him into a hug.
"Why?" she finally asked.
He pulled
back. "Several reasons," he said. "She thinks that you and I are
seeing each other behind her back, and she supposedly met some other guy in
England that she likes." He could barely finish his sentence before he
began to sob. Katelyn just pulled him back into her arms and rubbed his back.
His whole body shook with sobs. She just held him and rocked slowly back and
forth in her chair. Finally, after about a half an hour of him crying, he
stopped and slowly pulled back from her, sniffling.
"Thanks,
Kate," he said. "I really needed that. Sorry for dumping all my
problems on you."
"Don't
say that, Bri! We're friends, aren't we. I don't know about you, but I know
you're like a best friend to me. You've helped me through all my problems.
That's what friends are for," Katelyn told him.
"You're
right. And you're like a best friend to me too, Kate. I've grown really close
to you these past few months. I feel like you're one of my best friends and my
sister. I've never had a girl for a really close friend like this, except for
Leigh, but she and I were more than just friends. I guess we're neither now
though," Brian said sadly. For a moment, Katelyn thought he might start to
cry again, but he closed his eyes briefly and composed himself.
"Well,
I've never been this close to guy either," Katelyn said. "But I feel
like I've known you my whole life. We have a special bond, you and I. You're
like the big brother I never had. I can tell you anything. That night, before
the concert, I told you something that no one else knew, not even my own best
friend. And I had only met you a few minutes before."
"I'm glad
you told me," he admitted. "You could have just lied about that big
bruise on your back, and I probably would have believed you. But if you did, we
wouldn't have gotten to know each other so well, and you could be hurt a lot
worse now."
"Yeah,"
Katelyn agreed. Suddenly, Brian reached out and hugged her tightly. She hugged
him back. Then he stood up.
"I feel a
little better now, I guess," he said. "I always thought Leighanne and
I were made for each other, but I guess not. I believe everything happens for a
reason. I don't know the reason behind this yet, but I guess I'll figure it
out." Katelyn hoped he would.
***
