Forever Mine (The Moreno Brothers)

FOREVER MINE - Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

Sarah was both shocked and overwhelmed with joy when she saw Sydney. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed him until she felt the emotion in his hug.

She had had so many questions for him she almost forgot Angel was going to be there any minute. She'd felt so rotten having to lie the way she had. But she knew there was no way Angel was ready to meet Sydney—not like this. It would be a slap in the face. She needed to explain everything to both of them before she could have them meet.

This whole mess was her fault, and now it threatened to blow up in her face. After being  a nervous wreck all day, she now felt on the verge of a meltdown.

Sydney said he wanted to talk to her, and she had a feeling it wasn't going to be a short conversation. The only places she knew were places Angel had taken her. All of which were frequented by everyone from school.

There was no way she was taking him to her and Angel's special place. So she decided to go to a place further down the beach where she'd never gone with Angel. She figured it was safe.

Getting there would prove otherwise. They got stuck in Saturday night traffic. It seemed everyone was out that night. She sunk in her seat several times when she thought she saw people from school—guys from the football team even.

When they finally got to the beach, Sydney dropped a bomb. She'd been expecting something big since he'd driven all the way out here, but she was still shocked and upset when she heard it.

"Lynni." He started. "I should've told you this a long time ago."Sarah braced herself. As long as he wasn't sick she could take anything else.

"What?"

"Remember Carina Santiago?"

Sarah thought for a moment. "The girl in orchestra who plays the cello?"

"Yeah." He took a deep breath. "Well, just before you left, me and her started talking—a lot. We actually started seeing each other. But you were going through so much crap and stressing out 'cause of your mom's problems that I didn't want to tell you about it."

Sarah shook her head. "Why?"

"C'mon, Lynn, you had so much stuff going on. Half the time you were almost sick with worry about your mom. How could I sit there and tell you about how good things were going for me? It didn't feel right, and even after you left, you were so miserable, and that's when everything really started to happen for me and Carina. I couldn't do it."

Sarah stared at him, almost sick to her stomach, feeling so self-centered. All this time she'd been going on and on about having to be there for Sydney, and now she was finding out that she'd been too busy wallowing in her own crap to listen to him. He'd been there for her, and through it all, he'd kept his own feelings to himself, never once able to share his own anxieties or excitement about his own brand new relationship. Unless he'd kept anything else from her before this, Sarah knew very well this was a first for him too.

"Oh, Sydney. I'm so sorry." She hugged him tight.

He pulled back gently. "What are you talking about? I'm the one that kept it all from you."

"Yeah, but you did it for me because I was such a whiny useless wimp. I dumped all my crap on you, time and time again, and never once thought about how hard it must be for you."

Without warning, the tears came en masse. She felt terrible, but when her eyes met his, he looked mad.

"Don't you dare do this, Lynn." He wiped the tears gently from her cheeks but spoke firmly. "You've been the best friend that anyone could ever ask for. You think I'll ever forget what you did for me? If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have made it through middle school. I was the fattest, laziest piece of—"