Emileigh, Lauren, Landon, Lance and Laura were all at the airport. Bryan was again in his uniform. The day for him to go back had now come.
Laura was hugging her brother like her life depended on it. "Be careful, okay, Bryan? And you know you'll always have a home here."
Bryan smiled at his sister. "I love you, Laura. I promise I'll do everything in my power to come back safe. I won't ever leave you. This I promise you."
Laura smiled and kissed her brother's cheek. Then she stepped back as Lauren, Landon and Lance said their goodbyes to Bryan.
Emileigh was the last to say goodbye. Over the last two weeks, Emileigh and Bryan had spent a lot of time together. Bryan felt something different whenever Emileigh was with him. It was because of what he felt for her that he was going to try to do everything that he could to keep coming back. Emileigh was beginning to trust him and she couldn't deny that she felt safe around him.
Emileigh hugged Bryan. There was some desperation in the hug. "Write to me, okay? You know my address."
Bryan nodded. "Okay. I promise I will do just that."
"You're like my best friend, Bryan. You better come back, okay? Whatever you do, you need to come back."
"Don't worry, Emileigh. I'll do whatever I can to come back."
"Okay. I'm going to miss you."
"Me, too." Then Bryan paused for a few seconds, looked away and then looked back at her. "You'll wait for me, right?"
Emileigh looked at Bryan. She understood the question. "Yes. I promise I will."
Just at that moment, there was announcement that Bryan's plane was about to take off. It was then that they announced that the passengers should begin to board the plane.
Bryan turned to all the people he cared about and gave each one of them a hug. When he reached, Emileigh, he whispered, "Thanks for listening to me. I promise I'll write to you."
He let go of her and immediately missed the warmth that had once been Emileigh. He began walking off, then as he was about to board, he turned around and waved.
Everyone there waved back at him. Emileigh and Laura had tears in their eyes. Landon and Lance and even Lauren were trying not to cry in front of everyone else. Lauren looked at Landon. She knew how much Bryan meant to him. She was sure that Bryan and Landon were like best friends. She could see it in the way they interacted with each other.
Laura, Emileigh and Lance walked in front of Lauren and Landon. Lauren took Landon's hand in hers. Landon immediately turned his head to face Lauren.
"I know how much he means to you, Landon. Everything will be just fine." Lauren comforted him.
"Yeah. I hope so." he added. He was worried as to what he had said when he had talked to him a while back. He understood that Bryan was scared but when he had said he didn't want to come back, he had been serious.
"Don't worry about it."
"I think he likes Emileigh."
Lauren nodded. "And I think Aunt Emileigh likes him, too. So...you see. He's going to come back because he needs more time to figure out what he feels. And Aunt Emileigh needs to know how she feels. She's been through a lot and trust me when I say that trusting Bryan is a huge step for her."
"I heard him say that he was going to write to her."
"Really?" Lauren looked up at Landon.
"Yeah. He's never written to anyone. Not even me. So that definitely means a lot."
"I think those two are meant for each other. I think that they will heal each other in the process."
"Yeah."
After that, Landon didn't say much else. He definitely needed Lauren there. And right now, her hand in his was exactly what he needed. He was scared. He was scared that Bryan wouldn't make it back. It scared him that something would happen to him. The thing was that Bryan always wore a gold necklace with a crucifix on it that Liam had once given him. He wore it all the time, ever since the accident.
One day, Landon and Bryan had been talking and out of nowhere Bryan said, "If they tell you I'm dead and they only give you my dog tags, that means I'm not dead. And they're probably looking for me or I'm stranded somewhere or they want you to believe I'm dead so you won't look for me. If they give you my necklace along with my tags, then I'm actually dead."
Landon had been surprised by what he had told him, but Bryan was ridiculously serious that Landon believed every word. He was going to look out for that too. Because if they came one day with only the dog tags then he was still out there and he would go look for him. But hopefully that day would never ever come.
They all climbed into the SUV and Landon sat next to Lauren. She was worried about him. The way he was lost in thought gave her the affirmation that he was thinking about Bryan. "Are you thinking about Bryan?" she asked him but she didn't have to ask. She already knew the answer.
Just as she had expected, Landon nodded his head. "I was just thinking about one of the conversations Uncle Bryan and I had a few years ago."
"Good one or bad one?"
"I would say kind of both. It was about him dying and about his dog tags."
"Oh." She looked at him. And sensing that Lauren was looking at him, Landon turned his head to face the direction in which he had heard Lauren speak a few moments before.
Lauren cupped his face in her hands and said, "Everything will be fine, Landon. Don't worry."
Landon nodded slightly, making his best effort to hide the tears that were threatning to rol down his cheeks.
A few minutes later, Laura had stopped in front of her house. When Lauren hopped out, she walked up and went inside Laura's house. She was still staying with the Valentines. Emileigh however, turned back to go back to the house.
~~~~~~~
A knock was heard at the door. It wasn't like the normal knocks who were pretty calm. This knock was fast and more desperate. Laura went to open the door. Once the door was opened, Cindy came screaming in, "Where is she?! Where is Lauren?!"
Laura didn't know what to do. "Cindy, please calm down."
"Don't tell me to calm down!! I'm going to call the police on you on a case of kidnapping."
"Hold on a minute. I didn't kidnap anybody. If there was a problem it was because you caused it."
Cindy turned to Laura. "You fucking bitch." She lifted a hand to slap her but was stopped by Lauren's voice.
"Don't you dare slap her! Do you understand me?!"
Lauren stood in front of Laura. Lauren was about to call Lance for back up, but she remembered that he was working. As if reading her mind as to who she was going to call next, Landon came down the stairs.
Lauren watched as Landon walked towards her and his mother. As soon as he knew that everything was okay, he turned to Cindy. "What are you doing here? Don't come in here insulting my mother. Bevause she has done nothing to you but tell you the truth. The truth hurts, doesn't it?"
Cindy raised her hand and swung. Much to her surprise, Landon caught her hand before she could strike. "You can't slap me for trying to defend my mom from you. For my mom, I'd do anything."
Cindy then turned to Lauren and said venemously, "Lauren, you're coming with me. I won't let you stay here."
"I don't want to go with you. Do you really think I'm just going to leave with you after what you just did? I'm sorry, Mom. But I'm not leaving with you. I'm staying right here."
"Listen to me Lauren Marie. I am not going to put up with this. I'm taking you with me right now!"
"No! I'm not. Either you leave right now or I'm calling the police. I am not kidding with you. You can't just come in here trying to slap people like crazy. Who do you think you are?!"
Cindy's voice softened. "Baby, please. I need you home."
"I'm sorry, Mom. I can't go back. Not after what you did. Please leave."
Cindy gave up and left. Lauren turned to Laura and said, "I'm so sorry."
Lauren couldn't even look at Laura. Lauren ran up the stairs. She wanted to be buried deep down in a hole so that no one could see her,
Landon and Laura stayed downstairs. Laura looked at her son. "You should go talk to her, Landon. I think she neds you right now."
"Okay." he said as he made his way up to his room.
As soon as he made it to his room, he opened the door gently. He immediately heard sobs. They were quiet sobs but they held so much hurt and sadness. He closed the door gently behind him.
"Lauren?" he asked softly.
He made his way over to his bed. He knew that Lauren was on the bed but he couldn't know if she was sitting or whatnot. He went over to the bed and placed his hand exactly where thr bed ended. There he felt, Lauren's foot. He came in contact with the back of her shoe. That mea s she's lying on her stomach, he thought to himself.
"Lauren?" he tried again.
This time, he felt Lauren stir. "Landon..." she said in between sobs.
He sat down next to her. "It's okay."
Lauren sat up and hugged him, still sobbing. "No it's not."
Landon wrapped his arms around her and he held her, not making any sounds buyt waiting until she wa smore calm. When Lauren's crying had calmed down Landon said, "Everything's okay."
Lauren pulled away from his hug and looked at him. "Landon, she just came in here and she , she---"
"I knkw." he said. "But that wasn't your fault. None of that was your fault."
"Landon," she said, "my mom hurt your mom. Laura is a wonderful woman and my mom just came in here like it was her own house. She cussed Laura out."
"I know." he said calmly.
Lauren grew desperate. "Landon please. Be mad at me. Yell at me. Do something!!!"
"Why would I do that?"
"Landon, please. I feel horrible. You're not even mad at me. You're talking in your normal tone and it's killing me. Anyone else would be mad at me for what just happened."
"But it wasn't your fault, Lauren. None of what your mom did was your fault. Don't blame yourself."
"But I feel so guilty. She's my mother, Landon. And she's done so much bad."
"I understand what you're saying, Lauren, but you need to not feel guilty. You didn't do this. Your mother did. And I know that sounds bad, but she'll understand eventually that what she's doing is wrong. Especially if she truly loves you. Which she does."
Lauren hugged him again. "You always know what to say to me. I'm glad I'm here with you."
"So am I." he said as he wrapped his arms around her again.
When Landon and Lauren came down, it was night time. Lauren was more calm and she wasn't feeling as guilty. They were all in the living room watching a movie when Lauren's cell phone rang.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Sweetie, it's me. Your mom left. She said she's going to your grandma's. I don't know what to do. I tried to go after her but she just packed clothes for a few weeks and left."
"Okay, Daddy. Don't worry. I'm coming home. I'll be there in a few. Wait for me, okay?"
Lauren got uo and grabbed her bags. She turned to Laura and hugged her muttering a thanks. Then she turned to lance and did the same thing. Then she turned to Landon. She kissed his cheek. "Thanks for everything," she whispered. "I'm sorry I have to leave. I'll talk to you later."
"Okay." Landon said. "Good luck with whatever's going on."
Lauren hesitated before walking out the door, but it was what she had to do. She didn't want to leave but she had to be there for her dad.