A/N: Soo... I have a slight confession... this has been ready for about a week and a half.... or maybe longer... I just haven't been home to post it. I haven't done anything constructive and edited it or anything... nope, not at all. I have, however, been extremely social and that's the reason for my delay.
Y'all still don't like Leah.... I like her. Anyway, here's the next chapter! For all you begging to see Liam again, you'll like this chapter!
The girl in the picture is who I envision for Leah
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Chapter Four:
Everyone, at some point in their lives, has been between a rock and a hard place. Everyone, however, is not as good at putting themselves in those situations as I am. Following Jason and being caught, well, that put me between a rock and trying to compete with a girl with zero brain function is a hard place.
“What’s the story?” I said again, softer this time.
“What are you looking for Leah? Why did you follow me? Why do you care so much?”
I shrugged my shoulders, honestly not having an answer. What was I looking for? Answers, but why? Because I’m in love with a guy I barely know. Why do I care? I don’t know that either. “I wish I knew the answer. It would solve a lot of my problems.”
He shook his head and stood up abruptly, throwing his hands into the air. “There’s not really a point in telling you to leave is there?”
I shook my head. “Have you ever seen Titanic?”
He nodded.
“Remember when Jack said that he would have to jump if she jumped because he was involved? It’s kind of like that.”
He shook his head. “Jack was pushy, too.”
“Jack knew what he wanted.”
“Jenna and I grew up together,” he said after awhile. He was pacing the room, about as far away from me as he could get. “My brother, Liam, was always her favorite and I was mean to her.”
“Because you liked her?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. We were little kids. How do you know what a crush is when you’re six?”
I shrugged, a faint smile coming onto my face.
“Anyway, we moved to California after my dad died and for my senior year we moved back to Florida.”
“That sucks, to have to start over your senior year.”
He nodded. “It did at first, but I had Jenna. The first day we were back in town, our mom’s wanted to go to a nice restaurant. You should have seen how beautiful she was.” He talked about her like she was his world, and in a sense, she was. He walked over to her bed and sat down. He kissed her forehead. “I was arrogant and she was defensive. I wanted her to like me, but she liked someone else.” He clenched his fists. “Fred. God, I hated him so much. He hit her, you know?”
“Why do all of the good girls wind up with losers?”
He looked at me like I didn’t know what I was talking about. “She left him after he hit her. She just didn’t get it. I kissed her, and she still believed me when I told her that she was more like my little sister.” He grinned and took her hand in his own. “Eventually, we did get together, and it was serious, man. I was so in love with her. My mom used to say that I worship the ground she walked on. That was true, but for my mom to say I was whipped was too much.”
I grinned at him. He sounded like the perfect boyfriend.
“Anyway, we were really happy. She was a genius and I was… I was smart but not like her. I knew I was gonna marry her. I know it’s crazy, but when you know, you know. Then, one day, she broke up with me. She said that I was too serious and that she needed to focus on her school work or something like that. I was mad at her and had my own rebound. I knew that she hated Vanessa, but Vanessa seemed like a pretty good way to get back at her. Anyway, Jenna told me that she was sorry and had lied to me, that it was her parents that made us break up. I knew it was true, but I refused to accept it. Then, one night, I thought things were okay, but she made me mad and I made her mad and we both got in our cars. I was driving like, thirty miles over the speed limit and all I got was a speeding ticket. She, on the other hand, was just going to her best friend’s house, probably to talk about me.” He smirked.
“But then I got a call that she had been in a bad accident and by the time I got here, she was already in surgery. She survived the surgery, but-” He was telling the story in a sort of detached way, almost like he was simply narrating a book.
“She’s brain dead,” I finished.
“No!” He snapped. “There is still brain activity, not much, but there is some. That means there’s still hope. That means that my angel could wake back up.” He looked at me with fire in his eyes. Whispering, he said, “There’s hope.”
I shook my head and stood up next to him. I touched his shoulder and shook my head. “There is no hope,” I said. “She’s gone, Jason. She’s beautiful, and was probably an amazing girl, but she’s gone. It’s time to move on.” I stepped up really close and leaned on him. “It’s hard, I know. It’s hard, and it sucks and it’s sad and unfortunate.” I was crying. “But you have to move on.”
Images of my sister hit me like a ton of breaks. I could see her face in my mind and could hear her laugh. I could see her the night of the crash, the night that I became responsible for my sister’s death.
“Why are you crying?”
I shook my head and ran out of the room. He just poured out his heart to me and I couldn’t bear to tell him about my sister. I couldn’t have him see me the way everyone else did. Sam was the only one that didn’t look at me like I was a monster, and I just couldn’t handle it.
When I got to the elevator, I collapsed on the floor inside. Thankfully, I was all alone. I rode the elevator three times up and down from the first and last floor. I ignored the people that stared at me and the sympathetic, pitying looks. I ignored all of it.
Jason was holding onto his girlfriend and as awful as I know he felt every time he saw her, I wished I could look at my sister again. I would even take her hooked up to a machine if I had to. “Take your own advice,” I whispered.
I ran into the restroom when I reached the first floor for the final time to wipe my eyes. I looked a mess. I raked through my hair, trying to comb it out at least a little bit. I dabbed my eyes, but it didn’t make it any better.
Giving out, I made my way down to my car. Jason was sitting on the hood like he was waiting for me. “Now you’re gonna tell me what that was all about. How did my sob story make you cry like that? You didn’t know her, yet you cried like one of her best friends.”
I shook my head and got into my car. “I’m gonna put my car in reverse, and I’m sorry if you’re in my way.”
He swung around and got into the front seat. “No. Talk to me, Leah. You followed me here, made me tell you and then you ran out crying. What’s up with you?”
I narrowed my eyes. He was being pushy, and I didn’t like it.
“How does it feel to have a taste of your own medicine?”
“I don’t like it.”
He grinned. “I didn’t think so. Talk to me.”
Sighing in defeat, I turned off the car. “Look, my sister died in a car accident not too long ago, okay. I know what it’s like to cling onto nothing. You need to let Jenna go.”
“It’s not really my decision.”
“But if it was, would you unplug her or let her keep living on machines as a vegetable?”
He looked at me with hard eyes and clenched his jaw. He tightened his fists and his whole body went rigid. “No. Leah, there’s still brain function. It’s small, but it’s there. She could come back. The hope that we have is small, but I’m not giving up on her just like I know she wouldn’t give up on me.”
I looked down. I didn’t know what it was like to have someone love me as much as Jason obviously loved Jenna. “How long has she been like that?”
“Five years.”
“Five years? Jason, she’s not waking back up.” I put my hand on his back. “For you, I hope she does, but she would have woken back up by now if she was going to.” I looked at him sympathetically. “I wish I could see my sister one more time every day, but I can’t. I’m moving on, and you need to, too.”
He didn’t say anything. “I thought this was you telling me the story about what happened to your sister.”
I grinned. “I’m pushy by nature. I know how to push and change the subject. You’re an amateur.” I smirked at him and sort of chuckled.
He shook his head. “So what really happened with your sister? Why did you run out crying?”
I shrugged. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“I didn’t want to talk about Jenna, but you followed me here. Don’t you think that you owe me something?”
He was right. I did sort of get creepy on him back there… “I have a twin sister, her name was Mia. She was my best friend and on our seventeenth birthday, I convinced her to go out, got her drunk and then convinced her to go skinny dipping. She was the only one still in the car when the semi hit. She died instantly. I killed my sister.” I could feel my blood beginning to boil, and although my anger was unwarranted, I was mad at Jason for making me rehash all of this again. I was mad at Sam for making me tell him. I was mad at myself for telling people. It made me vulnerable.
“Wow. That’s hard. I’m sorry.”
I nodded. “It’s a little worse, though, because every time I look in the mirror, I see her. I can’t go home anymore, because my dad blames me, as he should. I killed his baby. He’s right of course. She was the good girl and I was the skank. She drank water and I drank whiskey. She had the good Christian boyfriend from church and I had the most popular guy in school, who’s in rehab, by the way. He’s right; I’m bad news. The wrong sister died.”
He hugged me tightly from across the seat. I melted right into him and it just felt right. We were both crying and gripping onto each other for support. I’m not sure when or how it happened, but we were laying in my back seat, holding onto each other. “There was this one time,” he was saying. “Jenna and her friend, Corinne had this plan that Corinne would be my date-”
“While you guys were dating?”
He nodded. “While we were dating. She planned it out so that I’d be Rinn’s date, that’s what she called her friend, and she would be Andrew’s date. Andrew was one of Rinn’s flames of the week.”
I chuckled. I knew the feeling of a ‘flame of the week.’
“She was trying to play matchmaker and we wound up walking home in the rain.”
“Wait, who? You and Jenna?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“Why?”
He thought. “I was being a bad boyfriend.” He grinned. “And Jenna was being the obnoxious date until both of them just left together. Rinn and Andrew got together, though.”
I giggled. “So you guys walked home in the rain.”
“Yep. It was pouring. We had to call my brother to come and get us.”
“Sounds like this one time with Mia. Okay, so, Mia was a swimmer and we were at a swim meet. I drove us there in my brand new car, it was a Lexus by the way. It was the district meet and it was far away. Well, Mia raced and took gold like she always did, and we were driving back when my brakes went out… going down a mountain and around a curve.”
“What’d you do?” He asked
“I don’t even know. Like, I navigated around the curve, was passing up other vehicles and praying that we wouldn’t die. Mia was screaming and crying and I was crying and screaming. We finally wound up hitting a tree. We weren’t hurt or anything, but it was still scary. We had to walk to the nearest town, which was six miles away in February. As luck would have it, it started snowing on our way back. We didn’t have on snow boots or anything, either.”
“Someone didn’t pull over to help you?”
“People did, but Mia was afraid of getting into their cars.”
He laughed. “You guys were screwed.”
“I know.”
I couldn’t help but think how warm I was now, lying in his arms, from when we were trekking through the snow.
“I wish you could have met her,” I said. “You would have liked Mia.”
“Wait, Mia and Leah. Your names rhyme.”
I laughed. “I know. Guess what our middle names are?”
“Oh gosh, are they rhyming, too?”
I grinned. “Guess.”
“Ummm Hollie and Pollie.”
I laughed. “Nope. I’m Leah Miranda and she was Mia Leanne.”
He thought about it for a second and started laughing. “Wow… did your parents do it on purpose?”
“They say they didn’t, but I have my doubts.”
He laughed, but was cut short from his phone ringing. He unwrapped his arm from around me to reach for his phone. “Hello?” He paused. “Dude, when are getting here. Mom’s freaking out… How’s the baby?” He sat up. “We’re on our way over… me and my friend… Leah… shut up Liam.”
I could hear someone laughing from the other line and when Jason looked up, he looked irritated. “Who was that?” I asked.
“My brother…”
“And…?”
“And we’re about to go to my mom’s house.”
“You’re taking me to meet your mother? What would Jenna say?” I winked.
“She’s say that you’ll love her, because she’s the sweetest woman ever.”
“Oh? And what would you say?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, my mom’s cool and all…”
“But?”
“But it’s my stepdad that I don’t like.”
“Why not?”
He shook his head and wrapped his arms back around me. I was thrilled that he hasn’t decided that it was time to go yet. “Through high school, he was always on my case, and every time I see him, he criticizes me for staying here to be with Jenna, and then for being stuck on Jenna, and for choosing to go to med school because it’s costing him.”
“Oh… he’s one of those parents.”
“Yeah.”
“What about your brother, how does he treat him?”
“He loves Liam. Liam can do no wrong in his eyes. Liam dropped out of college, but he’s still the pride and joy of my father. Liam married his high school sweetheart and popped out two kids in two years.”
“So what kind of career does he have?”
“He was promoted to General Manager at the restaurant he works at, so he didn’t really need to keep going. He and his best friend are working on a business plan to open a new restaurant.”
I nodded. “So he’s successful, has the perfect wife, the perfect kids and then there’s you. You stayed in school and you work hard to achieve your goals in neurology, right, because of Jenna, I’m assuming. You commit heart, body, soul, mind, everything to the person you love. You’re broke now, but one day you’ll be making plenty of money. In conclusion, you’re intelligent, successful thus far and in love. You two don’t sound too different.”
“Apart from the wife, kids and money part. Nah, I love my little brother. I’m jealous that he has his high school sweetheart and kids. I’m jealous that Sarah, that’s his wife, is still fully functioning, but I’ve never liked Jim, that’s my stepdad, anyway, so I don’t care. Jim isn’t my dad and never will be.”
“I bet your dad’s proud of you.”
“I bet he is, wherever he is.”
“Where is he?”
He clenched me closer to his body. “He died when I was eight.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“Did you kill him?”
“What? No!”
“Then don’t be sorry. You didn’t do anything. It’s life, it sucks, it happens.”
I was stunned into silence. Never in my life had someone criticized me for trying to be sympathetic. I pulled out of his embrace and sat up. He stared back at me and I at him. “Why don’t we head over to your mom’s house?”
He nodded and got into the driver’s side in my car. I didn’t like driving anyway, so I didn’t protest. I did, however, protest at how much he moved my seat. “No! I finally had it in the perfect position and you just totally ruined it!” I wailed.
He laughed. “But I’m big. And muscular. And sexy.” He winked.
I felt my cheeks flame red and shook my head. “You’re not sexy when you adjust my seat like that!”
“Oh, so you admit I’m sexy?” He smirked.
“You’re sexy when you don’t disrupt my comfort!”
“Ohh, so I am sexy?”
I smacked him. “Just go to your mom’s house!” Anytime I get flustered or angry, my nose pinches up and I can’t help it. I’ve tried, but it’s a reflex. It’s like when you’re happy, you can’t help but smile. When I get flustered, I can’t help but pinch my nose.
Jason tapped it and grinned. “You look like a bunny! Like a wabbit!” He said in the Elmer Fudd voice.
I batted his hand away. “I don’t look like a rabbit!”
He laughed all the harder. The more you deny it, the more rabbit like you look!”
“Oh you think this is just so funny, huh!”
He nodded.
“I’ll get you for this, and your little dog, too!” I squeaked.
“My dog got hit by a car about a year ago. Already taken care of.”
My jaw dropped and I looked at him with sad eyes. “Your dog died and you’re just like, joking around about it.”
Jason looked confused. “Umm… yeah… Dandy got hit by a car, it was terribly unfortunate, but my mother’s rose garden is doing just fabulous now!”
I wasn’t used to this much perkiness and cockiness coming from Jason. He was usually more sober minded and calm. “What’s wrong with you?”
He grinned. “What do you mean what’s wrong with me? We buried the dog under the rose-”
“Not the rose garden!” I snapped, scrunching my nose again. I covered it up with a hand quickly, before he could make fun of me.
The quizzical look on his face was really cute, but I opted to not comment about it. “You’re like, different than what you’ve been the last three days!”
He grinned. “Leah. You’ve only known me for three days. How can you say I’m different, when you don’t really know me?”
I shook my head. “I feel like I’ve known you forever.”
He shrugged. “Ready to go to your mom’s house?”
He whipped on the pair of aviators that I had hanging in my window. “Let’s do it.” His mock serious voice was adorable and I burst out into laughter.
“Omg…”
“You just said O-M-G. What are you, twelve?”
I grinned. “Maybe. I thought we were going to your mother’s humble abode?” I buckled my seat belt and looked back up at him. He was still staring at me, but he was looking at me different, like, with a smile on his face.
“You’re stupid.” He laughed and put the car in reverse and swung wide and fast, despite the crowded parking lot. “Here we go!”
I screamed reflexively and clamped my hand over my mouth. “Please don’t kill me.”
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I was suddenly nervous as I was following Jason up the walk. “I feel like I should have a casserole dish or something…” I muttered.
He looked at me like I was idiot. “Why?”
“I don’t know. I just do. Like, I’m looking around and there’s this little bitty cottage looking house with the cute little rose garden and the azaleas and the little marigolds. I just feel like a warm casserole dish is needed to fit the picture. Or a bunt cake.”
He laughed. “You’re ridiculous. Come on, let’s just go inside.”
He opened the door and pushed me in. “Hey mom, we’re here!”
“Oh good, Jason! You’re just in time for supper!” She came strolling out of the kitchen wearing a flowered apron and matching oven mitts. In her hands was a casserole, fresh out of the oven.
I nudged Jason. I knew a casserole felt right. “Nice apron,” he complimented.
“It is, isn’t it? I just found it- well hello there.” She stopped everything, took off the oven mitts and put her hands on her hips. The woman was petite with red hair. I looked between Jason and his mother, and really couldn’t see any resemblance at all. “Holly Anderson,” she said, first extending her hand and then wrapping me in a tight, swift embrace. “And what’s your name?”
“Leah,” I said smiling. I was suddenly very self conscious and stepped a half step closer to Jason.
“Leah! What a pretty name!” She smiled warmly. “Jason, I’m so glad to see you – the both of you!”
He smiled, although it was forced. “Where are Liam and Sarah?”
“Out back. Can you go get them and tell them it’s time to eat?”
He nodded and I followed him out the back door. An older man was sitting on the porch in a rocking chair and I knew without being told that it was Jim. I immediately didn’t like him. Across from him, however, on the porch swing was a young couple. The man, assumingly Liam, was the spitting image of his mother, with blonde hair instead of red, though. The girl beside him was cute and tiny and was grinning at us. She was holding a young child I her arms and another kid, a toddler, was trying to climb up his daddy’s leg.
“Jason! Long time no see!” She greeted. “And who’s your friend?”
“Leah.” I put my hand out to her and she shook it. I instantly liked her and smiled back warmly. “We go to school together.” I waved between Jason and me.
“Oh, okay! What’s your major?”
I smiled. “Something in the medical field. I haven’t decided exactly what yet.”
“Are there other doctors in your family?” Jim asked.
I turned to look at him, determined for him to like me. “My older brother is in school to be one, but other than him, no.”
“So in answer to my question, there are no doctor’s in your family?”
“That is correct sir.”
He nodded and smiled at me. “Best of luck to you.” He gave me a genuine smile, not like I was expecting.
Jason cleared his throat. “Mom said it’s time to eat.”
“Come on baby girl,” Sarah said, standing up with the baby in one arm and taking her other little girl by the hand. The three of them walked in and Liam came up and hugged his brother.
“It’s good to see you!”
Jason grinned. “You saw me last week.”
“Yeah, but last week, you were single. Now you’re bringing a girl home? Bro, I’m proud of you!”
“We’re not together,” Jason said matter of factly.
It felt like a stab to my gut, even though I knew it was true. “Nope. Just friends,” I said beaming up at his younger brother.
“Oh!” He looked surprised and almost disappointed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean-”
“It’s cool, dude.” Jason walked inside and I followed closely behind him.
“Oh Leah! I set you a place next to Jason!” Holly said, setting down a plate and silverware and grinning at me. They all thought we were together. They all thought that Jason had finally moved on. I wished I could be the girl that saved Jason. I knew it was unlikely, but it was my hope nonetheless.
“Thank you.” I smiled up at her, instantly liking the woman.
We all sat down and Jason’s family immediately hit it off. I felt like a total outsider. They were the perfect family and I knew I was just an extra. “Food’s really great, mom!” Jason complimented.
“Thank you! Just wait and see what I did for dessert!”
“What’d you make?” Liam asked.
“It’s a surprise.”
“She made brownies,” Jason said. “You made brownies?!”
“I didn’t just make my brownies,” Holly said. “I added a little bit extra to them!”
The boys’ faces lit up and Jason looked at me. “Her brownies are the best you’ll ever eat!” Jason looked back up at his mom. “You haven’t made brownies for us in months!”
“She’s made them for me three times this month,” Jim said, a satisfied smirk on his face.
Liam looked at Sarah. “Some wives make their husbands brownies….”
Sarah shot him a look. If looks could kill, he would be dead. “Next time you make a baby for nine months, let me know,” she fired back.
“We made the child.”
“Oh no! The next time you grow to the size of a whale, have swollen ankles and unquenchable cravings, you can tell me that you had anything to do with the baby making process.”
I was dying. Between the defeated look on Liam’s face and the fiery look on Sarah’s, the two were hilarious. I immediately liked both of them, especially Sarah. “I helped!”
“How old’s the baby?” I asked, cutting Liam off. He was losing this argument.
“She’ll be three months in two days.”
“Aww!”
“You’ve been without child for three months, woman, that’s no excuse for not producing my brownies,” Liam insisted.
“Do you have the syrup?” Jason asked.
“Oh, sorry, baby! It’s still in the kitchen,” Holly said.
Jason ran into the kitchen and returned with a bottle of Karo syrup. He drizzled it on top of his casserole and then added some to the side.
“You’re eating syrup with your casserole?” I asked.
“Yeah, dude! Try it! It’s awesome!”
Skeptical, I pushed myself closer to Jason and went in with my fork so that our arms crossed. I stabbed some of the pasta and syrup, and just before I brought it to my mouth, Jason stabbed me in the nose with syrup covered pasta. In shock, I brought my fork down and stabbed Jason in the hand. We both yelped at the same time and I started laughing ridiculously hard. I grabbed his hand and he wrapped an arm around me. “Are you okay?” We asked simultaneously.
“You stabbed me!” We screamed.
“But you-” I started, but he started tickling me and I sort of lose control when I’m tickled. When I’m tickled, I sound like a donkey, and as soon as I started braying, Jason burst out laughing.
When we finally settled down, I had syrup all over my face and his hands were sticky, which, unfortunately had been tickling me, so there were little patches of syrup all over my body. I looked up and the rest of the family was staring. Holly was beaming at us and she looked like the proudest parent to ever walk the earth.
“Are you okay?” Liam asked.
I nodded. “If you don’t mind, I think I’m going to go get less sticky.” I shot Jason a look that was meant to be intimidating, but he laughed.
“Bathroom’s right down the hall. First door to the left,” Jim said.
“Thank you!” I hurried down the hall and closed the door behind me. I could hear laughter echoing from the dining room.
“Well I like her,” Sarah said. “She’s the first girl to make you smile that much since Jenna’s accident.”
Everyone got instantly quiet.
“She’s something else…” Jason said. I could barely hear him, despite my best efforts of eavesdropping.
Holly said something else, but I couldn’t hear anything. When Jason responded, I only caught every fourth and fifth word. Deciding it was pointless, to try and listen anymore, I washed my hands, face and wiped down my arms. I dabbed at the sticky parts of my shirt and then hurried back to the table.
“So did you like the syrup and casserole?” Holly asked.
“I don’t know! I never actually tried it.” I put my hand up to Jason. “Don’t move while I try some of this.”
He pulled his hands back and let me taste his food. I placed it swiftly in my mouth and watched him while I chewed. “It has a weird flavor,” I said finally. “Not good not bad, just weird.”
“That’s exactly what I said!” Liam exclaimed.
“Haters,” Jason muttered.
“Oh hush,” Holly said. “Leah, my dear, tell me about yourself.” The whole family turned their attention to me, and for once, I didn’t feel awkward. In the brief thirty minutes I had spent with them, I went from feeling like a total outsider to one of them. They were such a close family, and I was jealous of Jason. He had this to turn to – people who loved each other, despite their faults. I wanted to be a part of this more than anything.
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A/N: Are we still despising Leah? And how are we liking Liam and Sarah. I loved Sarah's character too much to have them break up, so I decided to leave them together!
QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER: What's the best way you've been asked (or a friend) to homecoming, or any dance, really?
I LOVE YOU MY BEBES!
Bre