Often ~ a Kian Lawley Fanfiction

Chapter 47

*a month after*

Ever since Bradley's death, (which was caused by drunk driving) I really haven't been my self at all. My usual day goes: wake up, go to school, come home, eat, and then sleep. I kind of stopped hanging out with my friends and kian, but they didn't get mad at me. I'm trying my best not to shut everyone out, but it's way harder than I thought when all you want to do is cry.

You know, you never really realize how much a person matters until they are gone. When he was alive, I never would have thought Bradley's death would have this kind of effect on me. He was never a really big part of my life, and we didn't hang out that often. I always just figured there would be time for that when we were old people, and we would just do puzzles together and have fun. But now there is no future us.

I can't help but feel like I kind of caused this. Everyone tries to convince me it's not my fault, but something inside of me just keeps telling me it is. Maybe if I had went to him with that party that night, maybe we would have left a minute earlier, or maybe we could have stayed a minute longer. Maybe. maybe. maybe.

I woke up today and did my usual routine. I went to school and came home, but something was different today. When I came home, instead if being greeted by silence, I was surprised to see Tiffany sitting on my porch step.

Throughout the whole death, Tiffany handled it surprisingly well. She's strong, you can just tell that she is the brave one. When she found out about Bradley's death, she didn't cry, she just stared straight ahead, with a blank expression on her face.

So you can imagine my surprise when I arrived home today to see her tear stained face waiting for me.

"Uh, hey Tiffany." I welcomed her as I got out of my car. She glanced up at me and offered a shaky smile.

"Hi." She choked out, her eyes glistening.

"What's up?" I asked, sitting down next to her on the porch stump in front of the door.

"So, my mom kicked me out when she found out I was pregnant..." She trailed off.

"What?!"

"I mean, I always knew they were religious, but I never thought they would go this far." She stuttered on.

"How did they find out?" I questioned, giving her a concerned look.

"Well, I am about 5 months now, and I couldn't really hide it by saying I'm just gaining weight." She replied, nervously running her hand over her slightly protruding stomach.

"I'm so sorry." I muttered.

"I don't really know where to go." She said, as I finally understood why she was here.

"You can stay here." I suggested, as a small smile spread on to her face.

"Really?" She asked gratefully.

"Yeah, come on I'll move Bradley's- er I mean another bed into my room." I replied, steering clear of the topic of my step brother.

I led her upstairs, and we dragged the futon bed out of Brad's old room and carefully brought into mine.

Once we finally got it into my room, Tiffany collapsed onto the blankets that were freshly washed mere moments ago. I strolled over to my bed and sat down on it, glancing around my room.

"These sheets still smell like him." Tiffany sighed, curling up into the blankets on top of the bed. I didn't respond, I had food on my mind since this was the time I usually ate.

"Do you want something to eat?" I asked Tiffany, and she nodded in agreement.

***

"I found out the sex, you know, of the baby." She told me as we sat in the kitchen waiting for our pizza rolls to be ready.

"Really?" I questioned, curiously tilting my head.

"Yep, it's gonna be a girl." She beamed at me.

"That's great!" I tried to sound as enthusiastic as I could, after all I was pretty excited it was a girl.

I looked down at the table as my phone began to ring and vibrate. I flipped it over so that it was face up and saw that the caller ID was Beth. I didn't really feel like talking to her right now so I pressed decline.

"Why didn't you answer?" Tiffany asked, nodding towards my phone.

"I just didn't really feel like it." I shrugged.

"It was Beth, haven't you guys been buddies since like first grade?" She asked, playing with the mug of her herbal tea.

"Yeah..." I trailed off, avoiding her sharp green gaze.

"Sam... it's been a month." She said, nervously pressing her lips together.

"I just don't think I can forget about him." I replied staring down at the table.

"You don't forget, you can heal the wounds, but the scars are for life." She said wisely, watching my every move. I looked up at her with confusion in my eyes.

"You didn't even go to the funeral, you never really got to say good bye, did you?" Tiffany questioned, straightening out her posture.

"No." I squeaked out, glancing down at the wooden table.

There was a moment of silence that followed as Tiffany looked down at the floor as if in deep thought. Suddenly, she perked up at bit and jumped up to her feet.

"What are you doing?" I questioned, watching as she grabbed her purse off the table.

"Call Kian and Beth, tell them to meet us at Benson's Creek."She replied, as I raised an eyebrow