Gone Without Goodbye

Chapter 25

The all sat around then the guys mentioned they were getting hungry and figured they would just go out to eat. Stella, Aiden, Tony, Shane and Walker climbed into Walker's truck then went to one of the local restaurants they chosen to eat at.

"Man, I feel like a teenager again." Stella exclaimed from the backseat as she laid one her legs over Shane's leg.

"Why?" Aiden chuckled.

"Maybe because I'm sitting next to the guy I fell in love with when we were teenagers and I'm still in love with him. I know that destiny brought us back together."

"I feel the same exact way." Shane grinned as he put one hand on Stella's knee and wrapped his other arm around her shoulders.

Stella kissed Shane's cheek as her dad asked, "Stella, can I tell you something?"

"Yes, of course you can."

He parked the car at the restaurant, unbuckled and turned in his seat some, where he could see her better in the backseat.

"I haven't told anyone this but I'm telling you now. When your mom was 16, she had gotten pregnant. Not by me though because it was before we met. Anyway, her mother had found out she was pregnant by finding the test in the trash. Katherine went and gotten abortion even after her mother forbid it."

"I know that, grandma, her mom, had told me that."

"Oh, well okay than. I am going to get to my point. When Katherine found out you were pregnant she was going to force you to get an abortion but I had told her that she better not. I even went as far as telling her that if she did she can say goodbye to everything she had, that included me, I wouldn't have backed down from that either. She then decided to have you sent away to have the baby instead."

"Why didn't you stop her from sending me away too?" Stella questioned with a small frown.

"Because I knew that giving the baby to a family that wanted a baby was so much better than killing it. And I couldn't make her change her mind. I knew you two were so happy together but no matter what I said, she wouldn't listen to me about that."

"We were and still are in love. But why didn't you threatened her like you did when she was going to make me get an abortion dad?"

"I don't know, but I also knew you two were so young and still had your lives ahead of you. You both had dreams and I didn't want those to go away because of a child. With you it was to be a famous photographer and Shane it was the band." He took a deep breath and let it out, "Let's try to forget this now and go eat. We can't change the past but we can change what happens in the future. "

"Okay, lets go eat. Although I'm not that hungry because a little while before you guys came home I ate a peanut butter and banana sandwich."

"You'll at least get something won't you?" Aiden asked while looking at her.

"Oh yeah, of course."

After they went in and sat at a table, Stella kept glancing at Shane and would smile. A part of her couldn't wait until he broke things off with Kelly. She promised herself she wouldn't do anything with him again until he did cause that would be considered cheating. She wouldn't want a guy to do that to her so she wouldn't want to do that to Kelly no matter what she had done to her.

Pretty soon the waitress came and got their drink order than walked away. After she came back, she sat their drinks down then took their food order and walked away again. Shane smiled at Stella then as she smiled back he put his hand on her knee, she put her hand on his and curled her fingers around the palm of his hand.

She leaned over and whispered in his ear, "We can hold hands, no more kissing or anything along those lines as long as you're still with her."

He nodded then said out loud, "I can't wait till tomorrow."

"You've been waiting for a chance to be Stella again for quite a while." Aiden mentioned.

"For 8 years now. I told my brother, Dale, after I had gotten with Kelly that if Stella ever came back and wanted to be with me then I would break things off with Kelly to be with her."

"I'm not going to tell you to make sure that's what is in both of your guys heart because I know it is, but what I am going to tell you Shane, is that you best not hurt my daughter."

"Oh I promise I won't. I love Stella, always have and always will."

"I know that, I can see it in both of your faces when you look at each other. But it's a dad thing to say that to the guy that wants to be with his daughter."

"I know, but I still wanted to tell you that I promise not to hurt her."

"Good." He stated as their food came then asked, "So how's Dale doing? I haven't seen him around in a long time."

"He's doing great. He's living in Las Vegas now and married to a lady named Nicole. They've been married like 6 years and have a 5 year old then a set of twins on the way."

"Awe that's so cool. Do they know the sex of the babies yet?" Stella asked then took a bite of her salad.

"Nope, not yet. I talked to him last week and he said they have an ultrasound appointment this Friday and they were going to find out the sex of them."

"Awe."

They finished eating then Walker took them home and went home himself.

"I have to go home here soon." Stella said once they got inside the house.

"Why?" Shane asked with a little bit of disappointment.

"Because Mackenzie and I still have an apartment up there. Our lease is about up so we need to go home."

"Are you coming back?" Shane asked.

"That's the thing, I don't know."

"Oh." He frowned.

"You knew this would come. I have priorities back in New York. That's where I live now."

"I understand." He choked out.

"I'm sorry." She shook her head, ran to her room and locked herself in.

All three of the guys tried stopping her but she ignored them. Each of them then went up and tried talking to her but she just told them to go away. They figured they would try to get Mackenzie to talk to her.