Station 429

the night of pictures

the night of pictures

__________________________________________________________________________

The next night felt a little more normal to Colleen, since it was supposed to be just her and Foster in the station. But there was one thing that was off, and that was Foster keeping his little secret. When he finally sauntered into the station and plopped down on the tracks next to her, Colleen just couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer.

"When are you planning on telling me?"

Foster's eyebrows immediately creased. "Well hello to you too."When Colleen gave him a stern look, he backed off. "Sorry, but whatare you talking about?"

Colleen groaned out of frustration. "Oh, my God." She closed her eyes and composed herself. "I'm talking about you visiting your father's grave." She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Were you ever going to tell me?"

Foster's eyes widened just enough for Colleen to notice, and to prove that she was right. "Where did you hear that?" he said, trying to cover it up. "I only said that I was thinking about going. Nothing is for sure."

"Oh, bullshit Foster. Misty told me what you said."

"And what was that?"

"That you were going to make your peace, or something." He made an 'o' shape with his mouth, turning away from her stare. "That's what I thought."

"You're mad at me now, aren't you."

She shook her head. "No, not really. But it was just eating me alive. I wanted to know for sure."

"I only decided the day I apologized to Misty."

"I'm really happy that you're going, like you have no idea."

"It's not that big of a deal."

"Don't even say that," she told him, causing him to turn to look at her. "I know how big of a step this is for you."

Foster nudged her with his shoulder. "I'm only taking it becauseof you. What you said about closure really smacked me in the face. So thank you."

For the first time, Colleen felt her cheeks warm up at what he had said to her, which seemed impossible because of the bitter temperatures. She found herself looking at her lap and shaking her head, telling herself she could not be thinking like that right now.

"Have you ever thought about visiting your friends' graves?" Foster asked.

Colleenleaned back on her hands, thinking. "I have," she admitted. "But I've never had the guts to go. I mean, I can barely face my parents, since all they want to do is make sure that I'm okay, which is what they should be doing, but that only brings up too many emotions for me. And let's not talk about their parents. Going back home would just be hell at this point."

"You don't have to see them if you go back to their graves, you know. I'm not telling anyone that I'm going to my dad's grave."

"You're not?" He shook his head. "Why not?"

"I'm just not ready. And I think this needs to be a thing between my dad and I."

"Oh." She paused. The sound of gravel crunching underneath her legs could be heard as she shifted to face her body toward him. "For me, though, I feel like just going back to their graves wouldn't give me the closure I need. If I'm going back home, I need to see everyone."

"I get that."

Another silence, during which Colleen's mind wandered. She thought about Foster leaving, and not being within reach for a while. What would she do if she happened to have another mental breakdown? It didn't help that no one else would be around to fill in Foster's spot. Everyone was gone. She was scared, to say the least. "I don't want you to go," she told him.