I Love My Brother's Best Friend

Chapter 4 ~ Gone Forever

*Four Years Ago*

Isabelle's POV

"Alright let's do it from the top again-with the lifts," I told Nick, my dance partner and best friend since I was six.

"Belle, are you sure you want to do the last one again, I think you should wait until tomorrow," Nick said with uncertainty.

"Yes Nicky! We have to get this before November!" He was starting to get on my nerves.

"Belle, it is August, calm down, geeze," he said trying to soothe my stress. 

"Right, sorry, I just-"

A throat clear behind me at the door. I turned to see Mary, our dance company director, and one of the most mother-like figures in my life, with a solemn expression masking her face. In fact, I had seen that look before, pity, and I despised it. 

"Isabelle," she never calls me Isabelle unless it's serious or business-related, "there are some people here who would like to talk to you." I followed her out of the studio and into the office. It was then that I knew what had happened, and it was one of my worst nightmares. I saw two Marines, dressed in their dress blues, and my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach. They didn't have to say anything, just whether it was my father or Joe who would never come home again, alive. 

Everything went by in a blur, the only words that I picked up were "your father," and my whole world changed again. I barely remember how or when Scott and Matt came home from boot camp training, or how I got home, what anyone said, and even how I got showered and into bed.

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I sat in my bedroom, staring up at the dark ceiling, not able to get a second of sleep, although I know that I will need it for tomorrow when we have to make the funeral arrangements and go through all of the legal paperwork. That's when I realized that all of the hope and all of the "Don't worry, he'll be home before you know it"s were all just a waste, and I finally cracked, not able to stop the flow of tears running down my cheeks. I tried to silence my sobs, in an effort to stop them from waking Matt or Scott or Bobby up. Those efforts were soon shown to be ineffective as I heard footsteps coming towards my room. 

As the door cracked open, I wasn't able to tell who it was due to the darkness The figure practically ran to my bed and enveloped me into their toned arms. As I looked up at the mystery man's face, I was shocked to find Matty looking back at me, not with pity, but empathy. That had just made me cry, even more, clinging onto Matty, only then realizing that he was shirtless. I slightly pulled away from him, still in his arms and looked down in thought as to why he came to me, and actually was comforting me. He had always teased me, but to be fair, I hadn't seen him in about four years.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when two rough, calloused hands gently cupped my face and wiped the tears off of my face with their thumbs. I slightly looked up to Matty, still wondering where this comfort was coming from, not that I minded it, he just confused me with his caring actions. 

"Hey, tell me what's goin' on in that pretty little head of yours," he softly whispered down to me, although it sounded louder because of his deep voice in the dead silent night. This statement utterly confused me even more, though. First of all, why does he care, and second of all, what was really going on in my head?

I just looked up at him, sporting a hopeless look as I let a few more tears slip. I don't know why I was so upset. As heartless as it sounds, I hadn't seen my father for at least four years, and before that, I had only seen him for a few months at a time throughout my whole life. And even when he was home, he worked 24-hour shifts at the firehouse or just slept. Truth was, I was disappointed, not sad or upset. I was disappointed in the fact that I never truly knew my father, and I would never be able to get to know him now. I was jealous of all of the girls who could say that they were a "daddy's girl" or "daddy's princess". Although, I was used to this for years. Even when I was younger, and we had father-daughter dances, my father was always deployed, so instead, Joe took me. And now, I would have to go my whole life without that opportunity of growing close with my father.

Matty just gently pulled me closer into his chest as I cried for what seemed like hours. At some point, he laid down and pulled me down with him and I laid on his chest. He surprised me again and stayed with me the whole night, whispering sweet nothings into my ear and combing his fingers through my hair, soothing me. He wiped away my tears and kissed my forehead every once in a while. I eventually cried myself to sleep as Matty and held me close, cuddling me into comfort and safety. At this point, I didn't care how confusing he was being, just as long as he stayed there with me.