Love Story [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twelve ~ Aftermath

"Where is he?! Why hasn't he come back?! Did he find them!??" Toby asked, pacing around.

"I'm sure he did and he'll bring them back. Stop worrying!" Blake said. He looked over at Mindy who was comforting a sobbing Lydia.

"Toby, they'll be back soon." Michael said, putting his hand on his shoulder. Toby nodded and looked out the window again. They were ready to leave as soon as Kris came back with Rae and Tao. Toby glanced at Lydia. She was sobbing for Dex, he had died in order to save himself and Michael.

Toby felt terrible, he felt responsible somehow for all this. Maybe it was because he was the oldest. Or maybe it was because it had been his idea to come in the first place. Michael seemed to sense what he was feeling.

"It's not your fault, Toby!" He whispered to him. Toby just nodded.

"They're here!!" Erica yelled from the window she was looking out of. Toby ran for the door, with Michael and Mindy following. Toby opened it to reveal Kris holding a sobbing Rae.

"What happened??" He asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

"Tao's gone." Kris said, his face expressionless. Toby gently took Rae from him.

"Let's go!" He said, walking out with Rae in his arms. Everyone else followed, Erica helping Lydia and Blake and Michael grabbing the bags. Mindy walked next to Toby, looping her arm through his. Toby didn't know fully of what happened that day, but he did know that he was never coming back to this place again! Especially not with his friends and loved ones! He gently placed Rae in the car, and after whispering encouragement to her, he got in the driver's seat. When everyone was in, he drove away.

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We finally made it home, it was two months later. I was in my room, looking through some things.

"Rae! Blake is here to see you!" I heard my mom call. I sighed. I wasn't in the mood but I may as well be nice to him. He was struggling with it as much as I was.

"You can just send him up!" I called down. I kept looking through the pictures. There was a lot with myself, Toby, Mindy, Dex, Lydia, Blake, Michael, and Erica. They started from kindergarten up. I noticed that in middle school, Kris appeared in the pictures too. We had accepted him into our tight knit group.

Then, in the seventh grade, Tao was there as well. We had accepted him too. But we had also noticed that Kris had a problem with him. He mainly just ignored him though. Until he started showing interest in me. That got Kris very upset. I sighed. What was Kris feeling right now? Was he hurting? Tao and Kris used to be best friends, after all. I should probably see him later. I thought, putting the pictures on my desk.

"Hey!" I heard Blake say. I turned around and gave him a smile.

"Hi! How are you?" I responded. He shrugged.

"I wish it never happened." He said, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Yeah, me too." I agreed, with a sigh. Blake nodded.

"Are you ok?" I asked him. He shrugged again

"I just wish I didn't act like such a jerk. I felt horrible about it! I was going to apologise to him, but then he never came back!" He said, sadness and regret in his voice. I nodded. He had already apologized to me a thousand times, and I told him it was ok and that I understood, a thousand times.

Then he held up a phone. I noticed it was Taos' phone.

"Where'd you get that?" I asked him.

"From his bag. I couldn't bring myself to leave it, so I brought it back." He said, handing it to me. "There's a lot of pictures of you on there. He obviously admired you for a long time. There's also two videos that I think you should watch." He added. I took the phone and opened it. The screensaver was a picture of the two of us, taken the morning of the day no one wanted to think about.

Blake must've noticed the emotion that went through me, because he said, "I'll leave you alone. See you later! Take care, Rae!" I nodded and waved to him as he walked out.

After Blake left, I went to the videos he was talking about. I took a deep breath before playing it. When I saw Tao on the video, alive and well, I almost started crying. I listened to what he said on it.

" 'Hey! So, Blake invited me on a ski trip. Everyone is going, including Kris. So I didn't know if I wanted to go. But then I heard that Rae Stevenson is going. She is the girl of my dreams. So of course when I heard that, I decided to go! She is the only reason I'm going. I hope I have enough courage to ask her to be mine, the last time I wanted to I got scared so I didn't. But this time I will! No matter what, I will!' "

I realized that I was crying. I got my emotions under control and played the second video.

" 'Ok, ok, I need to calm down! But that's impossible because I'm so happy! So, we got to the cabin, and things were going as anyone would expect. Blake brought booze, I don't know why, but we started drinking them. Rae went upstairs to rest, I wanted to follow her to ask her to be mine but Blake wanted to play a drinking game with me, so I didn't get to. But the next day, I asked Rae to come skiing with me. She said yes. Then Kris came too which annoyed me greatly. But then I made him mad so he stayed behind. Anyways, when Rae and I were on the gondola, she was nervous so she grabbed onto me. I put my arms around her and told her that I will always protect her! She fell asleep, which was adorable, and then I woke her up at the top. We started flirting and then I was playfully chasing her, and we fell in the snow. And then I kissed her. She kissed me back! She kissed me! She said that she wanted to be mine! I'm so happy I can't even think straight! I need to go to bed now, Rae is actually here sleeping. Rae, if you ever watch this, I love you more then words can say! I promise I will always be here to take care of you and protect you! I love you! I'll always be with you no matter what!' "

After the video stopped, I broke down and sobbed. I suddenly realized that my mom was with me, she hugged me tightly and comforted me. "I miss him so much!" I whispered, crying into her shirt.

"I know sweetie, I know! But he is in a better place now!" She said to me. Deep down, I knew it was true.

Hey there, peeps!! Here's another chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for the reading!
Rachel :)