Count On Me - Sequel (Laughing into Love)

Chapter 23: Confused and Dazed

"What the actual fuck, Brian?" Caroline answers her door with anger in her eyes but her hand is flat out, waiting for Brian to hand over the letter.

"I know, I'm stupid but I had to know what it said." He confesses, handing it to her before walking in to her apartment.

"And she doesn't know you have it? What'd you steal it?" She asks as she comes into her apartment living room and plops down on her couch, across from Brian in a chair. His head is in his hands and he's hoping to avoid the headache he can tell is coming.

He explains "she had it in her trash can. I couldn't just throw it away knowing it was in there."

"So you ignored what she wanted?" She asks. Before he could nod his head to confirm, she adds "you're gonna be real fucked for this but I guess I can see why you did it." She then chuckles "it's just funny you were all against me reading it after the funeral but now you got and open it." She chuckles again then shakes her head and asks "what does it say?" She asks, the letter in her lap now.

"You should just read it. Maybe you'll have some answers because I'm confused as all hell." Brian tells her, not even sure where he would begin to explain it to her.

She touches the edges but hesitates. She softly says "I really don't want her to be mad at me." Caroline is her best friend since childhood but this is super personal and a touchy subject for Melanie. She doesn't want to push her boundaries with her. Now that she's had time to process it, she was glad Brian didn't give it to her to read that day in Jane's house.

"I won't tell her you read it, I just need someone to talk to about it. And I don't know if I should tell her." He confides again, his brain racing with questions to start asking.

She breathes out of her nose and nods for a few seconds before lifting the letter up and pulling it out of the envelope. It's complete silence in her apartment for over 4 minutes as she reads what it says two times over. "What the fuck?" She finally whispers, eyes still on the paper "I don't know what he's talking about." She finally looks up.

"So he didn't leave them? Or he did?" Brian just decides to start asking his questions.

She replies "it was always Frank left, without warning. But he's saying her mom kept him away? How does someone do that?"

She asks back, and Brian shrugs "so, there's nothing in this letter that makes sense to you? You think he's lying?"

She reads over the letter again while biting her lip and slowly shakes her head "no, nothing." She puffs out and looks back to him "this is crazy."

They sit in silence for a few minutes just thinking. I finally say out "I need to talk to her, I can't keep this from her."

"Brian, you cant tell her. She's going to hate you for reading this, and then after reading what it says. She'll never trust you again." Caroline tries to talk him out of it. When he first told her what he did she wanted him to go straight to Melanie but now things are different. She knows what this information will do to her friend and she knows she's better off not knowing.

Brian just replies in a defeated tone "but he wants a relationship with her. Shouldn't she know that?"

Caroline doesn't nod, shrug, or anything. She just looks at him. She then slowly reminds him "she threw it away. She made her decision."

"But she thinks he left her and never cared about her! Clearly there's more to it then that." He says, knowing no matter what the two of them talk about he's going to leave here not knowing what to do.

"I don't know Brian, I don't think you should tell her. She's finally seeming okay after losing her mom, this could put her back over the edge." Caroline has a point, and Brian nods as she goes on "and what will her knowing do for her? Just get her upset with you and upset with her mom and having more questions then answers."

Brian nods as he looks at his feet, hating himself for opening that damn letter "I'm sorry to drag you into this." he says out, standing up to leave.

She stands to follow him out "it's fine, I think I'm going to ask my mom about Frank. They lived on the same street till he left, maybe she and Jane talked about it."

"Will she say anything to Melanie?" He asks, turning at the door to finish the conversation before leaving.

"Of course not" she assures "I won't mention the letter or anything, just prod for information. In the meantime, do you want me to hold onto it?"

He shakes his head, knowing he's going to be reading the letter over and over again looking for any clues "no, it's fine. I'll keep it in my Jeep. Thanks again Caroline, I'm glad I have someone to talk to about this." They lean in for a hug and he leaves, thinking of what to do next.

As he drives home, his eyes cloud over and he can't help but wonder what happened between Jane and Frank that would cause her to keep him out of Melanie's life. While Brian's thoughts take him to think of crazy scenarios, he missed the light ahead turning red. Brian quickly comes to attention as someone blasts their car horn but it's too late, and his Jeep is rammed into, his body being tossed around as his vehicle flips over from the force of the crash.