LPS: CFFs - Crime-Fighting Friends

Chapter 15: Moving On

A few months passed and Bristol was released from the hospital. Now he had to figure out how he was going to get by without Allie, now that it was just him and Xavier. More importantly: how was Bristol going to explain this to Roxie and Jacob? He knew breaking the news to them would be difficult, but it had to be done, otherwise it would just hurt them worse.

Bristol eventually gathered enough courage to call Jacob and Roxie to tell them what had happened, although the conversation was awkward at first.

"So, uh...well, Allie and I got into a car crash recently, and...I ended up fine, but..." Bristol hesitated. "Allie...didn't make it...she's gone now..."

"WHAT?!" Roxie screamed. "Okay, if this is some kind of joke, it's not funny!"

"This isn't a joke, Roxie. Allie is really gone now." Bristol told her.

"That's...unfortunate..." Jacob replied slowly. He took a long pause before speaking again. "I-I'm sorry, I have to go..."

Jacob hung up shortly after that, while Roxie stayed on the phone with Bristol.

"I can't believe it...my best friend is gone..." Roxie sighed. "I guess...on the bright side, she'll be able to see her sister again...but she won't be able to see us..."

"It's going to be tough to get by without her, but I'm sure we can do it. We have to be strong, just like Allie was." Bristol replied. "Believe me, Roxie, I didn't want to believe this was really happening when the doctor first gave me the news, either. In fact, I kinda still don't want to believe it. Unfortunely though, this is real..."

Roxie sighed, but didn't say anything. She was too upset by the sudden loss of her best friend to say much.

"I can only imagine how Xavier feels. He's got to deal with the rest of high school while trying to move on from this, and he won't even have his biggest inspiration--his mother--there to cheer him on..." Bristol continued. "I feel really bad for him, and I wish there was something I could do, but I don't think there is..."

Roxie was still silent, simply just listening to Bristol without responding.

"Roxie? You still there?"

"Oh, uh, yeah...just not really in much of a mood to say anything, I guess..." Roxie replied.

"Oh, that's fine. I understand. I'll let you go, if you want."

"Okay. I'm just gonna go, uh, get to work at the cafe now."

Roxie hung up, and Bristol ended the call as well, then went to check on Xavier in his room. Xavier was sitting on his bed, staring at a picture of the family from when Allie was still alive.

"Dad...do you think she misses us?" Xavier asked Bristol.

"Of course she misses us, Xavier. She loved us, and she never wanted to leave us. I'm sure she's wishing this hadn't happened just like we are." Bristol replied, putting his arm around his son's shoulders.

"I wish we could see her again..." Xavier mumbled as he leaned on Bristol's shoulder.

"Me too, son...me too..."

Neither Xavier or Bristol said anything for a while after that as they both paused to admire the picture and remember all the good times they had with Allie. Bristol eventually broke the silence, though.

"How about we get pizza tonight? Does that sound good to you?" he asked Xavier, hoping to lighten his spirits a bit. He knew pizza was one of Xavier's favorites.

"Oh, sure..." Xavier replied, smiling a little. 

"Great! I'll go order it right now!" Bristol patted Xavier's shoulder before leaving, happy he was finally able to get a smile out of him. Xavier put the picture back on his bedside table and followed Bristol downstairs to wait for dinner to arrive.