Life at Best

Chapter Five

As promised, here is your second chapter this week!

Chapter Five

Brynne sat on the bed in the guest bedroom of Junior's house, looking around at the room that would be hers for at least the time being.

She wasn't exactly sure how long she would be staying in North Carolina, but she knew once she got settled and had been back in town for a few weeks or so she was planning on going out and finding an extended stay hotel or somewhere similar to stay in.

She didn't want to impose on Junior and Julie too much, even though her best friend said she could stay there as long as she wanted to, but she knew as the wedding approached the two of them would need their space, and honestly so did she.  As much as she loved them, it hurt to see them so happy together and to know that if things were different, that could have been her also.

One bag sat on the bed and the other on the floor as Brynne carefully pulled out her clothes and neatly placed them in the dresser against the far wall.  Other than clothes she hadn't even really brought much else with her except for two picture frames that she took with her everywhere,  wrapped in a shirt for protection.  If and when she chose to make her stay longer than a couple weeks she would have to head back to New York and face her parents again to grab her dog and her other belongings.

The first picture of herself and Lucky she placed on the night stand, not really realizing how much she would miss her dog until she had gotten out here without him; he really had been her everything the last couple weeks with everything going on, but she knew one way or another they would be reunited again soon.

The second frame she pulled out and stared at for a moment; memorizing the smile she loved to look at so much and the memories she wished she could forget just to give herself some relief.  There was a smile on both of their faces, they were so happy; that had been before everything had gone down; she missed those good times every day.

She slid the frame underneath the pillow on the side of the bed she did not intend to sleep on.  That had always been his side of the bed.

No one needed to see a picture of her and Martin sitting on the night stand.  She didn't need those questions already.

*

Martin's attention was elsewhere.

Kaleen had been blowing up his phone all morning, trying to convince him to do something or another with her and Kinsey that night.

She still could not process that they would not be a family, not now or ever.

But he guessed it was partially his fault for even giving in. He had been adamant since before Kinsey was even born that he wanted their lives – with and without Kinsey – to be separate.

He needed to make his intentions plain and clear once again before she got the wrong impression; more than she already did.  But things were just not that simple.  Kaleen made things complicated - she always managed to make things complicted

But now that Brynne was in North Carolina he needed to clean his life up, uncomplicate it - make Kaleen realize that she was his past and would always be his past and he intended for Brynne to be his future.  Even if she didn't know it yet.

Brynne. The only person that was always on his mind.

She would be in the same town as him again; he would more than likely see her frequently, and if it was the last thing he did, he was going to make her talk to him again.

He was going to do everything he had to do to make it up to her. To make her forget everything that had happened, to make her forgive him for ever keeping Kaleen and Kinsey a secret.

He was going to get the only person he had ever truly loved back, even if it was the last thing that he did.

*

Junior had avoided Martin all day, not wanting to have to answer any questions he may have about Brynne; he didn't feel it was his business to tell Martin when she was coming in to town or where she was staying. Although eventually he knew Martin would find out that Brynne was staying at his house, but he would deal with that when the time came along.

So he'd had a very uneventful day hiding out in his office and finding various places to hide around the shop when someone would give him a heads up that Martin was heading his way, and before he knew it, it was time to call it a day.

He parked his truck in his driveway and headed into the house, wary of what he was walking into. The two women had been together all day long in his house; there was either going to be a nice cooked dinner waiting for him or he was going to find out they had maxed out his credit card on wedding accessories!

"Julie?" he asked as he poked his head through the door.

"We're in the kitchen baby!"

He so could get used to coming home to her at the end of the day.

The girls were huddled over the kitchen table looking through a bridal magazine, commenting about this and that and trying to decide what style dress would look best on Julie.

At least he knew his credit card was safe... for now!

"What are you ladies doing?"

Julie smiled as she stood up and gave her fiancé a kiss, "Just looking through a couple magazines. We kind of want to have somewhat of an idea of what we are looking for when we start to hit the shops tomorrow."

Brynne silently stood up after Julie and Junior pulled away from each other and smiled at the man she could actually say she considered a friend, especially after what had happened the last time they had seen each other.

"Hi Junior," she said shyly.

"Oh Brynne, come here and give me a hug! How have you been?"

She shrugged as she was enveloped in the bigger man's arms, reveling in the comfort he was extending to her, "I'm holding in there."

"I heard what happened with the club..."

There wasn't much she could say to that, so she shrugged into his embrace. "It is what it is, it was rough and is still hard to swallow sometimes, but I'm dealing."

Before things could get awkward, the timer on the oven went off; signaling dinner was ready to be pulled out.  As if on cue Junior's stomach gave a rumble of hunger and he laughed, "Well I guess my stomach is in luck. What's for dinner, babe?"

Julie smiled, "Baked chicken, garlic smashed potatoes and broccoli." Junior scrunched his nose and Julie laughed, "Don't make that face, you'll eat the broccoli."

"Maybe," Junior grinned, "But it smells awesome."

Brynne cleared the bridal magazines and set the table for Julie as she pulled the chicken out of the oven and placed everything in the center of the table, and the three of them sat down to eat dinner together.

For once Brynne didn't dread a meal like she had come to do when she was living with her parents, always have to have forced conversations and act like she was the happiest person in the world because she knew if she didn't they were going to act like she needed help, and even when she wasn't the happiest person, she made it seem like it was for her parents benefit.

She was doing everything she could to help herself, she had been seeing a therapist, but even that didn't mean that every day was a good day for her. Today seemed like it was verging on a not-so-great day, and some of the tension she was feeling was probably due to the fact that she was literally fifteen minutes away from Martin at the moment, eating dinner with his best friend and there was a chance he could just randomly show up at Junior's house like he used to do when they were together.  Just the thought of all that had her anxiety up in her throat the minute she jumped on the plane this morning.  She definitely was going to have to call her therapist in the morning and try to talk through this, because she didn't think she could handle feeling like she was on the brink of an anxiety attack every minute for the next four months.

Junior cut through the silence, striking up a conversation between bites of his dinner. "How was your trip Brynne?"

"Short," she joked, "And much better since I was on a plane and I'm away from my parents. I love them, but they are so overbearing and weren't very supportive of anything I've been thinking about lately. Especially coming and staying down here, they thought this was probably the stupidest thing I've ever done. But they just don't understand..."

"They're your parents, they're supposed to butt heads with you... even when you're an adult."

Brynne nodded, "I agree. And I didn't help matters any. I wasn't exactly in the greatest state of mind before I went back to New York. Things just haven't gone my way lately..."

No one had to voice that that statement included her relationship with Martin, which at one point seemed pretty invincible. That was until she found out he had been lying the entire time they were together.

She pushed her food around her plate, taking little bites here and there to make it seem like she was eating; it wasn't that she was not enjoying the meal, her mind just seemed to be wandering at the moment no matter how much she tried to focus on what was going on around her.

And unfortunately, it kept coming back to Martin.

After dinner, Brynne helped Julie clear off the table, ready to help her with the dishes before she shooed Brynne away, informing her that she was a guest in this house, which meant she didn't have to do dishes, or anything for that matter.

Brynne excused herself from their company at that point, stating she wanted to go upstairs and make sure all of her things were unpacked and she was settled in.

She had already unpacked everything earlier, but honestly she just needed to escape into the solitude of the room she would be staying in. She loved Julie and Junior but seeing them together made her even sadder than she already was.

*

Julie was curled up on the couch with Junior, watching a movie later that night. She had already retreated upstairs to check on Brynne, only to find her passed out in bed still dressed in her clothes from the day.

She sighed against her fiancé, and he immediately picked up on her somber mood, "What's wrong babe?"

"I'm just worried about Brynne," she told him, "And that maybe I was being selfish wanting her to come here and help me plan the wedding. It's obvious being in North Carolina brings back tons of memories of Martin, which is probably something she doesn't need to keep coming to the forefront especially since she's now living in the same city as him again. It's inevitable that they're going to see each other – probably soon – and I'm just not sure how she's going to react to that."

"Does she know that Martin is going to be my best man?"

Julie grinned impishly, "I may have left that tiny detail out. But honestly, who else does she think you would ask to be your best man?"

Junior shrugged, "I don't know, but I think you should tell her. When we really start getting into all the planning details, we're going to have to get together – the four of us – and plan things out. I think you should tell her ahead of time, so she has time to come to terms with the fact that the two of them have such important parts in our wedding."

"Ugh," Julie groaned, "Why did Martin have to get that stupid pit lizard pregnant and then hide it from everyone? If none of that would have happened, we'd probably be planning a double wedding right now..."

They let that thought reverberate between the two of them, as the movie they had chosen to watch started; both of them knowing that what Julie had said was the truth.

*

Brynne bolted upright in bed around three in the morning, having been awoken by the memory of the first time she had met Martin at the signing at Bass Pro Shops.

It was hard to believe things had come so full circle. And yet here she was back in North Carolina where he lived, and everywhere she turned there were reminders of him... and she had expected it to be easy? It was obviously going to be anything but!

She got up and put her pajamas on, knowing she would be more comfortable sleeping in those before heading out into the hall, intending on going to the kitchen and grabbing a glass of water so she could take her medicine to hopefully calm herself down enough to be able to get back to sleep.

Upon descending the staircase, she paused two steps from the bottom platform, her eyes catching the sight on the couch. Julie and Junior were curled up on the couch together tangled in each other's embrace, obviously having fallen asleep while watching TV sometime after she had fallen asleep upstairs herself.

Brynne could see Julie's face from the staircase; she looked so content and happy, like this was where she needed to be for the rest of her life. She was happy for her best friend, but at the same time it made her realize what she was missing out on.

She swallowed past the lump in her throat before turning around and heading back up the stairs, deciding she didn't need a glass of water after all.

Climbing back into her bed, she pulled the picture out from under the pillow on the other side of the bed and clutched it to her chest, a silent tear making its way down her cheek.

She missed Martin now more than ever before.

***

Brynne's all in her feels :(  I promise this will become all sunshine and rainbows and baby mama drama and revenge soon!  Just stick with me :)