Beyond The Broken Glass3: Finally Mended [complete]

28. If There's a Question Of My Heart

"So he just asked you to marry him out of the blue?"

"Mhhm." I hummed as she sat at the kitchen island. Kyson was in desperate need of a deep condition and good comb and I was in such high spirits to do so. So here we are in my quote-unquote hair salon. Taylor has Mimi sitting in her lap and they were glancing at each other in a compact mirror.

"Well, you gotta get a dress!"

"I'm nervous," I admitted as Kyson hopped down from the chair and ran away. Taylor glanced at me and cocked her head to the side.

"Why love? I thought you wanted to marry him."

"I do. But I never imagined it would be this way." I said as I sat down beside her. "My parents won't be there, my sister won't be there—I have you and Drew and I'm extremely grateful but you know how that is."

"I understand completely. It's tough having to let go of the past. This is a big milestone in your life and it's normal that you yearn for your family to be there."

"I don't even know where to begin. My mother would have been all over this."

"Can I help?"

"What are you—crazy? I can't imagine doing this without you!"

That warm smile that spread across her face lit a small fire in me. A small fire that I needed. I didn't realize how much I've been missing Kyra and Taylor was there. And though she's older than me it still felt like I had that sister bond.

"I know the circumstances aren't the best but I'm glad you're here." She said as she reached over and placed her hand over mine. "It's been lonely here without some girl company."

"I've been meaning to ask—where is the rest of the family?"

"I don't know." She said as her eyebrows knitted together. "We haven't heard from them in a while."

"You don't have any contact with them?"

"No. Drew does but he says we should just leave things be."

"Were you close with any of the other women?"

"Just Chloe and Nicole."

"Who's Nicole?"

She shook her head as her eyes tracked into the distance. I could tell I hit a soft spot and that wasn't my intention.

"Nicole was Dominic's partner. She was the sweetest—meanest girl you'd ever meet."

She chuckled then as she brought her attention back to me.

"Dominic is Drew's twin brother, they don't get along because of reasons no one knows. But Nicole was always trying to play peacemaker."

"What about Christian? Where is she?"

"Hiding under a rock somewhere in New York."

"Is she mad about Rosa too?"

"Oh God no. Turns out she hated Rosa too. She was never one for authority, That's why she and Chloe bumped heads so much." 

I don't remember the bunch of them but I do remember her. She was rude from the second I met her and there were plenty of occasions where I wanted to scrap with her, but out of respect, I kept it classy.

"It's just been us these last couple years and then little prince came back and then he brought you."

"You don't have any friends outside of the family?"

"In this life that we live, it's better to keep outsiders on the outside. That's how we know if we get stabbed in the back it's an inside job."

"So I lost friends by force and you—you don't have friends by choice?"

"Drew's good company."

"Taylor—that's not a way to live," I told her as I peered into her eyes. "We can't let this be our lives. It'll drive us off the edge."

"I've been to the edge, Bri." She sadly chuckled. "It felt so freeing."

"What happened?"

"After we lost our son, I couldn't cope. Drew had become so distant and cold. The family shunned me for not wanting to try again. And one night I took a bottle of codeine to the head and I ran a bath—I thought it was the end."

"Taylor—"

"I had no one to understand, I felt nothing, there was no one there to hold my hand or to hear me cry. There was no one I had to worry about missing me. I felt free while I was dying. Don't you want to be free?"

"Of course, I wanna be free. But that doesn't mean I want to die."

"I'm—I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to put that in your head. Besides our stories are different, I'd take your life over mine. You have a man that loves you and two beautiful children."

"My life is far from easy. I've had to give up everything I've ever known, I've been kidnapped, shot, stabbed, traumatized, and betrayed more times than I can count. I had to put myself on the line to protect what I do have. And that man that loves me at one point hurt me so bad."

Her head snapped toward me at the speaking of my last statement. Almost as if it was Unbelievable. But it was true. I recall nights when I cried over him when I wanted to let him go and move on. There were times when I wanted to forget him altogether. It was so easy for me to go on with Ayden because I wanted to forget Brandon.

But I loved him so much that I kept him in the back of my mind. Despite all the warnings, despite everyone trying to steer me away from his path. Despite my parent's disdain for him. I kept inching toward his fire, I crawled across the shattered glass to feel his warmth. And when he granted me access I stayed close to it even when it burned me.

"The things we do for love. The pain we feel when it shatters. The determination we have to glue it back together."

"That satisfaction we feel when it's finally mended,"

There was nothing left to do now but plan. Plan for the now, plan for the rest of our lives-be it what's left of it. Tomorrow is never promised as life has proven to us time and time again.

"So what are we going to do?"

"I guess we get to plan a wedding. A small wedding."