Never Stopped Loving You

“Now that you have time on your hands, what are you going to do?” Calypso asked Justin, after they’d seen MTV News.
 “Bug everyone.”
 “You already do that, Justin.” Calypso rolled her eyes. “Seriously, what do you plan on doing?”
 “I’ll be able to devote more time to my charity, write more songs, spend more time relaxing.”
 “You’re all going to get bored really easily, except maybe Lance. He’ll probably be the only one who will be busy.”
 “I don’t think so. He’s going to have more time to think about Amaryllis. He’s going to be the one that misses touring more than anyone.”
 “I hope Lance is okay.”
~*~*~*~
 “Are you sure you’re okay?” JC asked Lorelie.
 “Yes, JC, I’m wonderful.”
 “No strange cravings, no nausea? And you’re very beautiful, no matter what, and I’ll always love you.”
 “Why did they have to take a break now?” Lorelie asked the air. “My life is going to be over.”
 “I think it’s good that we’re on break. I can be with you every step of the way.”
 “Unfortunately.”
 “It’ll be wonderful.”
 “My life is over,” Lorelie complained.
 JC ignored her. “We’ll have to start on the nursery soon. Where should it be?”
 “I’m going to visit Circe and Calypso. See you later. Love you.” She headed for the door.
 “Be careful,” JC warned. “Love you, too.”
~*~*~*~
 “Why did you drag us shopping?” Circe asked Lorelie, as they, along with Calypso, walked into the mall.
 “So I could get away from JC. I love him, but he’s on an overprotective thing right now, and it’s already annoying me.”
 Circe and Calypso laughed. “Poor Lorelie,” Calypso said. “She’s got an overprotective husband and it annoys her.”
 “It would annoy you too, if you had a boyfriend or husband that was overprotective.”
 “Lorelie, we’ve lived with overprotective people all of our lives. We can deal with it.”
 “It’s different when it’s your husband.”
 I would hope it would be different,” Circe said, laughing.
 Lorelie rolled her eyes and shook her head.
~*~*~*~
 Lance sat down in one of the lounge chairs near the pool. He had spent all day working on FreeLance stuff, trying to keep his mind off of Amaryllis. But it was late at night, he didn’t have any thing do to, and she was once again the only thing he could think about.
 The gate to the pool opened, and Lance looked up to see his neighbor, Kali, walk in. She sat down in once of the chairs, staring at the water.
 Lance moved closer to her. “Hello,” he said softly.
 Kali looked up. “Hi.”
 “I saw you that day in the hospital,” Lance told her. “If you don’t mind- why were you there?”
 “My dad just committed suicide.”
 “I’m sorry.”
 “He was depressed, he’d lost his wife three months before. And so he killed himself, leaving me and AJ to raise three kids. Why were you at the hospital?” she asked, looking up at him.
 “My fiancé was shot the night before. She died that day.”
 “I’m sorry.” Kali looked at the gate as her brother, AJ, walked in. “Yeah?”
 “Kali, it’s Chase. He’s sick.”
 “What’s wrong with him?” Kali asked, as she stood up and walked towards her brother.
 “He’s throwing up.”
 “Go get some children’s aspirin then,” Kali told AJ, as she walked towards the apartment.
 AJ glanced at Lance before walking to his car.
~*~*~*~
 Lance stood out on his balcony a few nights later, thinking about Amaryllis, as always. Life without her was so hard. It wasn’t life at all. All he could think about was how he had been responsible for her death.  Throwing himself from the balcony seemed like the best idea in the world.
 Lance walked over to the railing and looked down. It wasn’t very far, but he’d land on concrete. Maybe it would kill him. All he had to do was climb over the railing and throw himself off.
 “He was a bastard,” a voice, carried on the wind to him, said softly. “Blaming himself for her death, what bullshit. Like he could play God.”
 “And then he left us here,” another voice said.
 “He ruined our lives. And he was supposed to care.”
 “It’s over and done with.”
 “We can’t do this anymore. We’re both worn to the bone.”
 “Our only choice is to let Aunt Kelly and Uncle Mike take them.”
 “At least they won’t be split up.”
 “You can go back to college.”
 “He was such a bastard. Anyone who can kill themselves is a selfish bastard. To leave your friends and family with such pain....” The voices faded as the twins walked back inside.
 Lance realized he was gripping the railing tightly in his hands and was nearly over it. Slowly, he climbed down from it and backed away from the railing. He couldn’t do this to his friends. He loved them. He didn’t want them to hate him.
 He walked back inside, his body shaking. He couldn’t believe he’d nearly down what he said he’d never do.