A Little Relief
Epilogue
It was almost evening the next day when Nick's boat returned to its dock. The four friends had slept late, not even woken by the early morning sun. They had spent the rest of the day having fun, snorkelling and sunbathing, and sneaking the occasional kiss before reluctantly deciding to head back home.
As they pulled up at the dock, Kevin walked down from the house to meet them, a worried expression on his face. He hadn't been worried that anything had happened to them, he knew Nick was too good a sailor for that, but he was worried about his cousin. He hadn't seen him for almost two days, and he didn't know if he was still depressed.
He caught the line that Howie threw him, quickly tying the boat to it's mooring, watching and waiting for any sign of his cousin. When he finally did see him he was shocked.
Instead of a frail, broken shell of a man, Brian looked whole again, his body glowing with a bronzed tan, and something else that Kevin was unable to identify. He moved across the deck confidently, no longer looking like an old man. But it was his eyes that confirmed to Kevin that everything was fine. Those eyes, which had for so long seemed dull and lifeless, had regained their lustre and sparkle that seemed to brighten up the world.
By the time Brian had bounced over to him and pulled him close, Kevin was grinning broadly, happy to see his cousin looking so peaceful and content once more.
"Hey cuz." Brian greeted him, grinning as he felt Kevin's hold tighten on him.
"Hey Bri, How you doin'?" Kevin asked.
"Me, oh I'm much better thanks." He replied. Brian looked over Kevin's shoulder and spotted something running around on the porch of Nick's house. He pulled back from Kevin and looked at him.
"Hey Kev? Is that...?" He asked excitedly.
"Yep. I stopped by your house to get him, he was feeling a little lonely all by himself."
Kevin found himself enveloped in another hug, but before that even registered in his brain, Brian had left him, sprinting across the sand back up to the house.
Even from where he stood he could hear Brian calling Tyke's name, and his little dog's excited yips.
Kevin smiled, and turned to the other three, who had all now joined him on the landing dock. They were also watching Brian, massive grins on their faces.
"What did you do?" He asked them, curious.
"Oh, not much Kev." Howie replied.
"Yeah, we just went swimming, sunbathing, snorkelling, the usual." AJ replied, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"MmmHmm. I guess we must have given him what he needed." Nick added.
"Well," Kevin smiled, "I don't care how you did it, I'm just glad that you did. Now come on, you guys must be tired after all that." Kevin turned and walked away, heading back to the house.
"Oh yeah," AJ murmured, "We're exhausted alright."
"If only he knew why." Nick grinned.
"Or not." Howie added. "I think he would flip."
"Most definitely." AJ agreed. "This is our little secret. Right guys?"
"Right." Howie and Nick chorused. The three dissolved into giggles, before wrapping their arms around each other and following Kevin back to the house, smiling as in front of them they heard Brian's laughter ringing out.