| � First Brandon, then you. When Brandon died, you took care of me and watched over me the whole time. Who�s gonna take care of me now?� Heather cried, resting against Brian�s tombstone. � Why did you leave me? Everyone leaves me Brian! Am I really that bad? Do I really push everyone away?� � No,� He said softly. Heather looked up, wiping her tears away. � Dustin,� He stood above her, nervously twisting his baseball cap in his hand. He had on a plain white T-shirt and jeans. His hair had been cut, and his emerald eyes sparkled, as he fought back his tears. � This isn�t your fault,� He said quietly. � Please don�t think that. Brian loved you. He�d never leave you-� � What are you doing here?� She said standing up. � I�I tried calling your house, but no one was there and I figured you�d be here. I just wanted you to know how truly sorry I am,� � Thank you Dusty,� � And�and I heard about you and Nick; Congratulations,� � Brian was gonna give me away. He always said he would.� � I�m sorry I missed the funeral. I�m sure it was beautiful,� � Weddings are beautiful, childbirth is beautiful. There was nothing beautiful about this Dustin. He�s gone. He�s not coming back. I�ve lost my best friend forever. He won�t be there when I get married, he won�t be there when I have children-� � I will,� He said. � I want to be there, Heather. If you�ll let me,� He carefully stepped towards her outstretching his arms to her. � I know I�m too late, and I know that whatever we had was over a long time ago, but I love you and I want to be there for you, as a friend.� � That�s very nice of you to say Dustin, But-� � I�m not saying it to be polite Heather. I mean it. I�ve done a lot of thinking and growing up and I realized I really missed you when you weren�t; around and I messed being with you. I missed working with you on tour. I hated it, Heather. I hated being away from you. And I want to be there for you now. I know you�re engaged to Nick, and I�m not trying to come between that. I just want us to be friends-� � We�re already friends Dustin.� She smiled, through her tears. � And I�ve missed you too,� She ran into his arms, giving him a big hug. Nick parked the car and stepped out, shoving the keys in his pocket. He glanced down at his watch, � She should be ready to go,� He mumbled. He stepped on the large yawn and made his way over to Brian�s burial site. He stopped as he got closer, watching her with her arms whapped around another man. He couldn�t see his face until she pulled away. It was Dustin. His eyes flashed anger, but he quickly calmed himself. There was no reason to get upset. He collected his emotions and called to Heather. She saw him and waved him over. She gave him a short kiss on the cheek and stood next to him. � Nick you remember Dustin,� � Yeah. Hey Dustin,� � Hey.� He said. � I, uh, heard about your engagement. Congratulations,� � Thank you,� He mumbled. � When did you get back into town?� � A few days ago. I�ve been spending time with my mother on the East Coast. I heard about Brian, and when I tried to call Heather, there was no answer. So I came here.� Nick smiled and turned his attention to Heather. � You alright?� � Yeah,� She said quietly, wiping her eyes. � I think it�s getting easier now,� � So have you two set a date?� Dustin asked. � No,� Heather said. � We�re not rushing anything.� � That�s sensible,� He nodded. � Heather, we really should get going. Orbi needs food and we have to go shopping,� � Orbi?� Dustin asked. � The dog. Nick bought me a terrier, and we named it Orbicular; Orbi for short,� Heather explained. � He�s really a great dog.� � Right, well I�ll let you two go. It sounds like you have a lot to do,� � I�ll talk to you soon, Dusty,� Heather smiled. � Bye,� Nick said. Dustin kissed heather�s cheek, before quickly leaving Heather and Nick alone. � Are you ready?� Nick asked. � Yeah,� Next Page |