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Love Song -- Part 6 I think the story ends kind of abruptly, but this fic was just like, an experimental sort of thing, so I could get the idea of writing fics. Yes, it's a bit of a 'and they lived happily ever after' ending, but I'm like, dying to start a new fic soon, anyway :P And my mailbox is kind of...empty...so feel free to send feedback..good, bad, whatever 'Love Song' Conclusion ------ Liana opened her eyes. A rush of fluorescent light caused her to squint them shut. She felt like crap. "What...where am I?" she mumbled, trying to push herself up on her forearms. "No no, lay back down Li. You're in the hospital." The familiar voice of Steve hit her ears and all the previous events flooded her mind. "The pills...they didn't work...?" Liana asked, opening her eyes and squinting at Steve. "No, they didn't. Thank God," Steve sighed. "They were antidepressants? I didn't know you were on antidepressants." "It's a long story. I want to sleep now, Steve. We'll talk later," Liana moaned before she dropped back into the darkness of calming sleep. ********** Steve had nodded off himself, but woke when he heard Liana speak to him. "Steve? I think I should explain all of this." "You really want to?" he asked, worried about whether or not it'd be a good idea so soon. "Don't you think you should rest for another day or so?" "No. I won't be able to if we don't talk. I refuse to put this off," Liana said in a weak voice. Her hand, IV intact, reached out, in a gesture asking Steve to take hold of it. Steve complied, and slipped his hand into Liana's. "What Brian said...was it true? That you just used me? For revenge?" Steve shook his head and sighed. Should he tell her the story? He figured the truth would be best right now. "Well...yes and no. I didn't use you for revenge. And it's not like you don't mean anything to me, you mean a lot. But I suppose I should explain what I mean when I say 'yes and no'. When Brian and Stef became an official couple, I felt excluded, not needed anymore. Worthless. I needed to feel that caring again...and I guess that's where you came into the picture. I'm sorry if the truth hurts you..." Steve trailed off and looked down so that Liana wouldn't see the single tear that dripped onto his cheek. "Thank you." "What?" Steve was confused. "Thank you for being honest with me... not to lie and say I'm not hurt. You did use me. I am hurt. But not as much as you probably think." *********** Liana looked intensely at Steve. "You want to hear my side of the story, right?" "Well, I guess. It might make things easier for everyone..." Steve said, running his free hand through his hair. "The reason," Liana paused and took a deep breath to recollect her composure. "The reason I'm on antidepressants goes back about a year. My boss from the coffee house... he raped me. And I haven't told anyone about this before. And I can only blame myself for being so stupid as to get involved in the first place." "Oh, God..." Steve mumbled. "Did you tell the authorities?" Liana bit her lower lip and shook her head. "I know I should. But I guess, I'm away from him now, and I'm free from him, so I don't see much of a point." Liana saw the look of sadness in Steve's eyes. "Don't feel sorry for me. I hate that. I'm aware of my stupidity, I don't need any pity. But the rape itself isn't fully to blame for this, it's also the shit relationship I have with my parents," Liana said, gaining strength a little at a time. She lifted her hand and flipped it over to show Steve the scars and scabbed-over cuts. "My parents found out. Sent me to a shrink, who put me on the antidepressants." Steve didn't say anything, just stared into Liana's eyes. "And then when Brian came barging into the room this morning, and what he was saying...I thought that you didn't care in the least about me. And I was afraid that I was just going to be used by people forever. So I tried to end it. With the pills," Liana said. She tried to hold back her tears, but they were flowing freely now. But she felt relieved, like a huge weight had been lifted from her chest and she could breathe again. The tears weren't so much from sadness, as from relief. ********** "Oh Jesus...I'm so sorry Li, I'm so sorry," Steve mumbled over and over. He sat on the edge of Liana's hospital bed and gently hugged her. "This is all my fault, I shouldn't have rushed things..." "No. It's not your fault. I consented to it, didn't I? I'm tired now, Steve. I want to go back to sleep again. Stay with me, I don't want to be alone," Liana said, her voice trailing off towards the end. "Of course," Steve said, his tears falling silently onto the bed sheets. He pulled a chair up to the bedside and sat down, holding Liana's hand still. ********** Brian clung to Stefan's hand for security as they entered the hospital. It was midmorning, the day after the incident. "Stef...I'm scared," Brian whimpered. "There's no need to be so frightened," Stef said, squeezing Brian's hand reassuringly. "I don't like hospitals. I'm scared to see Liana all sickly and weak in those stark white hospital beds, in the ugly hospital gowns, surrounded by all the machinery, and all the tubing... Fuck, I'm nauseous," Brian moaned, holding his stomach. Brian surveyed the lobby quickly and located the restrooms. He released Stefan's hand and made a mad dash. Stef followed quickly behind. Brian wretched over the toilet, while Stef held his long black locks away from his face. When he finished he collapsed against the wall of the stall, breathing heavily and sweating. "I'm...I'm not ready to see her yet," Brian mumbled. "It's just so...overwhelming. And it's probably my fault too..." He trailed off and began sniffling. He buried his face in Stef's chest. Stef rubbed Brian's shoulders soothingly. "Quit telling yourself that. You always do this. Something goes wrong, and you put all the blame on yourself." "God, Stef! You know it's true. I'm a curse. Everyone I touch is bound to be hurt in some way just because of me! Liana's a perfect example. My ways have rubbed off on her or something. I attempted suicide, she did too. Fuck." ********** Brian's words tore into Stefan's heart. He felt his chest tighten. He bit his lip and collected his thoughts. "Brian, that is complete and utter bullshit. The only person you have ever harmed is yourself, and that's because you keep burdening yourself with everyone else's problems. It's time for you to take responsibility for your actions, and your actions only. No one else's," Stef stated firmly. Brian pried himself from Stef's arms and shakily stood up. "You just don't understand!" He began to walk towards the sink to wash his face and fix his makeup. "No, Brian, I don't. I'm sorry. But I do know that you need to go to Liana, and talk to her." Brian looked up from the sink and into the mirror. "I'm not ready." "You'll go. Now. Why keep putting it off? Come on now, I'm going up to her hospital room, and you're coming with me." Stef grabbed Brian by the hand and headed through the bathroom door. "But..." Brian began to protest. "No buts." *********** "And that's the whole story. Start to finish. Both sides, mine and Steve's," Liana concluded. Brian sat, staring blankly at the IV tube dangling from Liana's hand. He shook his head. "So...I'm like, not fully to blame?" he whispered. Liana smiled slightly. "I wouldn't think so." She felt sorry for him, that he would take on the weight of her problems. Just like Steve did. They were so alike, she couldn't quite understand why they had so much trouble resolving differences. "I have to use the bathroom," Brian said, standing up. He looked pale. "He doesn't like hospitals very much," Stefan smirked. "I can sympathize," Liana replied. Steve said nothing. He was fast asleep. His head was rested on his arm, which was propped up on the chair. He was snoring slightly, and every time he exhaled he blew a piece of his brown hair away from his face. "You should probably get him back to the hotel..." Liana smiled. She thought for a minute. "Oh jeez, what'd you guys do about the concert last night?" She already knew they had postponed it. "Eh, canceled it. We'll be coming back here in a few months to play a festival anyway, so it's not a big deal," Stef shrugged. "As soon as Bri's done, we'll probably all go back to the hotel for some rest. You don't mind, do you?" "I need a bit of alone time. Every time I wake up Steve's all concerned and shit. I swear, he has a heart attack every time the nurse comes in to check my condition," Liana giggled. Stef smiled. "He's like that with us too." Brian walked out of the bathroom as Stef shook Steve awake. The three of them left, quietly closing the door behind them. Liana sat back in her pillow. It felt good to finally find some people who cared about her. She couldn't see any sadness as long as she was with them. They were truly caring and wonderful people. She smiled as she slipped back into sleep. ********** As soon as the band returned the hotel, they collapsed into their respective rooms for much-needed rest. Brian curled up in the crook of Stef's arm. He felt so much better knowing that he wasn't completely to blame for the incident. Of course, he knew he played a part in it, he still had some weight on his shoulders. He chose to forget it and crawled on top of Stef. "I suddenly don't feel tired anymore," Stef giggled. "You'd better not," Brian smiled slyly as he nipped at Stefan's ear. "Stef?" "Yes?" "Do you love me?" Brian sat up and pushed his hair behind his ears. "Of course I do. More than anything in this world, why?" "Because I don't ever want to lose you." Brian paused for a minute and laid his head against Stefan's neck. "I love you, too." ********** Steve's sleep wasn't very restful. He flitted in and out of nightmares, waking each time in a cold sweat. He decided not to sleep. At least not for the moment. He folded his arms behind his head and crossed his legs, and tried taking deep breaths. He decided that sleep wasn't feasible until he had talked things out with Brian and Stef. He was about to get up and walk over to their room when he sat down on the edge of his bed for a moment. I think I should wait until they're finished... he thought to himself as he giggled childishly at the stifled groans emanating from their room. ********** "Beer?" "Pardon?" Steve looked up from his hands, which he was wringing unconsciously. He gazed up at Stefan, who was perched on a sofa, with Brian on his lap, one arm wrapped around Brian's waist, the other clutching a beer bottle. "Do you want a beer, Stevie?" Brian repeated bouncily. "Bleh. No thank you," Steve answered. "Aww, why not?" "I don't think I could stomach it. Well, at least not until I get all of this off my chest," Steve said, turning his palms upward. "You should've told us that you felt excluded. I mean, we didn't mean to. It was never our intention to forget about you," Stefan quietly said. "I know, I should've," Steve replied. Brian cut in. "You know that feeling when you first fall head over heels in love? Like, you're in a happy bubble with your partner and you never want to leave, and you want to shut out the world until that initial excitement wears off. I guess...I guess that's what happened with Stef and me." Steve nodded. "Yeah. What I was afraid of was that the excitement would never wear off, and I'd be a bit of an outsider forever. I only realize that now, I mean, it was just my subconscious fear." Stef looked down. "But you realize that's not true. You're like, our older brother, our father practically." "Of course I do now. I also realize that I was being such an asshole about it." "If you're an asshole, then we all are," Stef giggled. Brian pouted in fake indignation. "Me? An asshole? NEVER!" "You just keep telling yourself that, Bri..." Steve responded. "I'll get you for that!" Brian cried as he pounced on Steve. Stef just barely had enough time to put down his beer bottle before Brian pulled him into the tackle too. Steve managed to roll himself away, and climb to his feet. "So we're all one happy family again?" Brian latched onto Steve's knee. "Yes, a big happy dysfunctional family..." Steve began to walk over to the counter to get a beer. Brian's grip was firm, and he dragged behind Steve all the way to the counter and back, while Stef lay on his back laughing hysterically. ********** (epilogue. 8 months later.) Liana walked out of the bathroom and into the living room of the apartment she and Steve shared. "And the outcome?" Steve looked at Liana anxiously. "It's..." Liana held up the small white pregnancy test and looked at it. "Positive!" She jumped into Steve's lap briefly to lay a kiss on his cheek before she lept up again and began sashaying around the sofa. She skipped around it a few times until she heard a knock at the door. Still skipping, she headed for the door. She pulled it open to see Brian and Stef. She held up the test, beaming. "Ew! Didn't you have to piss on that?" Brian teasingly asked. Liana almost fell on the floor in a fit of laughter. "Aw, congratulations," Stef smiled. Brian looked confused. "Wait...congratulations that she pissed on that little white stick thing, that she almost keeled over, or that she's pregnant?" Stef playfully shoved Brian, who stuck his tongue out at him. Steve walked up behind Liana and wrapped his arms around her waist. "So. What's the word on the new album?" "Platinum," Brian smiled. "Seriously?" Steve asked, surprised. "No, we only sold one fucking copy of it," Brian smirked. "Oh, come on, would I lie? Of course it went platinum!" Liana squeaked and leaned forward to kiss Stefan and Brian on the cheek. She pulled back and thought for a moment. "Come inside. You two have been standing in the doorway longer than you should have." "You terrible, awful, bad host and hostess," Stefan teased as he and Brian entered the apartment. "Pssh! Don't piss in our Cheerios," Steve laughed. Liana broke from Steve's embrace and walked into the kitchen. "Can I get you guys anything to drink?" she called back to them. Stef and Steve both called back with a "no-thank-you", while Brian walked in to retrieve a beer. As Liana handed it to him, he discreetly looked down at her wrist. Nothing there but a few faded scars. Without thinking, Brian pulled Liana into a hug. "Thank you so much," he mumbled. Liana was a little surprised. "For what?" "For everything. For loving us all, for being our friend, for being here for us, just...for being you." Liana wiped away a few stray tears. "You guys are all so wonderful..." she couldn't say too much more, there was no way for her to put all her emotions into words. She dabbed at her eyes again and she and Brian returned to the living room. Steve and Stef were on the couch, waiting for them. Brian cuddled up next to Stef and Liana sat between Steve and Stef. No one said anything for a minute, and then Brian cheerfully piped up. "GROUP HUG! WOOOO!" ---the end--- Prev Home |