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| "What cha looking at Brian?" Nick asked him. Nick and Brian had hit it off pretty well. Nick was probably Brian's best friend of all of the band members. Even though they had quite a bit of age difference, they had the same qualities.
"Nothin. Just a picture of my girl." He hadn't seen her in over a month.
"Can I see what she looks like?"
"Yeah." He handed him her picture.
"She's pretty."
"I know. I miss her."
"Don't worry. We all miss somebody," he said handing the picture back to Brian. Nick got up and walked toward the window of Brian's apartment. "Aw, man. Its
raining! I hate the rain."
"Rainy days and Mondays always get me down," Brian started singing the Carpenters' hit. There was knock at the door and he got up to answer it. "Who is it? "
There was no answer. He wished he had a peephole. Slowly he opened the door. This rainy day brought him all the sunshine in the world.
"Can I come in?" Natalie asked.
"Oh, yes, of course come in," he said, still in shock from seeing her here.
"You're drenched baby. Nick!" he shouted into the other room. "Get me a towel! Here Nat, let me take your coat." He helped her out of the soaking wet garment. "What
on earth are you doing here?" he asked her with a big wet hug. "I didn't know you were coming. Why didn't you call me?"
"Surprize."
"A great one at that, I've missed you so much!"
"Me too."
Nick entered from the bathroom with a big fluffy towel in his hands. "Hey! You're Natalie aren't you? I just saw your picture. Geez, rainin harder than I thought I
guess."
"Yeah. And youre name is....."
"Nick. Nick Carter. Nice to finally meet the girl Brian always talks about."
"Aw, you always talk about me?" She gave him a kiss. Nick looked at them at disgust. "Nice to meet you too Nick. Where's all your roomies Brian?"
"They went to go pick up some take-out. I wish we would've ordered more if I knew you were coming."
"Oh that's okay, I picked up some Burger King on the way down here."
Brian hugged her again, "I still cant believe you're here. Come sit down." He lead her to the giant sofa. "How were able to get here? I thought you said you couldn't ever come."
"I never said ever. I have to tell you I'm not down here for good though."
"Aw, please!!" he pleaded like a child.
I only got a week off of work and enough money saved up for a day down here. Believe me, if I could stay, I would." Her teeth began chattering. "Aren't you cold? I'm freezing."
"Here, let me get you a blanket." He wrapped it around her and him. "Body heat." He rubbed her hands and arms to get them warm. When he touched her arm, he
thought it felt, well, strange. " Natalie, is there something wrong with your arm?"
"No," she quickly replied. "Why do you ask?" she asked nervously.
He grabbed her arm and raised it above the blanket into the light. "What happened?" he asked as he saw the giant scar along it.
"I was burned. It was long time ago though. No need to talk about it."
"Natalie, I wanna know. What happened?"
"I said, I don't want to talk about it, okay?" She put her arm back under the blanket. Brian just sat there and tried to think about this. Suddenly, it all clicked.
He got up and said, "I'll be right back." She nodded and he went into his room. He brought out a square piece of paper. As he got closer to Natalie, she realized it wasn't paper, it was a photograph. 'Oh no,' she thought to herself. Brian carefully examined the photo, and then Natalie.
"Why have you been lying to me.....Lillian?"
'Shit!' she was screaming inside. Should she tell him the truth about everything? Or should she try and pretend that she was really Natalie. To the rest of the world she was Natalie. The Littrells were the only ones alive who still knew, unless her dad was still alive of course. "I'm sorry Brian," she said softly, holding back tears of sorrow.
"Sorry? Sorry! I should be sorry. I can't believe I fell for you as someone else! Why didn't you just tell me? Why have you been lying? Everything I know about you is a lie! How do I know you're not lying when you're asking for forgivness?" She had never seen him this angry. It scared her.
"Brian. If you knew, you'd understand......"
"But I dont know! You've been lying to me!"
"Brian!" she was getting angry at him for not letting her speak. "Let me tell you the whole story!" she screamed. She even got Nick's attention from the other side of the apartment. Brian sat back down, but in the chair next to the couch.
"Okay, tell me. But the truth this time."
The truth was finally going to come out about Natalie Johnson, or Lillian Meyer. "You were there, that day, my dad burned me, right?"
"Yeah, I saw you at school the next day, but you left with your mom. I never saw you again."
"Yeah, well, that's because my mom decided it was best for both of us if we left my dad." He nodded his head. "Well, we went to Madison, Wisconsin and changed our
names. We didn't tell anyone except my Aunt Heather. We couldn't tell anyone else, he might find us. He had tried to get me afterschool that day, but luckily we got away. Well, I spent the next 10 years living as Natalie Johnson from Madison, but then, my mom was in a car accident and was killed. I then realized I had no family, no one. I wanted to come back and see what you had done with your life. Well, I went into Long John Silvers and
by luck, you were there. I didn't even know you worked there. I didn't know if you still even lived in Lexington. It was fate. And well, you know the rest. But that's why I couldn't tell you who I really was."
"Natalie, I mean, Lillian, I mean, whoever you are. Why....you could've told me. You know my family, we wouldn't tell anyone! Why....why did you do this? They were both crying. Do you know how often I wondered if you were even alive everyday throughout my childhood? Do you know how many nightmares I had about your dad killing you, me, and your mom? You could've told me, told my family, you should've seen my mom when she read that note you left us. She was as devestated as me! Why didn't you tell us? Why didnt you tell me, that night at Silvers? Why did you wait and let me find out for myself? Yes, I know your dad was an aweful man, but still. That doesn't mean you can abandon me either! Why didn't you call or something? Just to let us know you were okay! I wondered if you were even alive! You dont know how much pain I went through. I had consuling for 5 years. You tore me apart."
"Brian, I'm sorry. You don't know how sorry about everything I am. I wanted to call you, every single day I was gone. I just wanted everything to back to normal. I was eight years old and I had to abandon my whole life, everything I knew. Do you know how I felt? I thought about you everyday and wondered if you even thought about me. I know I didnt leave an address or phone number, but that was because I didnt know it yet. And if my mom would've found out I got in touch with you, I would've had to move somewhere else. She said if anyone, even you or your family, knew where we were, we'd be in trouble, and so would you. That's why I never called, never wrote. I didn't want you to get hurt. I didn't want my dad to get you too." They sat there, tears rolling down their cheeks, staring at each other. The silence was driving them insane, but yet, they couldn't speak.
"Lillian, I, I don't know what to say. I'm sorry I went crazy on you, I should've listened to you first. I know that this whole ordeal wasnt either of our faults, but I still wish you would've told me when we met again. I knew I knew you from somewhere. Why didn't tell me?"
"Because the whole world now knows me as Natalie Johnson. I just didn't want to have to relive any day as Lillian Meyer again. It brought back too much emotion."
"I guess I can understand that. Just one question for both of us, what's this going to do to our relationship?"
"What do you mean?"
"I love Natalie. My best friend is Lillian. Who are you?"
"How do you expect me to answer that?"
"Who are you now? The one you choose is the one I will know you as."
'What the hell is he talking about?' she asked in her thoughts. "My name is Natalie Johnson. I am the girlfriend of Brian Littrell. I love him with all my heart. I just hope he loves the person I am, not my name."
"So, you aren't Lillian anymore?"
"No, I was your childhood neighbor girl, who was also your best friend. Ten years later, I'm your girlfriend orginally from Wisconsin. Don't ever forget who I was, just remember I'm not the same person now. I've changed."
"I know. You know, before I met you, Natalie.....I was thinking. I was thinking about Lillian and if she was still here, what would we and she be like. Would she still be the tomboy I remember? I figured she'd be my friend and nothing more. Never a girlfriend. I could never date her. Yeah it'd be weird, but that wouldn't be why. I
couldn't figure out why, I just couldn't date her. But you have changed, because I can date you. I want to date you. I don't want your life to be a lie though."
"It's going to have to be until I know my dad is gone. For good."
"I won't let anything happen to you Natalie. Never. So any more secrets I have to unlock?"
"Nope, so you're okay with everything?"
"I will be. You okay with everything?"
"I will be."
They sat there in silence a few minutes more. "Aw....come here you!" he said playfully as he grabbed her off the couch and onto his lap. He started tickling her.
"Brian!" she screamed with pleasure and pain. "Stop it! You know Im ticklish! Stop! Ahhhhhhh!"
"I knew Lillian was ticklish, I didn't know you were too." He would be okay with this. She could be Natalie or Lillian. He loved Natalie, so that's who she wanted to stay. He stopped and they kissed.
"Ewwwww," they said in unison like when they were kids, watching Jackie and Harold. They both laughed. Everything would be alright. |
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