Chapter 11: Never Let Me Go

Author's note: Okay, so I really really like this chapter, so I hope you do too! My game was acting up, so I lost the Cupid teens, and Holden. I didn't feel like I had to re-make the Cupid teens, as they were close to YA's anyway and I had no plotline for them. I did, however, remake Holden, but didn't get any special pictures of him. Also, pardon the shortage of the already crappy pictures because my game was running super slow today. Thanks! And, without further ado, I present to you: Chapter 11.

Wow, it’s so dark. I thought to myself. Is this what being dead feels like? It’s nice. I could enjoy this.

“Sorry, sweetheart, but you aren’t dead.” A voice echoed through the darkness. I turned around, trying to find the face. It took me a minute, but I found it.

“Ashley?” I stared, stunned at the face I saw.

Ashley, my best friend who died our junior year, was standing right in front of me. I’ve imagined this scenario a million times in my head. I have come up with a million different responses, a million different ways to react, but all of that disappeared and I stared, stunned, unable to speak.

“Hello, sweetie.” She smiled at me. Suddenly, a rush of emotions hit me-guilt, shame, sadness, relief-and I burst into tears.

“Sweetheart, you know how I feel about crying…” I heard another voice say, a male voice. I turned around to see a face that I had never thought I would see again.

There he was, his brown eyes glistening as he smiled, his curly hair perfectly set on top of his head. “Hey, Ariel.” He smirked, making my heart flutter a little bit.

“Gene…” I stared at him, wide-eyed and obviously a mess with tears smeared all over my cheeks. I remember how I feel about him, I said to myself, but I feel the same with Brandon. Is it wrong, to love two guys at the same time? Especially when they’re both… My thoughts trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence to myself.

“It’s okay, Ariel.” Gene sadly smiled. “I’ve always known how you felt about Brandon. It’s been obvious since day one. I knew I could never compete with that; I was just glad you gave me a chance.”

“Gene…” I cautiously stepped forward. “I’m so, so sorry…” I slowly reached where he was standing, and slipped into a hug.

“Ariel,” Ashley sighed, and I knew it was time to talk about the real reason for this little meeting. “We love you, we may not be around to show it, but we do. You never really know who’s there for you until you’re gone…” Ashley started to tear up, but she quickly wiped her tears away and tried her best to smile.

“Ashley, I’m so sorry…” I choked back tears. “I was such a horrible friend… I wish I could just fix everything.”

“You can.” A fourth voice had suddenly appeared, a familiar voice that I will never forget. A voice so smooth, you could cut a knife through it. “You can fix everything right now, by living.”

Brandon walked towards Gene and I, and Gene stepped away, letting our reunion be a tad more private.

I ran towards him. I ran faster than I ever have before in my life, thinking that if I didn’t run, everything would disappear. “Brandon, I--”

Everything started to fade as I was woken up.

“Ariel?” I heard a voice call out, a voice slightly familiar, yet I couldn’t put a finger on who it belonged to. The voice had a slight country accent, like he’d lived in Texas for a couple of years, but didn’t fully adopt the accent.

“Brandon?” I croaked out, blinking away the fuzziness in my eyes. I saw a familiar face, that’s when it all clicked. He had a slight Texas accent, because he did live in Texas for a couple of years.

“No, sorry hun.” He smiled his usual, sad smile. “Although, sometimes I wish I was, it’d save lots o’ people a lot o’ heartbreak…” He stared into the distance, dejectedly, making my heart break a little more than it already had for him.

“Brooklyn…” I felt a surge of rage rush through me, despite my earlier compassion for him. “Why weren’t you at the funeral? Your brother died and you didn’t even show up… You should have been there!” And, again, I was awash in tears; but this time, tears of rage, anger, and hurt, instead of the usual sadness and despair.

“I know, I know…” He sighed. “But I couldn’t bring myself ta’ go… That’s all my life seems to have now, are funerals. Ya’ know?”

“I know, Brooklyn.” I tried my best to comfort him, but I needed answers. “But you can’t run away from your problems. I haven’t heard from you since Ashley died. You never check in, and I only saw you briefly at Gene’s funeral. What’s going on?”

“I loved her…” Brooklyn’s voice cracked, and grief started to form on his face. “I loved her so much, and I never got to tell her. I wish I could just speak to her one last time, but I can’t…” Tears started to pour down his face, as he rocked back and forth, trying to get himself to calm down.

But I got to… Why shouldn’t he? His love for Ashley was something stronger than our friendship. He should have been the one to talk to her, not me.

“Mwommy…” I heard a female toddler’s voice say from the corner of the room, just now realizing Alex and Holden were in the room. “Why is uncwe Bwoowyn cwying?” Alex had a hard time with the L sound, apparently.

“He just misses his friend, baby…” I picked the two up and sat them in my lap. Alex looked so much like Brandon, I had a hard time not crying when I looked at her.

“Oh…” Alex looked at Brooklyn, trying her hardest to empathize. “I sowwy unwe Bwoowyn, I suwre you’ww see hewr again.” Brooklyn lifted his head up and stared at Alex, his eyes wide, and a smile began to form on his face.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” He mumbled, and his facial expression showed that he really believed her.

“I like your new haiwr, mommy.” Holden spoke up, his usual shy face plastered with interest as he looked at my hair.

“My new…. What.” I gasped, ordering Brooklyn to get me a mirror. “Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.”

“Uhm, yeah…” Brooklyn mumbled and then began to laugh. “The doctors said that it was caused by a mixture of chemicals in the pills you took. I think it looks great on you!” He was now full-blown laughing his ass off, tears in his eyes.

“Oh my god, it’s… so dark.” I exclaimed, the surprise obviously written all over my face. “Why didn’t you tell me!?”

“Well, we were kind of preoccupied!” He was kneeled over laughing, it was good to see him smile again. He’d ran out of town when Ashley died, moved to Appaloosa Plains and never said another word. Until now, that is. It was nice to have him back in my life, he was one of my best friends before… everything.

“You can’t! She just woke up!”

“I don’t care, let me through.”

“I am her lawyer, you’ll have to go through me first.”

“Brooklyn…” I nervously whispered, setting Alex and Holden down on the ground. “What’s going on?”

“Ariel, I’m so sorry.” Brooklyn sped out, his voice going 100 miles per hour. “It’s all over the news, I didn’t want to tell you just yet cause I’d thought they’d wait, but--”

“What’s going on!?” I screeched.

“Sure can do, sweetie.” There was slight ruffling of papers, then complete silence.

“Go ahead…”

“Ariel, I’m so, so sorry, but--” Brooklyn was cut off by the door slamming open, making the toddlers scream in shock.

“Ariel Spencer,” The man in a cop uniform directly looked at me. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Brandon Tenser.”

Chapter 10: Black (Baby 20)

Make sure you read Aria Rapture's chapter after this one here! Two different point of views!

Sometimes, bad things happens to good people. Bad things that make you feel alone, empty, and hopeless. You are never alone, there is always someone. If you want to talk to someone, I am always willing to talk on my Tumblr, or call one of these hotlines. Someone always cares, you're never alone. It gets better.

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Birthdays!

Evie, Angel, Bridget, and Kirk Spencer. Young Adults.

Apollo and Artemis Spencer. Teens.

Alex Spencer. Toddler.

Father: Brandon

Holden Spencer. Toddler.

Father: Joe

You are my sunshine

My only sunshine

You make me happy

When skies are grey

You’ll never know dear

How much I love you

So please don’t take

My sunshine

Away…

“Ariel, hey…” Aperille snapped me out of my daze. “Ariel!”

“Huh… What?” I turned around and noticed she had a bunch of folders out on the table.

“North Funeral home or Brown Funeral Home?” She asked, pointing to the pictures of the different rooms.

“I don’t care, whichever is best.” I sighed and continued to stare out the window.

“Look, Ariel, I hate doing this as much as you do…” She continued talking to me. “But we have to get all of this planned.” I didn’t respond, so she shook her head and sighed. “Look, I’ll take this home and figure everything out, I’ll just need your final approval, okay?” I still didn’t respond. “I’ll be over later, Ariel. Take care of yourself…” A couple minutes later, I heard a door closing and a car driving away.

I don’t know how long I sat there, spaced out, not thinking about anything in particular, but I was jolted out of my bubble when I heard a knock at the door and someone making their way inside.

“Hey, Ariel, you here?” I heard a male voice call throughout the house. He looked eventually found his way to the living room, noticing me instantly. “Ah, Ariel!” I turned around, staring into the face of my twin brother.

Hah, twin. Although we were related, we looked nothing alike. His hazel eyes and brown hair matching his dark skin, with my red hair and white eyes making me stick out like a sore thumb. Quill and I were close in high school, but we lost touch after I moved away with Gene.

“Hey, are you okay?” His smile shone with worry, and everything came crashing down in that one moment. “Hey, Ars, don’t cry…” He sat down and hugged me. “Everything’ll be okay, everything’ll be fine…” He comforted me as I cried for the next couple of minutes, until we heard a car driving up the road.

“Ah, that must be our parents.” He got up and helped me up. We walked outside to see our mothers walking up the driveway.

“Ariel, honey…” My mom, Lilac, looked at me with a worried expression.

“Mommy!” I ran into her arms, tears threatening to burst through at any moment.

“Honey, honey, it’ll be okay, honey…” I could feel my mother sobbing, the warm tears making their way onto my hair.

A few days passed, and soon I found myself at the funeral home, attending the service.

As guests started to pile in, I felt more and more alone. Some of the guests I knew; some I didn’t.

“Hey, Ariel.” Aperille walked up, coming to a stop next to me. “Funny, huh? How so many people can cry when you’re gone, but hardly any will really miss you.”

“Yeah…” I hung my head, focusing on the floor below me, trying her best to hold back the tears that threatened to break through.

“Hey, look, the old gang’s back together!” Quill strutted up behind us, throwing his arms around the both of us. He had a smile plastered to his face, but it was obviously faked and tired. “It’s nice to see everyone again.”

“Not everyone…” I turned my head, not wanting to look at Quill’s smile; an attempt to make me feel better, no doubt.

“Hey,” Quill started to argue. “He had good reasons for leaving, you know that.”

“He should still be here…” Aperille turned her head, facing away from Quill and I.

The service went smoothly, with the occasional crying and fake emotional bullshit from people who could truly care less. Quill ventured off to get some sodas, and an hour later, he still wasn’t back yet.

 “Ugh!” I groaned at the phone after Quill hadn’t picked up the phone for the tenth time. “Where are you!?”

“Hey, I can’t get through to Aria, either.” Carter called from the other side of the room. “I haven’t seen her since she poured soda on me…” I sighed. Typical Aria, always having to make a scene.

Everyone had left, the only ones left were Danielle, Carter, Aperille, and I. We had given up on trying to contact Quill or Aria and waited for them to show up.

The door slammed shut, and Quill and Aria slipped through. I got up, infuriated at the fact that the both of them-two of the people I needed most right now-were missing.

“Where the hell were the two of you!?” I screamed at them, the grief and pain I had been feeling finally bursting through the barrier I had built up, as the tears poured down my face. "Did it occur to either one of you that I may have needed you? My boyfriend just died and my brother and best friend are nowhere to be found. What the hell were you guys even doing?" They looked at each other, the guilt radiating off of their whole bodies. The pieces fell together, slowly, then all at once. "You have got to be kidding me. No way. At Brandon's funeral, Aria?!"

Aria turned around and left the house, the door banging shut behind her. Carter followed, and you could hear the mumbled yelling through the thick wooden walls. I heard a car start and drive away. Danielle left the house to check on Aria, and neither came back.

“Ariel, I can expla--”

“Leave.” I interrupted Quill.

“Ariel…”

“Leave!” I pointed at the door. “Both of you!” I looked at Aperille, the only other one left in the house, as the kids were staying with their grandparents for a while. They both left, leaving me all alone.

Alone.

I was used to alone.

Even surrounded by people, I was alone.

Nothing but despair and loneliness.

That seemed to be all my life was capable of containing, was pain.

I walked into the bathroom, warm tears running down my face.

I slipped my hand into the medicine cabinet, pulling out multiple bottles of pills.

One by one, I opened them, pouring the contents onto the counter.

Choking down a sob, I swallowed them, letting the grief stream down my face. The world faded, and I slipped into the blackness of nothing.

Just wait, everything will be okay, even if you’re feeling like it’s going down in flames.