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I nod, thinking that sounds like a pretty good idea. I am tired from being in the hospital. I give her a hug and then walk toward my room. I stretch out across my old bed, and decide to check my phone but there’s no message from Tamilyn. I want to apologize to her for the way I behaved earlier on the phone.
I’m sorry for calling you selfish.
It’s okay. I deserved it. How was the hospital?
It was good. He’s actually in a great mood considering everything. Are you going to be at your mom and dads this evening?
Yeah, Mom’s making a big roast.
I’ll be there. We need to talk.
Okay.
I set my phone down and let out a sigh of relief. She’s trying to shut down on me and I can’t lose her too. Like Mom said, we need each other, and I’m going to make Tamilyn see that.
***
Dad pulls up in the Hudsons’ driveway. I glance at the front lawn where Austin and I had our fight. A fight that tore us all apart and forever changed our lives. I blink back a few tears and tell myself that being here is okay. I open the car door and walk to the same spot I stood two days ago. I can see him standing there looking so angry while he spit out everything he needed to say. I close my eyes for a moment and open them when I feel a hand on my arm. I look over to see Tamilyn standing beside me.
“It’s hard for me to stand out here too,” she whispers.
I sigh and wrap my arm around her, pulling her into me. “Don’t shut me out. I’m hurting just like you are. I can’t show that around him. We need to be there for each other.”
“I’m sorry for being selfish.”
“Don’t apologize. It’s okay.”
“Are we going to be okay?” she asks.
“I hope so. Let’s go inside.”
I lead her inside and don’t turn back to look at the front lawn. I don’t want to see it again until we leave. By that point, I won’t be giving it much attention.
Mom smiles when she sees Tamilyn and me walking in together. We go sit in the living room and I listen while our parents talk amongst themselves. It’s nice to have great friends at a time like this in our lives.
“Oh,” Tamilyn says suddenly. Everyone stops talking to hear what she’s about to say. “While y’all were at the hospital visiting Austin, I was developing some pictures from his fight a few days ago. I thought maybe he would like to have a few prints and I was going to bring a few copies to the gym.”
“He would love that, Tamilyn,” Mom tells her.
She steps into the kitchen, then emerges with a manila folder of pictures. She passes them to Mom who begins instantly tearing up when she looks at them.
“These are great,” Mom says, smiling.
“I just hope he will like them. He was so happy that night.” She sits back down beside me.
While Mom shows the pictures off to Barbara and Phil, I lean into Tamilyn’s ear. “That was really sweet of you. I forgive you for being selfish now. I love you.”
She blushes slightly as she pulls away from me and turns to meet my eyes. “I love you too. Will you come with me to the hospital tomorrow to give Austin his copies?”
“You know I will.”
***
Dinner is amazing as it always is. Maybe it’s the delicious roast and maybe it’s the fact that Tamilyn has done a complete one-eighty from earlier. When she asked if I’d go with her to the hospital to give Austin his pictures, I wanted to kiss her. I knew she would eventually change her mind and come to her senses.
Tamilyn’s mom hands her a glass of wine and she begins slowly sipping on it. I was going to see if she wanted to run up to the hospital tonight but I don’t want to push my luck and I know her rule about drinking. My dad showed up to meet us after work and he and Phil step outside after dinner to smoke a cigar. They ask if I want to join them, but I don’t want to leave Tamilyn’s side.
Tamilyn tells her Mom she’ll clean up the kitchen and begins placing the leftovers into containers so she can get the dishwasher loaded.
