Bryan pulled the inflatable bed out and set it in the middle of the room, grabbing a couple blankets.
“Is this ok?”
“Yeah it’s fine.”
“You sure? You can take the bed.”
“It’s alright Bryan, really, I’m fine.”
“Alright, well I’m gonna hop in the shower, you wanna get in first?”
“Nah, you go ahead, I’m gonna get my stuff ready for tomorrow, I’ll get in when you get out.”
“Alright,” Bryan announced, turning and heading back into his room.
Veronica watched him walk away and then turned, flopping down on the couch. She’d arrived in Georgia earlier that evening and had spent most of the day getting her hair done, after her and her brother had gone out to dinner where she could barely eat. She’d felt bad considering how much her brother had spent, but she’d been so nervous about the funeral the next day, she didn’t have much of an appetite.
Standing, she grabbed her bag and opened it, pulling out the black top and black skirt she’d brought and set them out, staring at them. Everything had changed so fast, it didn’t seem like it was real. Veronica couldn’t believe she was there, and in a matter of twenty four hours, her father would be officially gone and her life would still keep going. The more she thought of it, the sicker to her stomach she grew. Her head was pounding and she wasn’t sure if it was from hunger or stress. All she knew was she couldn’t stand to eat anything, even the thought of food made the nausea worse.
To say she couldn’t wait for it all to be over would be an understatement, everything. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, she hadn’t wanted to come, if there was away for her to have not come, she would’ve done it. But she also knew she needed this, as much as she didn’t want to, she needed the closure of going to the funeral and saying goodbye to her father. She’d rebelled against it, kept telling herself she didn’t need to go, that she didn’t have to go, but she knew she did. Veronica didn’t know if that made her a bad daughter, but she’d been so tired of thinking of everyone else. In the end she knew she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t and here she was, the night before one of the biggest days of her life, setting her clothes out to wear to her dad’s funeral.
Reaching back into her bag, she pulled out her journal and sat back down, pulling the pen she’d stuck inside out, she opened to the page she’d left off of and started writing. It was all she could do to make sense of things. It was the only way she knew how to deal with it.
After a short time, her thoughts drifted to Nick, she wondered what he was doing. She’d gotten the message yesterday that he’d arrived safely, he’d told her to call her when she had the chance, only she hadn’t. There’d been plenty of opportunities, but she couldn’t bring herself to call him, or anyone for that matter. She’d talked to her Mom, but that was it, she just couldn’t do it, not yet. She wanted to call him, she desperately wanted to hear his voice, but she couldn’t make herself do it. Veronica knew hearing his voice would make it that much harder, making the longing that much stronger.
Setting her pen inside, she closed her journal and stuffed it back into her bag.
“The bathroom is all yours,” Bryan called out suddenly as he made his way into the living room.
Standing, she grabbed her clothes and headed into his bedroom and then into the bathroom
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Next Day…
They slowly made their way from the gravesite and piled into Bryan’s truck. A couple of his friends had come along and it had surprised and warmed Veronica to see his friends come to support him the way they had. It’d been odd, but she’d been thankful for them. The young women were very nice and Veronica had felt instantly at ease with them. She stared at the window at the coffin that was waiting to be lowered into the ground and sighed.
It’d all gone so fast it’d been a blur. She wasn’t sure if she’d remember any of it. There was a moment when the minister had asked if anyone had anything they wanted to say, and she’d sat there. Veronica had wanted to stand and say something, there was so much that needed to be said still, but she’d sat there. She couldn’t make herself stand up and speak. Still, she had no feelings of regret any longer. The last thing her and her father had said to each other was that they loved each other, and somehow, it made everything ok, even now.
She had her closure.
They arrived back at her brothers and made their way inside. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out her phone and called her Mom, she needed to hear her voice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hey this is Veronica; I’m not able to answer my phone right now. Leave a brief message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can! Thanks, bye.”
Nick sighed, leaving another message and hung up. It’d been days now and he still hadn’t heard back from her, he was starting to get worried. Turning, he headed back into the rehearsal room and tried to focus on what was happening, but found he was too distracted.
“Nick…hey man.”
Maybe he should call and leave another message and tell her to call him back, that he’s really worried, then again he didn’t want to annoy her either.
“NICK!”
He looked over to see AJ staring at him as if he were waiting for something.
“Huh?”
“I’ve called you like fidy times, your brother is here,” AJ announced, pointing to the young blonde talking to Brian.
“Oh, sorry man, I was thinking about something.”
AJ rolled his eyes, “No shit.”
Nick flipped him off and headed over to Brian and Aaron.
“Hey squirt.”
“Hey!”
“Alright everyone, let’s take a break, be back in twenty,” the choreographer announced.
Nick and Aaron made their way off to the side away from the group.
“What’s up?”
“Not much, where’ve you been? I called you earlier in the week and you never called back.”
“I went to see grams and gramps and then to go meet a friend.”
“Well you could’ve called,” Aaron pouted.
“Sorry, I was busy.”
“Well anyway, you got the message though right?”
“Yeah, yeah I did.”
Aaron sighed, “Dad wants us to get together to talk tonight.”
Nick thought back on everything that had happened with Veronica, of how short time was and knew he had to attempt to make some kind of change, even if part of him still felt that he didn’t need to be involved.
“Yeah ok, sounds good.”
Aaron blinked, “It does?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow, so uhh, you’ll come?”
“Yeah, I’ll be over after rehearsal.”
