I knock on the door. A portly woman in her thirties opens the door.

"May I help you?" she inquires.

I smile, adjusting my shirt. "Is Aaron home?" I ask. "Or Lea?"

"Oh, Lea's at her boyfriend's." The woman shakes her head. "Aaron's in his room. Who are you?"

"Oh, excuse my manners," I say, smiling sheepishly. "My name's Bryna. I'm an... old friend of Aaron's."

Her eyes widen and she steps away from the door to let me in. "Upstairs, second room to the right," she whispers quietly, suddenly very solemn.

I smile politely. "Thank you."

I walk through the house, noting the tasteful decor quietly as I make it to Aaron's bedroom. I knock on the door after a small hesitation.

"Yeah?" a gruff voice asks. It sends chills up my spine, both good and bad.

"Can I come in?" I ask.

I can imagine his frown. "Who is it?"

"Why don't you open the door to find out?" I ask sarcastically, leaning against his door frame.

There's a small silence, and then the door opens. Aaron's on the other side, his dirty blonde hair much longer than I remember it, and his gorgeous, mahogany colored eyes peering at me wide-eyed. He's more muscular than I remember, and I notice a tattoo peeking out under the sleeve of his black t-shirt. His mouth pops open as he flounders for something to say.

"Bryna?" he croaks out, finally.

"The one and only," I respond, tilting my head. "You look well, Aaron."

"I-I... We thought you were dead," he whispers.

"Yeah, I know. Justin told me when he found me. I'm alive, though. And I'm here."

He seems stunned, staring at me. "How... How long have you been...?"

"In Rhode Island? A day. I had to clear myself and get a place to stay. Justin's couch'll have to do until I can get my own place." I shrug. "You and Justin are the only ones who know I'm here. You're the first person I came to."

He inhales sharply. "Why?"

My lips curve into a small smile. "Because I couldn't just sit there knowing that you're moping over me when I'm alive, well, and thinking about you pretty much every waking hour."

Aaron seems shocked, but then his gaze hardens. "You left us," he whispers coldly. "You just left us and you made no attempt to contact us. Do you know how goddamn worried we all were for you? And you just come back like you can just be here and everything's okay again. It's not okay, Bryna. It's not okay, and I hate you for being so damn ignorant and not finding a better way to get us out of this mess. I hate you for leaving us, and I hate you for not caring enough to try considering how we'd feel if you left. I-"

He cuts himself off when he sees my expression. Then he's grabbing me by the wrist and pulling me into his room, shutting the door behind him and wrapping me into a hug. I hug him back, my fingers clutching at his shirt and my head buried into the crook of his neck.

"I hate me too," I whisper. "I know it's not an easy fix. I should have tried harder. But I thought about you and the twins, and Lea, and even Justin every day. And I thought about how torn apart you all should have been because I left you, and I didn't fight, like I should have. That was so goddamn stupid of me, and I beat myself up every day because of it. Letting you guys leave was the worst thing I ever did, and I can't forgive myself for it. And I'd tell you I'm sorry, but sorry doesn't encompass how utterly heartbroken I feel every time I think about how I let you guys go without fighting. I didn't fight. And that kills me every waking moment, because you guys are the only family I have left, and I so stupidly let you guys go. I'm sorry, Aaron. Even though it fixes nothing, I'm sorry. And if I never leave your side again, I'd be the most content person in the world, because you all are everything to me."

Aaron doesn't say anything, he just sits us down on his bed and holds me as I try composing myself so I can actually look him in the face without bawling my eyes out.

He pulls away after a moment and studies me. He grabs a strand of my hair and twirls it around his fingers, a small smile finally gracing his face. "You dyed your hair green," he notes quietly.

"Yeah," I reply, watching him.

"Any reason in particular?"

I shrug. "It's an everyday reminder of a certain someone whose favorite color happens to be green. I have to say, it's grown on me."

His smile widens. "Who is this certain someone?" he asks.

I shrug again. "I'm sure he knows who he is."

Aaron chuckles deeply. "Yeah, I do." He drops my strand of hair and looks me in the eye. "I don't hate you," he says finally. "I can't hate you, because I know that you were trying to make as little bloodshed as possible. But it still hurts knowing that you didn't fight for us, Brie. And it hurt me. So much."

I nod, looking to my jeans. "Yeah," I murmur. "I... I tried, you know. To escape. A few times, in the beginning." I shake my head. "I was always stopped. They upped security and kept people watching my tent at all times, instructed someone to stay with me every waking hour." I sigh. "I just gave up after awhile, figured maybe it was better off that I didn't get myself killed or something. I should'a tried harder."

He lifts my chin up and peers into my eyes. My stomach does flips when I see the intense way he stares at me. He sighs. "I've been trying to forgive you for the past year, Bryna. It's so hard to, though. You keep leaving."

I nod again, looking away. "I feel so guilty."

Aaron sighs again. "I'd say don't, but to be honest, you should. You keep putting yourself into a position where you make us more of a priority than you, and it hurts us all the same."

"I'd rather have you alive and hurting than dead and not feeling anything," I whisper.

He turns my head to him again. "I'd rather you were here with me than not," he replies. "You're important to everyone, Bryna. Not just me, but to Lea, and Brian, and Alex, and even Justin. I may have taken it harder than everyone else, but they still suffered too. I'm not going to be spiteful, but if you're going to come back, you've gotta prove that you're willing to stay. For all of us. Because until then, we won't be able to be there for you. Not the way we want to be."

I nod a third time, staying silent. Aaron moves away.

We sit in silence for a moment, and then I stand. "Well," I murmur quietly, "I should get going. I have other people to see."

Aaron nods, saying nothing as I walk to the door. I grab the handle, turn it, and then-

"Wait."

I turn to him, eyebrow lifted questioningly.

"They're all at Brian's house, and some sort of get-together is going on. I'm probably better off taking you."

"Alright," I allow, offering him a small smile. He returns it, grabbing his keys from his desk.

~~~

Aaron knocks on the door, and a man of about twenty opens it. He sees Aaron and grins. "Aaron, long time no see."

Aaron grins warmly. "Yeah, I've finally gotten around to coming out of my room." He glances at me.

The man turns to me and smiles warmly. "I'm Henry - a friend of Aaron and Brian's. Pleasure to meet you." He holds out his hand.

I take his hand and shake it curtly. "Bryna - A friend of both as well. Pleasure's mine."

You'd think after seven years of basically no social interaction, I'd be a little more closed off. I guess not.

His smile turns to a grin. "The Bryna, I take it?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Are there are other Brynas around who know Aaron and the lot?"

"Can't say there are," he chuckles. He turns to Aaron. "She's a keeper."

"Yeah, that's what we all said when we met her," he says with a grin.

I smile. "I'm sure it was the other way around. As I recall I saved you."

"Yes, but Lea and I graced you three with our presence," he retorts, eyes gleaming in amusement. Slight hesitance at acting so shamelessly, but amusement all the same.

I laugh. "Sure. Keep dreaming, Mr. Arrogant."

Aaron grins at me. "I will."

We're soon ushered inside, and led into a room where a group of people are laughing and talking, some of them with red plastic cups. Among them, Brian, Alex and Lea are chatting amiably with a few others.

"Hey guys, look who's here!" Henry calls, grinning widely.

Everyone turns, and it goes silent as everyone lays eyes on me.

Okay. Perhaps this is a little out of my league. I don't really enjoy having eight pairs of eyes just trained solely on me. Especially when five of them belong to people I don't even know.

Lea and Alex get up, walking over to me while Brian sits in stunned silence.

"Brie?" Lea asks, stunned.

I smile weakly. "Who else?"

Alex lets out an incredulous laugh and engulfs me into a bear hug. I grin and hug him back. "I should be pissed at you," he mutters.

"Probably," I agree. "But I'm not complaining."

He pulls away. "You look good," he compliments. "I like the hair."

I laugh lightly. "Thanks. Everyone does, apparently."

A hug from Lea and a rather humiliating, public scolding later, Brian's still staring at me like I'm a ghost or something.

I smile at him. "Hey Brian, we can go camping now."

He breaks out into a smile and stands, walking over to me and hugging me. "I missed you so much," he says.

"I missed you too," I reply. I pull away, smirking. "So, you and Lea, huh?"

He opens his mouth as if to say something, and then closes it again, before chuckling. "Shut up."

I grin. "Letting you know now, I called it way before you two got together."

Everyone laughs.

Brian sighs, shaking his head. "It's good having you back, Brie. I'm still pissed at you, but it's good to see you again."

I scoff. "You have every right to be pissed. Heck, I'm pissed at me. But I'm not leaving this time."

"Good," Alex says. "I don't think we could take anymore of your self-sacrifice bullcrap."

I grin at him. "It gets tiresome after awhile," I agree.

A guy about my age stands and smiles offering me his hand. "Erick. We've heard a lot about you, Bryna."

I smile, shaking his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Erick. And Brie is fine."

He grins. "Brie it is."

"Erick, stop eyeing the poor girl like you want a piece of her before Aaron slams your head into a wall," a girl says with a scoff. "She's way out of your league."

I laugh. "Ah, you flatter me," I say in reply to the girl.

She grins. "I'm Gwendolyn, but you can call me Linn."

I nod. "Pleasure to meet you," I greet her.

"Of course it is."

I like her already.

Introductions are thrown around, and I note that this group is entirely close-knitted. So much so that I kind of feel like an outsider. But they welcome me like I'm already a part of the group, and for once I'm around people who don't need to be fighting for their lives twenty-four seven. Nor do they rely on me for guidance. It's great.

Everyone seems keen on treating me like one of them. And I quickly learn that most of them are social outcasts that bond over the ridiculousness that is the social world. Having been out of the loop most of my life, I can only be disgusted to the lengths people will go to to get what they want, and everyone seems to find my responses hilarious.

It's pretty late into the evening, and the majority of everyone is passed out. I'm sitting, listening to Aaron and a guy named Grant talk about pretty much every subject under the sun. I'm pretty sure Grant's been drinking a little bit, and he nods emphatically every time Aaron says something he agrees with, while Aaron is basically just talking about nothing in particular, just to mess with the guy.

It's quite the sight.

I'm sitting in a chair by my lonesome while Brian and Lea are sitting next to me, Lea pretty much asleep already.

Aaron finally glances in my direction, and then looks at the time. He looks slightly embarrassed as he excuses himself and walks over to me. "You ready to go?" he asks.

I shrug. "If you are."

He nods and nudges Lea awake. We say goodbye to Brian and Alex, and then we're off.

Slowly but surely, I'll make things right. And then perhaps my life will be okay again.

:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:
Hey!

Sorry I updated so late, I had an unexpected escapade, and just got time to update from my phone.

So, this is the end of the book. I won't be updating the next one until it's close to finished, because I want to be able to have it all finished.

Feedback, critiques, questions, etc. are welcome.

Off to go write my next novel,

-Musical_Author