Becca

Brett's mother watched me patiently, waiting for me to say something. It felt like my brain had broken apart into tiny pieces in my head and I was struggling to quickly assemble them back together so I could speak.

Hi, I'm your son's girlfriend.

Hi, I'm a girl who is your son's friend, once girlfriend, but I'm not sure what we are now.

Hello, Mrs. Wells. Nice to meet you.

All of these greetings ran through my head but what my mouth managed to spit out was a questionable, "H..Hi."

I wanted to smack myself.

Pull it together.

Brett's mother laughed as her eyes remained fixed on my face, watching me carefully. She crossed her arms over her light blue sweater and raised one eyebrow. This woman in front of me didn't look sad or broken, she looked strong. Fierce, even. She held herself together well, but I couldn't imagine what she was feeling on the inside.

Just like Brett, I thought. A smile could hide a thousand feelings.

"Are you looking for someone, dear?" She asked me, smiling kindly. For some reason, I had the suspicion that she already knew the answer to that question.

"Is Brett here?" I glanced behind her into her home. Shiny black marble tiles lined the floor and a ginormous wooden staircase sat in the middle of the foyer, leading upstairs. Leading to Brett, possibly. But from the looks of it, the house seemed completely empty aside from the two of us standing here.

She shook her head slowly and my heart fell, a wave of disappointment crashing over me.

"I'm sorry, hun, but you just missed him. He left for the gym a few minutes ago."

I tried to hide the disappointment on my face but the pitiful look Brett's mother was giving me told me that I was doing a lousy job. I smiled lamely and attempted to pull myself together. This was fine, the timing was off. I would think of another way.

"I'll tell him you stopped by, if you'd like." She continued. "What's your name?" She watched me expectingly, waiting for me to answer her question. I had that feeling again, that she knew more than she was letting on.

"That's alright," I responded, smiling gratefully at her. "I just really need to speak to him. It's kind of urgent." I didn't know why I was telling her this, I doubted she even cared, but the words spilled out of my mouth before I could stop them.

She was giving me that look, the same look my mother gives me when she knows exactly what I'm thinking without me having to say it. Were all mothers like this?

In that moment, I was certain this woman knew I was in love with her son.

"He should be home soon, love. You're welcome to wait." Her words sounded like honey, she was so lovely and genuine that I almost said yes. But Cassie was waiting in the car, and I had the shrinking suspicion that Brett walking in on his mother and I talking wouldn't exactly go well with him.

"Thank you, but that's alright." I returned her smile and studied her face, thinking about the hell this kind woman had been through in the past year. I wanted to give her a hug, I wanted her and my mother to meet so they could deal with their grief together.

"I'll tell Brett you stopped by," was the last thing she said before I began to walk away.

"Have a nice day, Mrs. Wells." I waved while walking down the steps, heading towards Cassie's car.

As far as first impressions go, Brett's mother carried the same kindness that her son did, the type that seemed to flow off of her effortlessly. I, on the other hand, probably came off as a love-sick school girl, one of many who stop by seeking her son's affection. It was almost too comical not to laugh.

"You too, dear!" She called after me. Call me crazy, but it sounded like she began to say my name, quickly changing her mind and replacing it with the word dear.

I opened the door to the passenger's seat and sat down, sulking at the gigantic fail this entire day had turned out to be. What would Brett think about me meeting his mother? I hoped he wouldn't be upset.

"He's not home?" Cassie asked me, stating the obvious as she glanced over her shoulder, reversing out of the long driveway. I ignored her, not wanting to talk about this when Brett's mother was standing on the porch watching the two of us.

When we were driving down the street and his house was fading in the rearview, I turned to my best friend.

"No," I said dryly, having the sudden urge to hit something.

"Where is he?" She was beginning to get impatient. Cassie hated this, having to pry tidbits of information out of me because I wouldn't just spill and tell her the entire story at once like every other normal person would.

"At the gym." I tried not to picture Brett working out; shirt off, sweaty, lifting weights, muscles flexing, arms -

Stop it, I told my brain, willing it to shut off and quit making everything worse than it already was.

"Don't be defeated, Becca. Tomorrow's Friday, maybe he'll show up at school again."

"He won't," I told her certainly, shaking my head. "Tomorrow is game day and the football team is getting ready for playoffs. They're exempt from class." Meaning Brett and his team would spend the day practicing - meaning I would reluctantly have to go another day without seeing him.

My heart was going to explode.

Cassie glanced at me quickly, giving me a look that said are-you-an-idiot-or-what?

"What?" I groaned, waiting for her to tell me whatever was on her mind.

"Becca!" She yelled, reaching over to slap my leg. "Don't you see that tomorrow is perfect? Imagine Brett's face as he looks up into the bleachers during the game and sees you sitting there!"

I could picture it perfectly...

I was siting on the top bleacher, wearing Brett's jersey and watching the game. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach, feel my heart pounding in my chest. Brett caught the football, running down the field and scoring the winning touchdown. He throws the ball into the grass, lifting his arms above his head celebrating as the crowd goes wild, cheering for him. I am standing up, screaming his name with so much pride and love.

Brett looks towards the bleachers and our eyes meet. My breath catches. He smiles - no, not just a smile. His entire face lights up as he spots me standing there, wearing his jersey and screaming his name, like he wanted me to do for so long. He would rip off his helmet, throwing it to the ground impatiently.

Then, he is running to me, dodging his teammates as he barrels towards the bleachers - towards me. And I am running towards him just as quickly, the crowd parts as I run down the metal steps, desperate to close the distance between us.

And then we are in front of each other, breathing heavily, all eyes on us.

"You came," he would say, disbelief dotting his voice as his eyes searched mine. Then he would smile, hair falling over his face in a mess yet he somehow managed to look more beautiful than I had ever seen before.

"I love you, Brett." The words would come rushing out of my mouth, not able to hold them in anymore. The world would stop spinning, the crowd would disappear and it would be just the two of us - just like it should be.

He would tell me that he loves me too before I hook my arms around his neck and kiss him as he lifts me up, swinging me around in the air as we kiss and make up for all the time we lost.

The crowd would cheer behind us, roaring to life as we put our love on display for the world to see.

And just like that, we would be back.

Cassie's voice broke me out of my daydream. I shook my head, the vision leaving my mind as quickly as it came. But my fingers instantly went to my mouth, I could still feel the weight of Brett's lips on mine, a feeling I missed more than anything.

I smiled at Cassie, wanting to reach over and hug my best friend. "You're a genius," I told her.

"I know," she replied, flipping her hair over her shoulder and flashing me a killer smile.

Tomorrow was the night. I would get Brett back, once and for all. Just twenty-four hours. I could handle that.

I turned on the radio, music came blasting through the car instantly. I smiled, I couldn't help it. Finally - finally - something was going right. It felt as if the light at the end of this long, dark tunnel had just become visible.

I rolled down the windows and the warm air swirled through the car, making mine and Cassie's hair fly wild. She was laughing, I was laughing. My cheeks began to ache from the sudden surge of happiness I felt. My heart felt lighter, like it was soaring out of my chest, full of anticipation and hope.

Reaching out, I grabbed the knob and turned the volume up even louder until I couldn't hear myself think. I didn't even know what song was playing, but somehow I knew every word and I screamed each one at the top of my lungs.

I was wiggling my shoulders, shaking my hips, shimmying here and there as Cassie shook her head beside me before joining in, singing along with me.

The song ended and we were both laughing, breathless. Cassie lowered the radio and turned towards me, the car now parked in the parking lot of my apartment building. The look on her face told me she was about to spill some words of wisdom.

"I know you think Brett is your world, Becca, but you are yours before you're anyone else's. You were so lost without him this past week, the last time I saw you so sad was when your dad left..." Her voice trailed off and I knew she was thinking about how I was back then during the most difficult part of my life.

"Brett's not like my father, Cass. You told me that." I reminded her.

She rolled her eyes. "I know that, Becca. I'm just saying, sometimes we rely on other people for our own happiness, so much so that we lose a bit of ourselves in them. It's scary, but it's love. It makes us do crazy things."

"I love Brett, Cassie." Finally saying those words out loud to someone felt so permanent - so right. "He makes me happier than I have ever been before. If we only date for a few months, then that's fine because having that time with him will be a blessing in itself. But if it's more than that... then I don't want to lose that possibility. I owe it to myself to be happy. I deserve happiness."

Cassie reached over and held my hand in hers. In that moment, I knew you didn't have to share blood with someone for them to be considered family. Our bond was one that transcended blood, one that could only form by sharing the darkest parts of your life with someone, and then sharing the brightest. She was my sister, in every sense of the word.

"Then I'll be over tomorrow night to help you get your man back."

I grinned from ear to ear, feeling my eyes crinkle at the corners.

"Tomorrow," I confirmed, getting out of the car and closing the door behind me, already mentally counting down the hours until I was back in Brett's arms.

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Always knew Becca had the drive in her and she's finally getting her ass in gear. Go get your man, boo!