Author's Note: This story kind of popped into my head and I thought that it was going to be pretty cut and dry, but it's taken on a life of its own and is getting a lot longer than I thought it would be. This story takes place a few months after Kelly and Dylan get together for the first time. None of this actually happened in the show, but it has turned into something interesting, at least for me! I hope you enjoy it!
'Torn to Pieces' – Dylan has a secret
Chapter 1 – Dylan goes to his A.A. meeting
The Peach Pit
Kelly sits at a table waiting for Dylan to return from the bathroom after they had finished dinner. She sighs and smiles to herself as she thinks about how great they are getting along. Dylan comes over and sits down across from her.
'What you thinking about, Kel?' he asks.
'Just how much I love you and how wonderful these last few months have been,' she says.
He smiles and grabs her hand across the table. 'Well, I love you too, but I've got to get going. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?'
'Okay, are you sure you don't want me to come over after you get back from your meeting?' she asks, seductively.
'Not tonight, okay?' he says as he kisses the top of her head and walks out of the diner.
Dylan walks out to his car feeling a little guilty. He always feels a little guilty on the nights he has to go to A.A., but he brushes it away quickly. 'It would just be too difficult to explain to her.'
Dylan walks into the auditorium where his meeting is held. He scans the crowd quickly, darting his eyes back and forth across the room.
'Hey, sorry I'm late, did it start yet?' he hears from behind him. He turns around to face the voice.
'No, not yet,' he smiles. He grabs her hand and they walk down the aisle to find an empty seat. 'Thanks for coming tonight, Bren. I really appreciate it.'
She looks at him with understanding in her eyes and says, 'You know you can always count on me to be here for you, Dylan, no matter what else is going on.' She pats his hand gently and he grabs her fingers and holds on tight.
'Okay, let's get started, everyone, please, take your seats,' they hear, 'There are several new members that we're going to hear from tonight and there are a few achievements that we'd like to present at the end. First up to speak with us tonight is John,' the speaker says.
Brenda and Dylan listen to John, and then to Carrie, and then to Justin tell their stories of alcoholism and why they need A.A. at this point in their lives. Brenda sits there contently listening to each of their stories like she had for so long now. Although she and Dylan were not longer together, she was so proud of him for continuing to come to these open meetings and for his perseverance when it came to alcohol. She looks over at him as Justin finishes his story.
Dylan watches Brenda's face as each of the new people talk about their alcoholism. She never once gave him a hard time about coming to these meetings after their first encounter together those many long months again here at A.A. He marvels are her ability to put her hatred for him aside and help him deal with this very important issue that he faces every day of his life. He smiles at her as Justin finishes his story.
She looks over and catches him smiling at her. She can't help but smile back at him. He tightens his grip on her hand that he had not let go of since they walked over to sit down.
'Okay, folks, let's take a little break, like 5 minutes, and then we'll talk about some great achievements and what's on the agenda for next time.'
Brenda and Dylan get up and go over to get some coffee. Dylan's sponsor walks over and gives him a hug.
'Hey there Dylan, how are we doing tonight?' Ben asks. 'Hi Brenda, it's good to see you as always,' he says and kisses her hand.
'Hi Ben, it's good to see you too,' she says and goes off to put some cream in her coffee.
'Hey Ben, I'm actually doing alright.'
'That is great to hear.'
Brenda makes her way back to her seat with her coffee while Dylan and Ben talk to each other.
'Okay, folks, let's get back to our seats and get the rest of this meeting going.'
Dylan returns to sit next to her and immediately grabs her free hand, while she holds her coffee with the other one.
'Our first achievement for the night goes to Jennifer, come on up here Jen,' the speaker says. A small framed girl with auburn hair makes her way up to the stage to stand near the speaker.
'Jen has been with us for a few weeks, but has finally reached 60 days sober. Congratulations Jen!' he says as he hands her a medal and gives her a hug. She smiles brightly and Brenda notices that she has a lovely smile, but has the remnants of dark circles under her eyes. Everyone claps has Jen hugs the speaker back and thanks him. She makes her way back down to her seat.
'Great job Jen. Okay, our next achievement goes to James,' the speaker points to someone in the front row of seats. 'James has reached two goals tonight, one being 6 months sober,' the speaker says.
Everyone claps loudly for James and smiles as he makes his way up to the stage. When he gets up there the speaker hands him his medal and says, 'And the other goal was losing 50 pounds. Congratulations James for completing both goals!' Some people clap at that but most people just laugh a little bit. James makes his way off of the stage and sits back down.
'And last but not least, Dylan, come on up here.'
Dylan looks at Brenda and smiles. She squeezes his hand and urges him to get up. He gets up and walks up onto the stage. Brenda can't help put smile at him.
'Dylan, welcome to 9 months of sobriety,' the speaker hands Dylan a medal and shakes his hand. Dylan takes the medal and plasters a huge smile on his face as he looks down at Brenda smiling back at him. He walks off of the stage and back to his seat while the group is clapping wildly for him.
He sits back down, grabs Brenda's free hand and puts the medal in it. She looks down at it and beams.
After the meeting is over, Dylan and Brenda get up and walk over to where Ben is waiting. Ben pulls Dylan into a hug and tells him that he's proud. Dylan smiles at Ben and says, 'Yeah, I am proud of me too.' He looks at Brenda and pulls her out of the room, 'Come on, let's go,' he says.
She follows him to his car. 'Well, Dylan, you did it, 9 months. How does it feel?' Brenda asks him.
'Bren, it feels great. I am so glad that you were here to share it with me. Thank you. Thank you for caring about me and for supporting me, and for being there when I needed you and for coming to these meetings with me once a month,' he says as he looks into her eyes.
'You are welcome, Dylan. I'm glad that you let me share this with you and I'm glad you are still here and going strong,' she smiles at him. 'Well, I better go.' She begins to walk back to Brandon's car that she borrowed for the night.
'Bren?' he calls after her, 'Do you want to go somewhere and have some coffee or something?'
She looks back at him and recognizes the look in his eye. 'He's just projecting how great he feels on you. It's not real, Brenda, it's not real.'
'I think you should go home and get a good night's sleep. It's almost midnight. I am so proud of you Dylan,' she walks back to him, gives him a hug, kisses him on the cheek and walks away.
He stands there and watches her walk. 'She's proud of me. This is the greatest feeling I have ever had.' He pulls the medal out of his pocket and stares at it for a good five minutes before jumping in his car and heading back to his house.
Dylan arrives home and sees the answering machine light blinking. He hits it on his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
'Beep Hi, it's Kelly. I just wanted to see how your meeting went and if maybe you changed your mind. Give me a call. Love you.'
He barely pays attention to the message as he puts his medal on the kitchen table. He goes into his bedroom and after searching through his closet comes out with a box. He opens the box and pulls out a smaller box with a lid and doesn't notice when something comes with it and drops onto the table. He opens the smaller box and inside are his other medals from A.A. He adds the 9 month medal to them and smiles. He closes the smaller box and goes to put it back and notices the thing that had fallen out of the bigger box.
He sighs before picking up the plastic bag that was zipped shut. He looks at the contents of the bag through the plastic. He begins to think, shakes his head, wipes a tear, and drops the bag on the table.