Love's End

Katy heard the garage door open and close, and stood up, preparing to witness her boyfriend's reaction to what she had done. She had taken the day off of work, taking the time to clean the house [which wasn't an easy feat. The house was very large.], and cooked dinner for herself and Bill, her boyfriend or two years.

Admittedly, their usually solid relationship was becoming a bit shaky. Bill was bringing the stresses of his band and public life back home to Katy, which added stress to her.

She understood that a lot of a relationship has to do with helping the other half deal with whatever problems they have to go through, but Bill generally brought home anger and frustration, that he ended up taking out on Katy. He never abused her physically, but the things he would tell Katy made her worry unnecessarily. She had lost a lot of weight, she was losing sleep, losing hair, all sorts of things, just because of the stress Bill added to her.

But Katy thought that all that would end now. She had decided to support Bill, no matter what, and she wasn't going to let it affect her emotionally or mentally. She would provide whatever he needed, whenever he needed it. She loved him.

She watched as Bill walked into the kitchen. He didn't say anything, didn't acknowledge her, the still-hot food sitting on the table, or how clean the house was.

Instead, Bill walked into, through, and out of the kitchen without a word.

"Bill?" Katy called, following after her boyfriend with one last look at the food she had prepared. "Bill?"

"Not right now, Katy," Bill groaned as he walked down the hallway towards the stairs. "I'm tired."

Katy stopped short. She had asked that morning what was on the agenda for Bill that day.

"Getting fitted for new costumes, as well clothes in general," he had answered.

In Katy's mind, a day of shopping doesn't qualify as a tiring day, especially after she had spent the entire day bending over, climbing over furniture, rearranging, dusting, vacuuming the entire house. "Didn't you just…go shopping though?" Katy asked.

Bill turned around on the stairs to face Katy. "I was selecting a new wardrobe. One that you know my fans will want to dissect. It's important that everything is flawless." Bill sighed. "You don't understand. You aren't in my shoes."

"But I am in your life!" Katy said, louder than she intended to. Bill stared, shocked that Katy would raise her voice to him. She was a usually quiet girl. "Bill," Katy said at nearly a whisper, as though compensating for her outburst. "I get that your life is stressful. I do. But you can't use me only to place your burdens on. I have my own stresses to deal with."

Bill almost scoffed. "Your stress is nothing compared to mine."

"How would you know?" Katy asked. "You've never bothered to listen to what my life is like. I have a job too. I cook. I clean. I even mediate fights between you and Tom. And I've never told you about how I felt because I figured that you had enough to deal with."

"I do!"

Katy raised her hand to stop Bill from saying too much. "I get that you have a hectic life. I also get that in order for you to deal with stress, sometimes you have to lean on someone."

Bill nodded. He knew she wasn't done yet.

"But that's a normal thing. Everyone has to do that, regardless of what their lifestyle is, and when was the last time you bothered to listen to me about what stresses me out?"

"I listen to you all the time!" Bill insisted, taking a few steps back down the stairs.

"Really?" Katy asked, crossing her arms across her chest. "Do you know how my brother's doing?"

Bill thought for a minute. "He's doing fine. He's in school."

"No. He's in the hospital."

"Since when?"

"Since three months ago," Katy said, getting even more annoyed by the minute. "He was in a car accident. Broke his ribs. And his blood isn't clotting, so he has had to stay at the hospital."

"Oh." Bill whispered. He was beginning to realize just how out of sync he was with Katy's life.

"And did you see your house? The food I made for you? You don't acknowledge me or my life!" Bill started to protest, but Katy cut him off. "At least, not as much as I acknowledge your life."

Bill didn't say anything. He knew she was right.

"I just…I need to think." Katy said quickly, turning on her heel and walking to the front door. When Bill didn't stop her, she sighed, and walked out, leaving Bill standing on the first step of the staircase.

Bill woke up to ringing phones.

Every phone in the house was going off.

His personal cell phone.

His house phone.

His business phone.

All of them were ringing.

Flinging himself towards the nearest one, he answered, and found the voice of his mother on the other line.

"Bill!" she was yelled, jolting Bill awake. "Bill, I just heard the news. I'm so sorry, honey. But, what happened?"

"What?" Bill asked, still groggy. He felt like he had missed something important. "What are you talking about?"

His mom was silent for a second, then she said quietly, "You…you haven't heard." It wasn't a question.

"What?" Bill demanded, anxious. His mom sounded nervous, and Bill didn't like that.

He heard his mom sigh. "Honey, Katy was in a car wreck. And, uh, she didn't make it."

Bill was stunned. "What? You can't be serious."

"Yes, dear. We're all down here at the hospital. We were trying to get a hold of you. I sent Tom for you about ten minutes ago.

"I'm coming," Bill said, throwing the covers off of himself and scrambling for clothes.

"I don't think you should drive, Bill. You must be devastated," his mom reasoned.

"No, no, I'm fine. I'll be there in ten minutes!" Bill hung up and flew down the stairs, running past the now cold dinner Katy had left, hoping Bill would still eat it after she had left.