Farewell Grant High PT3
When Ben finally made his way inside the house, he went straight to his room, not feeling the need to say hi to Leo or Camille. He was laying on his bed, lost in his thoughts once again, when there was a knock on the door. He expected it to be Chloe. Chloe was the only one in the house who ever actually knocked on the door, or wanted to talk to him.
"Come in," he replied in lazily.
To his surprise Leo opened the door and took a seat on his bed.
Ben sat up a bit, adjusting his position on the bed. He waited for Leo to say something but Leo remained quiet for a while, and Ben felt himself getting impatient, and annoyed, "Something you need?"
"Ben I...I wanted to talk to you before you went off to college. I realized that this might be the last time I see you on a regular basis."
"Ok...About what? We already picked out the apartment in New York and covered the living expenses."
Ben's eyebrows were half raised as he waited for a response. Leo looked sad now. His eyes didn't dare look up at Ben, instead he stared at the bed. He suddenly looked older, as if he was turning older minute by minute. There were permanent wrinkles on his face, and his eyes were baggy, and he wasn't smiling. He was tired.
"Dad?" For the first time in a long time Ben had actually called Leo dad. He was concerned now.
"Ben...son...I want you to know how sorry I am. I haven't been here for you much these past years. I wasn't there for you when you needed me," he spoke slowly, and quietly, "Gosh if Sarah were here..." But he didn't finish his sentence because he started to cry.
Ben hadn't seen his father cry since his mother died. He was shocked, and he wasn't sure of what to do, "Dad it's...it's ok."
"No, it's not..."
Ben didn't say anything after that because maybe Leo was right. Maybe it wasn't ok that his father hadn't been there for him nearly as much as he had been there for Ricky. But Leo seemed to be upset enough, and Ben wasn't going to make it worse.
"Dad look...being a parent...it's hard ok? You're only human right? We all make mistakes," Ben muttered softly, awkwardly placing his hand on his father's back.
Leo let out a dark chuckle, "Great, a talk from my own son. You're wise Ben...your mother would be proud."
Ben smiled slightly at that, "Thanks..."
Leo got up now, unsure of what else to say, "Ben I hope you can forgive your dad before you go to college."
"I forgive you..."
Leo thanked him and then left the room, and Ben lay there, wondering what had got his dad to apologize to him in the first place.
...
He felt his phone vibrate in his jean pocket once again. He was surprised to see that it was Amy. He answered after a few rings and he felt himself unnecessarily clear his throat, "Hello?"
"Um...hey Ben," Amy mumbled awkwardly, "Did you get my-"
"Your voice-mail, yeah."
"Oh."
"Yup."
And then there was another awkward silence, in which Ben cleared his throat again, "I accept your apology Amy, and I'll always forgive you for everything I hope you know that."
"You're too nice to me," Amy replied, and it sounded as if she was upset.
"Please don't be sad. My dad's already sad today, everyone's sad. Let's just move on from all of this."
For the first time in forever Ben was actually wiling to just move on. He wanted a fresh start, and he knew that when he went to New York he would get that. He was ready to move on from everyone, and he wouldn't let anything hold him down, not anymore.
"Sorry I've...I've had a long day and thank you for forgiving me Ben. You're always like that, forgiving."
"What happened today?"
"I broke off the engagement Ben."
Ben froze for a moment. He had to admit that he had been hoping that Amy would one day call him and say the exact words she was saying right now, and then he hoped that she would say how much she loved him, and they would start their life together. But the words that came out of his mouth wasn't at all what he had expected.
"I'm sorry Amy."
"You are?" Amy asked, a little confused and thrown off.
"Yeah I am. I know how much you loved Ricky and I'm sure it will be hard on John too."
"Ben what's happened to you?"
Ben chuckled at this, "Nothing it's just...don't you think it's time for a fresh start Amy? Don't you think it's time I stop chasing after you, and live my own life. This is a fresh start for both of us. Now that you've broken off the engagement you can do what ever it was you were hoping to do right?"
"Yeah Ben...I guess you're right. I'll be in New York. I'll probably see you in New York," she replied. She seemed to imply something when she said that they would both be in New York together, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"It will be good to have a friend there in an unfamiliar place. I really look forward to seeing you Amy, it's been a while since I've been able to just talk to you...I miss it."
"Yeah Ben, I miss it too..." Amy paused for a moment, and Ben waited for her to say something else but she didn't.
"Ok well...I'm going to get some rest is that ok?" Ben asked.
"Oh! Oh yeah of course it's ok! I should get some rest too. Goodnight Ben."
"Goodnight Amy I..."
"What was that?"
"I said goodnight Amy. Sleep well." And without waiting for a reply Ben hung up.
He had to stop himself from telling Amy that he loved her. It was dangerous, she was dangerous. He couldn't wrap his head around it. She had suddenly become the sweet girl that he had met during freshman year, but after everything that happened he knew that things were different now. He was different now. Ben didn't want to go back to chasing after Amy. He wanted her in her life forever, but he had come to the conclusion that they couldn't be together even if he loved her because it wouldn't be any good for him.
This was the first time, Ben had realized, that he started thinking about himself, and what he needed in his life. But he knew that he still had a long way to go.
Amy had gone back to her parents house and was laying in her old bed. She took in her surroundings and noticed all of the old pictures and awards that she would need to pack soon. She had just gotten off of the phone with Ben, and things felt different. She was mixed up, and just confused, and in the back of her mind she had expected Ben to come right and say that he was still in love with her, and that he wanted to work something out.
But that didn't happen.
She noticed how much more mature Ben sounded. It was the most mature she had heard him sound in all four years of knowing him. Was he truly over her? She didn't know, but the more important question was, should she care? When she heard Ben's voice on the phone, she couldn't help but feel little butterflies in her stomach. Ben was always going to be her first love, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to be with him right now, or even if she should be thinking about Ben at all considering her fight with Ricky.
Ricky.
She knew that she could fix things with Ricky if she came running back to him, and telling him she wanted to get married again. But she felt some type of relief knowing that she didn't have to be with him anymore. She had loved Ricky, and cared for him. And Ricky had become a great guy. But what she needed more than anything was freedom. She hadn't had any freedom for four years. Everyone expected her to do something, everyone wanted something from her. And now, she was finally able to break free from it.
She thought again about her conversation with Ben and she realized that that's what they both needed. They didn't need any relationships, what they needed was to get out in the world and make something of themselves, and focus on all of the other joys of life.
Amy was ready for a fresh start, and a new beginning, and that meant breaking away from a romantic relationship for quite some time.
Pulling her away from her thoughts she heard the door open. She half expected it to be Ashley, but then she remembered that Ashley had decided to leave for the airport early. She was glad that she had talked to her sister and cleared things up before she left.
"Hey Amy!" Anne said in her usual optimistic voice. She was carrying Robbie, who was tugging on her clothes and trying to mess with her hair.
"Hey mom...and hey Robbie!" Amy's voice was much more energetic when she saw Robbie.
Robbie was definitely getting bigger and bigger everyday and Amy saw the light in her mom's eyes whenever she held Robbie in her arms.
Anne handed Robbie to Amy and Amy played with him, and smiled, "Did he grow?"
Anne chuckled, "He grows every minute it seems...Have you heard from Ricky?"
Her body stiffened when she heard Ricky's name, but she shook her head, "No, I haven't. I'm sure he's ok though, and I'm sure John's ok. Although I like to hear John's little voice every night before I go to bed."
"I can call Ricky-"
Amy shook her head quickly at this, "No, he needs his space. He was pretty upset."
"I see. And how are you feeling?"
"A little upset...but mostly relieved. I know what I did was harsh, but it had to be done. I'm not ready for marriage, I never was. The only thing I regret is dragging this wedding along when I knew...that it was never going to happen." Amy was getting teary eyed now and Anne looked at her with a worried face.
"Mama!" Robbie exclaimed, "Te-r Te-r."
"He means tears," Anne explained, "Yes baby those are tears."
Robbie reached up to touch Amy's face and wiped away the tears in the process. Amy looked at Robbie with awe and thanked him with a kiss on the cheek.
"Get some rest honey," Anne sighed as she picked up Robbie once more, "You'll feel better in the morning."
Omar was sitting in his brother Dante's apartment with a beer in his hand, "So then I go back to try and make things work and there she is standing there with Ben of all people! What a slut!"
Dante rolled his eyes at his brother. Omar had a way of exaggerating everything, and taking things the wrong way, and getting angry for no reason, and finding any excuse to be angry. He wasn't sure where Omar got that from, because both of his parents had been reasonable enough, but Dante didn't like it.
"That's it...just standing there?"
"Yeah but obviously they had been doing something more before I came," Omar said, gritting his teeth.
"You jumped to conclusions again. Why'd you pick her anyway bro?"
"She's pretty and she needed me."
"From what I remember she didn't need any guy. She was pretty independent, she just went through a lot. And you knew I liked her so I don't know why you'd-"
"Blah, blah, blah," Omar mutter grumpily, "We've talked about this before, you weren't there for her. You left her, and I was there to pick up the pieces. I saw a beautiful girl and I had to help her. She needed my help."
"That's your problem, you think everyone needs you. And I left because I realized that she wasn't ready for a real relationship..Well that and come on! Backpacking across the freaking country is way more fun. But the point is bro, after everything she went through with her baby, how could I possibly stick around? She didn't want me. She just wanted to forget about everything that happened to her. And when I came back I owned up to my mistake. I should have told her I was leaving, but I respected her a lot more than you did," Dante scoffed. It was the first time that he had actually told his brother off, and to be honest, it felt good. Hell, it felt great.
"I'll be upstairs," Omar said, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah you do that," Dante let out an irritated chuckle.
Adrian and Grace were still up, watching movies, and eating food that Grace felt guilty for even taking a bite of.
"You know all this ice-cream really isn't healthy," Grace mumbled worriedly.
"Oh live a little!" Adrian exclaimed as she turned up the volume on the TV. They were watching Bring It: Fight to the Finish, and Adrian wasn't sure why she had let Grace pick yet another movie. She should have know it would be about cheer of all things.
"Hey Grace," Adrian nudged, her eyes still looking at the screen as one hand found it's way into the popcorn bowl, "How did things go with Jack?"
Grace felt herself sighing at the thought of it, she wondered what he was up to and she almost thought about calling him, but she knew that she couldn't do that to herself.
"We broke up," Grace shrugged, suddenly forgetting how unhealthy the ice-cream was and sticking a big spoonful into her mouth, "Ah! Brain freeze!"
Adrian rolled her eyes but chuckled, "Shouldn't have shoved all that ice-cream into your mouth Miss Health Freak."
"Quiet you," Grace whimpered.
"So do you think Jack took it ok?"
"I don't know, but I know that it had to be done...He's probably off with Madison right now."
"Tweedledee and Tweedledum? Again?"
Grace couldn't help but laugh at this, "You're so mean Adrian!"
"I only said what you were thinking," Adrian chuckled and shrugged.
"Regardless, I hope he's happy. I want him to be happy. I want us both to be happy I just...I know we can't both be happy together anymore," Grace explained, lost in her own thoughts.
Adrian paused for a moment, but nodded, "Yeah, I guess so."
"And what about you Adrian?" Grace questioned.
"What about me?"
"Can you and Ben be happy together?"
A/N: I didn't expect the story to be this long, but I'll have to make another part because this would be a terrible ending in my opinion lol. Thanks for reading.