Bella was in her room getting ready to go out when she felt a headache coming on. Her vision blurred and all went black.
"Bella, Tinley is downstairs," her mother said walking in the room. "Bella? Is everything okay?"
"I'm fine mom. Just having another episode." She stretched out her hands trying to find her bed. Her mother grabbed her arm leading her.
"Should I tell her you're not going?"
"No," she shook her head. "It will pass. It always does." Bella massaged her temples trying to get the pounding to stop. Eventually the pounding subsided and her vision returned. "See, all better." She looked up at her mom who looked like she was going to cry. "Mom, it's okay." She stood up placing her arms around her mother. "I got to go. I'll see you later."
Bella and Tinley walked to Alley Nine together discussing old times. She didn't want to think about the episode that happened at the house. Tonight she was determined to have a good time no matter how much Jase and Chelsea hung all over each other. It had been too long since she had been home and she was ready to have a fun night out.
They walked in and the smell of alcohol and smoke overwhelmed her. The place hadn't changed since she left. There was still a hole in the wall from a fight that had happened. In the corner there were pool tables with a big group huddled around it. The first person she noticed was Jase.
He was leaned against the wall with Chelsea wrapped in his arms. They were laughing and talking to the people who were standing beside them. He must have felt her because he turned his head and gave her a smile. Bella watched Jase push away from the wall grabbing Chelsea's hand and leading her over. Before they reached her two hands grabbed her from behind. "Look what the cat dragged in," she heard Brian whisper in her ear.
He turned her around and she noticed he was smiling from ear to ear. "You are looking lovely today Ms. Cates."
"You're not too bad yourself Mr. Stevenson." She gave him a hug. Despite the fact that he had wanted her for only one reason she felt comfortable with him. They had been friends long before she had dated him.
"What are you doing back here? I thought you would figure out how boring this place is once you had been to New York."
"Yeah, well, I missed everyone," she said stealing a glance at Jase.
"What she really means is she missed me. Couldn't live without me. It's because of my charm," Brian joked.
"I don't think she remembers you for your charm," Jase said.
"Then let me remind her." Brian pulled her to him bending her over his arm and kissed her.
"That's enough of that," Jase laughed. To everyone else it might have sounded normal but to Bella she could hear the anguish in it. Brian and her broke apart and she felt breathless. She felt giddy when she saw the jealousy Jase was trying to hide.
"Can I get you something to drink," Brian asked.
"Whatever you're having is fine."
"Tinley."
"Same."
Brian walked off while the others filed back to the pool tables. "Where were we?" Jase asked.
"I was kicking your butt at pool." Brian walked by handing drinks over to them.
"That's about to change," Jase said leaning over the pool table to take a shot. He sunk a striped ball in the corner pocket. He walked around the pool table looking for his next shot. When he found it he angled his shot trying to fling the ball over a solid one and land it in the side pocket. He missed which caused Brian to walk over and slap him on the arm.
"I guess it's going to be my game again." Brian bent, took the shot, and sunk the eight ball. "Pay up brother."
"How about Bella and Chelsea play it out?" Jase smirked at her knowing she wasn't too good at pool. He had tried to teach her one night and even though she had sunk her first shot she hadn't been able to get another one in the rest of the night without picking one up and putting it in the hole.
"I don't think so. I was never very good at pool."
Chelsea laughed," Good. I may have a chance for once. It gets old being beaten every time. This guy never goes easy on me." She brushed up against him giving Jase a kiss. "You can break."
It didn't take long for Bella to realize that Chelsea was a much better player than her. She wasn't even sure she was going to get to play until Chelsea finally missed a shot. Bella walked around the table trying to find an open shot but nothing seemed easy. "This isn't fair." She half laughed.
Brian took her hand leading her to the other side of the table where one solid sat right in front of the pocket. It would be the easiest of all the shots from this angle. She bent down and he leaned over her setting up her arms. "Now not too hard." She let it go and watched the ball disappear.
She jumped up into Brian's arms and he spun her around. "That's what I'm talking about." She got down and gave him a high five. When he walked away he tapped her on the butt. In the end Chelsea won but Bella felt good for how well she had done.
A few hours later Bella started to feel another headache coming on and decided it was time to go. "Well, it's been fun but I got to be heading home."
Brian gave her a big hug," I'll see you tomorrow."
Jase whispered in Chelsea's ear and then walked over to Bella. "Can I walk you home?"
"Okay."
They walked in silence for a while not knowing what to say to each other. Even though it had only been four years it seemed as if they were decades apart. It was strange what time could do. While some places and things stayed the same, like the club. Some things seemed to move on and be ever changing.
"It was really good to see you, Bella."
"You too. It's obvious how happy you are."
"So what are you and my brother going to do tomorrow?"
"I don't know. Just hang out. Catch up on old times."
He looked upset about something. "Be careful Bella. He hurt you once. Don't let him do it again."
"According to my brother he has changed a lot since I left. Nate says he is more like you than you have been lately."
"I'm sorry I didn't get to go off and live happily ever after like you did," his temper rose.
"Is that what I did Jase, because it seems like the only person standing here who got a happily ever after is you."
"You didn't even bother to say goodbye on your way out of town. What do you want from me Bella?"
"Nothing. I didn't come back for you."
"Yeah, I forgot, it was easy to leave me. Sleep with me and sneak out while I'm sleeping."
She turned her head feeling tears forming behind her eyes. "It wasn't like that."
He walked around her," then tell me what it was like Bella."
"I left because," she didn't get a chance to finish.
"I know why you left. I have the note to prove it." Bella was glad that he had stopped her. She didn't want to share the secret she had kept with her the last four years. She had been close to letting it slip. It would have been easier for her if she just told him the truth but the truth could push him away.
"I don't want to fight with you. We are going to see each other almost everyday we might as well be friends."
"I don't know if I can be your friend." He walked up to her putting his hand on her cheek. "Good night Bella," he gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked away.
Brian was working on a customer's car the next day when he heard his brother walk in the shop. He was sure his brother hadn't gotten any sleep the night before because his eyes were all bloodshot and glazed. It wasn't surprising that his brother lost sleep since the woman he loved had shown up out of nowhere yesterday.
When Bella had left, Jase had changed. The first few months were torture for him and during that time Brian had guessed that Bella was Jase's mate. Anyone could have figured it out if they had paid attention but the two of them were blinded to the fact.
After a while Jase had gone back to living his life and Brian could recognize him again. He wasn't sure when it happened but his brother started hanging out with Chelsea. Eventually he had proposed but Brian thought it might have been because Jase was lonely.
"Back to your old tricks," his bother asked.
"Excuse me." He picked his head up.
"She's not going to fall for you this time. I won't let it happen."
Brian wiped his hands off on a towel trying not to laugh. "Oh, we're talking about Bella."
"You know exactly who I'm talking about. She tells me that you are going out with her tonight."
Brian dropped the towel on the hood of the car and walked over to his water bottle. He could tell his brother was worried about what he would do with Bella. He had to admit he had an ugly past but one thing he wouldn't do is sleep with his bother's mate. "Well, I thought I could have some fun. You of all people should know how good she is in bed." Jase punched his sending him to the floor. He got back on his feet stopping Jase's hand from hitting him again. "That's enough. You've had your fun."
"Don't you even think of touching her. "
"How are you going to stop me? Are you going to tell her how you feel about her? I'm sure Chelsea won't mind."
"Chelsea has nothing to do with this."
"She has everything to do with this. What are you doing Jase? You don't love Chelsea."
His brother ran his hands through his hair. "Of course I do."
"No you don't. Don't tell me that when you saw that beautiful woman come back into your life yesterday that you weren't happy to see her."
"She's my friend."
Brian couldn't believe how much his brother was lying to himself. Anyone who was at the club last night could have felt the electricity between the two of them. Jase wanted more from Bella than just friendship. "If you are just friends then why does it matter if I go out with her?"
Jase walked away heading out of the shop. He stopped at the door not turning around. "I love her," he said before walking out.
That afternoon Brian picked Bella up from her parent's house and headed out on the road. He knew where he wanted to take her and she wasn't going to like it. On the ride she was very talkative telling him all about her life in New York. She had worked with her Aunt at her mother's gallery selling paintings. When he pulled into the field he felt Bella stiffen beside him. "What are we doing here?"
"I though we could take a ride down memory lane."
She turned her head looking out the window. "I don't want to be here."
He stopped his truck in the middle of the field and reached over to grab her chin. She was barely holding back tears. "I want to know what is going on. In two months my brother is going to marry the wrong girl and I want to know why."
She shook off his hand looking back out the window. "Maybe you should ask him."
"He has this crazy idea that you don't love him and that you don't want to be with him. But I think there is more to the story than you are saying."
She opened the door of the truck and walked away. He watched her walk over to a stump and sit down. He got out of the truck and stood beside her. "It's personal," she said just above a whisper. She was silent after that watching the field become darker as the sun went down.
"You ready to go," he asked. She nodded standing up. They were almost back to the car when he saw her fall to the ground. She grabbed her head and let out a howl of pain. "Bella, what's going on?"
"I need to get to Sherman."
He picked her up running back to his truck. When he got in the car he threw it in gear slamming his foot down on the pedal. It usually would take fifteen minutes to get to Sherman's home but with how fast he was going he could probably make it in ten. Bella let out a moan. "We're almost there," he said trying to calm her. The houses flew past them and finally he made it to Sherman's private drive. The truck sent up a cloud of dirt when he hit the brakes. He jumped out of the truck and scrambled over to the passenger side picking her up.
Brian took the front steps two at a time and started pounding on the door. It took Sherman a few minutes to answer but when he did he saw Bella in Brian's arms and ushered them in. Sherman led him into a back room where he deposited Bella on a bed and shooed him out.
Brian leaned against the wall wondering what had just happened. She was just fine and then she was on the ground in pain. He moved closer to the door hoping to hear some of the conversation on the other side.
"It's getting pretty bad, huh?" He heard Sherman ask her.
"This was the most painful. How much longer do I have left?"
"The way it's going kiddo, maybe a month." Sherman walked out of the bedroom and gave Brian a smile. What is going on? There was something going on with Bella that she wasn't telling. "You can go in now."
Brian turned the corner seeing Bella propped up by two pillows. "All better?" She nodded her head. "What's going on Bella?"
She sighed," I'm having complications from the accident I was in with Garrett. It's not a big deal." She tried getting up but he put his arm against her shoulder.
"You scared me Bella. A few minutes ago you were in pain barely holding it together in my truck. You're not leaving until I know why you left my brother and I have a sneaking suspicion that this has something to do with it."
"About six months after the accident I got this really bad headache and I lost my sight until it was done. I went to the doctor who said something got messed up in my head. I'm not sure exactly what it is but basically I am stuck with this condition."
He sat down on the edge of the bed. "Is it bad?"
"There are days when it's really bad and then there are days when nothing happens."
"I'm sorry to hear this but I don't understand why you left my brother."
He watched her sigh deeply and tears form in her eyes. "I'm going blind." He felt the world stop. How could this have happened? She had seemed fine the other day. "I don't want to deal with this why should I make your brother?"
He grabbed her hand," That whole story about not being ready to have a relationship; it was a lie?" She nodded. "You have to tell him, Bella. In two months he is going to marry Chelsea because he thinks you don't want to be with him."
"That's how I want it. He doesn't deserve this. He deserves a normal life."
"I don't know what it is like being blind nor do I know anyone who is but I think they live a fairly normal life."
She got up trying to get her balance and had to grab his shoulder. "I'm not ready to tell him."
He got up and held her to him. With one finger he lifted her chin," Take the time you need but know that if you don't tell him I will."
Brian drove Bella home that night feeling as if the world would never be the same. She had left Jase because she was sick. He had thought that she was selfish this whole time but the truth was she had left Jase because she thought it was what was best for him.
Brian drove past his brother's apartment feeling the need to go tell him the truth. There was nothing wrong with Chelsea but she wasn't the one. There was no real reason why Bella couldn't be with Jase. It would be easy for him to park in his brother's yard walk up to him and tell him the truth. The years Bella had been gone hadn't been easy ones and he had the solution so that the next few years weren't as bad.
Brooks Avenue came up on his left and he made the turn making his way off his brother's road. It wasn't his truth to tell. Bella needed to do this herself. No matter where the summer led he was going to make sure he pushed her to tell the truth. Bella may act natural when he was around but he had a feeling that she had been as miserable in the last few years as Jase had been. The problem now was how he was going to push her in the right direction.
