You're the apple of my eye, you're cherry pie

You're cake and ice cream

You're sugar and spice, and everything nice

You're the girl of my dreams

..

Brian sat in front of the television on his living room couch, watching the basketball game. He had no idea who was playing for his mind was off somewhere else. As he absentmindedly reached for his third (or was it his fourth?) beer, he thought of the devastated look on Olivia's face as he told her goodbye for the last time. It had been three days since he had left her. That last glance at her glossy eyes shattered his heart. He couldn't bear the way her voice had heightened and trembled as she pleaded for him to stay. Everything was moving so fast, he just had to get out. He never did learn how to handle a situation at hand. When things got shaky, he had always just left. It was his coping mechanism; even if it did hurt the ones he loved. Love, Brian thought. You love her. Why did… No. He couldn't think about that. He shook his head as if the act would clear his head like an Etch-A-Sketch.

He reverted his attention back to the television, trying to focus on anything but Olivia. Just as his eyes focused on the screen, the game had cut to a commercial – a Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo commercial. Images of Noah immediately filled brain. Just by thinking about him, Brian could the baby's laugh. He thought about how he would place Noah on his lap and play Popcorn Machine with him. He thought about the day he tried sharing his Spaghetti-O's with Noah and how they had made a huge mess. The look on Olivia's face when she walked in on them was priceless. He could tell she wanted to be angry, but all she could do was laugh at the scene before her… Her laugh. It was the most beautiful sound he had heard in all his life… No, not again. I can't think about her. He shook his head again. The television obviously wasn't helping with his unwanted thoughts. He searched for the remote and found it under the bag of potato chips on the coffee table. He quickly pressed the power button and tilted his head back until it rested on top of the couch cushions. He brought his hand to his face to press his thumb and pointer finger on the bridge of his nose. He had to think of something to keep him distracted… Ah-ha! His mother; he would call his mother. She always had something to ramble on about. She would certainly help get his mind off of Olivia.

He reached for his cellphone on the coffee table and quickly dialed his mother's number. The receiving end rang twice before he heard his mother's sweet voice. It was like she knew.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ma."

"Brian? Is that you?"

"Yeah, Ma. It's me. Didn't you know before you picked up the phone?"

"Brian, you should know the answer to that. You know this old thing doesn't have… What do you call it? Phone Identity?"

Brian chuckled. His mother always knew how to cheer him up, even if she wasn't aware of it.

"No, Ma. It's called Caller I.D."

He could picture her now, sitting on the couch in the living room, with the old rotary dial in her hand. No matter how much technology changed, she was never one to throw something away if it wasn't broken.

"Yeah, yeah. Same difference. Well, how is my sweet boy? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. Just called to say hello and check in on you."

"Great. I'm doing great. Ya know, I just got off the phone with your Aunt Barbara not too long ago. Know what she told me?"

"No. What?"

"Your cousin, Lance, is getting married! Can you believe it? Never did I think I would live to see the day that that would happen… Speaking of marriage, is Olivia with you? I wanna ask her something."

Brian never told his mother about (the second) breakup.

"Uh, no. She's not."

"Oh. Well, that's okay. I'll just ask her another time. I'm so glad you two are back together. She's my favorite of all the girls you've ever brought home, you know? You two are still coming over for dinner on Saturday, right?"

Brian let out a sigh as he rubbed his hand, up and down, on the back of his head.

"Uh, listen, Ma-"

"Oh, Sweetie, somebody's at the door. I gotta go, okay? I'll see you Saturday! Love you. Bye."

The line went dead.

Well that helped a shit load, Brian thought. He had to find another way to forget about Olivia. He sat with his head against the top of the cushions and closed his eyes, thinking. What do people when they need to get their mind off something… Ah-ha! People run. That's what they do.

He opened his eyes to look out the window. It was sunny with a few clouds spread out here and there. Perfect. He quickly rose up from the couch and made his way to the bedroom. He opened the dresser drawer to search for something to run in. As he rummaged through his array of clothes, his hand stumbled upon a box. Two boxes actually; one blue, cardboard with a white ribbon and a much smaller, purple, velvet one with a red ribbon. He picked the boxes up from the drawer and made his way over to sit down on the bed as he remembered what each box contained and who they were for.

He purchased the items about a week ago. He remembers it like it was yesterday. For whatever miraculous reason, Tucker let Brian go early that day. Rather than immediately go straight to Olivia's, however, he decided to do a little shopping. As soon as he entered the store, he saw the necklace. A simple, silver, heart-shaped necklace. As simple as it was, it had a sparkle to it that immediately caught his eye. He knew it was the necklace he wanted to buy for Olivia, but something was missing. It needed something a little more special; it needed to be engraved. He asked the lady at the jewelry counter if they could engrave the necklace for him and she said it would be no problem. When she asked what he wanted the necklace to say, he simply smiled and replied, "Always."

As he waited for the jewelers to finish engraving the necklace, he decided he should do some shopping for Noah, as well. This gift took a little longer to find considering he still wasn't adept in the baby world. He had no idea there were so many size options for babies. With the help of a sales clerk, however, he finally found the perfect gift for Noah; a white onsie with sharks of different shades of blue and green. When Olivia and Noah's gifts were finally wrapped and in order, he left the store with a wide and prideful grin on his face.

Now, he stood, staring at the boxes. He planned on giving Olivia and Noah their gifts after their dinner with his mother. What was he supposed to do with them now? He couldn't believe he was even thinking about this because that meant Olivia wasn't part of his life anymore. He had let her go. He left her. Again. He left the woman of his dreams and never looked back. He couldn't even wrap his mind around how devastated the woman he loved looked as he walked out the door… No, not loved. Loves. Present tense. He still loves her.

Brian smacked his hand on his forehead as his eyes shot open in realization. "Fuck," he nearly shouted. "What the hell did I do?" He jumped up from the bed, with the boxes still in his hand and headed towards the door. He couldn't leave Olivia again. Not like this. He was going to get her back for the last and final time.