Thursday, July 16, 1998

"Guys, I think we have a predicament." Zack said, as he walked up to where his friends were sitting at Huntington Central Park.

"What is it, Zacky?" Matt asked.

"I have nothing nice to wear tomorrow." Zack sat down on the side of Matt that Kaylyn was not occupying.

"Well, that is a predicament, 'cause I don't either." Kaylyn said, "I haven't worn an actual dress since my cousins wedding when I was ten."

"Hey, you guys know what this means, right?" Jimmy asked excitedly.

"What?" Matt asked. Then he groaned in annoyance when he realized what Jimmy was implying.

"We get to go shopping!" Jimmy stood up quickly, pulling Zacky and Matt up off of the bench. Kaylyn just laughed and allowed matt to pull her along with him.

From there they went to the mall and found all three of the guys some nice, black suits, and Kaylyn a knee length black dress.

"Hi, Jake." Kaylyn plopped down next to where his cousin was staring blankly at the TV screen.

"Hey." Jake continued to watch his show.

"Uh, I was wondering can I stay at Jimmy's tonight." Kaylyn asked uneasily. She wasn't sure if her cousin wanted her here or not tonight, with the funeral being tomorrow and everything else he'll have to deal with. But then again, he might not want her around. That's why she's asking to leave, give him some time to deal.

"Yeah. Go ahead." He looked away from the television and gave her a small smile.

Kaylyn wrapped her arms around her grieving cousin, trying to put all the love she could into it.

"So I'll see ya tomorrow then." She said after they had let go of eachother.

Jake nodded and then went back to staring at the TV.

"Love you, cuz." Kaylyn said, smiling.

"Love you too, Kay."

Kaylyn gave her cousin one more quick hug, grabbed her dress and makeup bag off the table where she had put it earlier and headed over to Jimmy's house next door.

The two of them later fell asleep on the couch together where he they had stayed up and watched a couple of their favorite movies.

Friday, July 17, 1998

Knocking on the front door is what woke Jimmy up at nine in the morning. The funeral wasn't until one so he wasn't planning on getting up until at least eleven, so he had no clue as to who it could be. He got up, wearing only a pair of basketball shorts and answered the door.

"Brian? What are you doing here?" Brian was the last person Jimmy expected to be on his doorstep, especially because Brian was supposed to be on vacation with his family until the twentieth.

"Thought I'd drop by and see what's up. The family decided to come home early." Brian replied.

"Oh, okay!" Jimmy embraced his friend and invited him inside. They walked into the living room, causing Kaylyn to stir.

"Jims?" She sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Hey, Lynni!" Jimmy said, as he sat down on the couch that Kaylyn was still occupying. That's when she noticed Brian; his dark hair, brown eyes, everything. She was instantly attracted to him, but then Matt flooded her mind; his dark hair, which was shorter than the guy's who stood before her, his hazel eyes, and everything else that had attracted her to him.

She shook her head, trying to clear her mind and that's when he spoke. "Hey, I'm Brian." His voice wasn't as deep as matt's, but it wasn't high pitched either. And, he actually stuck out his hand.

Kaylyn shook it hesitantly, "Kaylyn."

"Well, it's nice to meet you Kaylyn." He smiled and then sat on the chair that was not far from the couch.

"Is it almost time to get ready?" Kaylyn asked Jimmy.

"Nope, look at the clock." He pointed over to the clock that sat just above the television. It read 9:14 am.

"What the hell am I doing up then? Brian, it was nice to meet you but I'm going back to sleep." Kaylyn then got up and went to Jimmy's room.

"Dude, you didn't tell me you had a girlfriend." Brian said, turning to his friend.

"She's not my girlfriend and we have already had this talk, remember." Jimmy said.

"Oh yeah, I remember that. So that was the Kaylyn that you always talk about?" Brian asked, smirking.

Jimmy nodded.

"Any she's your best friend, right?" Brian continued.

Jimmy just nodded again, confused about where Brian was going with this.

"You should hook me up with her!"Brian said as if it was the best idea in the world.

"Sorry buddy, but someone already beat ya to the punch." Jimmy laughed. If only he knew one of their best friends was one her boyfriend.

"She would surely leave him for me, I mean, look at me, I'm gorgeous." Brian said as if it was obvious to everyone.

"Uhh… I don't think HE would like that." Jimmy said.

"Who is-"

"And plus she really doesn't need you trying to convince her to leave her boyfriend. She's not at the best emotional state right now." Jimmy interrupted.

"What, why? What's wrong?" Brian asked, his voice laced with concern.

"Well while you were gone there was a bank robbery, ten people were killed, six of which were her family. That was six days ago. The funeral is at one." Jimmy said. He sounded sad, and Brian could tell that he was hurting also.

"Well shit. That really sucks. Does she have any other family?"

"Only her cousin, Jake Harris. Well that's all that she knows of. We don't know if there are any more."

Jimmy and Brian continued to talk for about an hour, then Brian left so Jimmy could get ready and get Kaylyn up to get ready.

Jimmy took a quick shower and put on his new suit, making sure he looked presentable for a funeral. He then went to his room to wake up his best friend.

"Kaylyn, Kaylyn wake up. It's time to get ready." He said as he shook her shoulder softly.

"Okay." She said groggily. She got up and took a shower, then dried her hair, letting it fall in curls around her shoulders. She walked out of the bathroom and back into Jimmy's room to find him still on his bed.

"Hello." She grabbed her dress, which had fresh undergarments with it and started to remove her towel.

"Oh, I can leave if you'd like me to." Jimmy said, uneasily.

"No, it's alright. You've already seen me naked anyway." She said, fully removing her towel. Jimmy couldn't help but avert his eyes anyway as she got dressed. After the dress was on she slipped on some ankle socks and her low top converse she put some make up on and was ready.

Her and Jimmy then left the house and walked to the Good Sheppard Cemetery, where friends and family were beginning to gather for the service.

"Now that I have said these words for my family, I would like to ask my cousin, Kaylyn, who has lived with us for all of her sixteen years to come up and speak." Jake finished, smiling over to where Kaylyn was sitting between Matt and Jimmy, Zacky and Kelly standing behind her. She returned his smile and walked over to where he was standing. They shared a quick hug and then Jake returned to his seat.

Kaylyn looked out upon the crowd of people who had all cared for her family. Then she looked at her friends and saw their smiles that were being projected toward her in a way of comfort and so, she began.

"You know, I didn't plan a speech. Why would I do that? I would rather speak from the heart while talking about the people that I have loved, but first I need to tell you all something, something that only I, my uncle Joe, Jared, and my father know. And yes, I mean my biological father. I think Uncle Joe had said his name was Sam. Well, you see, my mother died shortly after I was born. My father, filled with sorrow and rage, said he didn't want me, said I was the reason his wife was dead, So my uncle, being the great man he is, took me in. And his family accepted me with open arms. As did our wonderful neighbors, the Sullivans'." She then smiled over to where Barbara and with her husband, Joe. "Their son, Jimmy has been my best friend since before I can even remember. And without then I wouldn't be who I am today, but my uncle and cousins are the best biological family I could ever hope for, so thank you guys, for being there for me when I needed you," she looked down upon her family's graves and spoke directly to them. "And I hope your journey up to heaven was smooth and undisturbed." By the end she had tears flowing down her face.

A little while later everyone went to Jake and Kaylyn's house for food and stuff like that. When Kaylyn entered the house, she immediately felt horrible. The food looked amazing and there was SO much of it. She knows that Jake had gotten up early that morning just to do all of this and she had slept in over at Jimmy's house. Right then she promised herself to help Jake around the house more often.

The whole first floor was just covered with people. They were everywhere. Everywhere Kaylyn turned a new face would pop up. She had recently gone to the bathroom and came back out to find her friends gone. She has been searching the house for them, but they must be looking for her too, because she has checked every possible place they could be in the house.

'Maybe they're outside." She thought. She began making her way through the house towards the back door only to be stopped by a tall man that had brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Kaylyn?" He asked hesitantly.

"Ummm, yeah."

"You said your dad's name was Sam, right?" He continued with the strange questions.

"That's what my uncle told me." She replied, feeling a little uneasy with the man's questions.

"My name's Kayne and I uhh... I think I'm your brother."