A/N: Hello there. I've been away for a while, and this story has been left hanging. Here's another chapter. It's becoming more and more like a sequel to "Life After," which I didn't really mean for it to be, but oh well. I hope you like it. If you want more of the Amy/Andy/Ben backstory, it's all in the 21 chapters of "Life After." Please read and review, and I'll try to update more often. Thanks!!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jack watched from the window as Amy climbed into the front seat of Andrew's car and they pulled out of the driveway. He sighed heavily. He was worried about her. Something had changed in her recently, something fundamental, and he felt that they had come to a crossroads. His daughter's future might hinge on his doing the right thing for her, and that scared the hell out of him. How was he supposed to know how to parent a teenage girl? Sure, she had been a teenager for two years already, but there was a world of difference between the innocent and relatively simple problems of thirteen and the ominous depths and potential catastrophes of fifteen.
He felt Doug's hands on his shoulders and leaned back into him. "What are we going to do with her?" he asked, not really expecting an answer.
Doug kissed the back of his head. "She's growing up, Jack. All we can do is give her a little slack and hope that we've instilled enough wisdom for her to make the right choices."
"Slack, huh? Last time we gave her slack she hung herself with it."
"Jack, stop. She'll be fine. Every kid goes through something like this."
"But I don't even know what 'this' is! She won't talk to me about anything, and so I automatically assume the worst. She needs us, Doug, and I just don't know how to..."
"Stop." Doug turned Jack around to face him and silenced him with a firm kiss. "You've done enough worrying for one day. Let the girl go, let her have fun. We've raised a smart kid, Jack, some of her recent choices notwithstanding. Now stop obsessing." He smiled teasingly. "I know what will get your mind on other things."
Looking into Doug's sparkling blue eyes, Jack felt the worry loosen its grip on him. A smile played at the corners of his mouth. "Oh yeah? What's that?" he asked.
"Come upstairs, and I'll show you."
Jack let the smile break through, and he followed Doug up the stairs to their bedroom.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Don't you think you ought to go easy on that stuff?" Andrew asked Amy as she drained off her third cup of hunch punch. "It's still early, you know, and you're not exactly..."
She silenced him with a sharp look. "You wanted me to come to this godforsaken party, didn't you?" she asked, glancing from him to Jessie and back. "If you want me to have a good time, you need to back off and let me do that my own way."
Andrew rolled his eyes and looked helplessly at Jessie, who frowned at her best friend. "Look, Aim, don't take this wrong, but you are the worst when it comes to holding your liquor. And I'm sorry, sweetie, but nobody is really itching to end the night by pulling you out of a puddle of your own puke to drag your sorry butt home. Or to get in the middle of the huge dramatic scene that's bound to unfold when we drop you off wasted on your front doorstep. So for our sakes, will you please lay off the punch?"
Amy sighed. "You guys worry way too much. I'm going to go get some fresh air."
They watched her make her way through the crowded living room toward the sliding glass door that led out to the pool. Andrew ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Now I need a drink," he said.
"Maybe she's a pod person," Jessie suggested helpfully.
"That would explain some things."
"You gonna go after her?"
"I don't think she wants me to." Andrew pushed his way into the kitchen and grabbed a beer. "Look, maybe this wasn't such a great idea," he said, turning back to Jessie and taking a long gulp. "She doesn't want to be here, I'm not exactly having the time of my life with her acting this way ... maybe we should just go."
"Your call. I think I'll stick around for a while, but you guys go on. I'll catch a ride home."
"You sure?"
"Absolutely. I'm not going to let our beloved drama queen ruin my evening." Jessie stood on tiptoe and planted a kiss on Andy's cheek. "It'll be fine," she said. "You're too cute to look so depressed. Now go get that girlfriend of yours and get her the hell out of here before she brings everyone down."
Andy smiled as Jess stepped back into the crowd and sauntered over to a group of her worshipful male friends. He wasn't quite ready to go after Amy. He could read her like a book, and if he went out there right now they were bound to get in an argument. That's just about all they had been doing lately, after all. He couldn't think of a time when they had fought so much, when they had felt so distant.
Well, that wasn't exactly true. There was the whole Ben thing. That had driven quite a wedge between them; it had almost torn them apart for good. But now the Ben chapter of their lives was over, and all it had cost him was a friend. She had picked him, Andrew, in the end. He had won. But it was still a little too raw to think about comfortably. He could still too easily picture Amy and Ben sitting on the steps of her porch, kissing in the glow of the moon, his arms around her, her hands in his hair ... And sometimes Andrew wondered if she regretted her decision. She had been so afraid of altering the friendship they'd shared their entire lives, and she'd been right about that, the relationship HAD changed the friendship, of course it had...maybe she was sorry now that she hadn't chosen Ben. Maybe this was her way of telling him that, of pushing Andrew away so that she could turn back time and do things differently.
Or maybe he was just overanalyzing again. He shook his head hard to clear these thoughts away and took another gulp of beer from the sweating bottle in his hand before picking through the crowd of his classmates toward the sliding glass door.
The fresh air felt good. It was dark outside, and Andrew let his eyes adjust before starting down the stairs toward the pool. That's when he spotted Amy, and she wasn't alone. With a nasty jolt of his stomach, he realized that Ben was sitting next to her on a plastic lounge chair, that his arm was around her back, that they were engaged in what appeared to be a pretty deep conversation.
He swallowed the lump that suddenly tried to constrict his throat and started toward them. Ben looked up first and forced a smile, at the same time surreptitiously removing his arm from around Amy.
"Hey, man. Good to see you." Ben stuck out his hand awkwardly, but Andrew didn't shake it. His eyes were fixed on Amy.
"Are you okay?" he asked her, his voice tight and a little cold.
She raised her eyes to his and he saw that she had been crying. She didn't answer.
"She's not feeling all that well," Ben said. "Lindley, I'm going to bring you a glass of water; I'll be right back."
"I can get her water," Andrew said sharply.
Ben met his gaze solidly, as if challenging Andrew to make the accusation they both knew was hovering over them. "It's no problem, Harper. I'm on my way in anyway." Without waiting for an answer, he went up the stairs and back into the house.
"What the hell was that about?" Andrew said, and even as the words came out he regretted them, hating the jealousy he couldn't shake, hating that he couldn't make himself trust her.
"Oh for God's sake, Andy," she snapped, her words a little slurred. "Will you for once just not jump to conclusions?"
"Well, I come out here and see you crying in another guy's arms, and yeah, it makes me a little insecure. I don't think that's jumping to conclusions. What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing. That's your standard answer, isn't it? Could you try telling me the truth? Or do you only do that for Benny boy?"
Her eyes flashed at him and he resisted an urge to apologize for that. She didn't answer, so he finally said into the silence, "I thought we could leave, if you want. We can go walk on the beach, or something. Sober you up before I take you home."
"No, Andy. You go. I want to stay here."
"With Ben?"
She stood up, facing him with fire in her eyes. "With my friend Ben, yes! Do you have a problem with that? I want to stay here with my friend Ben, who doesn't always jump down my throat for every little thing that he deems out of character for little Amy Lindley! He listens to me without judging, Andy, it's a great skill. You might want to try it sometime."
"Are you actually going to stand here and tell me that you'd rather stay here with him than come with me, your boyfriend?" A lead weight dropped into Andy's stomach as he spoke those words, knowing that her answer might well kill him.
"That's not what I mean. I mean, I'm staying. You're free to stay too, if you want, but if you do, you've got to get off my back. I have two dads already, Andy, I don't need you to act like another one."
He stood there staring at her, but she was looking at her feet. The silence between them was hot, loaded. Feeling like his world was falling in on itself, Andrew threw his beer bottle at the ground a few yards away, turned and went back inside without looking back.
Jack watched from the window as Amy climbed into the front seat of Andrew's car and they pulled out of the driveway. He sighed heavily. He was worried about her. Something had changed in her recently, something fundamental, and he felt that they had come to a crossroads. His daughter's future might hinge on his doing the right thing for her, and that scared the hell out of him. How was he supposed to know how to parent a teenage girl? Sure, she had been a teenager for two years already, but there was a world of difference between the innocent and relatively simple problems of thirteen and the ominous depths and potential catastrophes of fifteen.
He felt Doug's hands on his shoulders and leaned back into him. "What are we going to do with her?" he asked, not really expecting an answer.
Doug kissed the back of his head. "She's growing up, Jack. All we can do is give her a little slack and hope that we've instilled enough wisdom for her to make the right choices."
"Slack, huh? Last time we gave her slack she hung herself with it."
"Jack, stop. She'll be fine. Every kid goes through something like this."
"But I don't even know what 'this' is! She won't talk to me about anything, and so I automatically assume the worst. She needs us, Doug, and I just don't know how to..."
"Stop." Doug turned Jack around to face him and silenced him with a firm kiss. "You've done enough worrying for one day. Let the girl go, let her have fun. We've raised a smart kid, Jack, some of her recent choices notwithstanding. Now stop obsessing." He smiled teasingly. "I know what will get your mind on other things."
Looking into Doug's sparkling blue eyes, Jack felt the worry loosen its grip on him. A smile played at the corners of his mouth. "Oh yeah? What's that?" he asked.
"Come upstairs, and I'll show you."
Jack let the smile break through, and he followed Doug up the stairs to their bedroom.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Don't you think you ought to go easy on that stuff?" Andrew asked Amy as she drained off her third cup of hunch punch. "It's still early, you know, and you're not exactly..."
She silenced him with a sharp look. "You wanted me to come to this godforsaken party, didn't you?" she asked, glancing from him to Jessie and back. "If you want me to have a good time, you need to back off and let me do that my own way."
Andrew rolled his eyes and looked helplessly at Jessie, who frowned at her best friend. "Look, Aim, don't take this wrong, but you are the worst when it comes to holding your liquor. And I'm sorry, sweetie, but nobody is really itching to end the night by pulling you out of a puddle of your own puke to drag your sorry butt home. Or to get in the middle of the huge dramatic scene that's bound to unfold when we drop you off wasted on your front doorstep. So for our sakes, will you please lay off the punch?"
Amy sighed. "You guys worry way too much. I'm going to go get some fresh air."
They watched her make her way through the crowded living room toward the sliding glass door that led out to the pool. Andrew ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Now I need a drink," he said.
"Maybe she's a pod person," Jessie suggested helpfully.
"That would explain some things."
"You gonna go after her?"
"I don't think she wants me to." Andrew pushed his way into the kitchen and grabbed a beer. "Look, maybe this wasn't such a great idea," he said, turning back to Jessie and taking a long gulp. "She doesn't want to be here, I'm not exactly having the time of my life with her acting this way ... maybe we should just go."
"Your call. I think I'll stick around for a while, but you guys go on. I'll catch a ride home."
"You sure?"
"Absolutely. I'm not going to let our beloved drama queen ruin my evening." Jessie stood on tiptoe and planted a kiss on Andy's cheek. "It'll be fine," she said. "You're too cute to look so depressed. Now go get that girlfriend of yours and get her the hell out of here before she brings everyone down."
Andy smiled as Jess stepped back into the crowd and sauntered over to a group of her worshipful male friends. He wasn't quite ready to go after Amy. He could read her like a book, and if he went out there right now they were bound to get in an argument. That's just about all they had been doing lately, after all. He couldn't think of a time when they had fought so much, when they had felt so distant.
Well, that wasn't exactly true. There was the whole Ben thing. That had driven quite a wedge between them; it had almost torn them apart for good. But now the Ben chapter of their lives was over, and all it had cost him was a friend. She had picked him, Andrew, in the end. He had won. But it was still a little too raw to think about comfortably. He could still too easily picture Amy and Ben sitting on the steps of her porch, kissing in the glow of the moon, his arms around her, her hands in his hair ... And sometimes Andrew wondered if she regretted her decision. She had been so afraid of altering the friendship they'd shared their entire lives, and she'd been right about that, the relationship HAD changed the friendship, of course it had...maybe she was sorry now that she hadn't chosen Ben. Maybe this was her way of telling him that, of pushing Andrew away so that she could turn back time and do things differently.
Or maybe he was just overanalyzing again. He shook his head hard to clear these thoughts away and took another gulp of beer from the sweating bottle in his hand before picking through the crowd of his classmates toward the sliding glass door.
The fresh air felt good. It was dark outside, and Andrew let his eyes adjust before starting down the stairs toward the pool. That's when he spotted Amy, and she wasn't alone. With a nasty jolt of his stomach, he realized that Ben was sitting next to her on a plastic lounge chair, that his arm was around her back, that they were engaged in what appeared to be a pretty deep conversation.
He swallowed the lump that suddenly tried to constrict his throat and started toward them. Ben looked up first and forced a smile, at the same time surreptitiously removing his arm from around Amy.
"Hey, man. Good to see you." Ben stuck out his hand awkwardly, but Andrew didn't shake it. His eyes were fixed on Amy.
"Are you okay?" he asked her, his voice tight and a little cold.
She raised her eyes to his and he saw that she had been crying. She didn't answer.
"She's not feeling all that well," Ben said. "Lindley, I'm going to bring you a glass of water; I'll be right back."
"I can get her water," Andrew said sharply.
Ben met his gaze solidly, as if challenging Andrew to make the accusation they both knew was hovering over them. "It's no problem, Harper. I'm on my way in anyway." Without waiting for an answer, he went up the stairs and back into the house.
"What the hell was that about?" Andrew said, and even as the words came out he regretted them, hating the jealousy he couldn't shake, hating that he couldn't make himself trust her.
"Oh for God's sake, Andy," she snapped, her words a little slurred. "Will you for once just not jump to conclusions?"
"Well, I come out here and see you crying in another guy's arms, and yeah, it makes me a little insecure. I don't think that's jumping to conclusions. What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing. That's your standard answer, isn't it? Could you try telling me the truth? Or do you only do that for Benny boy?"
Her eyes flashed at him and he resisted an urge to apologize for that. She didn't answer, so he finally said into the silence, "I thought we could leave, if you want. We can go walk on the beach, or something. Sober you up before I take you home."
"No, Andy. You go. I want to stay here."
"With Ben?"
She stood up, facing him with fire in her eyes. "With my friend Ben, yes! Do you have a problem with that? I want to stay here with my friend Ben, who doesn't always jump down my throat for every little thing that he deems out of character for little Amy Lindley! He listens to me without judging, Andy, it's a great skill. You might want to try it sometime."
"Are you actually going to stand here and tell me that you'd rather stay here with him than come with me, your boyfriend?" A lead weight dropped into Andy's stomach as he spoke those words, knowing that her answer might well kill him.
"That's not what I mean. I mean, I'm staying. You're free to stay too, if you want, but if you do, you've got to get off my back. I have two dads already, Andy, I don't need you to act like another one."
He stood there staring at her, but she was looking at her feet. The silence between them was hot, loaded. Feeling like his world was falling in on itself, Andrew threw his beer bottle at the ground a few yards away, turned and went back inside without looking back.