Chapter 11

The next morning, Ady woke up to the sound of her alarm clock radio playing "Have I Told You Lately" by Rod Stewart. She was beaming, reminiscing about the night before. She and John, wow…

She looked over and saw the black hair lying on the pillow. Her smile faded as she suddenly remembered that John was in the hospital. As she stared at the figure,he switched to his other side, facing her. When she saw who it was, she let out a gasp and flew out of bed, running to the bathroom.

As she ran, Brendan looked up and saw her running. "Babe, what the-" Before he finished, she slammed the door.

While she was in the bathroom, she quickly put on her robe and sat down on the toilet, staring at the floor, shocked. "What the hell did I do?" She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. "I slept with another man. What the hell is wrong with me?" She felt the tears welling up, and bit her lip to stop them. "Oh my god."

There was a knock at the bathroom door. "Ady, are you okay?"

Ady took in a deep breath and didn't get up. "Brendan, if you could, just leave the house and don't call me today. Please."

"But why?"

"Just do as I say." She couldn't hold back the tears anymore and just started crying. "Please, Brendan!"

Instead of doing what was asked, he opened the door and walked in, kneeling before her. "Ady, don't be ashamed of what we did."

She couldn't bear looking at him, and continued staring at the floor. "How can't I? I slept with you, Brendan!"

He took her hands in his and spoke in a calming voice. "Ady, are you and John going out?" She shook her head. "So why-"

"We love each other, Brendan. We told each other at the club," she paused, feeling the tears flow faster, "before he got shot." She told him what happened two nights before.

FLASHBACK

Before the song ended, John turned Ady back around and pulled her even closer to him than before. They felt a certain electricity in the air as they stared into each other's eyes. John lowered his lips to hers and for the third time that day, they kissed each other. Ady ran her fingers through his hair as she pulled him closer to her, kissing him deeper than before. When they broke apart, they were both panting.

Ady smiled as she looked into his eyes. She saw something in them that made her heart flutter. "John, do you love me?"

He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "More than you know."

She laughed quietly to herself as she bit her lip. "Well, I know this. I love you too, John."

He leaned in to kiss her again, but before their lips touched, the sound of a gunshot roared through the club. As Ady grabbed John's hand to pull him to the floor, she noticed he had a blank stare on his face. He whispered, "Ady…"

END FLASHBACK

She smiled, remembering the kiss that changed everything. "See, we do love each other."

He bit his lip, trying to calm down. "But you two aren't going out or anything. Why the hell does it matter that you slept with me?"

She stood up, pulling her hands away from him. She crossed her arms and didn't look back at him. "Because, I love him, and I shouldn't be sleeping around with just anybody."

He shook his head and put his hands on his hips. "Fine, if you're gonna be this way, I'll just leave. Have a nice life, Ady." He turned around and started to walk off.

She turned around and grabbed his hand. "Wait."

He turned around. "What?"

She let out a sigh, and looked up into his eyes. "Brendan, I care about you. You know that, right?" He nodded. "Well, I just care about you as a friend. I may have slept with you, but I only needed comfort. I just needed someone here for me."

He sighed, pulling her close and hugging her tightly. "I'm glad I could give you that comfort." After a few brief moments, he let her go. "So we're just friends?"

She smiled. "Yeah, we're just friends."

He smiled back at her, but said nothing. For a few brief moments, there was silence between them, as they stared at each other. Finally Brendan cleared his throat. "Well, I should get going."

"Okay." She kissed his cheek. "I'll call you later."

"Bye Ady." He walked out of the bathroom, leaving Ady standing there, happy that she had Brendan's friendship, yet still shocked that she had slept with him.

As he left her house a few minutes later, he shut the front door and smiled to himself. "Now that I have her trust, she won't suspect I had anything to do with her beloved John getting shot." He walked to his car and drove off, laughing to himself the whole way.