Disclaimer: See Prologue.
Chapter 13: The Only Two People in the World
Dylan was concerned about Brenda. She seemed on edge. He debated whether to ask her if she was feeling okay, when Kelly pulled at his sleeve.
"Come on, let's go back into the living room," she said.
Dylan took one last look at Brenda. She chose that moment to look at him, and their eyes locked momentarily. She looked away, and Dylan followed Kelly.
Brenda started thinking about Dylan again. She'd have to get him alone somehow. With Kelly hanging around that might not be easy.
Donna interrupted her thoughts by calling her over.
She and David were sitting at the kitchen table. Donna was gesturing to the empty seat next to her. She walked over and joined them.
After she had sat down Donna began to talk.
"We haven't really talked since you got back Brenda," Donna said. Brenda nodded.
"Brandon said you were living in New York now. What's that like?"
Brenda began to talk about New York and about the plays she'd been in. Donna and David listened; both seemed to be genuinely interested. Brenda began to relax with them and enjoy herself.
She was in the middle of describing her latest role when she noticed her brother and Andrea leaving the room together. She felt a knot in her stomach all of a sudden. Andrea must have decided to tell Brandon about Hannah. She said a silent prayer for both of them.
It also made her nervous as she felt she now had to talk to Dylan. She and Andrea had made a deal, and she wasn't going to break it. If Andrea had the courage to tell Brandon that she'd had his child and never told him, surely she could tell Dylan about her miscarriage?
She continued to chat to Donna and David for a while, but her thoughts were really elsewhere, partially with her brother and Andrea, and partially with Dylan.
Steve and Janet entered the kitchen and broke up the conversation.
"Where's the entertainment?" said Steve.
"I think we're the entertainment Steve," said Donna.
"I brought something with me, the video yearbook. It's in the car. I could go and get it?" David offered.
There was a murmur of general agreement, so David disappeared to get the tape. The others headed into the living room where Kelly and Dylan where, and informed them of the plan.
Kelly looked around, noticing someone was missing.
"Where's Brandon?" she asked.
Steve noticed another absentee.
"Yeah and where's Andrea?"
Brenda didn't know whether to say anything or not. Clearly they were still talking, and probably shouldn't be interrupted. Kelly wasn't prepared to wait for anyone to offer an explanation though. She'd jumped up and offered to look for them and was half-way up the stairs before Brenda could try to stop her.
"Wait!" Brenda called, running to the foot of the stairs. Everyone looked at her, and Kelly stopped.
"If Brandon and Andrea are talking, maybe we should leave them to it," she said, hoping everyone would accept that. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good enough excuse.
"Don't be silly," Kelly said, and skipped up the rest of the stairs. Everyone else turned their attention to David, who'd just walked through the door, the tape in his hand. Everybody except one that is.
Brenda closed her eyes and sighed, hoping Kelly wouldn't burst in on an important moment.
Dylan saw Brenda looked uncomfortable. He wondered why. What was going on with Brandon and Andrea? He decided to ask.
"Brenda," he said, and she jumped. She hadn't realised he was still in the hallway.
"What's going on up there?" he asked.
"It's personal, I can't say," Brenda said.
Maybe this would be a good time to talk to Dylan, she thought to herself. At least Kelly wasn't here.
"Dylan, could I talk to you, alone?" she asked.
"Okay," said Dylan, surprised.
She decided to lead him out to the backyard, hoping Kelly wouldn't follow them out there.
When they got outside she shut the door and then turned to face him.
"So what do you want to talk about Brenda?" he asked.
She took a deep breath. If Andrea could do it, so could she.
She gestured to a pair of lawn chairs. Dylan took the hint and sat down on one. Brenda sat down on the other, facing Dylan.
"I want to talk to you about what happened between us," she said.
Dylan raised his eyebrows and gave her a pointed look.
"In London," she clarified.
"I don't know if that's a good idea Brenda," he began, but Brenda interrupted him.
"No, Dylan, I need to tell you this. Please listen, okay?" Brenda pleaded.
"Okay Bren," he answered.
"Do you remember your last visit to Iris before…," Brenda said.
Dylan nodded, knowing the visit she was referring to.
"I don't know if you remember this, but I was feeling sick for a while before you left," she said.
Dylan thought about it for a minute. Then he nodded, remembering.
"Yeah, you had some stomach bug that was going around," he answered.
"That's what I thought too, but that's not what was wrong with me. When you were in Hawaii, I found out I was pregnant," she told him.
She paused, waiting for his reaction. He looked stunned.
"Pregnant? You never said anything to me," he finally said.
"I wanted to tell you in person, not over the phone. I decided to wait until you got back," Brenda told him.
"So, what happened?" he asked.
She could feel the tears coming. She prayed she wouldn't completely freak out like she had with Andrea. She blinked a bit, hoping to keep the tears at bay.
"A couple of days before you came back, I started getting stomach cramps," she began.
Dylan sighed and shut his eyes briefly. He knew what was coming.
Brenda's voice was shaky now, but she kept going.
"They got worse, and I passed out. I woke up in the hospital, and the baby was... was gone," she finished.
A few tears rolled down her cheeks. She was about to wipe them away, but Dylan beat her to it. He gently brushed his fingers over her face.
"I'm so sorry Brenda," he whispered, his hands now cupping her face, and his thumbs brushing away the tears that continued to fall. He gazed at her intensely. She returned his gaze, surprised to find herself holding her breath.
"Dylan? Are you out…?"
They broke apart at the sound of Kelly's voice. She glared at them. Dylan and Brenda shot guilty looks at each other.
"What's going on?" Kelly asked tersely.
"We're just talking Kel," Dylan told her.
"Just talking huh? It didn't look like that to me," Kelly replied in the same tone as before.
Dylan stood up and walked towards her.
"Why do always do this Kel? I can't talk to another woman without you getting bitchy about it!" he said, his voice raised.
"Bitchy?" exclaimed Kelly. "You want bitchy? Fine! Go to hell. Both of you!"
She turned around and stalked back into the house, slamming the door behind her.
Brenda felt more uncomfortable than she'd ever been in her life. Dylan continued to glare at the spot Kelly had been standing in for a moment, and then turned back to look at Brenda.
"I'm sorry about that Brenda. Kelly just… she just gets a little crazy sometimes."
"It's okay. I'm sorry if I've caused any problems between the two of you," Brenda answered.
"It's not you Brenda, trust me. It's her," he said. "It's always her," he added quietly.
"Maybe you should go after her?" Brenda said.
Dylan felt torn. He didn't particularly want to speak to Kelly right now, but on the other hand if he didn't she'd just be in a mood with him for the rest of the day, probably the rest of the week.
He didn't want to desert Brenda though. They had a lot to talk about.
Brenda decided for him.
"Dylan, go. We can talk another time," she told him.
"You sure?" he asked.
"Yeah, go," she answered.
"We'll talk about this again Brenda okay? I promise," he said.
She nodded, and he went back into the house, leaving her alone in the garden.
She exhaled slowly. Well, she'd told him. So why did it feel like a total anti-climax?
She thought back to the moment before Kelly had come out, interrupting them. The way he'd touched her face. The way he'd looked at her. She remembered that look; that "Dylan" look. The one that made it seem like they were the only two people in the world. The look that made time stand still.
She sighed to herself. She still loved him as much as ever. More, if it were possible. Why did she have to send him off after Kelly?
"Because it was the right thing to do," her conscience told her.
Sometimes her conscience was a real drag.
She debated whether to go back inside or not. She didn't want to get caught up in the middle of an argument. Maybe she'd give them a minute.
Talking to Dylan about the baby had stirred up her grief again. She couldn't help wondering about her baby. What would it have been, a boy or a girl? Would it have looked like her or Dylan, or both of them? She imagined her child running around this backyard, the proud parents and grandparents looking on. If only…
She shook her head, scolding herself for thinking such melancholy thoughts. It wouldn't do her any good. Besides, it was about time she got back to the rest of the group.
After shedding some final silent tears for her unborn child, she got up and walked back into the house.
Author's Notes: Don't kill me! There is a method to my madness. Just give me time. ;-)
On another note, I seem to have Dylan and Brenda staring at each other a lot!
