Thank you for all the kind reviews on the last chapter! I am sorry for the long wait between updates, but I have just been crazy busy. I am hoping to get updates up faster in the future, but I can't make any promises. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy chapter 24!
Happy reading!
ERIN
"Erin?" I hear in my ear as Hailey shakes my shoulder. "Erin!"
"What?" I say, shaking my head as I break the trance those blue eyes sucked me into. "Sorry, I'm just a little spacy right now,"
"Alright." She says, still not looking completely convinced.
"I need some air," I say. "Go mingle or whatever, I'll see you in a second okay?"
"Alright," She says, still seeming incredibly unsure. "You sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine," I tell her before quickly pushing out of the crowds back to the main entrance. I brace myself against the brick wall as I take a deep breath. I thought I wanted to see him, but I don't. It's the last thing that I want right now.
"Erin?" I hear from behind me, I look up just long enough to reveal Garrett's dark brown hair coming running me. "Are you okay?"
"No," I say as look up into those kind brown eyes. "But this isn't about me, it's about Zoe. So I'm going to suck it up and go inside with a smile on my face,"
"You don't have to do that," He tells me. "She'll understand,"
"I know she will," I say with a solemn smile. "But I still have to, besides, Hailey's in there, I can't leave her,"
"C'mon," He says, looping my arm around his, "Let's just take a walk, then we'll go inside."
"Alright," I reluctantly agree as he leads me down the brick sidewalks.
"He needs you," He tells me. "He's hurting bad Erin,"
"I know," I reply, "That's what everyone keeps telling me anyway,"
"He screwed up in a big way and he knows it. But you have got to cut him a little bit of slack,"
"Not that much," I tell him regretfully. "The drinking, the partying, even going AWOL for three months, I can deal with that. It's the cheating,"
"Yeah," He says quietly, leading us into a silence that I'm not sure how to interpret. It's not awkward, but it's not comfortable either. We circle around the block, breathing in the thick August air before quickly circling back to the brick building on the corner of 28th and M, that beautiful sign hanging in front of the door.
"Just give him a chance okay?" He asks me.
"I'll try," I promise him. "That's all I can say,"
"And I'm sure it's more than he deserves right now." He says with a solemn smile.
"Where have y'all been?" Zoe announces as we walk back through the doors.
"And what are you doing out here with us and not schmoozing or whatever?" Garrett jokes, effectively ending our conversation as he pulls her into his arms.
"It's my restaurant, I can take a minute for my friends," She tells him scoldingly.
"Fair enough," He says, flashing her that million dollar smile. "I am really proud of you Bug,"
"I'm proud of me too?" She says with a laugh.
"Very proud," He says with a wink.
"Thanks G," She replies, smiling back at him.
"I'm going to go find Adam and Jay, have fun." He says, looking over at the two of us, both of us waving over at him.
"Jay's here?" I ask as soon as he's out of earshot. I'm not sure if it's a question or a statement as I subconsciously scanning the crowd for that head of auburn hair I had set my eyes on earlier.
"I'm so sorry Erin," She says, apologizing profusely. "I had no idea he was coming, he never RSVP'd,"
"It's fine," I say, trying not to choke on the words. "It's your night, do not apologize for anything."
"You know I'm still going to though right,"
"Yes," I say with a laugh. "It seems a lot of us struggle with that problem,"
"No kidding," She says, showing that pearly white smile that I'm convinced could make me feels better even on my worst day.
"Zoe!" We hear from the other side of the room, some guy I don't recognize calling her name.
"That's Sam," She tells me. "My business partner, those are probably the investors so I should go. Are you going to be okay?"
"Go," I tell her with a smile. "Do not worry about me,"
"Alright," She replies. "We will debrief at my place tonight, I have wine."
"Sounds good," I say with a laugh as she scurries away. I smile after her, proud of her success as I scan the room for Hailey, but not before I hear a very familiar voice behind me.
"Hey," I hear. I turn around to look into a pair of very familiar blue eyes that belong to someone that I don't recognize anymore.
"Hi," I say cooly as face him for the first time in months.
"Can we talk?" He asks.
"What is there to say?" I question him.
"That I'm sorry and I screwed up big time. That I miss you and I want you back,"
"I miss you too Jay," I tell him, "But I can't overlook what you did. Maddie dying was awful and I can't imagine what you went through, but you don't deal with it the way that you did."
"I didn't know what else to do," He replies. "I reverted back to the way that I used to be and I am not proud of it,"
"You can't just walk out every time things get hard," I tell him, trying to hold the tears back, hot angry tears. "You stay and you lean on the people that love you."
"I know, I know that now. I am so screwed up that I couldn't see that and I'm working on it, I swear."
"That's great," I say, giving him a genuine smile. "But I can't be with someone who isn't all in with me and I cannot be with someone who I can't rely on."
"Okay," He says, looking right in my eyes. "Just don't give up on me, give me a chance,"
"I have given you about six hundred chances," I tell him as I watch his face fall. "But I'm an idiot so I'll give you one more. Call me when you are ready to be the man who I fell in love with,"
"So," Hailey asks as the three of us sit around Zoe's living room, nursing glasses of cabernet, the long long disappeared under the horizon. "Is it over?"
"I don't know," I say with a sigh as I stare down into the deep red liquid, "He asked me not to give up on him, but that's hard."
"Yeah," Zoe says, quietly echoing my tone.
"Can we talk about something else?" I ask as I give them both a small smile. "I'm sorry, I just don't want to talk about Jay anymore, I feel like we've talked it to death."
"Don't apologize," Hailey scolds, trying to break me of one of my worst habits. "I for one, would love to toast to my new friend Zoe's amazing opening tonight,"
"I'll drink to that," I say gratefully as I raise my glass.
"You guys are too sweet," She says with a laugh. "Now I'm just hoping that the reviews this Sunday in the Post are good,"
"They're going to be amazing Z, don't you worry," I tell her with a smile..
"I hope so,"
"This is a little strange, but is Kevin single?" Hailey asks nervously as she changes the subject, her cheeks flushing a bright red.
"Like Atwater?" I ask, raising my eyebrow at the unexpected question.
"Yeah," She asks.
"I think so," I ask, looking to Zoe for confirmation as she nods. "When do you even meet him?"
"Well, at your place before the convention," She tells me as I remember him picking me up, "I talked with him for a while tonight. He's sweet, makes me laugh,"
"He's the best," I say with a smile, "He was always my favorite of Jay's Secret Service guys. But I think you're forgetting that he lives halfway across the country from us,"
"Yeah," She says looking disappointed.
"Hey it's worth a shot though," Zoe offers. "I have his number, I can text it to you. Maybe meet up with him before you guys leave tomorrow?"
"He did mention he was off," Hailey ponders.
"Yeah why not," I tell her, trying not to be a naysayer, but not wanting to get her hopes up. I know that mine and Jay's circumstances were anything but typical, but long distance is definitely never fun.
"Alright girls," Zoe says with a yawn as she rises from the couch, shedding her blanket on the floor. "I'm going to head up and I'll see you before I head to the restaurant tomorrow morning,"
"Goodnight Z,"
JAY
"Hey sis," I call as I unlock the apartment door, hanging my keys on the hook and kicking my shoes off. For the last week, Nora been staying with me, trying to keep my on track. She heads back for her senior year at Harvard in a few days, but I've really appreciated having her at the apartment again. It's nice, for the house to not be so quiet.
"In here!" She calls from the living room, the news, as always, echoing throughout the room.
"Seriously?" I ask with a laugh as she watches a press conference that Avery had given in the Press Room earlier today. "You realize you could just walk into the West Wing, literally ask about any of this."
"I'm watching the media part," She says with a roll of her eyes as I sit down on the couch next to her. "You know that's where I'm going,"
"I can't believe you're not going to continue the family legacy," I offer, still not able to get over Nora's major that she announced, even though it was years ago. She never talked about it, but we all just assumed that she'd go into politics, her declaration that she wanted to produce TV came as a surprise to all of us.
"Oh Mom's got Abby for that," She responds. "She'll get at least one of us. Speaking of, what are you looking at on the job front?"
"I actually have an interview set up for next week, at the ACLU. They're hiring campaign strategists,"
"What qualifies you for that exactly?" She says with a laugh.
"They approached me actually, before everything happened. I told them I didn't want it after Maddie, but I called them a few days ago and they're willing to take a chance on me."
"Is it in the DC office?" She asks.
"No," I say quietly, "Chicago,"
"Wow," She says. "Are you going to sell the apartment, if you get the job?" She asks.
"I don't know," I respond. "Besides, it's not really my place."
"What did Mom and Dad say?"
"I haven't told them yet," I tell her, "I just want to wait until after the interview, see how I feel,"
"Does this choice of location have anything to do with a certain brunette, maybe five foot four, name starts with E ends with rin?"
"No," I lie through my teeth. "I just thought it would be nice to get to get to go back home. Besides, she made it pretty clear she wants pretty much nothing to do with me."
"Well yeah," She says, looking up at me, "But we both know that that won't stop you."
ERIN
"What the hell did you do?" I exclaim as I open my front door, Kelly standing in front of my with a stitched cut on his forehead. I've always worried about Kelly, being a firefighter and all, but since I've been home it's been a lot harder, just being able to see it all.
"Relax," He says, brushing me off. "I went to Med, got it all stitched up, I'm cleared Tink," He assures me, using the nickname he gave me years and years ago. No one is even sure anymore how I got it or why he gave it to me, but he's been calling me Tink since I was sixteen so it's definitely not going anywhere anytime soon. "And I have pizza, so stop yelling at me and let me in,"
"C'mon," I say, rolling my eyes as I usher him into the apartment.
"Nice digs," He says, nodding as he looks around the room.
"Thanks," I say with a smile, taking the pizza off his hands and setting it on the granite island.
"So," He starts. "We've haven't talked in a while and I've been reading the news, you doing okay?"
"I am good enough," I say with a forced smile.
"You want to talk about it?" He asks.
"Not really," I say. "I've talked it to death with my mom and Hailey and Kim, Nora even. I just want to hang out, watch football and eat pizza with an old friend,"
"Okay then," He says with that big, gleaming smile, showcasing the small gap between his two front teeth. "You got beer?"
"Root beer," I offer.
"That'll work," He says, ducking into my fridge to grab the bottles as I retrieve a couple of paper plates from the cabinets.
"Who are they playing again?" I ask. I don't know too much about football, I'm more of a hockey girl, but Kelly likes it so I'll watch a game with him every so often.
"The Green Bay Packers," He announces, making his way over to the couch as he flips the caps off the two glass bottles.
"Wisconsin?" I ask, joining him with the pizza box.
"Bingo," He says. I try to keep myself interested as the game continues through. It took me a long time to actually take the time to understand football, but once Justin started playing I made myself actually figure out the rules. Usually, I have fun watching the games, but there's just so many other things swirling through my mind. I was hoping to utilize Kelly as a distraction, just a night of fun, but it seems nothing can chase my demons away.
Halfway through the third quarter, my phone rings, Hank's photo lighting up the screen.
"Who is it?' Kelly asks, peering over as I pick up the phone.
"It's my dad," I tell him quietly as I slide my finger across the screen. "Hey Dad, what's up?"
"Erin it's Mom, she had a seizure. You need to come to the hospital right now,"
