Chapter 24: What Happens Now? End!

Ren: Stevens' House, living room, Sacramento: 2:41pm: 17 June

Gordo, Miranda, Lizzie, and Matt were supposed to be leaving tomorrow morning. My dad was driving them to the airport, and they were supposed to be off for their home, but not anymore. They had to rearrange their flight because of Lizzie and her appendectomy. She was advised to wait ten days before flying. They had extended their stay as guests, and my parents no longer considered them such, and they made them clean, and gave them permission to yell at Beans and throw him out of our house. In the Stevens' house you are officially no longer a guest after five days. They were family now.

Ruby let out a bored sigh, "So…what are you guys going to do since you're here for another week?"

"Nothing." Gordo shrugged.

"Nothing sounds good." Miranda reinforced.

"I'm not allowed to do anything," Lizzie groaned, "Surgery and all. Pretty much can't move…"

Ruby then said, "My parents are coming back today."

No one said anything. Our attempts at conversation were all in vain, and we had resorted to watching the Disney channel. It was raining outside, and gloomy and gray. It reminded me of Tawny. I hadn't seen her since the day after the party when we got Lizzie and brought her back here. She'd taken over my bed since then, and I was stuck on the couch until she left. On the topic of leaving, Gordo filled me in about what happened at the hospital, and the random things leading up to it. Kate went crazy and left. No one had seen or heard from her since. Following the aftermath of the party, Claire and Ethan left, and that was the end of them too. Ruby said that Claire told her they were leaving tomorrow. Originally, the whole lot of them would have been on the same plane, but then Lizzie's appendix doomed that. It was like fate shoved Lizzie and Kate together, they missed what chance there was, so it took them apart.

Matt had taken quite a liking to Louis, and they were over at Twitty's. I wondered if Tawny was over there too. Finally, I just asked, "Does anyone know where Tawny is?"

Each head turned and looked at me, but no one said anything.

"What? I just haven't seen her…"

"Do you have any recollection of what happened at Ruby's that night?" Asked Gordo, suspiciously.

"What almost happened would be more accurate…" Ruby commented.

"Well…yes…but-"

"You haven't tried to talk to her since then?" Lizzie sounded shocked.

"Calm down before your stitches pop out." Said Miranda, smiling. She was being friendly now, more so than she had been any time before.

"Not really…but-"

"Do you realize the implications of anything that happened the last time you two did talk…or rather, scream at each other?" Gordo asked.

"A little…I wanted to talk to her in a civil manner, but then Lizzie…"

"I wasn't involved, and I have no people skills, Ren," Gordo said, interrupting me again, "But I know what was going on, and you shouldn't have put it off so long."

"I…I overreacted…then I thought about it, and I realized…" I hesitated, "I just want to talk to her…see if she's ok…I wanted to before, but I was concerned with Lizzie."

There was another short moment of silence, and everyone looked at Lizzie, as if all of them knew something I didn't know, and expected her to tell me.

"Ren…" She started, "We all…kinda…has a discussion about you…and Tawny…and she kinda told me something…"

"What?" This was worrying me. Everyone looked concerned, and sort of like they didn't want me to know. It was like when Tawny told Lizzie about what really happened with Kate that night. It was the exact same look. Had Tawny freaked out and left too, or something like that?

"She figured you had implied things from what happened…and…she said she just couldn't be friends with you anymore-"

"But…why?" It wasn't sinking in.

"She said you'd be fine, and that you're going to college soon anyway, and you won't have to worry about it. She said you'd probably stop being friends then anyway…and…that she was just doing it ahead of time…"

"Why though?"

"Do you not get it?" She said a little more harshly than I was expecting, "She can't be friends with you, and get over you, and she said that after what happened at the party, she can't pretend to be ok, so it just had to stop, and you made no effort to talk to her afterward…"

"So that's it?"

"Yes. She said she was going to leave you alone."

"Leave me alone as in avoid me?"

"Yeah…"

"She can't just do that." I protested, but I'm not sure to who.

"She can…" Lizzie said sadly, "Just like Kate could drive me to the hospital, then leave."

"Ren, this is partially my fault, ya know…" Ruby said, and didn't look at me, "Big, stupid chain of events sort of thing…it was an accident…"

"It's fine. If she can just do that, then she wasn't my friend, and I don't care. I don't need her. She was my brother's friend first, and that's it." I crossed my arms. Really, I didn't need Tawny.

"I wish the rain would stop so I can go home…" Sighed Ruby.

"Just borrow an umbrella." I told her.

"No…I'll lose it or something…you know how I am. Don't lend me anything."

"Do you want to just stay for dinner, then I'll take you home since you insisted on walking over here this morning instead of driving?"

"I didn't know it was going to rain and never stop, and I want to stay in shape, so I walked."

"That's in shape?" Miranda asked, and poked at my friend's stomach.

"Yes. That is in shape." She slapped her hand, then moved farther over on the couch. "Yes, I'll stay for dinner."

I slumped down. Tawny was being really selfish, but I didn't care. I pushed her from my mind. She could do whatever she wanted. I didn't need her, at all.

"Hey, everybody." Louis said, passing through from the kitchen, and heading upstairs.

"Hey." Said Matt, following him.

"Hey." Said Beans, behind him.

"Hey." All of us said, completely out of unison.

"Louis?" I looked over my shoulder, "Was Tawny with you guys?"

He stopped on the stairs, and called back, "Nope. I haven't seen her since the day she was here with Lizzie. I thought she was with you. Guess not though."

"Don't care, huh?" Gordo mumbled.

"I don't. I was just wondering is all."

"Bullsh-"

Lizzie was cut off by the doorbell. We all looked. It was still raining outside, and you couldn't see clearly out of the windows.

"I'll get that." I volunteered quickly, wondering who would be at the door. I tried to look out, but it was blurry and dark. I opened the door, "Hi, can I…" I stopped talking, couldn't finish my sentence.

"Ren?" I heard Ruby said, confused from the couch.

"Who is it?" Gordo asked.

"Kate…" I said, staring at the girl, standing at our front door, dripping from the rain.

"Kate?!" Miranda screamed.

"Don't yell at her, Miranda!" Commanded Ruby, "She frightens easily!"

I looked back, and everyone had shifted their positions, and were trying to see out the door.

"Um…can I come in?" The girl at the door asked.

"Sure…" I opened the door for her. She looked like she had been standing in the rain since it started hours ago.

"Somebody's never heard of an umbrella…" Gordo said to himself.

She heard him, "No…I just didn't know it was going to rain…"

"Ha." Said Ruby, "I wasn't the only one."

Kate remained standing at the door. The rain had ruined her makeup, and her clothes were all stuck to her body, "It took me two hours to…to find your house…I had no idea where it was so…I had to ask people…and use the phonebook…then I found the road…and I didn't know what house it was…and my taxi driver got mad at me for making him stop at every house after the first few…so he left me…and I have walked…door to door, looking for the Stevens house…" Her voice wasn't bitchy, or condescending, it was more just relieved and sort of regretful, "And now…I'm not so sure I should have bothered."

"For the sake of humanity, Kate, just tell her!" Gordo said, angrily, and unexpectedly.

"Say it. We all know." Miranda told her.

She looked at each of us, and stopped on Lizzie.

"Why'd you leave?" The girl laying on the loveseat, asked her.

She shook her head, "I don't know…I really don't."

"Why'd you leave?" She asked again, "I wanted to see you, and talk to you…but you were gone."

Kate ran both of her hands through her knotted, wet hair, "Lizzie, I don't know…I was scared, I guess…I didn't think you'd want me there. You spent most of the night ignoring me…"

"You spent most of our life ignoring me, being completely unappreciative, and a liar."

"Don't you get it though?! I didn't get it for a long time, and I'm sorry…"

"Maybe it's too late to be sorry."

I watched everyone's heads move back and forth from person to person as they spoke. It was like they were watching a tennis match, a really intense tennis match where they were all afraid to breathe. I was doing the same thing.

"I figured it was. That's…that's why I came here. I wanted to say I was sorry, and that…it would never work…and that I won't bother you anymore…" She stopped talking and looked at Miranda and Gordo, "I'm sorry…to both of you too, and I don't blame you for not forgiving me, but…just…I hurt me a lot more than I ever did any of you…"

"Not me." Lizzie said, coldly, "I tried and tried to be your friend, and I thought you could change…"

"Ok…" She looked down, "I would say more to you if there weren't a bunch of people watching us…but it's not important…and I guess…goodbye is all that's left…and I'm gonna go now." She turned to leave.

I stepped in front of her, and whispered quickly, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

She nodded, and walked around me, then opened the door herself.

"Kate…wait…" Lizzie said, sitting up.

She stopped, but didn't turn around, or say anything.

"I'm sorry, and if I were allowed to move, I would get up and come after you, but I don't want my stitches to come out…and my intestines to fall out through the hole…or…or…anything messy like that…because this isn't my house and all…" She spoke quickly.

"What would you do…if you came after me?" She said, not turning.

"I don't know…"

"I think it would be best if it stayed that way. We could never work…" She took another step forward.

"Kate, if you leave…I think it's a mistake…this is all a mistake. Don't leave this time. Just don't go yet…" Said Lizzie, "I'm sorry too."

"Too late…" was her response.

"Stay, Kate." Ruby said quietly.

"Yeah…just stay." Gordo said too.

Miranda sat for a few seconds, then said, "It would probably be easier if you stayed…for you…maybe not me…but you, and I can pretend."

"I can't…" Kate said, wiping her eyes, and still not turning around.

"If you leave…I'll hate you." Lizzie said, "And I'll never forgive you, and we can never be friends."

The blonde stepped outside, and closed the door, taking no heed to the threats.

"Should I go stop her?" I asked, frantically.

"No. Let her go. I don't care. She'll never change. She'll always be a selfish bitch." Lizzie lay back down, and said nothing else. Miranda got up then knelt down by Lizzie, and Gordo and Ruby looked at me.

Lizzie was in the same boat with me. She had been in it before with me when Kate left the first time, but now she was really in it. We had both lost friends, and we were both going to pretend we didn't care, and eventually, maybe we really wouldn't care. We were sharing a boat, and if it didn't stop raining, then we might need a real boat, but all we had was a shitty metaphorical one. And what a shitty boat it was to be in. I think it would have been nicer to just drown in the flood rather than be in such a boat…

The End

Michelle-Note: I might write a sequel...maybe...just maybe...seeing as this wasn't very popular.I'm evil, I know. I like how the title was all "Merging", and yet...there was a real lack of that. It's ironic. Yummy.