Together Again
by Katie

PART 2

Quick note: This first part will be in Madison's POV and the second part will be in Jessie's.

Part 1: Jack's Burger Shack (Madison's POV)

The three of us rode in silence. When we got there I pulled up into a parking spot and we all got out. I gave Riley some money so she headed across the street to Daniel's while Kelly and I made our way into the burger shack.

It looked pretty crowded, but it's Friday at 6:30 p.m. We don't mind waiting. When it's our turn to order, we do and the cashier tells us to have a seat and they'll call us when our order is ready. By the looks of the amount of staff to the amount of people in the restaurant, we figured it would be awhile so we ordered a large coke with two straws and made our way to an open booth in the back. Kelly and I sat so we could see the front door, to make sure Riley could see us but also, so we could see her coming. Kelly decided to slide in first, and then I followed.

[Let me tell you about Kelly. First off, she's an amazing friend. When I started seventh grade, I didn't really know anyone and she opened her arms and her heart to me. I'll never be able to repay her for that. You're all probably wondering what she looks like. To me, Kelly reminds me of Kirsten Dunst, in her late teens, but then again, that's just me. Well, she's a little bit shorter than I am, about 5'5". She's got blonde hair that's kind of wavy that goes a little bit below her shoulders and stunning green eyes. Kelly has this incredible body, mostly due to good genes and running during the summers with me while I'm in training. For the most part, Kelly leads a good life. Her parents are still together and her brother is off at Stanford. But I know the real Kelly, or at least I know her better than anyone else. As long as I've known Kelly, she's never had a boyfriend, nor has she ever said anything about really liking a boy. Maybe it was because her brother Tom has always been very protective of her. Maybe it was because she never really had an interest in them. I'm not sure. We've never really talked about that part of her life. But lately she's become more open to talking about it, but she's discrete. Our first major conversation was about a month ago. It was around 7 or 8 at night there had just been a pretty big thunderstorm. She called my cell and said she was on her way over, I could tell something was wrong; she was crying. When she got here, we went to my room. There Kelly just sat there on my bed, crying her eyes out, she was soaking wet. I didn't know what to do. I asked her what was wrong and she said this.

"I feel so alone. I don't feel normal anymore. I tried talking to my parents but they didn't understand, couldn't and wouldn't try to understand." At this point I was sitting right next to her, with my arm around her, trying to console her and hopefully make her stop crying.

"What do you mean Kelly?" I honestly didn't know what she meant.

"Everyone, my parents included, they all think I'm perfectly fine and normal, but I don't FEEL normal." She paused and pulled her arms closely around me. "Don't leave me. Please just let me stay her tonight."

"It's ok Kelly. Everything's going to be ok. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere. My mom's won't be home until late, so don't worry, you can stay the night. Let me get you a towel and you can change into a pair of my pajamas for the night. Ok?"

"…Ok. Thank you Madison. For everything."

After she changed out of her sopping wet clothes, she said that she didn't want to talk about it anymore and wanted to just go to sleep. That was all right with me because I had just finished recording a few demos with my uncle Eli and I was really tired. We both climbed into my bed and I turned off the lights. For the longest time we just lied there, then something happened. Then all of a sudden I felt Kelly's hand feeling across the middle of the bed until she reached my hand. At that moment, my life, or at least the sexual part of it, all made sense. It seemed kind of screwed up, but it all kind of came together. I was falling for Kelly. I had always been more close to Kelly than James or Grace. I also always felt myself staring at her. I thought it was just admiration for a friend. I mean, God, she's extraordinary. She's got everything: brains, beauty, charisma, athleticism, the whole nine yards. The next morning I found out that she felt the same way about me. When I woke up, she was curled up next to me, her arms encompassed my waist and she was just staring at me. The same way I had stared at her. Since then we've become a lot closer. And that's when the nicknames came more into place. I also learned why she had become so weird around me when I had a boyfriend in the past years. She was jealous, but also in some sense she was angry as well. Not so much being angry with me, but with them. I always talked to her about how none of
them really cared, how they just thought I'd be easy or something. I didn't know it back then but I do now; she wanted to be the one for me. The dream person I always wanted. I always told her about my dream person, the one for me, my soul mate. I don't think I ever realized that I never said `my dream guy' it was always person. Maybe my conscious knew that I didn't like the opposite sex way before I realized it. Anyways, we never told James or Grace about us, even to this day. It was our little secret. One day we'd tell them, but not today. After that day I realized why Kelly was crying that night. She pretty much outed herself to her parents and they didn't take it very well. Ok, now back to the present.]

Once we were situated, the flirting began. At first we just sat there, drinking our coke, then I felt Kelly's hand on my thigh. She caressed the skin ever so lightly causing me to close my eyes slightly and the biggest grin came to my face. I decided to do one of the corniest things I have ever done, and I pulled my arms up and back, yawned, and ended up putting my arm around Kelly. When I looked down at her face, to see her expression, she was all smiles. I honestly think I'm falling in dare I say it, love. Yes, I will say it! I think that I'm falling head over heels in love with Kelly! I mean, we've known each other for years and everything seemed perfect.

Minutes passed, but it seemed like hours. The two of us just sat there, in our own little world. It was like we were the only ones in the restaurant and time had stopped. It was amazing. Then, Riley walked in, but it was too late. We were caught with our hand in the cookie jar, so to speak. But in a way, we didn't care, not anymore. So what if Riley knew? So what if everyone knew? We never cared what anyone thought of us before so now that we're together, would it matter?

"…Oh, sorry. I didn't know I was interrupting anything." I could sense her embarrassment and her fear. She didn't know what was going on, but I knew she wanted some type of explanation. I quickly tried to think of something, some way to explain it to her. Then it dawned on me. Hello?!? She has two moms! Of course she'll be able to understand this. But before I could begin to explain, Kelly starts the conversation.

"No, it's ok. It's not what you think…" Kelly trails off. Maybe she's waiting for me to jump in and say something. And I do.

I turn to Kelly as I motion for Riley to take a seat across from us, when she does; I begin to speak, hoping that the words will come out right.

"Kelly, we don't have to hide anymore. I know you're scared, I am too, but we can't live like this. I really like you and I'm not ashamed. You don't have to be either; I'll always be here for you and we'll deal with everything together. Always." I finish in almost a whisper. For those few seconds, I almost forgot that Riley was sitting there. But I don't care. Not any more.

By now she's crying. I can only hope that it's a good thing.

"Madison, I'm not ashamed, I've never been that way. I've been in awe of you ever since the first day we met. I never thought you'd feel for me as I do for you, but you do and I can't begin to tell you how happy that's made me. I really like you too Madison and I always have. Hopefully one day, we shall be in love and every person in the world will envy what we have together." With that we hug for what seems like an eternity. Once again, we completely forgot about Riley.

"Riley," I begin as I break away from Kelly's embrace, only to take a hold of her hand instead, "Kelly and I are together. You're the first one to know. Just don't tell my mom, I'll tell her when I – we're ready, ok?" I quickly glance over to my amazing girlfriend Kelly. Oh God, I have a girlfriend. I never thought I'd end up like this, but it's amazing. She's absolutely amazing.

Riley nods, so it's settled. Right then, we hear my name over the speaker.

Click. "Walker, your order's ready." Click. So the three of us make our way out of the booth, over to the counter, and then on our way to the car and finally home.

I can only wonder what Katie and Mom are up to…


Part 2: Sammler Household, where we last left them. (Jessie's POV)

[I really wish Madison had given me some kind of warning. I still can't believe she's even here. Katie. * Sigh * Why did you come back into my life, after all these years? Why did you lie to me? I'm sorry that I didn't believe you. I'm sorry that I didn't listen to what you had to say. I'm sorry. I still love you, so much. But has time ruined any chance of us being together or will we finally be together again?]

"…So…" I'm really trying to say something. I actually have a lot to say, but I've never been one to fully speak my mind.

"…Yeah. Why don't you show me your house? It's really something."

"Alright." The two of us stand up and begin to walk around. As I show her all of the rooms, I can tell that she hasn't changed a bit. She's still the same Katie that I knew in high school. Her wide eyes, filled with excitement and wonder. How did I lose that? Oh yeah, when Katie told me the truth…

"And this is the bathroom. It's not that big, but it works for Maddy and --" Before I could continue, Katie grabbed my neck and shoulder and kissed me. I remembered this. This, sense of passion, of love and for a moment I forgot to breathe. I have wanted this, dreamed about this, ever since that dreaded night so long ago. As time goes by, the kiss gets longer, grows stronger. Hands are flying around. After what felt like forever, I came to my senses and pushed Katie away. I didn't want to, but we couldn't be rushing back into this so soon. There was so much that we still needed to talk about and discuss. Damn my rationality and dependable mind to work now of all times. For once, I didn't want to be responsible. I wanted to be caught in the passion of Katie. How I missed the feeling of Katie's arms around me, knowing that I was in love and at the same time, to the same person, was being loved.

"…What's wrong? You can't possibly tell me you didn't feel something too." Katie's voice almost had a rage of furry in it.

"We're rushing too fast. I've missed you, God have I missed you, but first we need to talk about this, about us, about the past. Before I start considering the dreams I've had about us, I need to know that you're really for real this time." I just stand there. What was I thinking??? Damn Katie, just say something! Don't just stand there, dumbfounded. But as the seconds tick away, all I can think is, well, at least she hasn't left yet. The key word being `yet.' Then, she spoke.

"I know, you're right. But I've missed you so much and I'm so sorry I screwed everything up. It's my fault but you were at fault too. You didn't even stay to listen to what I had to say. She meant nothing. No one after you ever really meant anything." She was almost yelling now.

"What about your wife, Riley's OTHER mother? She HAD to have meant SOMETHING to you, why else would you have married her and had a baby with her?" Now I'm the one yelling, but I have a saddening cry to my voice, or at least I think I do.

"I thought Amy would help me get over you. I married her when I thought I had come to a realization that you would never see me again. But I swear to you, no one ever came close to you! For Christ's sake, we divorced over you! Amy couldn't deal with that fact that I still was- am in love with you. YOU, Jessie Sammler, I am still in love with you." Tears were now running down her cheeks but she continues to talk. "There was never anyone else that could compare and there never will be. But while we're on the subject, how did you manage to marry your…husband, anyways?" Katie's tone turns cruel, but I deserve it, or so I tell myself.

[Katie don't cry. Please don't cry. I didn't mean to leave, I was scared and…I didn't know what else to do.]

"I just wanted to be normal! I didn't know what I was doing. But it didn't matter. Do you hear me??? It didn't matter. Right before James died, I realized that I couldn't be his wife anymore because…I still loved you. I hated you for what you did, but I hated myself for not having faith in you and trusting you that you wouldn't hurt me. But it did hurt! I'm sorry. I wish I could change the past, but I can't. I love you. I thought I could get over you, move on with my life, but I can't. When you kissed me just now, all of that emotion, passion, that need to be near you, it all came back and I remembered how much I really did miss you."

Katie just stood there, speechless. We were both crying by this point, not really sure what to do. The truth was out there, the real truth. Too bad it took more than twenty-five years for it to come out. But nonetheless, it finally happened.

Up until the kids came back with dinner, we just stood in the bathroom doing a mix of crying and hugging each other. We both needed to feel the other one, to remember how things once were and how much we missed those days.

"Hey Mom, Katie, we're back." I hear Madison's voice, followed by footsteps. They're home. Just as I start to back away from Katie, she pulls me closer and I don't resist. After a minute, we both wiped our eyes and made our way downstairs.

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