Like always, his mother was right on time, waiting for him as he walked out of the arrivals gate in the Memphis airport. She smiled as he trudged over to her.

“Hi, Hun. How do you feel?” she asked, hugging him.

“Like crap, Mom,” he mumbled, dropping his bag as he made a half hearted attempt to hug her back.

“That’s what I’d imagine. You need to get to the house and sleep.”

He nodded. Even the though of being in bed and sleeping seemed like heaven.

“Let’s go get your bags.”

He followed behind her as she went to the conveyor belt.

“Justin, how many bags?”

He closed his eyes and rubbed his hand over his face, trying to remember how many bags he had gotten Trace to pack for him. “Two…I think?”

“You didn’t pack them?”

“Trace.”

“So I guess you’ll be in for a bit of a surprise when you unpack, hmm?”

He smiled slightly. “Yeah.”

“Why didn’t he come with you?”

“Said he had stuff to do in LA. He might some in a couple weeks. Those are mine…” He reached for one of the suitcases and with a small groan, lifted it onto the cart. Lynn grabbed the other and placed it on top of his. They waited for the rest of the suitcases to go by, just to make sure there were only two of his and then Lynn began to push the cart through the airport towards the exit. Justin slowly trailed after her all the way to the parking lot where her car was. He was relieved when she gave him the keys after opening the trunk He unlocked the doors and got into the passengers seat while she loaded his bags into the trunk.

Closing his eyes, he slouched down in the seat and leaned his head back against the headrest. He felt even worse than he had the day before when he had gone to the doctor and found out he had mono. Everything in LA had just faded away when he was told he needed to take a long vacation to let himself heal. He could have stayed in the city with his friends, but when he felt as bad as he did, he didn’t want to have to worry about anything and he just wanted his mom to take care of him.

He heard the drivers door open and then car shift a bit as Lynn got in.

“And here I was hoping you’d drive back to the house,” she said, starting the engine.

He groaned tiredly and rubbed his eyes. “Funny, Mom.”

“Oh, hush. Do up your seatbelt.”

With another groan, he reached for the seatbelt and did it up.

“Are you going to feel like eating dinner in a few hours? I won’t make anything big if you aren’t.”

“Ugh…I don’t know. I’m not hungry right now. Maybe I will be by six.”

“Well, it’ll just be you, Paul, and I for dinner. Brenna said she was going to eat at her house.”

“Does she eat at our house all the time?”

“Her mom works a lot of overtime so she had no one else to have dinner with.”

“What about her dad?”

“He died a few years ago from cancer. I’m sure I told you that.”

“You probably did at some point. I don’t remember.” He coughed a couple times and swallowed. “How come she’s never been at the house when I’ve been home before?”

“It’s only been over the past few years that she’s really been around a lot. And you haven’t spent long periods of time at the house since then.”

“I guess.” He yawned and shut his eyes again. “I haven’t talked to her in almost ten years,” he mumbled.

“And you two used to be best friends.”

“I guess things change.”

* * *

He had been sleeping for two hours when the sound of rain hitting the window woke him up. Rolling over with a groan, Justin cracked open his eyes and saw it was close to four in the afternoon. He closed his eyes and rested his arm across his face. He had only been in Tennessee for a day and he was already feeling a bit better. Not physically, but mentally. Knowing he could just lay around all day and sleep however much he wanted was a huge relief.

The constant patter of rain hitting the window was enough to keep him awake even though his body was still tired. Moaning a bit, he pushed away the blankets over him and managed to pull himself up. His energy level seemed to have drained even further since the day before and most of the day he had just slept or watched TV, not having any sort of will to do anything else.

Leaving his room, he went to the bathroom. The image of himself in the mirror made him grimace. He looked sick. He had had no appetite for a while and he had lost weight as a result. His face was drawn and cheeks slightly flushed.

With a groan, he stretched his sore muscles and then left the bathroom. He could hear his mom in the kitchen and decided to go downstairs. Even the walk down the stairs and down the hallway was enough to wear him out.

“Mom, can you make me some tea or something?” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he trudged into the kitchen. “My throat really hurts.”

“Sure, Hun. Justin, you remember Brenna.”

For the first time, he realized there was another person in the room. He looked to his left and his eyes focused on the girl sitting at the table.

This is Brenna?

She looked different. Her hair was shorter, just below her shoulders. It had always been really long when they were kids. From where she was sitting, she still looked short but it was her face that caught him off guard a bit. She was grown up. When he had left, he had been fifteen and she was thirteen and still a kid. Now…she’d grown up.

“Justin?”

His gaze snapped to Lynn and he realized he had been staring. “Oh. Yeah. I remember.” He looked back at Brenna. “Nice to see you again.”

“You too,” she said softly.

Even her voice’s different.

Justin sank down in a chair across from the table from her and rested his head in his folded arms. Lynn began to talk again, most likely about whatever they had been talking about before he had come into the room, and he closed his eyes. He didn’t bother moving again until he heard something being set on the table. He slowly lifted his head and saw a steaming mug in front of him.

“I put some honey in it for your throat.”

“Thanks,” he mumbled, pulling the mug towards him.

Lynn placed her palm on his forehead. “You’re still warm.”

He nodded and took a small sip, grimacing when the hot liquid burnt his tongue.

“Hun?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled. At the same time Brenna said, “Yeah?”

His eyes jerked to her and she stared back at him.

“Oh, sorry. I meant Brenna,” Lynn said. “Did you want some tea too?”

Brenna looked away from him and to Lynn. “No thanks.”

He moved his eyes from her face and let his gaze slide down her body.

Yep. She’s definitely grown up.

His eyes rested on her arm that was visible because of her tank top. His eyebrows drew together slightly at the discoloration on her upper arm. Fading bruises covered her skin and he could have sworn they were in such a shape that it looked like someone had grabbed her arm with more force than was probably necessary.

Her hand suddenly came up and covered up her arm. He looked up at her and saw she was looking at the table, seemingly uncomfortable.

“I’m going to go to the washroom,” she said softly, pushing her chair back.

Justin took a drink of his tea as she left the kitchen. “What happened to her arm?” he asked when he heard the bathroom door shut.

Lynn looked up. “What?”

“Her arm’s all bruised.”

“Oh. That.”

“What happened?”

“It’s a…it’s a long story, Justin.”

“She got an abusive boyfriend or something?”

“No. It’s a little complicated. Are you going to want supper?”

He frowned a bit, knowing she was just trying to change the subject. “I don’t think I can eat anything.”

“You haven’t eaten anything all day, Justin. I’m getting worried about you.”

“I just can’t eat right now.” He pushed back his chair. “I’m gonna go back upstairs.

“I’ll come get you when it’s supper. Maybe you’ll feel hungry then.”

“Maybe,” he mumbled, even though he knew he wouldn’t be. Without another word, he went back upstairs, thoroughly exhausted. By time he reached his room, his tea was forgotten and instead he collapsed on his bed and slept.

* * *

The rain had stopped but the sky remained dark and cloudy as Brenna walked back to her house that night. It was close to nine o’clock and she had a Tupperware dish with left over lasagna in it.

The ground was full of puddles but she paid no attention to them as she walked and her flip flops and the bottom of her jeans soon became wet.

Dinner had been awkward. Lynn had woken Justin up and he had sat at the table with them but didn’t eat. Brenna didn’t know what to say around him. What do you say to your once best friend that you haven’t talked to in ten years? She was uncomfortable for the meal and didn’t feel really at ease to talk until Justin had gone back to his room. The dinner had been filled with too many awkward silences for her liking. It also didn’t help that Lynn was stressed out about Justin, especially his lack of eating. Brenna didn’t really blame her but it looked like Justin was getting a little irritated with her pushes to make him eat.

Seeing Justin had been a little hard. She could still remember all the fun times they had had when they were younger. They had become friends when she was seven and he had become her best friend after five years. She still didn’t know why they had grown so far apart in the first place. She had felt left behind and had thought he would be too busy to answer any letters she may had written. She had also thought he’d be back though. She hadn’t ever thought he’d move to Orlando and then to LA.

It took fifteen minutes to reach her house and she found her mother sitting in the kitchen.

“Lynn sent some lasagna,” Brenna said, setting the dish on the counter.

Elizabeth Michaels smiled. “I’m starting to feel guilty with how much food she always sends over here.”

Brenna shrugged. “She doesn’t care. When did you get home?”

“About ten minutes ago. All the rain backed up the roads all through Memphis. It was a mess.”

“Yeah, it finally stopped here right before I left the Harlesses. It’s really wet outside.”

“I could tell by your pants. Make sure you don’t get any mud on the carpet or anything, okay?”

“Yeah, I will.”

“Do you work tomorrow?”

“I’m supposed to help open the bakery so I have to be there by six. But I’m done by two.”

“Well I have to be at the office early too so we’ll probably be up at the same time.”

“Okay.” Brenna started towards the doorway. “I’m gonna go to bed.”

“Goodnight, Bren.”

“Night.”