Bella
Bella and Mortimer got up early the next morning. They made a quick breakfast for the family and then started packing their car while Cassandra got the girls up and dressed just in time to see them off.
“Now remember,” Bella told Alexander and Randy, “with the exception of the flights and the art show, we'll have our phones on us at all times. If anything happens, or you just want to talk to us, you can call at any time. Lauren will be staying the night, so if you need anything, give her a call.”
“Got it,” Randy said. Alexander nodded.
“And no one other than Lauren is allowed to come into the house,” Mortimer added addressing Amanda and Anne. “That means no friends over. Understand?” The girls nodded. “And no leaving the house unless it's an emergency.”
Cassandra gave Alice to Randy. “I'll miss you,” she told the baby, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “You too,” she told Amanda and Anne as she gave them both hugs. “Be good for Alexander and Randy, all right?” The girls nodded.
“Why don't you say goodbye to Lilith?” Bella prompted.
“Bye, Lilith,” Anne replied. Amanda ran up to her and gave her a hug.
“Thanks for letting me try your lipstick,” she said. Cassandra shook her head.
Bella gave the girls one last hug and then turned to Alexander. “Thank you so much for doing this,” she told him.
“It's no problem,” Alexander replied. “You, Dad and Cassandra deserve to have some fun for a while.” She gave him one last hug and then picked up her suitcase.
“We'll be back tomorrow evening.”
They got in the car and took off, Bella feeling a little anxious about the whole thing. This was the first time they had left Alexander in charge of the house overnight, but she and Mortimer trusted him, and with Lauren staying the night, there was nothing to worry about.
“She only had the lipstick on for five minutes,” Lilith said once they had gotten on the road.
“Don't worry about it,” Bella told her. Cassandra nodded in agreement.
They left the car at Scarlett's house before heading to the airport. After a quick bathroom break, Bella's friend dropped them off at the gate telling Lilith how thrilled she was to meet another redhead. The flight went smoothly enough. Lilith took the window seat and spent the entire time looking out the window with her ear buds in. She had to be contemplating exactly what she was going to say to Dirk when she saw him. Though Mortimer had made sure she'd never had to worry about it, Bella imagined it had to be hard to tell a guy you loved him before he had said it himself. She took Mortimer's hand and her mind went back to when they had been reunited. She remembered how fragile she had been and how much strength it had taken her to talk to him. That had to be what Lilith was feeling right now.
When the plane landed, they grabbed their bags and headed towards the exit. Half way there, Lilith suddenly lit up, her gaze resting on a dark skinned boy in a blue jersey.
“Dirk!” She she dropped her suitcase and took off down the moving sidewalk, running into his arms and into his kiss.
Dirk wasn't the only one there to meet them – Darren stood there as well along with a woman whose hair was done in several braids and tied back into a ponytail. She looked familiar, and Bella realized that she had seen this woman with Darren the last time she and Mortimer had returned to Pleasantview.
“Darren,” Cassandra said as he gave her a friendly hug, “you didn't have to come meet us at the airport.”
“Actually I kinda did,” Darren replied. “Dirk was at the edge of his seat waiting for Lilith to come back home. He would have come whether or not I came with him.”
“But shouldn't you be setting up for the art show?” Cassandra asked.
“We finished that last night. By the way, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend Destinee Robinson. Destinee, this is a good friend of mine, Cassandra Goth.”
“Cassandra,” Destinee said, offering her hand, “I've heard so much about you.”
“It's nice to meet you,” Cassandra replied.
Bella turned her attention back to the teenage couple who were still kissing in the middle of the airport. She took Mortimer's had as she felt him give her a quick kiss on the cheek.
Lilith and Dirk broke off, still staying close to each other. Foreheads touching, his arms around her waist, her arms around his neck, she said, “Oh Dirk, I've missed you so much.”
“I missed you too, Lilith.”
“Dirk,” Lilith added, “there's something I need to tell you.” But she was cut off by the sound of her name.
“Lilith?” She turned her head to find Mary-Sue in the crowd.
“Mom?”
“Lilith, can I have a hug?” Lilith let go of Dirk and entered her mother's embrace. “You didn't think I wouldn't come and welcome my own daughter back home, did you?”
“Maybe if I were Angela...”
“I don't want you to be Angela,” Mary-Sue told her. “I want you to be yourself. I'm sorry I spent so long comparing the two of you. That was wrong, and there's nothing I can say that will make up for it. I figured the least I could do is come meet you during my lunch break.”
“It's okay Mom,” Lilith said. “I'm sorry I've been giving you such a hard time.”
“I'll let you go back to Dirk now. I just wanted to come and welcome you back home.”
As Lilith slid back into Dirk's arms, Bella couldn't help but see how happy they were together. She saw the way they looked at each other. It was the same way Mortimer looked at her. Looking at the couple in front of her, she had no doubt that they could make it.
Lilith
With Dirk's arm around her waist, Lilith pulled her suitcase behind her as they left the airport. It felt so good to be back in his arms, his touch reassuring her nerves at what she was about to tell him. She gave him a kiss on the cheek as they came to a stop in front of the parking lot.
“I'm so glad you're here,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder.
“Well who were you expecting, Katy Perry?” Lilith couldn't help but laugh.
“No I wasn't expecting Katy Perry,” she replied, knowing full well he was joking.
“That's right. You were waiting for Taylor Swift,” Dirk teased playfully.
“No, I wasn't expecting her either.” Lilith smiled, letting his sense of humor calm her.
“Were you expecting your mom?” Dirk asked.
“No. That... was a surprise. I didn't think she wanted to see me.”
“I think you need to have more faith in her.”
“I wasn't expecting meet you at the airport either. After all, we were gonna see each other tonight.”
“I couldn't wait that long,” Dirk replied. He pressed his lips against hers and let them linger there until they were able to walk through the parking lot. “You wanted to tell me something,” Dirk said. She took his hand, lacing her fingers with his.
“Not now,” Lilith answered, thinking a little more clearly. “It needs to be more private.” She noticed him looking at her nails intently. “Do you like them?”
“Yeah,” he told her. “They're different, but still you.“ He gave her hand a gentle squeeze as they approached the van she recognized as the one Darren used to haul his art supplies. It had been completely cleaned out and was ready to take them wherever they needed to go. She and Dirk got in the very back along with Bella and Mortimer, and as they started the drive into town, she took a deep breath to calm herself further.
He reached for her again but her new bracelet must have caught his eye because instead of taking her hand, he pulled the bracelet away from her arm and looked at it. “I love this,” he said quietly.
“I saw that at the water park gift shop and I couldn't leave without it.” As he took another look at her bracelet, she glanced over at Mortimer and Bella. He had his arm around her waist and she was smiling at him lovingly. It made Lilith's heart melt and made her anxious at the same time.
“What is it?” Dirk asked.
“Look at them Dirk,” she said. “They've been together since they were our age.” Dirk looked into her eyes and brushed her hair out of her face. He wasn't saying anything, after all it wasn't something you'd discuss in the back of a full van, but the message he was sending was clear. And to let him know she understood, she drew his face close to hers and kissed him again.
“They must have missed each other a lot,” Destinee's voice drifted though her mind as she noticed that Darren had turned onto the main street of Plesantview's Sunset Valley district.
They passed the center of town and the homes that were surrounding it, leaving them on a seemingly empty road heading up a hill.
“You know,” Destinee said, “I don't think I've ever been this far down this road.”
“It doesn't go much farther,” Darren told her.
“I didn't even know this road went this far,” Destinee added.
“Destinee just moved here a couple years ago,” Darren explained, “and she doesn't live in this part of town.”
Lilith, aware of exactly where they were headed, shared a knowing glance with Dirk.
“Oh my goodness!” Destinee exclaimed as soon as they reached the top of the hill, revealing a large house with a beautiful yard. “Please tell me that's not where we're going.”
“The road doesn't go anywhere else,” Darren told her as he drove around the large property to the garage located at it's back. The road ended with a pair of black iron gates that seemed to open automatically as they approached, letting them into the private driveway. Lilith glanced to her side to notice Bella slip her phone back into her pocket.
“You mean you actually know somebody who owns this house?” Destinee exclaimed.
“We wouldn't be in the driveway if I didn't,” Darren told her, parking just outside of the garage.
“We haven't been here in a while,” Dirk pointed out as they got out of the van and started the long walk from the garage to the front of the house.
“Not since Cassandra's wedding,” Lilith replied.
“Remember? We spent the whole dinner exploring the place until the music started?”
“I remember kicking your butt in hide and seek.” Dirk laughed and she leaned her head against his shoulder.
“That was a brilliant place to hide. I spent seven minutes trying find you.”
“And I got to watch you and the other kids pass me about sixty times without a clue,” Lilith said, laughing slightly.
“I was about to give up when I heard you laughing.”
“And then we spent the whole night dancing.”
“That was the best day I'd had in years. And it was thanks to you.”
They reached a little garden area by the side of the house and sat down on a bench.
“Now, what have you been waiting to tell me?” Dirk asked, his hand still in hers.
“First, I want to thank you for staying by my side throughout everything. The grounding, running away, this whole week – there are a lot of guys who would have just found someone else. But you didn't, and that means the world to me.”
“That's because no matter how hard things get, I want you by my side through it all.”
“This past week away... it made me realize just how much I love you. I love you Dirk.” Dirk took his hand out of hers and put his arm around her.
“Oh, Lilith,” he said, brushing a kiss against her forehead, “I've been wanting to hear you say that.” She let go of a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. “And I'd never even think about leaving you because Lilith, I love you too.”
“You do?”
“Yes, Lilith, I do.” He brought his hand up to her head and began stroking her hair. “I knew as soon as I saw you out in that rain and my heart plummeted into my stomach.”
“I think I loved you then, too. I just didn't realize it until a couple of days ago. Not until you told me to take as much time as I needed to think about things even though I wouldn't be with you.”
“And you've been waiting to tell me since then?”
“Yes. Why didn't you say anything first?”
“Because I wanted us to tell each other together.”
“Oh, Dirk.”
And then he guided her face to his and kissed her – a deep, loving, passionate kiss that warmed her heart. She was loved, and for the first time in a long time, she could actually feel it was true.
Cassandra
Cassandra looked at the familiar house. Most people knew it as the first house that was built in town, but to her, it was home. She hadn't grown up there – her grandparents had lived there during her childhood - but she had spent her teenage years there. She had even started raising her own children there until her job sent her to Strangetown. Her parents had gone back a couple of times, but this was the first time she had returned. It was good to be home.
“Darren, aren't you going to come inside?” Destinee asked from the front door.
“You go ahead,” he called back to her. “I'm going to keep an eye on these two.” Cassandra followed him to a spot where they could clearly see Dirk and Lilith, yet still give them a reasonable amount of privacy.
“How did the week go?” Darren asked her.
“As well as it could,” Cassandra replied. “There was some trouble when Angela showed up, but we were able to clean things up as well as we could have.”
“Angela show up? Is that what happened?”
“You heard about that?”
“Dirk told me something along those lines. Destinee too, mentioned that Dirk had talked to her about it.”
“Darren? Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“If you really were in love with me, then why did you go to my wedding?”
“Several reasons,” he replied. “One being that I was your friend and I owed it to be there for you.”
“That must have been hard for you.”
“It was. But to be honest, I knew there was a very good chance that Don wouldn't go through with it, and I wanted to be there for you if that happened.”
“He almost didn't,” Cassandra admitted.
“He told you that?”
“He told me everything after I caught him. He said he would never have to worry about money if he married me, and that he'd always have a woman in his bed. He was only interested in... you know,” she hesitated, suddenly embarrassed at where the conversion had ended up. Close friend or not, he was still a man – one who had been in love with her and was currently dating another woman. But Darren nodded. He had really been the only person she felt could read her, if that was even possible. “You were right,” Cassandra said. “He never really loved me. He said he did, but he also said he loved the other women he had been seeing.”
“You deserve so much better, Cassandra,” Darren told her. “And I'm sorry I couldn't be the man who could give it to you.”
“I'm sorry you had to go through that Darren. I honestly had no idea you felt that way about me.”
“Well, there was one more reason I went,” Darren said glancing at the young couple on the bench. “I had to set a good example for Dirk. I spent so much time putting a smile on my face for him, and your wedding was no different. I had to show him that you don't just abandon the people you care about. I didn't want him to see me skip the wedding because it was painful for me. And to be honest, there were several times when I wanted to leave early, but every time I decided to, I found Dirk enjoying himself, and I couldn't ask him to leave. Not when he was having the best time I'd seen him have in years.”
“So you sat there being miserable for him,” Cassandra concluded. “Being a parent myself now, I understand. You've raised him well. And you certainly set a good example for him.”
“I hope so. But Dirk certainly hasn't run out on Lilith. He's stayed by her side even when she ran away from home. And as upset as I am that he snuk her into his room when I wasn't home, he did keep her safe, and for that, I'm proud of him. Yes, he could have handled it better, but I'd rather have them unsupervised in my house then have her on the streets.”
“That's a good way to look at it.”
“You know, when I first found out they were dating, I was really concerned that she was pressuring him into bad behavior. But while he has done some things that I would rather he didn't, everything he did was based on the values I raised him with. I know now that part of the reason they were keeping it a secret was because he was afraid of how I would react. She doesn't have the best reputation. But then he told me about how much she helped him during that difficult time. I had no idea that she was the one who kept him going. And to be honest, I think she's helped him with more than that. He knows he has to be patient with her. The toddler Dirk I remember couldn't even wait for me to change his diaper. He's a lot more relaxed now.”
“Part of that could be growing up,” Cassandra suggested, “or that's what I keep telling myself when Amanda gets on my nerves at times.”
“I hate to break it to you, Cassandra, but it's not that simple.”
“I'm beginning to figure that out. One thing's for sure though – I won't make the same mistakes Mary-Sue did.”
“Well after talking with Mary-Sue, I understand why Dirk sees something in Lilith that nobody else does. I realize now that she needs someone who will have her back, and that person is Dirk.”
“So do you think he can help her?”
“I think he already has.”