Aftermath

Sam

When Dani walked down the stairs, I swear my heart stopped. Luckily, Dylan saw this coming. He managed to distract me with some idle conversation while we waited to go to the dance, but truthfully I don’t remember a word either of us said. Finally, though, we made it to the dance.

“See you later, dude.” Dylan said, before heading over to talk to Alyssa Barnes. I rolled my eyes, and headed off in the other direction. I couldn’t see Jack or Dani anywhere. No, wait. There was Jack. . . And Dani wasn't with him. He was with Christina. I walked up to him, and tapped his shoulder.

"Where's Dani?"

'"The tomboy freakazoid? Never picked her up." My vision turned red.

"You were dared to ask her out, weren't you?" I asked. He smirked.

"Obviously. Who in their right minds would ask that lesbo out?" I glared at him."Dude. What is your problem?"

"I would.That girl is my best friend. I don't know why, but she likes you. And now you hurt her."

"Like I care about some random little girls feelings." He sneered. Dylan, who apparently had been standing there for some time now, moved forward. And I exploded. I don't remember what happened next, but I didn't stop punching until I heard Dylan say

"Sam. That's enough. Stop. Sam." I blinked. Jack's face was bloody, probably from his broken nose. He was lying on the ground. I had beaten the crap out of him. I leaned down and whispered

"You'd be lucky to have Dani. If you ever even speak to her again, I will personally chop your balls off. Understand?" He nodded, and I stood up. Turning to Dylan, I said "Let's go." Once we were outside, he asked me,

"Why didn't you ask Dani to the dance?" I grimaced.

"I've been trying to ask her all week!" He smirked. Just then, we turned into his driveway to see Dani sobbing on the porch swing. Needless to say, all smirking stopped. I gave Dylan an "I got this" look. He nodded, and went inside to explain what had happened, so no insensitive questions were asked. I sat down next to Dani on the porch swing.

    “He’s not coming, is he?” She asked.

    “No. The filthy, lying, cheating . . .” It's best I don't tell you what I said then. It would have to be censored anyway.  “We saw him with Christina.” Could he have been any more of a cliche?

    “I guess I just wasn’t pretty enough for him.” Dani said. “I wish I was blonde.” That one physically hurt me. Dani was the most beautiful person I knew. How did she not realize that? I grabbed her shoulders.   

    “No. Dani, listen to me. You are beautiful just the way you are. Way more beautiful than Christina. And you deserve someone way better than him. Just because he ditched you for some blonde bimbo doesn’t change anything. He was dared to ask you to the dance. He told me you were . . . well, that’s not important.” She didn't need to know all the details.

    “What did he say?” She asked me

    “Nothing.” It would have just hurt her more.

    “What did you say?” She asked me, realizing I wouldn't tell her what Jack said.

    “Nothing.” Well, not much anyway.

“Oh.” She said, looking disappointed. I smiled

    “I was too busy rearranging his face.”

    “Sam! You could get in serious trouble for that.” She said, looking shocked, and a little guilty “I don’t want you getting suspended, or expelled, because of me!” I shrugged, not caring. It would have been worth it.

    “Doesn’t matter now.” My voice dropped, and I was aware that I was glaring darkly “And nobody, no-bo-dy, insults you in front of me.” She smiled.

    “Thank you Sam.”

    “Well, Dylan helped. He held him down, but I punched.” She hugged me, and I realized she was crying again.

    “Hey, less of the tears. Trust me, he was no loss.” But I hugged her back anyway. My cousin would kill me for all the tearstains on his suit, but I didn't care. Just then, she pulled back to look at me.

    “I’m sorry, Sam. I shouldn’t have said those things yesterday. I really am sorry.” I rolled my eyes. This girl was impossible! Here she was, wallowing in a rare, but much needed moment of self pity, yet she took the time to apologize for saying something she didn't even mean.

    “Dani, can you once, just think about yourself?” She smiled.

    “Apparently not.” I grinned at her.

    “And anyway, I knew you didn’t really mean it.”

    “You did?”

    “Daniella Thompson. I have been your best friend for nine years now. Do you really think that I don’t know the difference between when you actually mean something, and when you’re just in denial?” I asked her. Her smile got even bigger

    “Lucky for me, I suppose.” She shivered. Crap. I stood up.

    “It’s getting cold out here. We should get you inside.” She wiped the makeup that had run off her cheeks. There wasn't much, though. Cally had done her makeup, and Dylan had told her to use as much waterproof as possible. She then inspected her dress and turned to me.

    “Okay. How do I look?” She looked amazing. Like she hadn't cried at all. She looked even more beautiful, if that was possible.

    “Beautiful. Now, let’s go.” She blushed. I took her hand and pulled her inside her house. Dylan ran over and gave her a really tight hug. She hugged him back.

            "Oh, don't start crying again!" I said in mock annoyance. She giggled, but wiped the bottoms of her eyes, grinning sheepishly. Cally and Ash shared a look. I didn't know what about, but I honestly didn't care. I knew Dani would be okay. And right now, that was all that mattered.

          Dylan

              When I came back upstairs that night, to go to bed, Dani was already there, in her usual tank top and sweatpants that served as pajamas, hair in a braid down her back. As per usual, I tugged her hair, and as usual she smacked me.

             "We haven't been spending nearly enough time together lately." She said.

             "I know. But it's been one thing after another. We got sick, Dad was finally taken away . . ." She nodded, rubbing her arm.

             "My wrist is still hurting me a bit."

             "Yeah. I could tell. But something else is wrong. You only go to bed early when you're thinking about something."

             "I was just wondering what happened at the dance. Sam wouldn't tell me much. I think he was afraid it would hurt my feelings or something. But you'll tell me. Right?" I snorted.

             "Like I'd be able to keep anything from you." She grinned.

             "So what happened?" I told her the whole story, from getting to the dance to Sam's threat to Jack, only leaving out our conversation after.

             "Wow. He really said he would . . . Wow." She pulled the pillow she was hugging closer to her face, to hide her smile. I rolled my eyes.

             "Yes. He really threatened to castrate Jack. It was awesome."

             "Wow."

             "I know. I have never seen him that angry before."

             "I've never seen him angry before. Period."

             "Really?"

             "Nope. Oh wait, except when he found out about Dad. He looked like he wanted to kill him."

             "That's pretty much how he looked today, when Jack started trash talking you. He was absolutely furious." I told her, omitting the fact that he actually might have killed him, had I not been there.

              "Oh, I can't wait for baseball on monday!" I sighed. Couldn't she give it a rest?

              "Dani . . .".

              "Don't start this again, Dylan. I am not an invalid. I do not have the flu anymore. My wrist isn't broken.You and Sam are so protective. I am going, and that's final." I smirked. If only she knew what I knew about Sam . . . We were both ready for bed, so I shut of the lamp on the nightstand between our beds. We shared it. On it, among other things, was a copy of To Kill A Mockingbird, a baseball, the aforementioned lamp, and the laptop we shared.

              "Night, Dani."

              "Night, Dylan."

              The next morning, I was woken up to Dani poking me on the shoulder.

              "Dylan. Wake up. Wake up right now. Seriously. Right.Now. Somebody's here."

              "Who?" I groaned, as Dani was sitting on my stomach. She jumped up.

              "Oops, sorry! And Sergeant Connor Smith." A.K.A, Ash's boyfriend. Without another word, I followed her downstairs. Connor was sitting there, talking to Cally and Thom. Ash was the only one who wasn't up yet. He was in uniform, I noticed. He must have come here as soon as he got off the plane.

              "-back for good." He was saying to Thom. "And they won't send me anywhere else for another five or six years." Then he noticed us. "My favorite twins! Okay, you," he said, pointing to me, " are Dani, and you," he said to Dani,"are Dylan." We shook our heads.

              "Nice try!" We said simultaneously. He groaned.

              "Oh, I did it again!" It's a routine he's always done with us. He obviously knows which of us is which. Just then, Ash walked down the stairs, yawning, hair a mess, and wearing old sweatpants and a t-shirt. Connor grinned and stood up. She stopped cold at the sight of him. I'm going to let Dani write this part, she's better at describing it.

       Hey. It's me, Dani. Sorry there's no official chapter perspective change or anything. But Dylan absolutely refuses to write this part. Anyway,  She stopped cold at the sight of him. (I like that line.)

       Plagiarism!

       Dylan, do you want me to write this or not?

       Sorry. Please, continue.

              "Connor?" She practically whispered.

              "Who else?" He grinned. At that she flew down the stairs, into his waiting arms. They hugged each other tightly, neither wanting to let go, for fear of losing each other again. I could hear Ash quietly sobbing into his chest. Finally they separated.

             "I was so worried!" Ashlynn said. Connor smiled.

             "Well, now I'm back, so you don't have to be." She laughed. Just then, Connor dropped to one knee, and pulled out a little black box. I gasped. Ash seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.

             "Ashlynn Marianne Thompson. I love you with all my heart. I always have, and I always will. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Will you marry me?" Ashlynn nodded, speechless, and crying again, and flung her arms around Connor's neck. He slipped the ring on her finger, picked her up, and twirled her around the kitchen. Just then, Mom walked in. She saw the open, empty box, the expression on my face, and Ash and Connor still spinning like they were the only two people in the world. And she smiled.

Blech! So mushy-gushy.

Oh, shut up, Dylan. Just keep narrating.

             Anyway, after that whole sickeningly nauseous love-fest, we had gotten dressed and were eating breakfast when the doorbell rang. Dani and I raced to answer it. It was Sam.

    “Hey. I have a surprise for you!”

    “What?” I asked, slightly suspicious.

    “We’re going roller-skating!”Sam grinned. Dani gasped.

    “We haven’t done that since we were eight!”

    “I know.” said Sam. “You fell so many times.”

    “I was covered in bruises the next day, but I wanted to go back!"

    “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” I said. Sam laughed, and we all went out the front door.

    “Cally! Tell mom we’re going rollerskating!” Dani called over her shoulder.

    “K!” Cally called back, and Dani shut the door.

    “Come on. Let’s go!”