The Secret

Chapter 37: love

Brennen

~~~~~~~~

I stare at her as she sleeps in my arms on the bathroom floor. I just wanted to sit here and hold her for the rest of my life.

When Julianna Gomez came into my life 6 years ago, I never thought she'd completely turn my world upside down. But that's what she did, she came into it one random Thursday afternoon and changed it completely. I used to be a lonely, depressed teenage boy, but when she came in, she showed me that I didn't have to let my depression win. I had the power to fight it, and she stood next to me through all of it, through all my ugly. Julianna was there. She fought for me when I couldn't, that's why I loved her. I'll never stop, my love for this girl will constantly grow every second.

I brush her hair out of her face and study her tiny features, the faint freckles on the bridge of her nose, the tiny scar she had at the side of her head. I studied all of it like a book.

"If I could redo my life, I'd make sure we had all the time in the world to spend together. Just you and me, Julianna." I whisper.

There's a knock on the bathroom door before it opens to reveal Garrett and a very drunk Taylor.

"Her turn to throw up." He says.

Taylor giggles as she struggles to stand up.

I scoot to the side and let them in, Taylor kneels down in front of the toilet bowl and throws up while Garrett holds her hair back.

"I hate vomit, Garrett." She slurs.

"I know." Garrett says as he rubs her back.

Once she stopped, she and Garrett sat down on the bathroom floor with me and Jules, who was passed out in my lap.

"This is fun." Garrett says as Taylor leans onto him.

Taylor giggles.

"Fun." She says.

I frown at her.

She laughs.

Me and Garrett look at each other, confused.

"Jules is dead?" Taylor asks.

"No." Garrett says.

"Yes, she is, Garrett, call someone. Who do we call?" She asks.

"911?" I ask.

"Who's that?" She slurs.

I laugh at her and she frowns.

"She's dead, Brennen. Why are you laughing?" She asks.

Garrett starts laughing with me and Taylor gives us confused looks.

"Huh?" She says.

"I need to shit." I hear Chris's voice.

I look up and see him stumble in the bathroom with us.

"You guys are taking up all the space." He says as he sits down next to Taylor.

"You poop?" Taylor asks.

"Yeah, do you?" He asks.

"I don't know." Taylor says.

They look at each other and frown.

"Let's make a handshake." Chris says.

"Yeah." Taylor says.

They start slapping their hands together but keep messing up.

"You're so bad at this." Taylor says.

"No, I'm not." Chris says.

"Yeah, you are." She says.

I look at Garrett who is watching them bicker, he smiles at Taylor which makes me happy. I was happy for him, he deserved her, and she made him a better person.

Now I get it, the way you know when you truly love someone. It doesn't matter if you guys get along and they make you happy, it's what they teach you. Taylor taught Garrett how to treat people, she taught him how to love someone, and how it feels to be loved. Lily taught Jake that he shouldn't be afraid to be happy. And Julianna, Julianna taught me how to live my life to the fullest, to never be afraid, she taught me how to live without any regrets. Just live, because you only get one chance at it.

All these people taught me so much, they taught me about family, they taught me about love, they taught me how to care, they taught me not to keep so many secrets, to not make stupid bets. We all helped each other grow into better people.