There was no time to stop her. He couldn't do anything about it. He had reached out, but she stepped over the edge anyway.
It had been one year exactly. The other guys were trying to help, they had suffered as well, but they had excepted that she was gone and there was nother that they could do.
But he couldn't. She had been like his younger sister and she had left him alone to deal with what she had done.
Scarlette had moved in next door to him when they were both in middle school, she was in sixth grade and he was in eighth. For some reason they got along very well and he adoted her as his younger sister. He had brought her on tour with them and all of the guys loved her too. They all either looked up to her or thought of her as a younger sister.
But something pushed her over the edge. Something that he couldn't control and something that wasn't really her fault.
She was raped.
And then was got pregnant.
It was too much for her. She didn't believe in getting rid of the baby, but she didn't want to have it.
He would have helped her, and when she told him about what had happened, he tried, but there was nothing to be done by then. She had made up her mind.
Scarlette decided that taking her life was the only way to solve her problems. So she tried it. It didn't work, mainly because Howie went over to her house to visit her and took her to the hospital as soon as he saw what was going on.
She didn't make it though. They saved the baby, but she lost too much blood.
It had happened a year ago exactly. It was Holly's first birthday and all the other guys were helping organize a small party. It was going to be hard for him to go, but he loved the little girl, so he would. His mother had decided that she would take care of the baby, since she was Scarlette's and she was the most adorable thing. And she was on the road a lot with them, like she was now.
"Hey!" Nick came running by.
He snapped out of his daze and looked up. "Yeah?"
"Come on. We have to go get Hollz from Angie's room and then we are gonna have cake and stuff like that."
"Already?"
"Man, we've been working on this party from two hours. Where have you been?"
"You don't wanna know."
Later he looked around. Everyone was so happy. Didn't any of them remember? It had only been a year. Didn't they know what day it was?
"Of course they do." It was a voice. He tured around, only to find that he had been leaning up against a wall. The voice laughed at him. "They know what day it is today. It's Holly's birthday. They know what happened, but they are focusing on the good in life."
He looked around again. She was right. Holly was seated on Brian's lap, ripping away at a gift that Nick held up to her from where he was sitting on the ground. She was more interested in the paper then she was in what AJ had bought her.
"A wise woman once said 'Pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living.'" The voice quoting Mother Jones was right next to him. He looked to the spot next to him and found his mother standing there. "I know it's hard honey, but you can make it through this. The other guys are trying to stay tough, because they don't want to upset you. You can handle this. She is watching you and your father is making sure that she behaves herself."
He smiled at the mention of his father. "Thanks Mom."
"I love you. You're my baby. Try to have a little fun today. You need to take your mind off of Scarlette."
He nodded and gave his mother a hug before watching re-join the activites around him.
"She's right. You need to move on with your life." It was the voice in the wall again. "I will always watch over you, and be with you. But you need to watch out for Holly and the other guys. As much as they don't want to admit it, they need you."
"Hey!" Brian started, laughing.
"Yeah?"
"Look at what she got!" She had given up on the gift and Brian had opened it for her. He held up a tiny leopard print cowboy hat. Everyone looked at AJ.
"What? Can I help it if it's the cutest thing I've ever seen?" He defended himself. "Not to mention the fact that we match now!" Everyone laughed.
"Hey, why don't you come help her with this one." He thought about what both his mother and the voice that had been talking to him said. After a minute he made his way over where Brian was sitting and took the little girl out of his cousin's arms. Grabbing the present that he had got for her from the pile that had formed on the coffee table, he walked over to the couch.
Holly ripped the light blue paper off of the gift and started playing with it. He took the lid off of the small box and pulled out the white gold chain and locket. Everyone shot him puzzled looks.
"I don't plan on actaully giving this to her for a while, but Mom I want you to keep this for her until she's old enough to have it and not loose it. It has a picture of Scarlette in it and a picture of you. I don't intend on letting her forget who brought her to the rest of us."
Anne Richardson smiled at her son. He was healing. It would be a while before the pain went away and even then it wouldn't go away completely. But he was making progress.
Kevin would make it, with the help of Howie, AJ, Nick and Brian.
This was the beginning of him moving on.
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