Burn

Drew woke up that Friday morning feeling the most at peace she had ever felt. She knew it was the day before Brian's wedding; but that didn't matter. Drew came to terms with it. There was nothing she could do to stop anything. She had worked too hard and Brian was happy. Michelle made him happy. All they would ever be was friends.

"Drew stretched her arms high over her head, stretching her tired muscles and cracking the stiff bones in her body. She turned her head and looked out the window. It was gorgeous. The sun was shining, birds were singing their spring songs. It was really the perfect day. Drew got out of her bed and made her way into the kitchen. She brewed her morning tea and walked out to her deck. She sat down in the deck chair and watched the morning. Sitting out like that reminded her of her parents back in North Carolina. She hadn't talked to them in a while. They weren't too happy when she decided to stay in California after she graduated from MIT. Drew smiled lightly as she pulled out her cell phone and dialed her childhood home. "Hello?" Her mother answered. Drew's heart warmed. She missed her mother so much.

"Hey, Mama." She smiled.

"Drew? Is that you baby?" Her mother's southern voice asked with happiness.

"Yeah mama, it's me." She laughed. Her mother was the sweetest woman in the world; True southern lady, too.

"Oh honey! I'm so happy to hear from you. I have been so worried." She gushed.

"Aw, Mama. You don't have to worry about me. I'm fine." Drew smiled, sipping on her tea.

"You're my baby! Of course I'm going to worry about you. That's what a mama does." Drew rolled her eyes lightly. She knew where this was going to go. "When you have your babies, you will worry about them too."

"I've told you before mama, there will be no babies from me. I'm not mother material."

"Oh of course you are! You are the daughter of Laura Calvin!" She exclaimed. "I raised you knowing how to take care of your baby dolls. You will be perfect and have the most beautiful babies just like me and your daddy." Drew sighed, pulling her knees up to her chest; hiding her flat stomach.

"How is daddy?" She asked quickly changing the subject.

"Oh he's still your same old daddy. Stubborn as a mule but with the biggest heart." Drew smiled. She was a true daddy's girl. He was the one man who he would love no matter what. "He's sleeping in his chair right now. Passed out watching the news again." She chuckled. She could only imagine him snoring away in his lazy boy that was far too old for it's own good. He said it was broken in just right so there was no way he'd give it up now. "How is your work dear? Been busy?"

"Extremely busy, mama. I love it though. I'm very happy."

"Well you should invest in a wedding place out here. You know how southern weddings are; big, loud, and expensive. You'd do much better out her than you are in California." Drew groaned lightly. Her parents were always pressuring her to move back to North Carolina.

"Mama, There are a lot of people wanting very expensive weddings out here. California is an expensive place." She told her for the billionth time.

"That's why I worry about you! You're all alone out there and I worry about you not having money to support yourself."

"Do you think I need a man to take care of me?"

"I am just saying it would help, dear. You wouldn't be lonely and you'd have security. That's all I want for you." She replied. Drew put her head in her hands. This was why she hadn't talked to them in a while. "Oh! How about that nice friend of yours? What was his name...oh! Brian! What about him?" Great, the one this she didn't think her mother would remember; he was was fresh on her mind.

"No. We'll only ever be just friends, mama." Drew replied.

"Friends can fall in the deepest of love. That's how I got your father." Laura smiled.

"He's getting married tomorrow. I can't just break them up." Drew replied. Her mother gasped just like she knew she would.

"Oh no! No, Don't break that up. That is just not polite and proper." She replied. That was her southern mother in a nutshell; polite and proper. "Don't you like him though?"

"We're friends. That's all, mama." Drew sighed.

"Baby, I know you better than that." She replied. Drew rolled her eyes. She hated how much her mother truly knew her. "Oh! Your father's awake. Would you like to talk to him?"

"Uh, No. That's alright, Mama. Doesn't he have to go back to work soon?" She asked looking for an excuse not to talk to her father.

"He's been working so hard lately that he was forced to take some vacation days." Her mother explained. "Here he is, honey." Drew groaned. She loved her father more than anything. He just didn't agree with her lifestyle. He believed that you should stay in the town you were born in your whole life. Needless to say, Drew thought differently.

"Hello?" Her father's gruff voice answered.

"Hi daddy." Drew answered timidly.

"Drew." He replied. "How are you?" He asked trying to make conversation.

"I'm alright, Daddy. How's work?"

"Fine." He shortly replied. "You calling to tell us to meet you at the airport?" Drew groaned and shook her head. He always asked that.

"No, daddy. I'm not coming home. I'm happy out here. I'm successful. I have friends out here." She explained to him once again.

"You got friends here." He argued.

"Daddy, they're all from high school. I don't know them anymore. Besides, they're all married and have kids. We have nothing in common." She was wasting her breath. No matter what she said, he would still want her to come home.

"If you marry a boy here then you will have things in common. Your mom always sees them at bingo nights. You can go with her." Again, he argued.

"I hate bingo! Daddy, I'm happy. This is my home now." He was silent for a moment. "Daddy?"

"Here's your mother." He huffed before handing the phone back to his wife. Drew groaned. Once again she had made her father mad.

"I'm sorry, baby." Her mother apologized.

"No. Do not apologize for him. It doesn't help. He doesn't understand that I'm not like you all. I don't want to be married and have kids for a long time. I want to have a career. I'm only 29. I'm not ready to be settled down yet." Wrong thing to say.

"Well then I'm glad you don't have to be like us country hicks, dear. I have to go make lunch now." Her mother quietly replied. Drew sighed realizing what she had said.

"Mama, That's not what I meant."

"No. It is, honey. I understand. You have fun and be safe out there. I love you. Goodbye dear." Her mother replied before hanging up. Drew screamed, tossing her phone onto the wooden deck. There was sure to be some new scratches on it; but that was the least of her worries. She loved her family. What she didn't love was how controlling they were. Her father didn't like that his only daughter had left his control and taken control of her own life. Drew stood up from her chair. She needed to clear her mind. She walked into her room and put on some running clothes. She grabbed her ipod, stuck the buds in her ears, and left the house. The beach was only a short way from her house. Once she reached the hot sand, she turned on her ipod to her running play list; every rock, motivating song that existed. It was perfect for her aggression. Drew smirked lightly and took off down the coastline. She would run off her pent up frustration even if it killed her.

******

4 hours later, Drew was waiting for the wedding party at the airport. She had ran an hour down the beach and an hour back. It was for sure the longest she had ran in a long time. It felt amazing. She then took an hour to get showered, dressed, and packed up. It was a time that she was putting off as much as possible. Brian and Michelle were actually getting married tomorrow. This was it. The first day of the rest of their lives and the last day of hers. Drew put on a fake smile as she watched all of her friends walk through the airport doors. "Drew boo!" Jimmy yelled, running over and picking her up in a giant hug.

"Hey there, Jimmy Bean." She laughed as she hugged him back. Drew and Jimmy were like siblings. They fought over the dumbest things but whenever had one of them had any trouble, they were the first to each other. "Ready for Mexico?" She asked when he put her down.

"I'm going to get a sombrero!" He laughed like a little kid. Leana walked over and put her arm around her man's waist.

"Alright, Jimbo." She smiled. "Lets get to the plane. We're late as it is." She replied with a roll of her eyes as she pulled him away.

"Late? Who made you late?" Drew asked out loud to no one in particular.

"Oh Michelle took extra long at the salon doing pre-wedding shit." Lacey explained as she held onto an intoxicated looking Johnny. Drew groaned pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Johnny, Please don't tell me you're going to be off loaded again." Johnny smirked a drunk smile.

"We'll have to see if they let me on the plane first." He laughed. Drew took her folder and hit him over the head as they walked by. Next to come was Zacky and a very pissed off Gena.

"Drew, I will kill her. You know me. I am going to fucking murder her as she walks down the damn aisle." Gena growled as she walked over and hugged her. Drew laughed and returned the hug.

"Get on the plane and order a strong drink. It will be alright." Drew reassured her. Gena nodded her head.

"I swear, If she and Brian try to fuck in the bathroom; dead." She muttered as she took Zacky's hand and pulled him towards the terminal. Zacky looked back to Drew and mouthed 'Help me'. She laughed and with a shrugged of her shoulders mouthed 'Good luck'. He rolled his eyes as he continued to be dragged off with Gena. Drew laughed and turned around only to be face to chest with Matt. With a small 'eep' out of her mouth, she pushed him away from her.

"Matthew Charles Sanders, I fucking hate when you do that!" Matt laughed and ruffled up her hair. "And that too! Makes me feel like I'm fucking 12 years old." She complained.

"Well you are about as tall as one." Matt smirked earning a glare from her.

"Hey. In her defense, she has her big girl heels on. That makes her about 14." Brian laughed as he walked towards them. Drew pouted and folded her arms across her chest.

"I hate you guys." She mumbled. Matt smiled and kissed the top of her head. To Drew, Matt was like her father figure. The big, strong man who she could always count on when things got rough. "So where are Val and Michelle?"

"Doing last minute gift store shopping." Matt groaned.

"They do know that they can get all that stuff in there anytime they want, right?" Drew asked suspiciously.

"Whatever. It's their money this time, not ours." Matt laughed.

"Where did Michelle get money from?" Drew asked looking to Brian.

"I have no idea and I don't really want to know." He replied shortly. She could tell that it was a sore subject. It brought all kinds of things she wanted to say to him up into her mouth; but she wasn't about to let it out.

"I'm going to go wait in the terminal with everyone else." Matt replied. He kissed the top of Drew's head and walked off. It was just her and Brian. The day before his wedding to the worst woman on the planet. Her heart was aching and screaming for him not to do it. It wanted him to realize that she loved him more than anything and to dump the bitch. If only her head wasn't in control, then maybe she would have said it.

"I can't believe that it's finally here." Brian sighed. Drew nodded looking down at her watch. Michelle needed to hurry up. She was going to miss the plane. "So what did you do today?" He asked.

"I woke up, talked to my parents, went for a run, and got ready. Now I'm here." He nodded and then caught one part of what she said.

"Whoa, wait. You talked to your parents?" She nodded. "How'd that go?"

"Mom was asking about my love life, when I'm going to have kids and all that crap." She replied with slight annoyance.

"Your mother is sweet." He laughed. "I love how much of a southern belle she is." Drew smiled lightly. Even though the two had never physically met, her mother was fond of Brian. She knew that he was protective of her. It gave her peace of mind. It was cute. "You talk to your dad?" Drew sighed and nodded again. "Still not thrilled on you being out here?"

"He just doesn't understand." She sighed. "He's still mad that I left because out here he doesn't have the control over me anymore." Brian nodded, remembering the whole story of her childhood. "I can't go back there. I can't give him the satisfaction." Brian laughed lightly. "What?"

"I can tell where you get your stubborn side from." He smirked. Drew laughed and pushed his shoulder.

"Lets go!" Michelle smiled, wrapping her arms around Brian, almost hitting Drew in the head with her bag of gifts. Drew glared at her lightly. "Come on, don't want to be late for our wedding." She smiled putting the emphasis on 'our'. Drew ignored it the best she could.

"Yes, go. You don't want to miss the flight." She smiled at them.

"Aren't you coming?" Brian asked, ignoring the fact that Michelle was slobbering all over his neck.

"I'm taking a later flight out with some of the vendors." She replied with her fake smile. Brian looked devastated for a moment but quickly recovered. "My assistant Alice is already in Mexico waiting for you. She's going to take care of everything."

"Sounds great!" Michelle smiled. "Lets go." She said to Brian, pulling him away. He wiggled free of her grasp for a moment.

"You're really not coming with us?" Brian asked. Drew smiled lightly.

"Unless you want no flowers or food and a very unhappy Michelle, then I have to stay back." She told him. Brian nodded lightly. "It'll be fine. Alice is wonderful. She'll take care of you guys."

"Brian. Come on!" Michelle ordered impatiently. Brian sighed and wrapped his arms around her tightly. Drew hesitantly hugged him back. She couldn't resist.

"See you, Drew." Brian whispered into her ear. Drew pulled back and looked deeply into those gorgeous, sad eyes.

"Goodbye, Brian." She replied, holding back her tears. Michelle grabbed hold of Brian's arm and pulled him away from Drew. She didn't even say goodbye to her; only an evil glare. Drew watched painfully as he walked away. It was the hardest thing she ever had to do; watch him walk away while keeping a smile on her face. As soon as she saw him walk out of sight, she walked over to the ticket counter.

"Hi. How may I help you?" The attendant smiled.

"Checking in." Drew told her, handing her the photo ID.

"And where are you headed this afternoon?" She asked. Drew sighed and looked over towards where Brian had walked off.

"New York."