Some People Stay

Bridget didn’t know how she felt about Jonathan coming back to Nashville. Sure, it was only going to be for a day and a half, but she wasn’t really sure what her feelings towards him was at the moment. She was still angry at him for keeping the stuff he knew about Amelia from her. But, the two of them had been friends for longer than Bridget could remember, and she wasn’t sure that she could really not talk to him for the rest of their lives.

When Jonathan had called her a couple of weeks ago, he had invited her and Amelia to the game. Part of her didn’t want to even tell Amelia about the invite. But, she knew that wouldn’t help anybody. She wasn’t sure if Amelia had talked to Jonathan or not, but she needed to at least tell her about the invitation, even if Amelia wasn’t going to take Jonathan up on his offer. Or maybe she would, Bridget wasn’t sure.

“Hey, Amelia,” Bridget greeted, walking downstairs into the living room to see Amelia sitting on the couch. Amelia still hadn’t gone back to work yet, not that anyone would blame her. Between her husband dying and her mental health getting a little out of control, it wasn’t evident that she would even be helpful at work. Fortunately, Amelia and David had saved quite a bit of money, and Amelia was financially well off, even if she didn’t work for the next couple years, let alone a couple of months.

“Hey Bridge,” Amelia said. Bridget knew Amelia was ready to get out of her house and go back to her own. But, the psychiatrist still thought it would be best for Amelia to stay with somebody, keep an eye out for any suicide attempts, even though Amelia had sworn up and down that she wasn’t going to kill herself. “What’s up?” she asked. The two sisters had begun to talk a lot more since Jonathan had left, something that Bridget was plenty grateful for. And, whether Jonathan’s leaving had anything to do with that or not, it was still a good sign for the sisters’ friendship.

“So, Jon called me,” Bridget began, leaving out the part that he had called her nearly two weeks ago. Amelia looked over at Bridget curiously at the mention of Jonathan’s name. “He invited us to the Blackhawks game against the Predators on Wednesday,” she told her. “I didn’t know if you wanted to go.”

“Umm...” Amelia trailed off.

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Bridget told her. “But, I think it might be good for you. You know, get out of this place. See Jon,” she added quietly. Sure, Bridget hadn’t exactly liked that Amelia and Jonathan had become so close with each other, but she knew that he had helped Amelia. And, while she hated the fact that it was him that had done it and not herself, she thought that maybe seeing Jonathan again would help her. And, hopefully this time, it wouldn’t hinder their own relationship.

“You think I should?” Amelia asked, obviously confused by Bridget’s sudden change of heart about her and Jonathan.

“Yeah,” Bridget nodded her head. “What do you think?” she asked.

“Sure,” Amelia replied. Bridget smiled at her before getting up and making her way to the kitchen. She decided to send Jonathan a text, letting him know that she and Amelia were going to be going to the game. Amelia and I will be there Weds at the game

She got a response back within seconds. Both of you?

Bridget felt a knot in the pit of her stomach. She hated that he was more excited that Amelia would be there than her, but that was something she would just have to deal with. She texted him back. Yep, both of us

Can’t wait to see you two! Bridget couldn’t help but feel that he could have cared less if she was there. But, she quickly put her phone away, grabbing some food out of the refrigerator for lunch and made her way back to the living room, sitting down next to Amelia, who was now watching television.

The next couple of days passed by quickly, and Wednesday came faster than anticipated for Bridget. She was ready to go to the game, just waiting for Amelia, who came down the stairs in a Blackhawks t-shirt. Amelia wasn’t sure exactly where she had gotten that shirt because she was fairly positive Amelia had never even watched a hockey game before, let alone own a professional team’s t-shirt. But, she wasn’t about to say anything about it. This was Amelia’s first time out since David had died, and Bridget wasn’t really sure how she was going to handle it. “Hey, I like you’re shirt,” Bridget smiled at her sister.

“Thanks,” Amelia replied, giving her a small smile in return. “I’m ready whenever you are,” she added, and Bridget stood up, grabbing her keys off of the table in front of her. The drive to Bridgestone Arena was filled with small talk, though neither of them were really talking about Jonathan.

Bridget finally got the courage to ask her sister about him as they were making their way inside the arena. “So, are you excited to see Jon?” she asked. “Have you even talked to him?”

Amelia shook her head. “No, I haven’t. I plan on doing it tonight, though. You said that he wanted to see us after the game, right?” she asked. Jonathan had asked to see the two of them after the game, and Bridget had told him that it depended on what Amelia wanted to do. He had told her he’d put their names on the list to get downstairs, though, and he hoped to see them.

“Yeah,” Bridget nodded. “We can go down after the game.”

“I guess I’ll talk to him then,” Amelia nodded, and Bridget left it at that. They went and found their seats, and waited for the game to start. The game itself was fairly eventful, with several goals scored by both teams, and the game needing to be decided in a shootout. Both Amelia and Bridget cheered when Jonathan scored a goal, which irritated most of the people around them, all being Predators fans. And, when Patrick Sharp scored the game winning goal in the shootout, they cheered even louder, much to the dismay of the other people. They ignored them, though, and got ready to go downstairs to see Jonathan.

As they waited in the hallway downstairs for Jonathan, Bridget looked over at Amelia, who was shuffling her feet. “Are you nervous or something?” Bridget asked her.

“What? No,” Amelia shook her head, though Bridget could tell she was lying.

“Amelia, you know he’s excited to see you, right?” Bridget told her.

“What?” she asked, looking up at her sister.

“Yeah, every time I’ve talked to him, he always asks about you, if you’re coming to the game, or if you’re coming downstairs afterwards. He’s been looking forward to see you,” Bridget told her.

“Really?” Amelia asked, and Bridget could tell in her eyes that she was happy to hear this.

“Yeah,” Bridget nodded her head. “He wants to see you, Amelia,” she added. And, though Bridget didn’t exactly want the two of them to go back to their previous friendship and edge her out, she could tell she had done the right thing in telling Amelia, because she had a genuine smile on her face as Jonathan walked out of the locker room to greet the two girls. And, Bridget noticed that Jonathan lit up as soon as he saw them, though she was sure that it was just because he saw Amelia, and it had nothing to do with the fact that he had just seen her as well. In fact, she wasn’t even sure if he had even seen her. She was fairly certain the only thing he was paying attention to was Amelia standing there.