Nothing Is Ever Simple

WESTCHESTER

New Year’s Eve in West Chester was a much grander affair. Bam had invited half of the town to Castle Bam to celebrate and in the midst of the commotion; he himself was nowhere to be found. Rose and Ryan were sitting outside on the decking, sharing a joint that Ryan had procured from someone. The past few days had been unusually quiet in the castle but it seemed that Bam was making up for it now with this unnecessarily over the top party. He still seemed to be in denial about Amelia’s departure and although Ryan had tried talking to him about it, it was no use. He could not see how he was in the wrong and was not prepared to chase her when he had nothing to apologise for.

Rose was frustrated. She knew about her sister’s feelings for Johnny but she felt so useless. She couldn’t even confide in Ryan because she knew as Bam’s best friend he would have no choice but to tell him. Everyone still thought that Amelia had gone back to England and Rose was happy to play along with that story.

“Babe, what’s wrong? You’ve been really quiet all night.” Ryan turned to Rose and put a hand on her knee.

“I was just thinking about Amelia.” She sighed. She had looked forward to seeing Amelia and her nephew but as it turned out she would have to wait another few months before seeing them again.

“I’m sure she’s fine. You’ll see her when you go back home won’t you?” he smiled reassuringly but something about her expression planted the seed of doubt in his mind.

“She is in England isn’t she Rose?” Ryan raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend’s silence.

Rose rubbed her head in frustration and took a long drag of the joint. She could not lie to Ryan and even if she could he would be able to tell.

“Rose?” he repeated, staring at her intently.

She shook her head slowly and passed the joint to Ryan.

“Where is she Rose?” he asked gently.

“LA.”

“LA? What’s she doing there?” he asked, frowning.

Rose paused before answering and turned to the back door, thinking she had heard someone behind them. Once she was confident there was no one around to eavesdrop, she continued. “She’s staying with Johnny.”

“Of course. Knoxville.” Ryan nodded, as if a light had gone off in his head and everything was becoming clear. He was well aware of Johnny’s feelings for Amelia and although he could not be sure what his intentions were, he had a pretty good idea.

Rose looked puzzled and prompted Ryan to explain.

“Knoxville’s in love with your sister. He has been since they met back when we started the show and if Amelia’s ran off to him after rowing with Bam then, well, who knows what’s happened.”

Rose stared at him in disbelief. “He’s in love with her?”

“Well yeah, it’s not that hard to imagine is it? They’re practically inseparable when they’re together. It’s always been that way and Bam’s always had a problem with it.”

“I had no idea Johnny felt that way.” Rose shook her head, thinking back to her phone call to Amelia the other day. She wondered if her sister knew that the man she was in love with felt the same way.

“Well he does, and he’s probably making a move on her as we speak.” Ryan told her dramatically.

Rose bit her lip and Ryan could tell that she was trying to hide something from him. She realised she might as well tell him what she knew, hell, everyone would probably find out sooner or later.

“Amelia’s in love with Johnny.” She said so quietly that Ryan could only just tell what she was saying.

“What?” he exclaimed, his face contorting in confusion.

Rose summed up Amelia’s phone call to Ryan, leaving him staring off into the distance in surprise.

“Well, that really changes things doesn’t it?” He said after a while.

“Are you going to tell Bam?” Rose asked worriedly, not wanting to imagine how her brother in law would react to the news.

Ryan shrugged. “I don’t know. He doesn’t seem particularly bothered that he’s not heard from her does he?”

“Please don’t say anything to him Ryan. Amelia needs some time to deal with this on her own.”

“Ok.” Ryan conceded and he leant over to kiss her on the cheek.

The next morning a huge cleanup operation was under way, headed of course by April. The guys including Dico, Rake, Raab and Novak had been enlisted to help alongside Rose and Ryan but Bam was still nowhere to be found. This would have not been a particularly unusual occurrence, had it not been for his missing passport, the absence of the Hummer and as April noted the fact that one of the overnight bags was gone.

“You don’t think he overheard us last night do you?” Rose asked frantically. Ryan had tried ringing Bam over and over again but there was no answer.

“I don’t know.” He sighed. “I really don’t know.”

Rose followed Ryan in to Bam and Amelia’s bedroom and sat down on the bed. She wondered if she should ring to warn Amelia that Bam might be on his way, but then again he had shown no interest in her whereabouts for the rest of the week. For all they knew he might have gone anywhere else in the world.

“Try ringing him one more time.” Rose suggested. She did not want to worry her sister unnecessarily and she watched silently as Ryan paced around the room and dialled Bam’s number once again.

All of a sudden a ring tone filled the room. Rose and Ryan simultaneously jumped and Rose scrambled over to the bedside table where a battered Blackberry lay vibrating. She picked it up and saw Ryan’s name flashing on the screen. The idiot had only gone and left his phone at home. She showed it to Ryan who threw his own phone down on the bed in frustration. They looked at one another helplessly, knowing that all they could do now was to wait until either Bam or Amelia got in contact with them.

“Let’s never get married.” Rose joked.

“Agreed.” Ryan laughed, sitting down beside her on the bed and placing an arm around her.

She tilted her head onto his shoulder and tried to force thoughts of her sister out of her head. Amelia was old enough and independent enough to take care of herself, but Rose often felt like she needed to look out for her, especially when guys were concerned. Amelia had the tendency to allow men to walk all over her.

Rose and Ryan sat in silence for a few minutes. Rose was staring at the photo on the bedside table of Bam, Amelia and Brandon that had been taken the day he had been born. They both looked so happy and in love, she wondered how things could have changed so much. Suddenly Bam’s phone began to ring, making them both jump again. Instinctively Rose picked up the phone to look at the caller ID on the off chance that it might be Amelia. The name however, was not familiar to Rose.

“Terri?” she questioned, looking at Ryan to see if he recognised it.

His face had turned pale and he took the phone off her to answer it. “Terri?” he said into the phone.

Rose frowned at him, unable to hear the other line. From the look on his face she was sure the fact that this ‘Terri’ was ringing Bam could not be a good thing.

“Do you know where Bam is?.. No, I don’t… He’s left his phone at home… When did you last see him?… Oh you did?… And?… You do know he’s married now don’t you… Yeah that’s right… Well I suggest you stay away…goodbye.”

Rose turned to look at Ryan. “What the hell was that about? Who’s Terri?”

Ryan sighed. He was reluctant to tell Rose as she was Amelia’s sister but she deserved to know the truth. “Bam used to see Terri from time to time while he was still with Jenn. And by see, I mean sleep with. And by from time to time I mean a lot of the time. He ditched her a few months before Amelia arrived here. As far as I know he hadn’t seen her since but Terri just told me they’ve been ‘hanging out’ recently. “

Rose felt a wave of anger sweep over her. “So…what are you saying?”

“I think Bam’s seeing her again.”

Rose looked at him in disbelief. She knew that Bam could be an asshole but she had never thought he was capable of being that much of an asshole. “I’ll kill him.” She muttered, feeling her cheeks flush with rage.

Ryan felt just as angry with Rose. The last time he had felt this angry with his friend was when he ditched Amelia during her pregnancy at Ryan and Johnny had found him semi-conscious from the amount of alcohol he had consumed, in some dirty motel room. Now Bam had finally started to sort his life out. Meeting Amelia had helped him cut down on the drinking and partying and he had settled down with a wife and son. How stupid could Bam be to jeopardise all of that with a whore like Terri. He wondered if she had something to do with Bam cutting Amelia out of the show. Perhaps he was feeling guilty and thought that by having Amelia around less would help. “I’ll kill him too.” Ryan murmured, staring in disgust at Bam’s phone that he still held in his hand.

“How sure are you that he’s actually sleeping with her?” Rose asked Ryan. “We need to tell Amelia. This will change her whole outlook on the Johnny situation because I know how guilty she feels about hiding everything from Bam.”

“I’m almost certain.” Ryan sighed. “I know Bam too well, and I also know that Terri would not let something as trivial as marriage and family come in the way of getting her claws back into Bam. Do you know something? I always thought that if Bam did ever fuck things up it would be with Jenn, not Terri. He and Jenn had a lot of history and I was always worried that he was going to slip up and see her again. I even went out of my way to make sure Jenn didn’t turn up at the wedding. As it turns out I’ve been worrying about the wrong person.”

Rose sighed and put a hand on Ryan’s back. “You weren’t to know how much of an idiot he is.”

Ryan shook his head. “Yes I was. He’s been my best friend for over thirteen years. I know exactly what he’s like and capable of.”

Rose held her tongue, wishing Ryan would not feel so guilty. There was nothing he could have done to stop his friend. “I guess this changes everything huh?”

Ryan nodded. Rose was right. They had to warn Amelia, especially if Bam was on his way to LA to try and win her back. “I don’t think it’s such a good idea to ring Amelia. Let’s go and visit. Something like this is better said in person.”

Rose agreed. She wanted to be there for Amelia when she broke the news. “I’ll pack while you book the tickets.”