Best of Me

You’ve always been what they never were, and this is why I am madly and irresistibly and cheerfully in love with you. Other women pass and my eyes never leave you. -Christopher Poindexter
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The next day was odd for Kat. She woke up feeling like she was having some sort of out-of-body experience. She read the text messages between her and Brian several times just to make sure that she wasn’t imagining things. They were having dinner that night and they were going to talk about what was happening between them. She was a little stressed out; she could use a smoke right about now, but that was not an option.

Kat had a lot of time before Brian was going to pick her up, so she used that time to do a little bit of work and then to go visit her dad.

David watched his daughter for a few moments, smiling softly. He was becoming prouder of her with every passing day. She was taking what would be a stressful situation and turning it into something amazing. He was never angry with her for getting pregnant. He wanted her to be married before a baby came into the picture, but he knew that life doesn’t always go according to plan.

David was incredibly excited to be a grandfather, and if he was honest, he was happy that it was Brian’s baby. Everybody knew that eventually Kat and Brian would get together, it just so happened to be a baby that was forcing them to open their eyes to the truth.

“Dad, you okay?” Kat asked, looking at him concerned. David smiled at her and nodded his head.

“Yeah, I’m good. What are you plans for this evening?”

Kat sighed happily as she sat down across from her dad. “I’m going out to dinner with Brian. We’re going to discuss some things.” She explained, nervously picking at the seam on her jeans.

“That’s good, Kat. You guys need to talk.” David bit back his grin. He had high hopes for Brian and his daughter. “I know that I don’t need to ask this, but he’s taking care of you, right?”

“This is Brian we’re talking about. He has taken care of me pretty much my whole life.”

“I know that, but you’re my daughter. I have to make sure that guys are treating you right, and that goes for Brian too.”

Kat appreciated her dad’s concern, but Brian was not a worry. If they remained friends, Brian would still be there for her. That much would never change.

“Before I forget, I was going through some stuff in the attic and I found a box. It’s some stuff from your mom; she wanted you to have it. I would have gotten it to you sooner, but I had no idea it was up there.” David explained as he stood from the couch and disappeared into his bedroom.

He returned a few moments later with a small box. Kat took it from him, feeling her throat tighten. She started to open the box but decided to save it for later. The last thing she need was to turn into a blubbering mess before her dinner with Brian.

“It’s crazy. It’s been years, but I still miss her so much. I wanted her to be here for this. It’s not fair.” Kat murmured as she ran her fingers over the box.

David took a few moments to collect himself before he could fall apart. He missed his wife more than anything, but his heart was breaking for Kat. “I know it’s not fair, sweetheart, but she is here. She might not be here physically, but she’s here, right in that big, beautiful heart of yours.”

Kat smiled knowing that David was right. Nicole was always there, and she always would be.

***

When 8:00 rolled around, Kat had just finished putting on her shoes when there was a knock on the door. Smiling, she smoothed out her clothes and answered it. Brian was standing on the other side with a grin. Kat was immediately happy that she didn’t get too dressed up.

She decided that a thin, black sweater, skinny jeans, and black ankle boots would suffice. She straightened her hair and wore simple makeup; her usual winged eyeliner enhancing her blue eyes.

“You ready to go?” Brian asked. Kat nodded and she locked up her house before the two of them went out to his car. It caught her off guard when Brian came over and opened the door for her, but it was really sweet.

As Brian drove them to the restaurant, they made small talk. Kat filled him in on her visit with her dad, including the box of stuff that her mom left her.

Brian knew that any topic involving Nicole Taylor was hard for Kat. It was a topic that was avoided unless absolutely necessary. Reaching over, Brian grabbed Kat’s hand, his thumb brushing over her knuckles.

“After dinner, I can bring Pinkly over and we’ll veg out. If you want, we can go through that stuff from your mom. It’s totally up to you, babe.” Brian offered and Kat couldn’t help but smile.

“That sounds good.” This was Brian’s nature when it came to Kat, and it was something that she greatly appreciated.

When they arrived at the small Italian restaurant, Kat realized just how hungry she was. As they walked in, she noticed that Brian was once again holding her hand. She didn’t comment on it, but she was secretly loving it. It was cliché, but it was almost like her hand was made to fit in his.

They were quickly seated, and their drinks had been ordered. Kat settled on a soda while Brian ordered a Jack Daniels & Coke. Part of her was jealous that she couldn’t drink again for a while, but it wasn’t that important. Once their drinks were brought out and they ordered their food, they decided it was time to get the conversation out of the way.

“I’m not going to lie; this is a little ridiculous.” Brian started, chuckling softly. “We’ve always been able to talk about anything, but now it feels awkward.”

Kat nodded as she sipped her drink. “To be fair, we’ve never had this talk before, except when we were kids.”

“Talk to me, Kat.”

She paused and her mind tried to quickly decide what she wanted to say. Kat was never one to put herself out there; she never made the first move, but this was Brian.

“My whole life I kinda had this idea that if I could fall in love with my best friend, that would be amazing. Since we’re being one hundred percent honest, part of me has always had feelings for you.” Kat admitted; her leg was bouncing nervously, and her heart was pounding violently.

“And now?” Brian pressed gently. Kat was struggling with this. She was having such a hard time opening up about this, and it didn’t help that she couldn’t tell what Brian was thinking. He was remaining expressionless for right now.

“Any feelings that I have for you were shoved to the side because you were with Michelle. Despite all the problems, you seemed happy and like you wanted to make it work with her. I didn’t want to stand in the way of that. And I was, and still am, scared that our friendship would be destroyed if something were to happen. It was better to forget about it and keep what we have. But now, I don’t know if I can keep pushing those feelings aside.”

Brian finished off his liquor and leaned back in the booth, fingers tapping against the tabletop. He knew that Kat was nervous about opening up, and he was too.

“When I kissed you, something became very clear to me. When we hooked up at prom, I thought the connection we had was just because we’re so close and because prom is this huge deal. When we hooked up at Matt’s party, we were completely shitfaced, so it was hard to figure out if there was a connection at all. When I kissed you, it was obvious that we were never just friends.”

Brian took a moment as the waitress brought him a fresh drink. He drank almost half of it in one swig.

“I did want everything to work out with Michelle, but you were the reason it never could. I’ve thought a lot about this and I realized that it was because I was always comparing you and Michelle. That wasn’t fair to her, but I couldn’t help it. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I do know that I want to at least try being with you. I think it could be really great, and no matter what happens, I’m never going to just cut you off. You’ll always be my best friend.”

Kat absorbed every word Brian said, doing her best to not cry. She cursed her pregnancy hormones and blinked her eyes quickly, forcing back the tears. Before she could respond to him, their food was brought out, and she was grateful. It gave her a few moments to compose herself.

“I want to try because I think this could really work. I want us to be a real family. I want our son or daughter to have parents that are together and happy. Most importantly, I want to try because I have real feelings for you.”

Brian broke out into a grin and Kat thought her heart was going to jump right out of her chest. Suddenly, she wasn’t so worried that things would get screwed up between them. However, they were going to take it slow in case things didn’t work out.

Kat and Brian ate their dinner happily, discussing the baby and the upcoming local tour the band was preparing for. They were both happy that they had talked about their relationship and they were ready to move forward.