Memories Won't Let Me Cry

"Where the hell is she?" Matt demanded to know, obviously frustrated as we had just finished searching the entire airport for about the sixth time.

"Corie, where did she say she was going to be?" Brian asked.

"I don't know, she just said she was landing today."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Maybe she caught a cab or something."

Corie shook her head. "No, she wouldn't do that. She knew I was coming to pink her up."

My cell rang and I quickly dug it out of my purse, looking at the caller ID before flipping it open and answering.

"What's up, Jimmy?"

"Where are you?"

"At the airport, looking for Matt's sister." I said as my eyes scanned the people around me, looking for any sign of Memphis.

"Are you all together?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because little miss Memphis just showed up at her folks." He informed me and my jaw dropped.

"What?" My voice rose and the other three looked at me in shock.

"What, baby?" Matt asked, immediately coming over to stand in front of me.

"We'll be right there." I said to Jimmy before hanging up the phone and saying, "She's at your parents'."

Matt blinked at me a few times before his eyes widened. "She is? But-"

"Don't ask questions, jackass, let's go!" Brian snapped and I looked to see he and Corie were already making their way, very quickly, towards the exits.

Matt grabbed my hand and pulled me along behind him, making me practically have to run full-speed to keep up with his long-legged stride.

I jumped in the backseat with Brian as Corie was already in the front passenger's and Brian got in beside me, strapping in as Matt started up the SUV and tore away from the curb.

The ride back to the Sanders' was tense and silent, and I knew the other three were preparing themselves for the reunion with Memphis. She seemed to mean everything to Matt and Brian; I could tell that they loved her, and I couldn't help but winder why they had let her go away without at least letting her know that.

We pulled to a stop and all got out at the same time, the doors being slammed shut in sync as we all rushed up to the house.

The door was already open and Anna, Matt's mom, stood in the doorway, watching us approach with Jimmy right beside her.

"She's home, Matt." She announced as we got closer and stepped outside to hug her son tenderly. "Our baby girl's home."

He smiled tightly at her and looked into the house without taking his precious aviator's off.

"Baby, come here." He said quietly and I stepped up beside him, linking our hands together as he nodded into the house.

And there she was, standing in her father's arms and smiling up at him as they spoke quietly to one another. Memphis Sanders was beautiful, even more beautiful than the girl I had seen in pictures. She had long, gorgeous blond hair and striking blue eyes. She looked a lot like her mother, I thought with a smile towards Anna.

And then those blue eyes were on us, looking at first to her brother with some sadness before they turned to me with interest. And when she looked away again, I knew she was looking at Brian as he stood on my other side with Jimmy to support him.

She turned to say something to her father and though I couldn't hear it, Corie obviously did and took a step forward with her hands on her hips.

"But I also remember me saying I would pick your toned ass up from the airport and we searched that fuckin place over 6 times!" I heard Corie reply from behind me.

"Well you were late!" Memphis replied and turned to face her best friend.

"Bullshit," Corie replied with a smile.

"Never!"

And then Corie closed the distance and the two girls hugged each other tightly, and both appeared to be crying.

Thinking this should be a private moment, I tried to take a step back and go outside for a while but Matt tightened his fingers around mine and looked down at me.

"I thought you might want to be alone with your family." I whispered with a small shrug.

He smiled a little and shook his head. "You stay here with me, baby."

I nodded and leaned into his side for a moment before standing on my tip-toes to kiss his cheek.

"Go ahead, honey." Anna said, patting his shoulder.

"Kid?" I heard Matt reply as he walked up beside Corie.

"Only people I love get to call me that." She countered and I flinched.

"Memphis!" Anna scolded, sounding a little shocked to hear her daughter say something like that.

"What? I'm surprised they even know who I am."

"People do make mistakes, Memphis." Matt said softly.

Memphis rolled her eyes and started to walk away with a nasty, "Whatever."

Brian took a step forward and called out for her, but she turned and stalked into the house and shouted for him to, "Go the fuck away."

There was an awkward silence and then Jimmy cleared his throat. "Well, that went well."

"Shut-up, Jimmy." Corie said nastily with her arms crossed.

"Just give her time, okay guys? And then she'll be back to her old self." Dan, Matt's father, said optimistically but Matt was shaking his head solemnly.

"She fucking hates us, Dad."

As the sound of desperation in my boyfriend's voice I went to him and hugged him, sliding my arms around his waist and resting the side of my face against his chest. He sighed and wrapped his arms around me, too, leaning down to kiss the top of my head.

"Well…we can kidnap her." Corie replied and I laughed with a small nod.

Jimmy scoffed and waved his hand in dismissal of that idea. "She looks like she could take us all."

Anna laughed. "It's worth a shot."

Matt shook his head. "She won’t forgive us for what we did to her. Hell, I can't even forgive myself."

Brian, who had been silent up until now, sighed heavily and ran his hands through his hair.

"You okay, Syn?" I asked softly and he shook his head.

"I'm going to head home." He said, his voice flat and his eyes big and sad.

Corie looked at him with a frown. "Brian, you don’t have to-"

"I know." He forced a smile. "I just want to…I need to get out of here. I'll call you later, Shads."

"Take care, dude."

"Syn, let me drive-" Jimmy started to offer but Brian shook his head.

"Nah, I can walk. It’s not that far." Brian smiled at me before turning to walk out of the house, his hands shoved in his pockets again and his head down.

I kissed Matt's cheek and ran out after Brian, worried about him. Even for all the teasing that he gave me, Brian was my best friend-besides Matt-and I needed to make sure he would be okay.

"Brian, wait!" I shouted as I ran after him and he stopped to turn around.

"What?"

I reached him and hesitated, not sure what to say. He knew I was always there for him, but would he appreciate me telling him that? Or would he be insulted?

Guys were always weird with this sort of thing.

"Um…" I chewed on my bottom lip for a minute before asking, "Call me, okay? Just…do it."

He chuckled. "Worried about me, huh?"

"No." I denied it quickly before sighing. "Yes."

He smiled a shook his head. "Don't be. I'm fine. But yes, I will call you."

I smiled, pleased.

"Do me a favor, will you?" He asked slowly without making eye contact.

"Sure."

"If she…if Memphis talks to you and…" He paused and shook his head. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but if she mentions me or anything, can you just tell her that I love her? And that I'm sorry."

I nodded. "I'll tell her. I promise."

He nodded and hugged me quickly before turning to walk away and I did the same.

"Lynds?"

I turned back to Brian. "Yeah?"

He smirked and winked. "Thanks."

I grinned and blew him a friendly kiss. "No worries. That's what I'm here for."

And then I turned to go back inside, where the others were plotting and trying to find a way to force Memphis into talking to them.