Ohne Dich (Sequel to Stirb Nicht Vor Mir)

Chapter 16

July 4, 1999

"Are you sure that you don't want to be with your family?" I asked Ville as we laid down on my bed. 

"They're back in Finland."

"I feel bad."

"How about I just kidnap you and take you to Finland?"

"Honestly, I need some sort of fucking break. I mean, thank God I don't have to work tomorrow."

"Thank God you finally bought that apartment!"

"I know! I'm just worried it's not going to be enough and I'm going to have to find a babysitter and-"

"You always have Neil, his parents, and your mom."

"True."

"You don't have to pay them."

"True. When did you get so smart?"

"DINNER!" My mom shouted. 

Ville and I walked downstairs and I shrieked as I saw who was standing in front of me. I let go of Ville's hand and hugged him. 

"Da-Till, what are you doing here?!" I asked him. 

"I came here to celebrate the Fourth of July," He let me go. 

"I'll help set everything up," Ville whispered in my ear and walked over to the kitchen. 

"Actually, your mom and I have some news," Till said. 

"Wait until we eat!" My mom shouted. 

"Is Richard here?" I asked. 

"No, he-he wouldn't come," My mom replied. 

"Oh," I looked down. "I'll have to visit him sometime then."

We set up the table, each got our plates full of burgers, and then sat down. 

"Where's Ashton?" Ville asked. 

"Neil has him today, but he's going to drop him off in about a couple of minutes, then I'll drop him back off at Neil's to spend the night."

"Huh?"

"This year, I'm going to have him for the Fourth of July, but he's already at Neil's house, so I'll just drop him back off. Next year, I'll just have him the whole day."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Anyways," I turned to my mom. "What's the news between you and D-Till?"

"We are together," Till replied with a huge smile on his face, then kissed my mom. 

I was immediately filled with anger. After cheating on each other, they're still going to stay together. Maybe that's why Richard didn't come. 

"Is that why Richard didn't come?" I asked. 

"Yeah," My mom replied. 

"Great," I groaned and took a bite of my hamburger. 

"You're not even going to congratulate us?"

"Why would I-" I paused. "Congratulations Mom and Till."

"Congratulations," Ville added, trying to be polite. 

As soon as the doorbell rang, I raced to the door and opened it up. 

"Who's car is that?" Neil pointed to Till's car. 

"Till's."

"Ah. What's he doing here?"

"Fourth of July."

"Okay," He set down Ashton. "See you later, Ashton."

"Bye, Dwaddy!" He waved to Neil. 

"Bye."

I shut the door and brought Ashton over to the table. I sat him down on my leg and fed him some of my food. 

"I don't appreciate your attitude," My mom spoke. 

"I don't appreciate your actions," I spat. 

After eating, we all sat down on the couch and I apologized to Ville. 

"It's fine," He assured me. 

"It's not normally like this," My mom added. 

Ville and I sat down on the floor with Ashton and passed around a tiny, plastic ball in a circle. After a little while, we all went out front and did fireworks. 

"Look at that, Ashton!" I gasped. "It's blue!"

"Pink!" He shouted. 

"Pink," I chuckled. "Blue."

"PINK!"

"D-Don't scream, Ashton."

"Sorry, Mwommy."

"It's alright."

After a while of fireworks, Ashton started falling asleep in my arms. 

"I'm going to go drop him off at Neil's," I stood up. "Want to come, Ville?"

He nodded his head and we got into the car. When we arrived at his house, I groaned as I saw that Ashton fell asleep. I grabbed him cautiously and knocked on Neil's door. I handed him to Neil and quickly went back in the car while Ville drove away. 

"I'm really sorry about what happened," I said. 

"When?"

"At the table."

"Oh, that's alright."

"It's not, though. I got overdramatic. But it's so annoying! They can't just do that! They're basically rubbing it in Richard's face!"

"Does he even know?"

"I don't know! I hope he doesn't."

"Your parents-I mean, Till and your mom seem happy together."

"Yeah, they do. Goddammit!"

"What?"

"I have to start moving in tomorrow."

"Do you need me to help?"

"Do you mind?"

"No, not really."

"Do you ever fucking work?"

"No," He chuckled. "My job is to release music."

"Are you recording a new album?"

"Yeah."

"When?"

"We did some last year and later this year we are going to record some more."

"That sounds like fun!"

Deep down inside, I was upset because I didn't want him to be gone for long.