The Bad Boy is a King

Epilogue

A few months later.

He huffed, kicking the sand. "Dammit. I love you, okay?"

"But why me, Thomas?" I shouted as rain poured down on us much harder now.

"Why you?" He scoffed, clearly agitated. "What don't you understand? It's always been you, Annabelle. Always. Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"But, you could have any other girl. Any other girl who would be good enough for you." I said, not screaming this time.

I watched as he kicked his bare feet in the sand again, as rain continued to pour on us. His hair was wet, sticking to his face and so was mine.

He cupped my face in his hands, forcing me to look at me as he whispered, the space between us getting closer, "I don't want any other girl. No other girls would be good enough for me. I'm lucky that you think I'm good enough for you. You're better than every other girl. Any girl would not be able to make me smile even when it's hard. No other girls would be capable of being you. I only want the girl standing in front of me and I have for a while even if I didn't show at times. I have always wanted the silly, oblivious girl. So here I am, finally, just a boy asking a girl to love him."

"Will you love me?"

I felt tears running down my cheeks besides the buckets of rain and he wiped my cheeks. "Thomas, I will always love you. I'm sorry that it took me this long to realize that you actually cared about me. You shouldn't have to think that you need to ask me anymore."

"Just try not to break my heart," he said teasingly, with a small smile forming on his lips.

"Not unless you break mine," I answered, our faces getting closer, the space between us much limited now.

I wanted to kiss him. Our first real kiss together.

So I said it. "Kiss me."

"The thing is if I do, I don't think I'd be able to stop."  As he said that, his head leaned closer towards mine until our lips were barely grazing.  My eyes shut and -

Someone shouted, "Annabelle?"

I opened my eyes and backed away from Thomas.  He didn't let me go far because he wrapped an arm around me waits, brining me close.  It's Anthony, his green eyes red and wet with tears. I pulled away from Thomas and started to run to Anthony as he stood by the tall grass at the entrance of the beach on the wet, boardwalk.

"What happened?" I asked him as Thomas stood behind me and wrapped his arms around me.

"It's Lee," He said and he didn't have to say anything else for me to know what had happened.

Right then, it felt like my entire world went crashing down, leaving me standing to watch it all unfold.

Yet, again, I was oblivious to someone else. This whole time I had been oblivious to my eldest brother through his false laughter and smiles. Even when I asked him if he was okay and when he answered yes, I should have done more. But, I didn't. I still did not do enough. Now, it probably will be too late unlike with Thomas.

How could I have been so clueless to two major people in my life?

I'm only lucky with Thomas that he is alive.

Lucky. That is the word that describes me most. I was lucky that Thomas did not die like the doctors said he would. Lee was probably the brother I was closest to yet I let him down. I wasn't there for him. I didn't pick up the signs. Now he's lying in the hospital bed, unconscious. Yes, he did it to himself but I could have stopped it. I could have shown him there was more and I was here for him. It was too late now but maybe one day I won't be so oblivious to him.