Sweet Magnolias Autumn

We Meet Again

Ty 

I was lost in my head, so maybe that's why I didn't see that someone else was on the couch when I came down the stairs just after midnight. I was about to sit in the corner of the couch where the two parts of the sectional meet when I heard someone.

"Hey," Annie says. 

"I'm Sorry I didn't see you," I tell her as I move toward the other corner of the couch. 

"No worries. It's not exactly like I saw or heard you until you were right here; sorry," she says. 

"Can't sleep again," I ask.

"Yeah, something like that," she responds as she fiddles with the end of her sleep shirt. Annie is sitting there in blue sleep pants with fancy suns and moons on them and a slouchy, short-sleeved white shirt. "You?" she asks. 

"Um... something coach said to me is uh... being pretty loud right now. Besides, this is the only time when the house is quiet," telling her a partial truth. 

"Care to share?" She asks.

"You first," I tell her.  "What has, you awake two nights in a row?"

"Nothing last night; I just couldn't sleep. Tonight, well...tonight, I owe you an apology," she says before looking down at her lap and then back up at me. She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry I put you in that situation this afternoon. It's not your problem, and it's not your place to save me. I'm sorry; I shouldn't have called you. I'm sorry," she says. Annie was apologizing to me. I thought she would have been angry with me that I didn't do more sooner. "Thank you for helping me, though; I froze, and you were there to help. Thank you. I really appreciate it." 

"Annie," I said before swallowing hard and starting again. "Annie, you don't owe me an apology. You're my best friend, and I always help you if I can. Besides, that was a difficult situation. I would have been more surprised if you hadn't frozen." I tell her truthfully. "Are you okay?" 

 "Yeah, he didn't break anything," she tells me.

"That's not what I meant," I tell her. She blows out a breath and looks around the room. 

"I'll get there; there's a lot to process. I'll just add giving him a second chance to the list of bad decisions I've been making lately."

"Don't you believe in the good? The world is a dark place. Sometimes, we need to believe in the good?" I tell her, knowing that part of this is my fault. "I'm sorry, too. I saw you get close with him at VBS and should have said something. I was a bad friend. I knew he wasn't a good person, I should have protected you." 

"It's not your job to protect me, Ty..." Annie says, and then I cut her off.

"Doesn't matter. I'll always want to protect you." 

"Well, you can't. I'll have to fall sometimes to learn, and when I do, just be there to help me back to my feet. I'm a big girl, Ty. I made my decisions. I knew your history with him. I knew how he acted. I decided to see the good, as you said. My mistake; don't take it on. You can't take on my mistakes and pain." 

"You know me too well," I tell her, which causes her to laugh a little. I miss your smile." 

"Fight over. Best friends, again," she says, holding out her hand. 

"Fight over and Best friends always," I tell her. Grabbing her hand, we shake once and then slide our hands so that our fingers curl into each other—our special handshake. Besides, you brought some of Aunt Helen's lemon bars. I can't really stay mad at you now."

"Tell me what Cal said that has you awake," she says, leaning back into the couch. Our hands are still connected. 

"He's proud of me and to stop being so angry at the world," I tell her the truth well, a part of it anyway.