Blue Eyes

Link's Secret

Link POV

"Uhhhh.... Rhett?"

"Yeah?"

"I-I gotta tell you something, man." I really can't hide this anymore. I have to tell him. I hate keeping things from him and this has been eating away at me for way too long.

"Oh. What's up Link?"

"I've been keeping something from you for a while now."

" I know."

"I didn't really know what to say at first bu- wait. You know?"

"Of course, man. Come on. I'm your best friend. I know when something's up with you." Sounds familiar.

"Ya know that's exactly what Sarah said to me the night of our anniversary."

"Jessie must have told her." That sounds familiar too.

"She said that too."

"So what IS up with you anyway?" I gotta tell him.

"I- I have a daughter."

"Oh wow." That's exactly how I felt, man.

"Yeah. Her name is Lilly. She's eleven years old."

"That's great! But wait.... how is that possible?"

"Remember when I dated Christy White back in college?"

Rhett POV

"Yeah. Well apparently right after we broke up she found out she was pregnant." I don't believe this.

"Wow. That's- I don't believe that."

"Yeah. Neither did I until she came to find me one of those nights we weren't setting up our new studio."

"Christy came to find you?"

"No. Not Christy. Lilly. She told me that Christy never knew that she came to find me. Apparently Christy talked about me but never told her anything more than my name and where I lived. She was curious. I don't blame the kid. I mean, look at my parents. They're divorced but at least I know both of them and they're both a big part of my life......" That is very true. I don't think he would be the same person if he didn't know both of his parents.

"I mean i-if I didn't know who one of my parents were I would go looking for them too. Especially if I was told very little about them." He looks at his hands as if he's trying to avoid looking at me.

He sniffles. "She had to do the rest herself. Rhett, she came all the way from San Francisco to find me......alone." He looks up at me with tears in his eyes. I don't think I've seen him this upset about anything since..... well, Sarah left back in high school.

"Come here, bud." I stand up and he does too but he's looking at the floor again. I open my arms and wait for him to come in for a hug. He does eventually and then he starts crying on my shoulder.

"Hey, listen to me. You are one of the bravest and most courageous people I know. Not a lot of people that I know would do all of the crap that we've done. I sure wouldn't do them by myself. She sounds a lot like you. She's brave, just like her father." He smiles and thanks me, wipes the tears off of his face and we sit back down on the couch.

"Yeah but she looks like her mother. And the conversation I had with Christy is a whole other story."

"Well let's see.... Jessie's home with the boys and Sarah's still at work. All we had to do was film today so I got time. I'll listen if you're ready to talk about this."

He shakes his head yes and then starts to tell me.

"I asked her if she was seeing anyone or if she was married or something like that and she said no."

"Oh?"

"She hesitated to tell me why but then eventually did." He stops. He takes a deep breath and then continues.

"She said that she was waiting on a guy who had his heart set on someone else."

"Oh!"

"She was talking about me, man. I screwed up. What am I gonna do?"

"But you have Sarah. Don't forget her."

"I would never ever forget Sarah. Not in a million years. Why would you even bring that up?!" Woah. Link is really tense. Is it really bothering him that much?

"Sorry, man. I was just wondering."

"I know. I just feel bad for Christy that's all. I never really meant to hurt her."

"Is it really bothering you that much?"

"Yeah. It is. I hurt someone that I really cared about. I never meant for any of that to happen but my heart was just not into it anymore. When I saw her again I just felt horrible."

"I hear you."

"She said that she wished it didn't end the way that it did and I agree with her. Some times I wonder what life would be like if I actually went through with it and married her."

"What?"

"Yeah. Don't you ever wonder what life would be like if you did something different? Think about it this way. What would we be doing if we didn't make music or have Good Mythical Morning?"

"Well we wouldn't be out in LA that's for sure."

"Right. We would be.... Engineers. We'd be back home in North Carolina."

I guess I never thought about this. "Wow. We'd be back home."

"Do you see what I mean?"

"Yeah. I do. But how did Christy fit into all that?"

"She didn't. Which is why I had to break it off. She wasn't the right one for me, Sarah is. And I wasn't the one for her. Even though she may think so. There's someone out there for her. I'm sure of it."

"Wasn't she the one who suggested that we do something in the entertainment field?"

"Oh yeah. She was. She always thought we were funny- funnier than we gave ourselves credit for anyway. I'm glad we listened to her."

"Me too."

"I have to thank her for that one day."

"We both do."