Stumbling Into Perfection...

Chapter 4

Liam followed Holly into her room, closing the door after they made it inside. She was crying so hard he wondered how she'd even been able to open the door for him. She sat down on the bed, folding her arms over her stomach while sobs shook her body. Liam watched her for a moment, wondering if he should leave her be. Watching someone experience this kind of grief seemed like an invasion of privacy.

Holly shook her head,

"You saw. Don't tell me you didn't see that."

"Yeah...I saw it." He admitted reluctantly.

"She hates me. I told you, she's never gonna forgive me."

Liam thought for a moment. There was something he was missing. Something he didn't know. Holly had told him plenty about their relationship the other night, but even then he felt like she was holding back.

He took a seat next to her on the bed,

"Maybe just some time then? I don't know Jennifer well enough to know if she holds grudges."

Holly scoffed,

"Jennifer doesn't hold grudges, she just erases you out of her life like you never existed. She becomes indifferent...which is so much worse than holding a grudge."

Liam sighed. He felt helpless. There was nothing he could do to help this situation. He felt even more responsible than he had before. He reached up and touched her shoulder,

"You can talk to me, Hol." He whispered softly, "You can tell me anything."

She wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to look at him,

"This has happened before, Liam. The drinking, the two of us being so far apart. Years ago before we were even out of high school." Liam raised his eyebrows. He couldn't say that was shocking. Jennifer could hold her alcohol. He knew the signs of alcoholism, he'd almost been there himself. Holly nodded, "She promised me it would never happen again. She swore on our friendship."

Liam sighed,

"What would make her start again? Being on tour? That seems like an odd trigger."

Holly wiped her nose with the back of her hand and let her hand fall to her lap with a clap,

"It wasn't touring that triggered her..." She looked over at Liam, "The night we were in the room with you, while I performed for the spot on your tour...she got back to her house and she walked upstairs to see if her mom was feeling better. She'd been sick." She blinked a few times and focused on the wall behind Liam, "Jennifer found her mother on the floor, dead." Liam dropped his head while Holly continued, "She'd taken so many painkillers it would've taken a horse down."

Liam had no idea what to say. He was fairly sure he'd never heard anything more terrible in his whole life. He glanced over at Holly's hands, against her thighs, white from the pressure of pushing against her legs. He reached over and took her hand in his,

"In all my life, I will never know what that did to her. Her voice when she called to tell me..." Holly shook her head as tears choked her voice, "It was the saddest sound I've ever heard. She was alone, Liam. I was signing contracts and I couldn't get away. She was alone."

Liam reached his other hand over and put it against Holly's cheek. She focused on him,

"Jennifer has a brother. He's older and he blamed her. When he got to the house that night, they had a huge fight. Screaming the most horrible things at each other. He told her she was responsible for it, told her she did nothing to stop it. They haven't spoken since." Holly wiped away a few tears that slipped down her cheeks, "So you see, when I tell you that Jennifer just erases people out of her life...I mean just that."