Young and In Love

Reggie was numb as he backed out of his driveway. He felt helpless and hollow inside.

His father had stayed at the hospital, keeping watch. Reggie had been sent home to rest and was going back to the hospital later that evening. He did not know how he was going to get through this. He couldn’t rest and decided to drive to try to clear his head. He didn’t know how he ended up here.

***

Betty was tired, but she couldn't go to sleep yet. She still had four chapters to do for math, plus at least three hours of work in English. She'd been up late the night before doing her physics. She hated physics. She wished she still had Reggie's notes. She'd lost them somehow. She had had a dream that Reggie came and took them away in the middle of the night, but she didn't want to

think about it; she was annoyed that she'd lost them.

She'd gotten behind in all her classes, but her teachers were all sympathetic and understanding of her behavior. She had always been a good student, and they were going to let her make up her work. She told herself she could do it, kept prodding herself along as she wanted so much to give up. She looked over at a large pile of  envelopes on her desk, ripped from when they had been opened. They all said the same thing; ‘Pleased to tell you that you have been accepted. Accepted. Accepted’.

And that reply had been the same from the school where Reggie was going. ‘Accepted’. That  acceptance letter had been what she had wanted the most. It was a great school, and a huge school. But she couldn't go there if Reggie was going to attend school there. It was impossible now. But her second choice was just as good, and even more prestigious, though it was smaller. And it was out of state. She chose to go to her second choice. She tried to picture her dorm, her roommate a faceless figure welcoming her. She thought of the things she would put on her wall. Pictures of Archie, and her parents, whoever would be her new boyfriend, Ethel and Nancy--her very best friends. She hoped Nancy would accept her apology for her behavior when she hung out with Peter’s crowd. The other people she had hurt with her attitude were, Ethel, and her parents, she hoped they would forgive her as well. It wasn’t as if she had ever fought with any of her friends. She had just neglected them, or just acted cold towards them. She knew who her true friends were now.

But Archie, she'd hurt Archie the most. She promised herself she would talk to him, really talk to him, before she left for college. She would always feel horrible for the way she had used him, and how much she must have hurt him.  Her mind wandered back to her new life, and all the people she would meet at college. She had no boyfriend to worry about across the country, no worrying if he had found someone better. But another image crept into her mind, a faceless guy, maybe one who lived in the dorm across from hers. She imagined watching movies in his room, and studying with him as they groaned about their professors. She smiled, starting to feel excited. See, she told herself, aren't you glad you never killed yourself? That would have been so lame, she thought. My life is just beginning. I’m glad I have no boyfriend to hold me down.

She tried to picture herself married, to yet another faceless guy. She imagined herself in the grocery store, maybe running into her old high school boyfriend, Reggie Mantle. They would be cordial, and talk about their jobs and their spouses and their children laughing over their puppy love relationship. Then she would happily go home to her family.

See, she thought again, my life really is just beginning. She forced herself back to her work, pushing thoughts she didn't want to hear out of her head.

After two hours of grueling studying, Betty took a break from  to watch the news and get something to eat. She was sitting on her couch eating cereal when she saw headlights through the curtains and heard a motor in her driveway. Her heart skipped a beat.

It sounded like Reggie’s car. She’d heard the purr of his engine too many times to count.

She returned her gaze to the television screen. She wasn't going to go running to the door to see if it was him. She took a few more bites of cereal, shrugging. The doorbell hadn't rung.

Hmm, she thought. Maybe it was just someone turning around in the driveway. She finished her cereal. She watched television some more, still wondering about the headlights and the motor she still saw and heard. Before she resumed her studies, she got up and peeked through the kitchen window. Sure enough, it was there, a very familiar black Range Rover. She squinted, and saw him. He was still sitting in his car, his head on the steering wheel.

For a second she wondered if he was hurt.

Nah he couldn't be. He was still sitting there. But she didn't go out to see him. She went back down and sat on the couch, her mind spinning.

But wait a minute, she thought. This is my house, he's in my driveway. I have more than a right to see why he is here and what he wants. It doesn't mean I'm crawling back to him.

She went back to the window, wondering if maybe he had driven away without her knowing.

No, he was still there. She opened the front door, shivering from the cold night air. He didn't look up as she walked around his car to the driver's side door. He still didn't look up as she stood there. She rapped on the window and said “Reggie”

He sat up, looking at her slowly. She made a motion for him to roll down the window. As he rolled down the window, she noted, his eyes were swollen and red. She tried to keep her cool.

"What's up?" she asked. It came out gently.

He looked down at his hands on the steering wheel. He shook his head.

"Reggie, why are you here?"

Reggie paused. "I-I can't," he croaked.

"Can't what?" God, it feels weird to talk to him again.

"Can’t say it," he told her, looking at her. "I'm not here to try to make you come back to me Betty, just so you know," he added.

"Yeah?"

He nodded. He looked up at the roof of his car. "It's not about me, it-it's my Mom."

"Miss Vicky?" she asked, startled. "What's the matter with her?

He shook his head, crying again as he put his head back down on the wheel.

She opened the door. "Come on, get out. Tell me!"

He got out slowly, then stood there not looking at her as she closed the door.

"What happened to you mother?" she demanded. "Is she gonna be okay?"

He shrugged, crying too hard to speak. She was frustrated, but scared. She was scared to

death right then. "Is she gonna be okay?" she repeated.

"They don't know!" he blurted out. "She was in a car accident Betty," he sobbed.

"It happened after she left the grocery store. They don't know if she's gonna make it..."

"Oh my God," she said, as her eyes filled with tears. “Not your mom.”

He put his face in his hands, sobbing, "Betty. I really need you, you're my best friend. I don't care if you hate me but I need you so much right now..."

She could barely see him through her tears as she reached for him awkwardly, taking him in her arms. His strong arms went around her as they stood in her driveway hugging each other, crying.

"Come in," she told him. "I don't care."

He followed her into her house, and they stopped in the foyer, where she held him again. He was crying so hard he could barely stand up.

"What am I gonna do if she dies?" he sobbed. "What am I gonna do if my mother dies?"

Betty was crying too hard to answer. They went into her room where he sat on her bed, his face in his hands. She sat next to him, hugging him.

"She'll be okay," she whispered. “She’s a strong woman.”

He just kept crying, wiping his eyes.

"She is. She'll make it, she will."

"I love my mom Betty. " he cried.

"I know you do. I love her too."

"She can't die," he whispered.

"We just gotta pray, and hope for the best. She's gotta make it!"

"I told her-I told her I hated her Betty!" he sobbed.

"Then the other day I called her nosey and said I hated her!"

"She knows you love her, Reg. She knows you were just mad and didn’t mean it." She was still crying herself.

“ It won't do any good to be negative. Just-just think positive."

"What am I gonna do if  she dies though?"

"You can't think that! Stop saying that!" she told him. "She won't die."

He nodded, wiping his eyes with the tissue Betty gave him. "I promised her I'd clean out the garage and I never did," he told her.

"You will. You still will."

He shook his head. "I said I would take her to dinner on her birthday. Just the two of us. And I didn’t do it ‘cause I was too- 'cause I, I couldn't do it. But I could have," he whispered. "I just didn't."

"Reggie, look at me. You and your mother have a great relationship.  She knows you love

her. You can't sit here and think of all the times you were angry at each other. Because none of that stuff matters, 'cause you two are very close."

He nodded, sighing. "I love her."

"Good. I love her too."

"You-you wouldn't believe how awful she looked, Betty," he sobbed. "She had this big bandage on her head and she was connected to this machine and there’s tubes all over the place.”

Betty held him close to her on the bed. "I know it’s horrible," she told him. "She’s like a mother to me. Miss Vicky was the one to convince my parents to buy my car, and to let me get on the pill to regulate my periods because my mother refused to at first. She’s my mom’s best friend" she cried. Betty’s parents were away and she knew they would freak out when they heard what happened to Vicky.

Betty began to cry harder than him, and they both lay there holding each other crying. They cried together, holding each other for a while, sometimes saying something about Vicky and how strong she was, or how good a mother she was. But soon they  began to cry about other things they felt inside, each getting out a lot of tears that had been held back recently, despite the copious amounts that had already been shed. Soon it wasn't about Vicky anymore as they lay there.

"Oh Betty," Reggie whispered finally. "I'm sorry! I'm so very sorry! Please say you still love me!"

She didn't say anything, just lay there in his arms.

"I never meant what I said to you that night. I can't believe that  I could ever have done anything like that to my darling. I’m so sorry."

"I slept with Archie, Reggie," she cried. "I slept with him and it's not the same and it won't ever be the same between you and I because of it. I slept with someone else to hurt you. I hurt him and myself as well. I can’t undo what I did."

"I don't care! I don't care at all about that! It was all my fault, I'm such an asshole. I don't even deserve to be here with you."

"It's not that. It, no, I don't know...I’m so ashamed of my behavior."

"I love you Elizabeth Ann Cooper, that’s all I know."

She sat up, sniffling. He still lay there, wiping tears away. She sat on the edge of the bed, silent. She got up suddenly, walking to her dresser drawer and opening it slowly. She stood there awhile, and he lacked the energy to get up or even ask what she was doing.

She walked back to him, staring down at him, her eyes as red as his. Sitting next to him on the bed she held out her fist, then slowly opened it. He looked down at her open palm. In it lay a diamond ring.

He stared at it, eyes wide, then reached for it, not believing it was really there. He took it, looking at it in disbelief.

He looked up. "H-how? What, did you get the pipes opened or something?"

She shook her head. "I-I never did it. I never flushed it. I just pretended I did."

He stared at her.

"I put it in my pocket," she told him.

He kept staring at her. "I'm so, so sorry, babe," he whispered, crying.

"I couldn't do it," she said, crying again too. "I was mad at you, but I still couldn't flush it down."

He looked down at the ring in his hand. "The past few months have been hell without you, Betty."

She didn't say anything.

"Betty, please...please…I love you," he said softly, kissing her hand. She bit her lip, then fell towards him as she sobbed. He held her to him tightly as they both cried.

"Oh, Reggie, I love you," she cried. "I've never loved anybody else." Now she knew that for her, Reggie Mantle was invincible. She held him tightly.

"Oh God, baby, I love you too. I’ve been so lost without you, You're my life Betty. I need you back. Please come back to me. Please take me back."

She nodded on his shoulder, crying too hard to speak.

“Oh God, thank you,” he breathed into her hair. Then he lovingly placed the ring back on her finger, before he placed his trembling lips on hers. She sighed with happiness as she returned his kiss, her lips trembling as well.

***

"Betty!" exclaimed Rick. "Hi, how are you?" he asked, surprised, but very happy to see her.

Betty smiled, leaning over to give Reggie's father a hug as he sat in the chair in the waiting room at the hospital. He was only allowed to see his wife for short intervals. She was in the intensive care unit.

"I’m fine, Mr. Rick." she told him.

"I wish I could say the same, but..." Rick told her with a sad smile.

"She'll be okay," Betty said positively.

"We're praying," Rick told her.

Reggie sat down in a chair near his father in the waiting room. Betty sat next to him, tired, but elated, feeling a rush of adrenaline that she was with him again. She looked around the room, hating the sight of the shiny linoleum floors and the feel of the chair beneath her.

"Reggie, I wished you would have stayed home and got some rest," his father told him.

"Well, I wanted to be here when she wakes up", he answered, his eyes on Betty.

"You want something to eat?" Reggie asked Betty, getting up. "I'm kinda hungry."

It seemed a millennium ago that she had eaten that cereal. "Yeah, me too."

"Where are the vending machines? Dad, do you want anything?" he asked his father. His dad told him where the machines were

“Just coffee son.”

"I’ll be right back, babe. You stay here?" Reggie asked her, looking at his tired father in the other chair. She nodded, and he smiled at her as he walked away.

She looked over at his father across from her. "So, how is she?" she asked them.

"Well," said Rick. "She's still unconscious and the doctors said that wasn't really a good sign. She's also hemorrhaging, or bleeding, in her brain, and she’s got some extra fluid in there which

they had to drain. She's got a nasty bump on the head and a broken leg.” he told her.

"She's a fighter" Betty told him.  "I just know she'll be okay. Actually, I'm sure of it."

Rick nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. "So, long time no see huh Betty?"

She smiled shyly, Rick smiled at her back.

"That's all right. We really appreciate you being here. We’ve really missed you." he told her.

"Thanks," she said.

"Reggie feels guilty you know."

"Why?" Betty asked.

"Oh, he thinks he should have taken his mother to the store”

"Well, it's not his fault."

"Yeah, you know the other driver was here for a while too. He brought Vick some flowers; we put them in her room. He feels really bad too. It wasn't his fault," he told her.

"Oh really?" Betty had been wondering about how the accident happened.

“Vicky ran a red light, and the man, Howard, ran into her. He wasn’t hurt, thank God.”

"Yeah, sounds like it was Miss Vicky’s fault," Betty sighed.

"Anyway, he came by with his wife. A very nice man."

Betty nodded, thinking. She stared down at the pattern on the floor, her vision blurring as her eyes filled with tears.

She didn't see the doctor walk into the little alcove. She jumped when she heard him talk to Reggie's father, her heart racing.

"Well, your wife’s conscious," the doctor told him. Rick breathed a sigh of relief, sinking down into his chair.

"Thank God," said Rick.

"She still needs to be in the intensive care unit. She's still got fluid in her skull that we need to worry about."

"Can we see her?" asked Rick, standing up.

"Yes, but just for a moment."

"Reggie's not back yet," Betty noticed. "I'll go get him. I have to tell him!"

She walked briskly down the hall in the direction where Rick had said the vending machines were. She rounded the corner and nearly bumped into him, carrying bags of chips and sodas.

She grabbed his arm. "Reggie, she woke up! Your mother woke up!"

His face lit up. "What'd they say? Is she gonna be okay?"

"I think so," she told him as they raced towards her room. "I don't know but I think so."

They went into her room. Reggie had been right, Vicky looked horrible. She was very pale and not smiling. She was the only one in the room not wearing a huge grin.

"My head hurts,” she muttered.

A chill ran down Betty’s spine as she looked into Vicky’s eyes, the whites red with blood.

Betty gave her a hug, gently.

"Hi Betty, I’m so happy to see you. Take pity on my boy, please?” Vicky said. She closed her eyes.

"Hi. I’ll take good care of our boy, Miss Vicky. You’d better be okay, do you hear me?" Betty told her.

Rick was crying, holding his wife’s hand as he sat in the chair next to her bed.

"You feeling okay, honey?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"I know, baby, I know," his father whispered, rubbing her hand.

She opened her eyes and looked at her son. She gave him a weak smile, grimacing in pain.

Reggie kissed his mother’s other hand.

Betty tried not to cry but couldn't help it. Reggie hugged her, his chin resting on her head as she choked back sobs.

"Why's Betty crying?" Vicky asked.

Betty pulled away from Reggie, wiping her eyes. "'Cause I'm happy I guess," she told her, sniffling.

"Well don't cry Betty," she muttered. "Only sad people cry in this place. Are you two back together?"

Betty nodded, smiling down at her in the bed. Reggie wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him again.

"Good! Now, I have to go to the bathroom!" Vicky said. "You guys have to leave!"

Reggie and Betty laughed because Vicky had ordered them out of the room. They stood in the hall, and Reggie hugged Betty again. She closed her eyes, leaning against him and melting in his strong arms.

God it feels so good to be with him again. It feels so right, like I’m home. There was no way she could deny that.

Finally she pulled back. Reggie was crying again. "She's gonna be okay!" she whispered, smiling at him.

He nodded.  He reached out and wiped her tears away with his thumb.

"I know she is..."

He nodded again. "That's not why I'm crying. I have my baby back. I’m so happy." he told her.

"Me too," she answered, smiling. She went back into his arms, her eyes closed again in happiness.

"I love you Betty Cooper, forever and ever. Thank you for taking me back, and forgiving me for being a stupid ass jerk.” Reggie told her.

"And I love you, Reggie Mantle. I missed you terribly. There is no other man for me and no one loves me the way you do." she whispered, kissing her ring. Reggie hugged her tighter. He opened his eyes, feeling his father’s presence in the hall across from them, finishing his coffee.

His father smiled at him, giving him a happy smile, and big thumbs up.

Reggie smiled back, and then closed his eyes again. All was right in his world. He had his love back and had gotten that blessed second chance. He was a very lucky bastard indeed.

FINIS

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