Chapter 23: Carter

I sat on the couch and watched Ahliyah's mom. I kept looking at her to try to figure out what Ahliyah was worried about and when I looked at her again Ahliyah's mom and I shared a look. I smiled and she paused her tv huffing.

" Why are you watching me?" She asked.

" Are you okay?" I asked.

" Yes,"

I shrugged my shoulders and I was about to walk up the stairs, but she ended up calling me back. " I never did give you my name, did I? My name is Alicia. She sent you down to check on me, didn't she?" She said placing her hand on her head and sighing.

" She did. She thinks something is still wrong, but I tried to tell her that you were okay." I smiled.

Alicia never returned my smile, she shook her head and frowned. " There's always something wrong, isn't there? I'm not getting any better and I'm okay with that, but I'm tired of spending months in the hospital. I'm dying and at first I was scared of dying and leaving Ahliyah here without anyone to take care of her. Then she met you," she chuckled.

" She met you and you've made her bright again. I'm not scared anymore and I know she still has to forgive her father, but that takes time. Thank you for watching my baby, when I'm gone please make sure you're by her side no matter what. Even if you do decide you were not meant to be." She smiled sadly.

My lips trembled at the thought of losing Alicia. I didn't know her well but she reminded me of my mother and what I wished I had when I was growing up. The thought of losing her hurt because for the time I did get to know her, she was like a second mother to me.

" Why don't you tell Ahliyah?" I asked.

Alicia sighed once more. " I know she is going to have to come to terms with somethings and she hasn't been able to do that by herself. They're somethings she hasn't told you yet, has she?" She asked.

All Ahliyah told me was that her father used to drink a lot. That's as far as the conversation went and I didn't ask because when she was ready to share that with me, she would.

She quickly changed the subject and she talked about what Ahliyah was like as a kid. She also made me promise that I would always be there for Ahliyah.

Alicia smiled and looked around the house. " Do one thing for me. Think of it as a parting gift for me. Take Ahliyah down to this restaurant by the lake. Eat and go swimming, or skinny dipping. I don't know what young kids do now, but make sure she has a good time." She said.

I held her hand and smiled. I didn't know when she was going to leave us, but I knew she didn't want Ahliyah here when she passed. She knew Ahliyah would be upset and she knew Ahliyah would've tried to save her.

She spent the night talking to her mom and reminiscing about old memories.

As I walked up the stairs, I thought about was Alicia dying and not telling Ahliyah. I sighed pushing the door open and Ahliyah was up. There was no nice way to tell your girlfriend that her mom wanted us to leave the house and spend the night by the lake, so she could rest peacefully.

" I want to take you somewhere." I told her.

I left the room allowing her to get dressed. I sat on the floor away from the door and cried. It felt like I was losing my mother all over again. She walked out of the room in a blue jean blouse and some black sandals. I changed my clothes quickly throwing a polo shirt and jeans along with some converse.

Before we left, Ahliyah ran to her mother and kissed her on her forehead. She mumbled a few parting words before she left, but she didn't know that this might be her last time seeing her mother alive.

When we arrived at the lake, there were lanterns lighting up the path we walked. As we sat down at the table, the food was already prepared for us. I realized that Alicia already had this planned for us and she knew that she was dying for awhile now.

We ate in slice because I was to scared to talk. I knew that I would've ended up telling her that her mother was going to die, but her mother didn't want that. Her mother knew that once she was gone, Ahliyah will grow in the person she knew she could be.

After we ate we ended up sitting by the lake and it reminded me of the first time we talked.

" It's nice out here, isn't it. I come here when I need to get away for awhile." She had said.

We spent that day wanting to talk about the damaging parts of our lives but neither of us said much until later on. We finished our dinner at the lake and showed up at the house, I sighed praying that Ahliyah got one more chance to say what she wanted to her mother.

One more chance because I never got that chance.

I grabbed her hand and told her whatever she wanted to say to her mother she needed to say it. I walked to the because I didn't want to be anywhere around those last few words they were going to say to each other. I showered and tried not to think about Ahliyah's mother dying.

When I got out of the shower I threw on some clothes and watched Ahliyah and her mom talk. I thought about what I could've had if my mom was still here and what I wanted with my stepmom. I went back in my room calling Lorenzo asking if Mercedes was able to come over because she was going to need someone to talk her.

Someone who didn't already know her mother was leaving her.

Ahliyah finally came back upstairs and laid down in the bed. " Something is wrong with my mother,Carter. I don't know what it is and there is no way I can help her," She said. " I can't have her here forever and I know she's going to die. I don't want her to die yet."

" You have time to talk to her. I didn't get the time to say everything I wanted to my mom. Your mom is at home for you." I told her.

Ahliyah got out of the bed and hugged me. " You're right. Thank you so much for helping and I love you."

Alicia was right about Ahliyah though. Ahliyah was going to have to come to terms with the things that happened while she was in Florida. She was going to have to grow and learn that sometimes our scars are stories for someone else.

I was still trying to learn that too and it has taken me all this rime to finally get it. Sometimes we did have to let things go and if we couldn't then we learn to move on slowly because that was apart of healing and becoming something better.

Ahliyah and I were becoming something great, it's only a moment in time where she would realize that too.