It was rather late when we said our goodbyes to Tyler and his family. They had much to celebrate with Tyler winning the game, a scholarship, and the love his life's hand in marriage. I shake my head just thinking about it.

"You okay? You've been awfully quiet tonight." Brynn took my hand in hers as we walked back to my car.

"Yeah, I'm ... good." My response sounded lame even to my own ears and she just raises one eyebrow like she's not buying it.

I chuckle. "Yeah, I can't say I believe me either."

Brynn halts her steps causing me to have to stop walking as well. "What's wrong? Are you worried about things being different now that Tyler and Sierra are getting married?"

"What? No!" Or at least I wasn't until she said that. I haven't even considered how this may change things. I doubt Tyler will be interested in sharing a dorm room with me now. He'll have a wife to go home to. Damn, everything is changing.

As if Brynn could read my thoughts she said, "Everything changes, Finn. We can't stop it from happening no more than we can keep the sun from coming up tomorrow."

I know she's right but that really wasn't what I was upset about. I mean yeah, it will be a huge adjustment. My best friend... married but I was truly happy for him. "It's not that," I reassure her.

"Then what?" Brynn gets this teasing tilt to her lips. "Were you hoping that you'd be the one to get married first?"

Now she's just toying with me. I've daydreamed about her and I being married, like a million times already. I hate every moment I have to spend apart from her. She's come to mean so much to me. Brynn is my whole world.

Brynn's brows crease in concern. She wraps her arms around my waist and cranes her neck to look up at me. "Okay, not even a hint of a smile. What is going on with you? You're starting to worry me."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to." I wrap my arms around her and try to give her a smile but feel like I'm failing miserably. "You remember when I told you about Sierra and Tyler?"

"Yeah." Brynn pulls away from me a little and stares, intent on what I will say next.

"My mom, when Tyler proposed like that..."

Realization dawns, I can read it on her face. "That's right! She never knew."

"She never knew," I echoed, "but she knows now and she wants to talk to me. Brynn how can I explain why I've kept the truth from her all this time when I don't understand it myself."

"You know if you did, their story may not have reached a happy ending."

"I caught them, that day I talked to you, making out in her classroom. That's why Sierra didn't come back to class. I broke into my mom's office Brynn, to get Sierra's personal information so I could call her and talk to her. Why Tyler was acting like such an a-hole during the first half of the last game that I played with him. How do I tell my mom that I've known that long and didn't breathe a word."

"She wouldn't have understood," Brynn reasoned.

"Her job was at stake."

"Exactly."

"But she had the right to know. Had things turned out differently she would have been completely blindsided and it would have been all my fault."

"No, it would have been Tyler and Sierra's fault for being dumb and fooling around on school grounds where anyone could have caught them. They and your mom were lucky it was you who stumbled upon that fact. Why DID you go back anyway?"

Once again, I find myself in the hot seat, as I now had to explain another neglected truth. "Sierra had caught me reading one of your letters."

"Which one?"

"The one with the poem."

"Oh. Oh!" She looked away embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, Brynn. I should have been more careful. She took the letter from me and I begged to get it back. She promised she would if I recopied the poem and gave it to her. She wanted to use it in class."

"Really?" Brynn instantly brightened. "That's cool."

A sigh escapes my lips. Well, at least that's one person not mad at me. "I came to her room to give her the poem when I caught them. Sierra was in a panic, afraid for Tyler and herself. She didn't want me telling my mom and Tyler was upset that I couldn't promise I wouldn't but I didn't."

"Why?"

Such a simple question, one I asked myself a million times before. I pull her towards me and kiss the top of her head. "I wish I knew."

Brynn nuzzled her head against my chest and my arms tighten around her. "You'll figure it out."

"I hope so. Because when I get home my mom will either be waiting up for me or I must prepare for an inquisition tomorrow. Either way, it's going to make for a crappy night's sleep.

Brynn's hand touched my cheek. "If you can't sleep, you can always call me. We'll chat until we both nod off, okay. I promise I won't abandon you."

I hug her even tighter. She pulls away and takes my hand. We start walking again. My mind was still miles away as I drove her home and she didn't press, she just sat quietly next to me holding my hand. I park and walk her to her door.

"I hate having to say good night to you," she confessed as she stands on the porch with me.

"I hate it more," I tell her and she smiles. "You working this weekend?"

"No, I took off. I figured since it's your last weekend before your surgery I wanted to spend it together. If that's okay with you?"

She tackles me and hugs me tight. "You think of everything. You are the most thoughtful, caring, and loving man I've ever met."

I grin. "What can I say, you bring out the best in me."

"I wish I could take credit but you were like that way before me. It's one of the many reasons I fell so hard for you. So, what were you thinking we should do tomorrow?"

"I was hoping for a rematch on the court."

Brynn smirks at me. "I have to warn you. I cheat."

A laugh spontaneously bursts from my lips. "Yes... I know."

Brynn gives me a nonchalant shrug. "Okay, if you're sure."

"Oh, I'm sure." I pull her close, her lips meet mine, and she sighs against them. Little did she know, I planned to cheat too if I had to and I have a whole new arsenal of ways to do it.

Brynn pulls away. "Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow. That I shall say good night till it be morrow."

I kiss her lips. I kiss her hand. "Even though we must part, you must know you forever hold my heart."

"Shakespeare?" Brynn inquired.

I shake my head. "No, Finn Dashiell Nash," I inform her.

___________________

The whole ride home had me examining why I left things to chance. Why I didn't tell my Mom right away. Distracted I came in the front door and tossed my car keys in the bowl sitting on the hall table.

"It's about time you got home."

I jumped hearing my Mom's voice pierce the dark entryway. I walk to the kitchen where the overhead light was lit but dimmed. She sat at the kitchen table with a cup of steaming coffee in her hands. She stared at me over the brim of her cup.

"You're still up."

"I told you we were going to talk. Did you honestly think staying out late would delay that?"

I take my place across from her at the table. "I'll be honest, I hoped it would."

"Honest. Funny choice of words." She takes a long sip.

"Mom...I?"

"How long did you know?"

I sigh, looking away from her. "Since before the playoff game."

I glance at my mom. Her eyes widen but she just takes another sip of coffee. "I see. How did you find out?"

I dug my fingertips into my palms hating myself for hurting her like this. "I caught them together."

Her knuckles go white as she tightly clasps the mug. "On school grounds?"

I nodded my head, yes. "In her classroom."

My mom closes her eyes briefly but not quick enough that I couldn't see the pain of those words as they tore through her.

"All this time... not one word." Her eyes opened and she levels me with that look. That look that no child wants to receive from a parent they adore, the look of utter disappointment and pain.

"I'm so sorry, Mom. I wanted to tell you."

"Then why didn't you?" Her eyes and words are pleading for me to explain this in a way that would make everything all right, but I couldn't.

"I don't know," my voice broke, "I wish to God I could explain. I told Tyler I couldn't keep this from you but Mom if you'd seen his face." I shake my head. "It's not that I chose to pick him over you but I could tell Mom... I could tell beyond a shadow of a doubt that he truly loved her and I was pretty sure she cared about him too."

"It would seem you were right," she states putting her cup down but not relinquishing her grasp on it.

"A small prize. Not at all worth hurting you for," I tell her.

"What hurts the most, Finn is that you didn't trust me. You didn't trust me with the truth."

I run my fingers through my hair. "No, that's not it. I... I was scared."

"Scared? Of what?"

"Of losing my best friend, the way that you lost Brynn's mom. I didn't want this to come between Tyler and me but I was scared it would hurt you. I gambled and it paid off. There was no scandal. You weren't in danger. If I thought for one moment that you would be... as much as I love Tyler, Mom, I hope you know I love you a hundred times more."

A tear ran down her cheek and it shredded my heart.

"I am so, so, sorry. I don't know how to make this up to you. I don't know if I ever can. I never wanted to hurt you."

"But you did." She didn't pull her punches. She suckered the wind right out of my lungs.

She stood up from the table, put her cup in the sink. She paused only a moment before walking out of the kitchen to go to bed.

I turned to look at her. Her back was to me. "But..." she said her voice wavering a little, "I forgive you."

With those three words, I was up out of my seat. In two long strides, I'm there. I wrap my arms around her. "I love you, Mom. I love you so, much," I said hugging her from behind, my head resting on her head.

She turned in my arms and squeezed my middle. "I love you too, but you ever keep something like that from me again, Finn..." she warned.

"I won't." My stupid brain immediately flashes pictures of my secret rendezvous with Brynn. Yeah okay, I won't ... after that. I'll just have to hope my mom doesn't learn about Brynn and me until after perhaps Brynn and I are married and give her those grandchildren I know she wants.