Adrien stands in the doorway. He looks older but still very handsome. His eyes look tired.
He comes closer and takes a seat on the bed.
"We always knew this day would come. We hoped it would be under different circumstances." Adrien says in a soft tired voice.
I look at the document in my hand. This man used to be everything I wanted in life. All our dreams and hopes for the future was buried in each other.
The first morning of our breakaway after school ended ten years ago, was the last morning I saw Adrien. Ryan and Adrien left to find Brandon and Bailey, but they never returned. Ryan called Rachel the following day to tell her he has sent a driver to pick her up and take her home. The diver took us both to Rachel's place. My parents came to take me home from there.
The day after that, I received a phone call from the manager of the art museum I was going to start my internship with the following week. She told me that she can unfortunately not take me in anymore. She was blunt and rude and didn't offer any explanations. I couldn't sign up for any other art degrees at that stage. All universities were already full. My parents seemed very disappointed in me. Later I found out that the manager of the museum told the lady that replaced me that she found out that I had a criminal record and that she couldn't risk the museum's reputation.
It took me months to find out what the criminal record was for. After months I had a friend help me to find the records. She pulled a few strings to pull the file on my case. According to all the documents in the file I had forged a painting and sold it off as an original for an unbelievable high price. In the art industry forgery is like murder. I went to see a few lawyers with the documents. They all said the same thing. None of them could help me. The documents are all authentic. If what I say is true, the person who framed me did a very good job in making it look unbelievably real. Every single document needed to take me to trial was there. The paper trails were perfect. Even the judge remembered the hearing and that I stood in the court and pleaded guilty.
I could not prove my innocence and because of the criminal record I would never be able to get a job at any museum or gallery that deals with expensive art.
I did a few small jobs here and there and finally moved to the city where I met a man who did tattoos for a living. He taught me the ropes and gave me opportunities to do small tattoos until I had the confidence to do it as I liked. Today it is all I know how to do.
Sometimes I would walk past museums and look at the art pieces. My heart would long to work in the silence where only the art was allowed to speak.
I tried calling Adrien a hundred times after we got home from our interrupted breakaway. He never answered. When my world fell apart and I couldn't reach Adrien I realised that I needed to find a way to do it without him. I stopped calling after a month or so.
"You just disappeared from my life. Under what exact circumstances did you think we would meet again?" There is venom in my voice I didn't mean to put there.
"Ryan disappeared from mine also." Rachel states in a daze. "You and Ryan left to find Brandon and Bailey and never returned. A driver took us home and I could never reach Ryan again."
Rachel looks at Bailey. Bailey seems to have zoned out into her own memories of her past. She looks horrified and close to tears. I put my hand on Bailey's knee and it draws her out of her black hole.
"Are you okay, hun?" I ask Bailey. She looks at me as her focus returns to the present.
"I… I have no memory of that night." Bailey says with a soft voice.
Rachel looks at Adrien. "What happened that night, Adrien?"
"I don't know what happened. Ryan and I drove back the way we came, looking for Brandon and Bailey. About halfway back we saw Brandon's car next to the road. There was no sign of Brandon or Bailey. The car was scratched badly. There was a lot of blood inside the car."
He shakes his head and settles his gaze on Bailey.
"We found Bailey deep in the woods. Curled up against a tree. Her clothes were drenched with blood. We couldn't find Brandon at all. Ryan picked Bailey up and took her to the car. We drove with her to the nearest hospital. They immediately took her into the operating room. We went back to look for Brandon."
I rub Bailey's knee. She seems shocked to hear the things Adrien is telling us.
"We called everyone we could to help look for Brandon. We found him a day or two later in another hospital. A car that passed on that road picked him up when he was wandering beside the road. He was also covered in blood and looked dazed. They took him to the other hospital and had him admitted." He shifts on the bed.
"We went back to have Bailey transferred to the hospital where Brandon was. When we got to the hospital there was no sign of Bailey. They had no idea where she went. I did everything I could to find her. How far could she possibly get if she needed emergency surgery?" Adrien shrugs.
"Bailey was gone." He looks at Bailey with a sad apologetic look in his eyes. "I am so sorry. To this day I still have no idea where you went."
"Why did you and Ryan not come back for us?" I sound more offended than I intended to. My heart was broken and my life was shattered. I needed Adrien and he was nowhere to be found.
"We realized something terrible happened and we couldn't give up searching for Brandon. We had a driver sent for you and made sure you got home safe." Judging by the look Adrien gives me he seems content with that answer. As if it clears everything up that happened after that.
"Bailey? Where did you go?" I rub Bailey's knee as I ask the question. She has to know that we only want to put the puzzle together.
"I really do not know. My first clear memory after the last day of school was only in March the following year. I was still going through intense rehab to regain use of my legs. Whatever happened that day caused me to injure my spinal column. The surgery I had left unbelievable large scars on my stomach and back. I had to cancel all my modelling contracts. I now work as a secretary in a modelling house."
"What happened to Brandon?" I ask Adrien. I need to know if he remembers more than Bailey.
"Brandon also took months to start living normally again. He had no memory of that night. Even to this day he still has no memory of ever dating Bailey." Adrien finds a way to look even more apologetic.
"I never heard of Ryan again either. He called to tell me about the driver but I could not get hold of him after that again." Rachel says softly.
She looks up at Adrien, waiting for him to offer her an explanation to Ryan never making contact with her again.
"Ryan never left Brandon's side. He stayed with him throughout his whole recovery. With Bailey going missing he didn't want to risk the same thing happening to Brandon. I do not know why he didn't contact you though. I was under the impression that he kept contact with you."
"No, he didn't." Rachel lowers her gaze to the documents in her hands. Her voice sounds sad and full of regret.
"I also never heard of you again." I look Adrien right in the eye. I will not look weak in front of him. I feel a lot of anger towards him.
"I received messages from you telling me that you feel that our life choices will not be able to share a path together. You told me that I needed to go on without you and that you would appreciate it if I never contacted you again." Adrien tells it with a bitter tone to his voice. His mouth is set in a thin hard line.
"I never sent a message like that Adrien!" The shock and horror run through my veins. I never sent those messages. Someone has gone to great lengths to ruin every single one of our relationships with the Morton brothers.