Riley
I was still reeling from our kiss, that I had to keep pinching myself to prove I didn't just dream that whole ordeal. Have I really won back Ethan's heart? Or was this some cruel trick fate is playing on me?
Ethan may have sensed what I was thinking because he pulled me in for a kiss once we were out of the river. "You're not dreaming." he said to me. He kissed me again and I melted into his arms. Finally, after all the hardships we faced, we have found each other again and rebuilt what we both thought was destroyed.
Our reverie was interrupted by a couple of onlookers.
"Oooooh," said Aaron, "Don't they look cute together?"
"Very," said Jonathan, who was no longer wearing his wig, "We should take some photos of them."
"Right?" said Aaron.
"Enough you two," I said, "I'm surprised he took the news well."
"Yeah, about that." Aaron went on to explain how he knew that Natalie was actually Jonathan.
"So we worried over nothing." Ethan laughed. He hobbled towards us with Riley close behind him. "Well, we better get going. We still have a ways to go."
Three hours later, we finally made it to San Antonio. As beautiful as the city usually is, it was truly ghastly to see it in its current state. Luckily we had bikes, if we were in a car, we may have fallen into some spike traps that were laid out on the road. Cars and buildings were on fire, the stench of death and waste filled the air.
Luckily, Jonathan guided us to safer spots to avoid any trouble. Once we arrived at a quiet looking residential area, we stopped in front of a series of townhomes that were connected, it was literally one long building separated as seven houses.
"Here we are." Jonathan said.
"You live here?" asked Aaron. Jonathan nodded his head, answering Aaron's question.
Jonathan knocked on the door and a middle aged hispanic woman answered the door and nearly had a heart attack when she saw Jonathan. "Hi mom." he said to the woman.
"J-Jonathan," She was crying as she pulled him in for a hug so tight Jonathan was gasping for air. "Mi hijo, we were so worried about you. Why are you dressed like that?"
"Long story, mom." He answered, "These guys are my friends, they helped bring me home."
Jonathan introduced us to his parents and they invited us inside. "Thank you all so much for bringing Jonathan back home." his mother said.
"I'm sorry it took so long." Ethan replied.
As soon as we walked into Jonathan's and Dani's home, the first thing that struck me was the dining area. The table was made to look like a shrine or altar, with an urn and a portrait of Dani in the center. Aaron and I both stopped and stared at the table and we were suddenly faced with the reality of death.
Ethan
It was sad that Jonathan's family couldn't have a proper funeral to mourn Dani. It just seemed wrong that they would not get to honor her memory or have anyone else provide their condolences. Aaron and Riley both approached the table and began writing something on a blank card.
Jonathan's father came and offered us some cookies and coffee. "So you all know about Dani?" he asked.
I nodded my head as I took a cup, "Yes sir, Jonathan filled us in."
As Jonathan's father set down the tray, he looked at the table and sighed. "We originally planned to have her buried in the family plot, but with everything going on, we decided that it would be better to cremate her and have her ashes here."
Jonathan's mother brought in a tray with a teapot and more cookies. "We kept praying that Jonathan would make his way home to us. That way we could all be together."
I also noticed that the table had a kneeler, a place for people to kneel down and say a prayer. It caught my attention when Riley knelt down in front of the table as if he were praying. He looked back at me and signaled me to come over. I limped my way over and knelt beside him.
"Hey Dani," he said to the portrait, "This is him, the one in the picture. I reunited with him."
As he said this, it made me feel somewhat honored. I knew that Dani and Riley were good friends but I never thought that Riley ever mentioned me to her. It must've been her idea for him to look for me again.
After a few moments, we get up and Riley leaves his card on the table next to the urn. As soon as we left, Aaron and Jonathan knelt down to pay their respects.
Aaron
I was finally here. I couldn't believe I got to pay my respects to the one who gave my life meaning. I always wanted to thank her in person for saving me from those dark times in my life. It's a shame that I couldn't get a chance to tell her when she was alive.
After Jonathan and I said our goodbyes to Dani, he said, "Hey, do you have a minute?"
"Yeah." I answered and we went upstairs to his room and he grabbed some clothes from his closet.
"Give me a few minutes," he said. "There's something I want to show you."
He left the room and I was nervous about what he wanted to show me. I looked around his room and saw pictures of him and Dani as kids. They looked happy growing up, and Dani had also participated in talent shows and pageants before she became an idol. I had known about this from her online profile but seeing it in these photos painted a whole new picture for me. To me, she was my pop goddess. An Idol I truly admired and adored with all my heart. I know her other fans may feel similar to me, at least those that didn't abandon her during her drunken performance. But to Jonathan, she was his older sister. She was a daughter too.
As a fan, sometimes we tend to see our star as a celebrity and not so much as a person. How could my loss compare to the loss felt by her family?
"You ok?" Jonathan asked. He had changed his clothes and I finally got to see him in his normal clothes. He was a very good looking guy. I suddenly found myself attracted to him, even more than when he was Natalie.
"Yeah," I answered, "Just looking at some photos."
Jonathan was holding a box and sat down on his bed. He opened it and the box was full of opened letters. He grabbed a stack of them and handed them to me. I reviewed them and recognized them immediately. "These are all the letters I sent."
"She kept all her fan letters," said Jonathan, "I managed to find yours. Dani was so meticulous like that. She always said that each letter is special. They were special because of the people who wrote them."
Suddenly, I found myself overwhelmed with emotion. "So she actually read them?"
"Yes, she did."
I couldn't hold it in any longer. I always thought I was just some typical fanboy that she wouldn't notice and I was ok with that. Now that I know that she actually valued her fans, it made her death much more painful. She read my letters and kept them.
Jonathan pulled me in for a hug and said, "Thank you." I held him close as we both cried, mourning Dani. Jonathan broke away and held my face in his hands, looking me in the eye. "Promise me something? Promise me that you will never forget her."
"I promise," I answered. "I will never forget her. Even if the rest of the world does, I won't."
"Can I ask you for something, for me?" He asked. "You can say no, if you want. But I would like to kiss you. May I?"
I didn't know what to say. I was never interested in guys and my only experience with other men was forced on me. But with Jonathan, I didn't feel like when I was with my bully, but I wasn't sure how I felt for Jonathan. I nodded to say it was ok. He leaned in and pressed his lips against mine. I didn't hate it, in fact, I actually liked it. I pulled him close to me and kissed him back.
"If we survive this," I said as soon as the kiss was over, "Want to try dating?"
Jonathan was speechless so he smiled and nodded happily.