"She started crying," he answered. "Some of her stubborn insistence kind of melted away with the alcohol. I had hoped it would; Leigh is usually a pretty emotional drunk. I mean, if there are a lot of people around she's fine, like at a party, but when we just drink together, if we start talking about stuff, her guards come down and she gets emotional. I've never liked that trait before, but it worked tonight."
"Okay, but I'm still missing… really big puzzle pieces here, honey. I am completely in the dark. Honestly, I don't know anything about Leigh before I met her, so I have no idea what you're talking about."
"There's a long story about it that I don't feel like explaining, and it isn't even my story to tell, so…."
"Well, can I at least get an outline?"
Sighing, he said, "Fine. The short version. You know how some girls—and I hesitate to use this example, because it could have just as easily fit you, but… it's necessary. You know how some girls, when they're afraid to give a real relationship a shot because they're afraid of commitment or getting hurt, or… whatever they're afraid of, they find an unattainable guy—someone they know they absolutely cannot have—and they just latch on to that guy?"
"Oddly enough, yes."
"Well, Leigh's one of them. For her it isn't self-esteem issues, it isn't commitment issues… it's just that she doesn't want to get hurt again. Basically, she had the same complex I had, but instead of swearing off relationships altogether, Leigh took the more romantic approach to staying out of the dating scene—she decided to fall in love with someone she knew would never return the feeling."
"I don't understand. Did someone break Leigh's heart really badly before?"
"Sort of," he replied. "Before Leigh met me she had been madly in love with her boyfriend, Ryan. They were literally together forever. They started 'dating' in fifth grade and they never even broke up—they were actually one of those rare, totally happy couples. After high school they had moved in together, and eventually they got engaged."
Shocked, Julie reiterated, "Leigh was engaged?"
Aaron nodded.
Frowning, she said, "Well, if they were so happy, what happened?"
Sighing, Aaron said, "Ryan was a school bus driver—it wasn't a career for him or anything, it was just how he paid the bills while he went to school. I don't remember what he was going to school for, but I know he was. Anyway, I didn't know them then and Leigh doesn't like to talk about it, but I guess Ryan was driving a bus full of people one day, they were going on a field trip somewhere and… I don't know, a car that was coming at him lost control, he swerved to try to avoid getting hit…"
By that point, Julie had guessed at the ending, and with her eyes wide she said, "He got killed in a bus accident?"
Nodding, Aaron said, "The bus flipped. Seven people died, more were injured… he was one of the ones that died."
No longer tired, Julie could only stare straight ahead of her, trying to imagine what that must have been like for Leigh.
Moving on with the story, Aaron said, "It really messed Leigh up. That's why she moved here, actually. Her little sister was moving here, so she decided to move here with her to 'look after her,' but really Leigh just had to get away from it. Which… is how she met me. I was sour on love, and she was terrified of loving someone that much and losing them again, so…"
"You were the perfect crutch," Julie concluded.
Sighing in a rather exhausted way, he said, "Yep."
"Wow… I can't even imagine that though," Julie said, rolling over and hugging Aaron at the mere thought of Leigh's loss. "I mean… Leigh has always seemed like such a happy person… I would have never guessed some tragedy had befallen her."
"That's just how she is," he replied. "Leigh doesn't really like to deal with things, she would rather just… shove it aside and not deal with it. I get where she's coming from; after Shannon screwed me over I didn't want to deal with it either. It's just so much easier to shove it behind you and pretend you're over it."
Hugging him a little more protectively, Julie said, "Shannon's so dumb."
"She is," he agreed. "But it's probably good that she is."
Vaguely surprised, Julie said, "Why?"
"Well, because if she wouldn't have made a power play for Matt, I would have married her. Who knows where I'd be today?"
"Ew," she said, wrinkling up her nose.
He merely nodded, yawning again. Then, smiling slightly, he lightly rubbed her stomach. "There would be no Poppy Seed, and I wouldn't be getting the family that I wanted but couldn't have. Hell, if you want to really twist up the story, Leigh could have met my unavailable brother instead of me and then she could be the one that got caught up with Matt, which wouldn't have protected her nearly as much as liking me did."
"Okay, I think the alcohol is talking now," she said, smiling slightly. "This scenario just got weird."
Smiling, he said, "I'm so tired. The cold was keeping me awake when I was walking home, but… you're so warm."
Snuggling closer, she said, "Good, let's go to sleep."