Next To You

Everything Changes

Maggie Flannery was back home the next day. The doctor couldn't tell Gerald what had happened, but wanted to run some tests. Maggie had pleaded with the doctor not to tell her family.

When he asked her why, she gave a sad smile, "because I don't want to spend my last days on Earth being treated like a fragile old woman. I don't want to worry my family."

The doctor nodded and reluctantly agreed. Even though he didn't know what he was going to tell them.

Heather watched Eoin at school. He wasn't himself. His usual fun-loving, cheerful side was gone. He was anxious and quiet, worrying about his grandmother.

He didn't show up to gym class, and she heard he hadn't gone to any of his other classes. She went in search of Ivan.

"Ivan, do you know what happened with Eoin this afternoon?" She asked him after school.

Ivan was about to go to a student council meeting, "you don't know? He left school early today, his mom called his teachers and let them know."

"I wonder why he wouldn't tell me something like that?" She thought out loud, her face full of concern.

"I heard about what happened this weekend, I know he's very close with his grandmother. It must be pretty difficult for him," Ivan shifted some papers in his hand and cleared his throat, "I should get going. Are you going to go see him?"

Heather was supposed to go straight home that day, but she really wanted to see how Eoin was doing. It was a risk she had to take. She called her grandmother and left her a message when there was no answer.

"Heather here, I'm going to be late coming home today, there's something I have to do after school," she recorded, then hung up and ran out of the school.

She was sure Connelly was waiting for her, but she avoided the roads where he might be driving around. Connelly spotted her anyway.

"Ms. Heather, you're grandmother would hit the roof if she saw you out here like this!" He shouted to her from his driver's window, as he drove up next to her.

Heather kept running, but shouted back, "I can't worry about that now, this is more important!"

She reached Eoin's house, breathing heavily, then made her way up to his door and rang the bell. Andi answered, appearing to be on her way out.

"He's in the kitchen dear, just make yourself at home," she turned her head back and shouted, "Eoin, you have company!" Then she turned back to Heather and smiled apologetically, "I have to go help David with some office work, I'll be back later."

Heather nodded and stepped inside, closing the door behind Andi. She walked down the hall and found Eoin leaning against the counter, stirring in a steamy pan and studying a book. He still had the same somber expression, but she knew what it looked like when a person was trying to keep busy.

She walked up to him and lowered his book, "hey."

She realized he was probably tired of people asking how he was doing. It was probably the reason he left school early. She remembered how much she had hated it herself when her mother was ill. Instead, she thought it'd be better just to be there.

Eoin put his arms around her and breathed in her scent, "thank you."

By the end of the week, his grandmother seemed to be doing fine again, and Eoin was himself again. Heather suddenly got a chill and turned to Mya.

"Did you feel that?"

Mya eyed her skeptically, "feel what?"

"I just got a weird feeling, I don't know where it came from," she shrugged it off, but deep down, the anxiety ate at her.

She soon discovered what that was when she was walking down the school corridor, hearing whispers and feeling eyes on her. Something was going on.

There was a commotion outside, Vice Principal Chapman had his arms outstretched and was holding off a group of people with cameras and microphones. Her heart stopped.

"I'm sorry but I can't allow you to enter, there are classes and meetings in session and you'd be disrupting them," Chapman stated firmly.

Heather had barely escaped them that first day. Luckily, Connelly was there to fend them off. When she got home, things had only gotten worse. They were standing there by the gates to their property. She kept her window up and shrank back in her seat as they drove in.

Her grandmother was in Ferguson's office, waiting for her. She had the local news on.

The news reporter was standing in front of the gates with her fake smile and eyes that expressed triumph, "... The identity and location of O'Reilly's heiress has been discovered today, we've yet to ask her any questions, but this is one reporter that will get the answers to our questions, you can bank on that. This is Susan Banks of channel-"

Fiona turned it off and turned to Heather, "do you know what this means Heather?"

"Slow news day?" Heather couldn't believe they were making a big deal out of this. "Why are they even targeting me?"

Fiona sighed and shook her head, "it's because of this controversial business deal your grandfather is in the process of negotiating. What it means is, you really have to keep your image in check. No more sneaking around with your boyfriend, no more working at the gym, and about your schooling... I'd feel much better if you were at Hill Crest."

Heather froze. She couldn't believe this was happening. Her heart became numb, this was the thing her gut was trying to warn her about before.

"You're saying I can't work or go to school here anymore?" She had to be sure.

"Heather, you need to understand that it's for the best. You're a strong young lady, you need to be challenged while keeping your image as an O'Reilly intact. The media has a way of twisting things around and focusing on every little negative thing. It wouldn't reflect well on us if they exposed all of this. It's time to grow up dear, this isn't a Fairytale," Fiona finished speaking, then left the room.

Heather clenched her fists and closed her eyes tightly. It had to be a bad dream. She opened them and wiped a tear on her sleeve. She couldn't understand why she couldn't just be happy.

She avoided everyone, she couldn't face them. She had to quit the gym and her volunteer work, and her after school activities were down to a bare minimum. Constantly hiding from the reporters and paparazzi, seeing the way her peers looked at her now, it was more than she could bear. She shut everyone out.

It was the week before spring break now. Basketball season had ended early for North Ridge since they fell short on the important games and couldn't advance, but at least it had ended on a good note when they beat their sworn athletic rivals. Eoin was free after classes now and had planned to spend more time with Heather. He picked a cherry blossom from one of the trees on campus and went looking for her. He had hoped now that everything was out in the open and now that everyone knew who she was, things might be easier.

He found her in one of the empty classrooms, scrubbing a desk, "so here you are. What are you doing?"

"I have to do something since I'm not allowed to work at the gym anymore," she said without looking up.

"Is everything okay, Heather? I know you, and clearly something is bothering you. What's going on?" He grabbed her arm and tried to turn her to face him.

She jerked away and scrubbed harder, "I'm fine, I just need to get this done."

He gently put his hand over hers, "it's permanent marker Heather, that won't clean it off."

He felt her tense up, then saw liquid drops hit the table's surface. She peered up at him through her bangs, her eyes filled with sadness. He had forgotten the cherry blossom in his hand and dropped it as he reached for her.

"Eoin, this is exactly the sort of thing I was talking about, this is why I wanted to keep it a secret. Everything is ruined now," she sat at a desk and put her head down.

Eoin sat next to her and leaned close to her, "I don't believe everything is ruined, you still have Mya, and me. We're always going to be here for you, Heather."

Heather sat up and looked him in the eyes, "no, it's much worse than that, Eoin. I told Mya this morning, and up until this moment, I was too afraid to tell you..." She took a deep breath and wiped her tears, "this is my last week here. Once break is over, I'll be going to Hill Crest Academy."

He felt a knot in his stomach, "you're going to a different school? But you'll still be in North Ridge, I'll still get to see you, right?"

"I'll be living in a dormitory, on the furthest side of town. The chances of us seeing each other are very few," she hated herself at that moment, "what do you expect to happen?"

Eoin stopped her from saying anymore and put his hands on her cheeks, "we'll figure this out, okay? I promise you, I'm not going anywhere."

"Eoin, please don't make this harder than it already is. The odds were stacked against us from the beginning. How much longer are you willing to fight it?" She stood up in frustration.

"I will fight for as long as it takes. Are you seriously giving up? That's not you, Heather," he started to say, but then he remembered what she told him at her house.

Heather held in more tears as she saw the hurt in his eyes, "there comes a point sometimes when you have to let go, it's called growing up. We're only 16, Eoin, we still have our whole lives ahead of us. You'll find someone else and be happier. I'm telling you this because it wouldn't be fair to expect you to still be committed to me when we'll probably never see or talk to each other again."

"You can't just decide that without me, and while we're being frank here, that sounds an awful lot like your grandmother speaking, not you," he argued.

"It doesn't matter, it's the truth. I'm sorry Eoin," she walked out, leaving him alone in the dim classroom.

He looked down and saw the mangled blossom lying there on the linoleum floor. He picked it up, there had to be a way, there had to be something he could do. He jogged through the halls and found Mya, she saw his face and knew Heather had given him the bad news.

"Eoin, she told you, didn't she?" She asked sadly.

"Yeah, but I'm not going to take this lying down. I'm going to go talk to Mrs. O'Reilly," he said defiantly. "And I'm going to find the person who told her secret. It wasn't you, was it?"

Mya gasped in offense, "absolutely not!"

"I didn't think so anyway, relax, I figured I should ask though," Eoin turned his thoughts inward, trying to think who else would've known her secret.

The first person who came to mind was Tristan. He had to have been the one who did it.

Tristan was getting ready to go to tutoring with Sarah. He tried to talk to Heather that day, but he couldn't get close enough to her with everything going on. He glanced around and saw Eoin storming in his direction.

Eoin grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and growled, "who did you tell Gallagher?!"

Tristan put his hands up, "easy man, I have no idea what you're talking about. What is it I'm being accused of exactly?"

"Heather's secret, who did you tell?" He loosened his grip and waited for him to answer.

"I swear on my life I didn't tell anyone," Tristan assured him as he smacked Eoin's hands off of him.

"It had to have been you. You're the only other person who knew about it, besides Mya and I!" Eoin wasn't convinced.

Tristan scoffed, "obviously not moron, because it wasn't me. You ever think maybe it could've come from the outside? Not here in this school?"

Eoin stepped back, he hated the idea of anyone else spoiling things like that for Heather, "I wonder who would do such a thing?"

Tristan shrugged and brushed his shirt off, "hell if I know, but whoever it was definitely has their own agenda."

"Is it just me or are you actually making sense right now? If I asked for your help on this, would you help me? For Heather's sake?"

Tristan looked insulted, "of course, I'd do anything for Heather."

"That makes two of us then."

"Ugh, that's great and everything, but what do you expect from me? What could I possibly do to help?" Tristan hoped he had a plan.

"Do you have a number I can reach you at? I'm still working out the details here, and I've got something else to do right now," Eoin answered as he looked around.

"Sure, we have a house phone," he wrote it down on a slip of paper and handed it to him.

"Alright, I'll call you later so we can talk about it more," Eoin said goodbye to him and took off again. This time he was headed for Heather's house.

Connelly answered the door, "Mr. Flannery, this certainly is unexpected. I'll inform Ms. Heather that you're here."

"Actually Connelly, I'm here to speak to Mrs. O'Reilly," he said as he stood straight.

"Oh, I see. Then I shall inform Mrs. O'Reilly, one moment please, you may wait here in the foyer," Connelly saw the spark in his eyes and couldn't help but feel it might make things worse.

Eoin tried to peer up the stairs to see if Heather was around. He didn't see her anywhere, but he knew she was there. He thought she might be in the library again. Then he saw her appear at the top of the stairs. Her eyes flashed anxiously, she came running down and stood in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered sharply.

"I came to talk to your grandmother about your situation, she has to be a reasonable person," Eoin whispered back.

Connelly appeared and cleared his throat, "Mrs. O'Reilly will see you now."

"Eoin, I'm begging you, don't do this. It will only complicate things," she pleaded with him.

He wanted to listen to her, but he had already set his mind to it, "I'm sorry Heather, but I have to try."

He walked past her and into the sitting room where Fiona was waiting. She stood in the middle of the room expectantly. She should've known Eoin would have something to say. He stood before her, searching for the right words.

"Mrs. O'Reilly, it just doesn't make sense for Heather to transfer schools when we're in the middle of our last term," he braced himself.

Fiona narrowed her eyes, "I beg your pardon? Are you telling me I'm wrong for protecting my granddaughter?"

"No, I'm simply asking if you'd reconsider. At least let her finish this term here, please," Eoin answered as calmly as he could.

Fiona folded her arms and circled him, "I'm sorry, but that's impossible. Arrangements have already been made. Now if you're finished making a fool of yourself Mr. Flannery, I suggest you take your leave."

He stood his ground, "I don't believe it's as complicated as all that. You're an O'Reilly, you have the power to bend things to your will when it suits you. You should let Heather finish the term here. You're not protecting her, you're controlling her."

Heather and Connelly had been standing there outside the room. She was horrified. She couldn't believe he was going head to head with her. At the same time though, she admired him for having the nerve where she had none after so many years. It was too bad he was fighting a battle he could never win.

"How dare you come into my house and insult me like that. Consider your relationship with Heather, terminated, you're forbidden from seeing her again. Now get out," she demanded coldly.

Heather felt a knot in her chest. Something had gripped her heart and refused to let go. She had already broken up with Eoin, but now he was forbidden from seeing her.

"You can't forbid me from anything, you have no authority over me. I love Heather, and I'll be damned if I let you come between us," Eoin retorted angrily.

Fiona just smirked at him, "maybe not over you directly, but I have a full security staff at my disposal and a top of the line security system. If you ever attempt to set foot on this property again, you will instantly be thrown out. As for Heather, I am responsible for her well being, and she won't question me. Your efforts are undoubtedly noble, Eoin Flannery, but that won't get you anywhere with me."

Fiona called security and ordered them to escort him to the gates. As he passed Heather in the hall, she wouldn't even look at him. He cursed himself, he had made things worse, just like she warned him he would.

Once Eoin was gone, Heather confronted her grandmother, "so you've been threatening him this whole time, haven't you? Why?"

"He has no business sticking his nose into our family affairs Heather. You're better off without him," Fiona sat down at a desk and started writing something.

Heather walked over and stood there, "you were waiting for something like this to happen. Any excuse, right? To get me to that ridiculous school and isolate me from the people I care about."

"Don't be childish Heather, it is most unbecoming of you," Fiona answered without looking at her. "I've already had some of the maids start packing your things, the sooner we get you to Hill Crest, the sooner we can move past all this unpleasantness. It's for the best," Fiona peered sideways at her with warning.

Heather was too angry to say anything else. She hadn't made things better either. She started thinking about the things Eoin had said to her grandmother. She was ashamed for the way she had treated him when security was making him leave. He said he loved her in there, but why hadn't he said it to her face?

As she walked around the edges of the property, she spotted Connelly stepping out of the house, looking around, probably for her. She thought maybe if she didn't move, the shadows of dusk would hide her, but he saw her anyway and walked over to where she was standing.

"Dinner will be ready soon, Ms. Heather," he told her.

"I'm not very hungry Connelly, I just want to be left alone right now," she sat herself on a bench and hung her head to cover up the tears that started to build up.

Then, Connelly did something he had never done before. By removing his sunglasses and pulling a handkerchief out of his suit jacket, he showed emotion. Heather stared at him in disbelief as he sat down next to her and held out his handkerchief.

Hesitantly, she accepted it, "thank you, but why are you being so nice to me?"

"Ms. Heather, I've always looked out for you since your grandparents hired me, yes, I get paid to do it, but over time, I can honestly say that I genuinely care for your well-being. Sometimes, a little more than I should."

Heather gave him a skeptical look, "what do you mean?"

He cleared his throat and looked her in the eyes, "I was pleased to see happiness in you when you were with that young man, I even played a slight hand in helping him win over your grandparents. Those times you snuck out to see him, I purposely turned my head the other way so you could be with him. Indeed, I've overstepped my boundaries on a few occasions. I won't be going to Hill Crest with you, I'm actually being reassigned by my superiors."

"Well I was under the impression I wouldn't need you there anyway, but I'm confused, you've never spoken more than a few words at a time to me, why are you telling me all this now?" She said in shock, taking note that it was the first time she had seen his hazel brown eyes, there was such compassion there.

"Because I've come to love you like family Ms. Heather, and no matter what happens after today, I'll always be looking out for you," Connelly stood up again and put his sunglasses back on.

Heather followed him into the house. She came to learn her grandparents would be traveling abroad while she was going to be at school. They didn't want her to stay at the manor while they were gone.

She wanted to see Eoin more than she could bear. She wondered if Connelly would still look the other way. As she walked around the property again, she noticed more security had been assigned to the gates. Heather went to the furthest edge of the property, then found a large tree growing next to one of the walls. She waited until night to try it out.

When she had gotten out undetected, she went back inside the walls. The next day was her last day there, all her things were packed up and the maids started going through rooms that were hardly used, covering up the furniture. Heather still didn't want to believe it was actually happening.

Mya called her that afternoon, "I'm sorry I've been so busy Heather. If I would've known what Eoin was going to do, I would've stopped him. It's not fair things had to end this way."

"It's alright, how are things between you and Ivan?"

"Really great actually. He did want me to tell you that he understands why you kept your personal life a secret and that he's going to miss having you around, but he wishes you luck at your new school," Mya tried to cheer her up, hearing the sadness in her voice.

"Well tell him I'll miss him too, and thank you. I know he'll keep doing great things for North Ridge. There's actually something I want to ask you. How's Eoin doing?" Heather bit her lip as she tried to imagine what he was going through.

"It's kind of strange actually, he's been spending a lot of time with Tristan. He was at Eoin's house for hours yesterday," Mya described with fascination.

"That is strange, those two can't stand each other. I was hoping you could do something for me, Mya. Could you tell Eoin to go to the bridge tonight?" Heather spoke quietly.

Mya instantly knew what she wanted to do, "of course, what time should I tell him?"

"Just tell him to wait there until midnight. I'll have to see what's going on here first," Heather whispered warily.

"Okay, I will. But why can't you just call him yourself?" Mya was curious.

"My grandmother deleted his number and blocked him from contacting me, I didn't have it memorized."

"Oh, sorry to hear that. I'll be sure to tell him then," Mya said goodbye and hung up.

Heather refused to have dinner with them again. She didn't even accept the food that was sent up to her room. She pretended she went to bed early that evening. When she was sure everyone was asleep, she climbed out her window and ran for the tree. She hung from a limb and dropped herself on the other side of the wall, her heart pounding in her chest.

When she reached the bridge, Eoin was leaning against the railing, waiting for her. As soon as he heard her footsteps, he reached out for her and hugged her like he hadn't seen her in ages. She was right where she wanted to be and wished she could stay there forever.

She looked up at him as she felt her heart aching, "I'm sorry about before. I just didn't know what to do, everything feels like it's falling apart. Did you really mean all of what you said?"

Eoin thought back on everything he said in the heat of the moment, then he realized what she meant, "yes, but that's not how I wanted to say it. I'm sorry Heather, I've just made a mess of everything. I can't believe you snuck out here just to see me."

"I had to come see you, to say goodbye. I'll be leaving in the morning," she smiled sadly.

Eoin held her to his chest and squeezed her, "I keep hoping I'll wake up and discover this is all a bad dream."

"Me too. I wasted so much time hiding from my feelings when we first met, and missed out on so much time I could've had with you," she cried into his shoulder.

He turned her face up to his, "I also wish I had more time with you, yet I regret nothing. If anything, you only made me fall harder for you. It hurts something fierce, but every moment I get with you is worth it. I love you, I can't stop loving you. Please say you'll still be with me?"

"I love you too, but how are we going to do this Eoin? You won't be able to see me, I'm not sure how I would get here to see you. I can't just sneak out and meet up with you like I do here, plus this new school is really strict about curfews and visitors. It'd be really unfair," she explained regretfully. "What can we do?"

"You're right, it would be a huge challenge, but think about what we've already been through together, this will be our biggest test yet, but I still believe we can do it," he said confidently.

Heather felt butterflies, "have you always been like that?"

"Like what?"

"I know you said your confidence was an illusion, but so many times I've watched you do this, you actually believe everything will work out if you will it to. I'm really going to miss it," she pressed her forehead to his chest, his heart shared the same rhythm as hers.

Eoin's heart sank. She still didn't want to try, "we could call each other still, email, even write. Please Heather, don't you trust me?"

"I do, but this isn't about trust. I don't want to put you through the struggle of a long distance relationship. Besides, the calling is out, my grandmother deleted and blocked your number from my phone," she looked into his deep blue eyes, what she saw there tugged at her heart. "You do know we'll have to keep it a secret, don't you?"

"Is that a yes then?" Eoin perked up, even though he hoped it wouldn't have to come to that.

"That depends on you. I know we've talked about this before, is it really what you want to do?" She asked as she held his hands.

"As long as you love me, it doesn't matter," he kissed her and held her close to him one last time.

"I should get back before they find out I'm gone. I'll have Mya give you my contact information. I hope I hear from you soon," she kissed and hugged him once more, then ran home.

He watched her go. He was going to miss her smile, her laugh, even when she got annoyed with him and called him by his last name. He reminscently ran his hand along the railing of the bridge. No matter what happened between them, they always found their way back to the bridge. He took comfort in knowing that.