Our Last Night

It was a beautiful night. The cold air was somewhat comforting to me. I stepped out of the truck as Chris shut off the engine. Chris was my boyfriend of four years. It was February and we only had three months until graduation. Unfortunately, his parents couldn't wait that long. His Dad got a job in South Carolina and he couldn't wait to leave. Our town isn't big. One stoplight, a grocery story, and a Hardee's sat on the corner across from Jackson's Quick Pick and Gas Station. The rest of the city was made up of the broken down private school, and some houses. There was a little bit of farmland surrounding the town, and the high school was smack dab in the middle of it.

I've known Chris since he moved here when we were four. Our parents always joked about us getting married. It's funny how things turn out. Chris's dad hated this town. Most people did. There was nothing here, except farmland, and it took almost half an hour to get to anywhere.

Right now we were on Wesley's farm. There was a little pond in the middle of the field and willow trees along the bank. There was a small, bridge over the pond. A lot of times we used to come her and just sit on the bridge, our legs swaying back and forth. And other times we would sit under the pear trees and sneak some, this was all during the summer, of course.

The pond had a little layer of ice covering it, but it was less than half an inch thick. I turned back to him and he was frowning. It was our last night. No more hugs in the morning. No more sneaking kisses from under mistletoe at Christmas. No more swimming in the lakes during summer break. No more seeing his face, holding him, having his scent fill my senses. It would all be gone, in a matter of hours. He rested his hand on my shoulder. He had a strong, but gentle hand. I wrapped my arms around his middle and pulled him to me.

"I'll miss you," I said, my voice cracked.

"I know." I looked in his eyes. His deep blue pools seemed to let me fall into them. And in one moment, his lips captured mine. It wasn't a powerful kiss, just a small peck, but it meant the world. I felt a tear escape my eye. His thumb brushed it away.

The stars seemed to twinkle at us from afar. And from some unknown source, I felt a small wetness fall on my nose. It was snowing.

"You know what the legend says," He said, looking toward the sky. "If two people kiss under a starry sky, and snow starts to fall, they were destined for each other."

"I guess destiny wasn't strong enough this time." I said, holding back my tears. He rested his forehead on mine. He turned and walked me over to the bridge. He sat down and crossed his legs, I sat in his lap and my feet dangled over the edge.

"Remember when we first found this place?" He asked. 'Of course,' I thought. 'Why wouldn't I?'

"We were seven and you wanted to explore." I said.

"You didn't object. We ran into a part of the woods, leaving a trail of orange flags as we went."

"You found them in your dad's work shop. We stumbled upon this place accidentally. We were trying to find the Mississippi River. We didn't know then that it was in the middle of the United States, not the East coast." I said, remembering.

"We ran out of flags about thirty feet before we saw the field, so we started marking the trail with stuff we'd taken with us, like the picnic cloth, and that big stick I found near my house that I used for a walking stick."

"We tied my ribbon around it so we could find it. We stumble upon the pond and ate our lunch on this bridge."

"You were afraid you'd fall off because it didn't have any railings." He said smiling.

"But you said not to worry, because you wouldn't let anything happen to me." We stopped talking and sat in silence for a little while.

"Do you remember what I named this pond?" He asked.

"No, I don't even remember naming it."

"Dawn." He said.

"Why'd you name it that?" I asked.

"D- Diana, A-Abigail, W-Wilson, N- Neal." He said.

"My whole name and your last name?" He just nodded. "Why?"

"Because," he paused. "I loved you even then." He whispered in my ear and rested his head on my shoulder.

It was soothing, just having his presence near me. Hearing his steady breathing, and feeling his steady heartbeat. Just knowing that I would never see him again, it was almost a physical pain. I felt the tears well up in my eyes, and fall onto his arm.

"Remember our trip back?" he asked again. "You tripped over a log and hurt your ankle so I had to carry you all the way back home." I nodded slightly and felt his weight shift. He picked me up, like a mother would a sleeping child, and carried me to the empty pear tree. He sat me on the lowest branch and stared into my eyes.

"I love you, and no matter what, that will never change." Was this where it would end? Was this the moment I'd been dreading? Was he going to break my heart? Instead of continuing, he kissed me again. He put his hand on the small of my back and pulled me closer to him. He broke the kiss and we stayed there, neither of us wanting the moment to end.

I wondered about everything. Were we really destined for each other? Or was it just fourteen years of lies? Everything we had? Shared? Cared about? Was it just an illusion? How could fourteen years of my life pass me by in deception? I felt betrayed, hurt, and anger. Anger to whoever decided to play this mind game of theirs with my heart. I wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair!

I started crying again, this time in sobs. "I don't want you to go!" I cried. "You can't leave me! I need you! Please? I love you!" I grabbed onto his shirt and began smearing it with tears and snot. I ran his hand through my long brown hair. He rubbed my back until I stopped shaking.

"Remember when I asked you out?" I didn't answer. "It was Valentine's Day of our freshman year. I snuck into your first period and left a card." He paused. "It said, 'Happy Valentine's Day! Hope your day's full of love; you deserve it, because you're an angel from above! Love, your Secret Admirer.' You had no clue. Then in your second period, I left a chocolate heart and it had a note that said, 'You'll find out who I am…' And then, in your third period I left a stuffed bear. It had a note too that said 'This afternoon. Meet me…' and then in your last class I left you a long-stemmed red rose that had another note attached to it that said, 'By the buses. See you then.' You had no clue it was me." He paused and ran his fingers through my hair. "Your face was priceless." He smiled. "Then I gave you a ring and hugged me so tight I thought I would die." I looked up at him. My tears blurred my vision so I wiped my eyes.

"Remember the day we met?" I said my voice cracking. "I looked at you and asked my mom if you had cooties." I laughed a little and he smiled.

"Then I said that I thought girls had cooties, not boys." I leaned into him and let out a contented sigh. He ran his hand through my hair. A little while later, he pulled me from the tree and we went to lay in the bed of the truck. He pulled out a blanket and placed it over the bed. I laid down on my back and he laid beside me. He gripped my hand and we stared up at the stars.

"Remember the first time we drove? We had to clear a path so we found a relatively clear spot and started moving and cutting trees and stuff. I took us about a week before we had the path completely cleared. And then we drove here that night." I said, rubbing my thumb in a circular motion on his hand.

"The moon was full. And that was the first time we kissed."

"Underneath the moon and the stars. We'd been going out for two months."

"Then it started to rain and we ran inside the truck." I smiled at him and he smiled back. "I'll miss you." I said, turning my head to look at him. He looked at me. He held my chin in his fingertips and gently rubbed my cheek with his thumb.

"You know, I've been thinking…" He trailed off. I knew what was coming. He was going to say it would be too hard having a girlfriend in another state and that we should go our separate ways, but, I couldn't help myself from thinking that maybe, we could. "Our whole lives have revolved around each other. We've done everything together. We learned to ride our bikes, how to drive, we learned to swim…Everything we've done, we've done together." He kissed me, softly. "I was afraid…" He said.

"Of what?" I whispered.

"Of everything. Of you not seeing me, not realizing my feelings for you. I prayed that you felt the same way. And when I found out you did…I thought I would die of happiness."

"I'm glad you didn't." I smiled and he smiled back. "I'd have died right along with you."

"I love you. With all of my heart, and I'll never stop. I'll love you until I can't love anymore."

"I love you too. And nothing will stop me. Not death, not you moving. Nothing." My voice cracked on the last word and I felt a wet, salty tear run down my face. He kissed it. "I never want to let you go. I never want to leave you." More tears came.

"I never will. Because I'll always be right here." He took my hand and placed it over my heart. We laid there in silence, listening to the wind whistle through the naked trees. I scooted closer to him and rested my head on his chest. I felt the steady thump of his heart. He ran his hand through my hair again, as if he wanted to remember how it felt. I knew that it was coming to an end. I just wanted him to stay. His birthday wasn't for a few months so he wasn't legally eighteen yet. He couldn't live on his own. There was no way around it. He had to leave. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't mine. It was just a cruel twist of fate. He started humming our song. Nevalea was what it was called. It was about the perfect haven for love. The place where anyone in love was sent to after their death, to await the arrival of the one they loved. And when that person came, they went to heaven.

"Diana?" He whispered. "I know this is gonna be hard…" It was coming. The end. Our last night was coming to an end. "But, I want you to come with me." I looked up into his baby blue eyes. Did he say what I think he just said? He pulled out something from his pocket and slipped it on my left ring finger. I smiled.

"Yes!" I screamed and wrapped my arms around his neck. Maybe tonight wasn't our last night after all.

AN: I hoped you liked it. I'm thinking of making a story called Nevalea with Chris and Diana in it. What do you think? Should I? See ya!

Shojogurl