The sun was hung low in the sky and fog held the air captive. Dark clouds were floating in the early morning sky as the sun was trying to break through and trees were still dripping raindrops from the earlier rainfall. The ground had a thick layer of wetness laying on top of the lush, green grass and puddles of mud were scattered throughout. Maria's green eyes carefully examined the ground before taking a step. She hopped around on the grass in an attempt to avoid the wetter parts of the Earth and to avoid the huge puddles of mud that seemed to be surrounding her. This rainfall had made her visit more like an adventure as she carefully hopped and skipped around every which way. Finally, she stopped and smoothed her little white dress out, popped the collar to her denim jacket, and patted down her thick, straight auburn hair as she locked eyes on her destination. Then, suddenly, all of the memories came floating back into her mind.

{Three years earlier}

It was a rainy fall morning, much like this one on the day that their paths crossed for the first time. Maria had just stumbled in ten minutes late for her first day of her photography class. She tried to slowly sneak into the classroom, behind the professors back, but right as she took her first step into the classroom, he turned around.

"Crap," She muttered, making the rest of her classmates giggle at her.

The professor, who was tall and had a large bald spot on the top of his head, raised an eyebrow at his new student, "Maria Kanellis, I'm assuming?"

She sighed, then looked at him, "Yeah, I'm sorry. I was running late. I'm not used to this whole college thing." Yet again, she made her classmates laugh, which brought a small smile to her face.

He shook his head at her, trying to wipe a small that was coming onto his features away, "Just be here on time from now on." Maria nodded, then looked for a place to sit for a couple of seconds. She turned back to the professor for help. He stretched his arm out and pointed to the back of the classroom, "Back there, there is an empty seat next to Mr.," He narrowed his eyes, looking to see who it was, "Ah, next to Mr. Hardy." Maria nodded, then headed to the back of the room. She placed her camera and notebook on the desktop then took her seat. She felt eyes glued to the side of her face. She turned her head and saw it was 'Mr. Hardy' whose stare she had. She smiled at him, not knowing how else to respond. He had bright emerald eyes, a very soft face with a masculine touch to it, and long, colorful hair. He was actually pretty attractive, especially to Maria.

For the next forty five minutes, Maria spaced out into the class and it was almost as if nothing could break her trance. But suddenly, her trace shattered when a thin piece of lined paper was dropped in front of her. She glanced around, noticing that Hardy, or whatever his name was, was looking at her from the corner of his eye. She couldn't help but smile as she looked back down at the note. She slowly unfolded it, and began to read it.

Hey shortstuff, you're pretty cute. She felt a blush slowly creeping onto her tanned cheeks. She looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. She scribbled something back to him, asking what his name was and telling him he wasn't bad looking either, then she dropped it on his notebook. She watched as he scribbled a message back to her, wondering what it said. He slid it over to her, then she opened it up and began reading once again: The name's Jeff. I think we should hang out sometime. Maria was nearly beaming at this point. Normally, things like this didn't happen to her, but she didn't want to ruin it by being over excited, so she decided to play it cool. She challenged him, and told him only if he gave her his number and boy was she surprised when she saw his number scribbled on the piece of paper with Call Me written underneath.

The next day, Maria walked into her art class to find Jeff sitting there, she decided to take her seat right next to him as class began. "Hi," She said quietly as she took her seat beside him.

"Hi," He responded, his tone flat. He didn't sound happy at all, actually he sounded pretty sad.

"What's the matter?" Maria asked, become sort of concerned. She couldn't help herself; he was a cute boy that was actually paying attention to her, and, for some reason, she was very drawn to him.

"You didn't call me last night," He responded, his tone cold as he looked her dead in the eyes. And at that moment, two things happened: Maria had a strong feeling of guilt coursing through her body, and she realized how much she actually was starting to like Jeff.

A few weeks had passed and Jeff and Maria had talked on the phone every day, their feelings growing stronger for one another. The had the same art major, and had the majority of classes together. They began to study together and hang out on a regular basis. But one day was different from all the rest.

That morning, Maria awoke with a strong feeling that change was in the air. She changed her clothes, did her hair, and put her make-up, the same as every morning, and things seemed to be the same as every day, but she couldn't shake the feeling of change that was in the air. Once she was finished getting ready, she put on her jacket and shoes and began walking to Jeff's dorm. After a ten minute walk, she arrived at Jeff's door and she placed a light knock on the light wood. A few seconds passed before Jeff finally let her in.

"Hey," He said, sounding like he was completely out of breath. Maria walked in the room and looked around. She saw a guitar lying on the floor with a sheet of music on Jeff's bed. She walked over to the guitar and picked it up. She began studying the acoustic then glanced over at Jeff.

"You never told me you played?" She told him, almost questioning why.

He rubbed the back of his neck as redness creeped onto his cheeks, it was clear that he was embarrassed by the fact. "I'm not very good," He admitted to her, but she just waved her hands at him.

"I'll be the judge of that," She held out his guitar. At first, he hesitated, but then he grabbed onto the neck of his guitar then sat down on his bed. Maria took a seat beside him as he began to play. He began to play around with a few cords that eventually came together as a song, then he started to sing softly:
The other night dear,
As I lay sleeping.
I had a dream I held you in my arms.
When I awoke dear,
I was mistaken,
So I bowed my head, and I cried.
You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make me happy,
When skies are grey.
You'll never know dear,
How much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away.

After the chorus, he stopped playing, then looked at Maria. Right as she was going to ask him if he was going to continue, he grabbed Maria's face and he kissed her roughly. At first, Maria was shocked, but then she began to kiss him back feeling the spark between them. Today was the day things changed. Today was the day she realized that she loved Jeff, and he loved her too.

A year had came and went, and Jeff and Maria were still together, stronger than ever. They were always together and never apart, you could never have one without the other. At only 19, they were ready to be wed, but Maria was just waiting for the ring. Through the course of the year, they had a lot of firsts together, including buying their own apartment together. Their apartment was a small, one bedroom that was decorated in their photography and artwork, as well as other things that they both liked. Music was always filling their home, whether it was Jeff playing or the sound of the radio buzzing about, they never went without something playing. They knew literally everything about one another and they made each other the happiest that they had ever been.

One day, Jeff came home from work to find Maria half asleep on the couch. He shook her awake, then flaunted his money in her face. She rubbed her eyes then looked at the money. "What's that for?" She asked before yawning.

"Our tattoos!" He told her excitedly. Then he grabbed her arm and pulled her off of the couch. "Let's go right now!" And so Maria followed him out of the house and to the tattoo parlor. Jeff went first, and wouldn't let Asher get her ink done until after he was. He had been planning this for a month, and Maria honestly had no idea what he was up to. An hour had passed and Jeff called for Maria. She walked into the room and Jeff revealed his tattoo. The black ink traveled around his ring finger and read 'Maria' on one side and 'Always' on the other.

Maria gasped when she saw that tattoo, "Oh my gosh, Jeff." He stood up and got down on one knee.

"Maria Kanellis, I want you to be my wife," He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Maria. She unfolded it and there was a picture of a tattoo that said 'Jeff' on one side and 'Forever' on the other. "Will you marry me, Shortstuff? These tattoos will run skin deep and represent that our love is eternal. Yeah, I know that was cheesy, but I love you and I want to be with you always."

"And forever," She responded with a bright smile on her lips. Jeff stood up and hugged his bride to be, then left a kiss on her thin, pink lips.

The next few weeks were pure perfection for both Maria and Jeff. They had told everyone that they had decided to get married and even began planning for their small wedding. They decided to get married in the spring of the following year and they still had many things to do before the wedding.

A few weeks later, Maria awoke to an ear splitting ring at three o'clock in the morning. She rubbed her eyes, then glanced around the room in search for Jeff. She knew he worked late tonight, but where was he now? Maria crawled out of bed then dragged herself over to her phone. She pressed the 'talk' button then pressed her little black phone to her ear, "Hello?" She said before sniffling.

"Ms. Kanellis?" Some woman asked in a high pitched voice that rang in Maria's ear after she spoke.

"Yeah, this is her," She responded, becoming a little annoyed. It was three in the morning, what the hell did this lady want?

"I'm afraid I have some bad news," She said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"What happened?" Maria asked, becoming a little frightened.
"Your boyfriend, Jeff Hardy was in a fatal car accident an hour ago. We did everything we could, I'm so sorry." The phone fell out of Maria's hands then fell apart as it hit the hardwood. The words began to sink into Maria's head as she fell onto the couch. Slowly, tears began to form in Maria's green orbs, then they began to cascade down her freckled cheeks. He was gone. Jeff Hardy was gone.

{Back To The Present}

Maria studied the large headstone that was placed in front of her eyes, "Jeff Hardy", It read and Maria still couldn't believe that he was gone. May 22nd, 1990 - June 18th 2011. Maria glanced down at her wrist, where the similar set of dates occupied her arm. She crouched down onto the ground and ran her hand across the top of the headstone.
"Hey sunshine," She kissed the headstone then patted it once more, "I miss you." She read the headstone over and over again as tears began to form in her eyes once again. Then, in a low tone she began to sing:
The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms
But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So I bowed my head and cried
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away
I've always loved you and made you happy
And nothing else could between
But now you've left me to love another
You've shattered all of my dreams
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away.
She kissed the gravestone once more as the rain began to trickle down from the sky. "Goodbye, Jeff." She arose from the ground and turned away. She looked up towards the sky, and even though it was raining, the sun had finally broken the clouds. She turned around and looked at the gravestone, the last piece of Jeff she had, and smiled before walking away.