A/N: I hope you all enjoy it! And thanks to onlylivingboy for editing - you really helped me out a lot!

Disclaimer: Almost all of the characters belong to AMM.


Shooting Star

Sometimes life can go by so fast

For Zhenya

It was a beautiful day. The sky was a bright blue, which made the trees shine golden. I loved the early fall in Colorado. There is this really nice period where the weather gets nice and cool, but it hasn't started snowing yet. I stared out the window of the van while we drove through the countryside from where I went to college in Boulder on our way to the racetrack in La Junta.

"Dawn?" said my boyfriend Pete, gently brushing my blonde hair away from my face. I turned toward him and he kissed me. "Thanks for coming today. You can't even guess how important this is to me." He kissed me again.

"Oh, I wouldn't miss this. Not for anything." I grinned at him and grabbed his hand.

Pete Black and I had been dating since our junior year in high school. I returned to Stoneybrook in sophomore year, right after he and Mary Anne had broken up. She cried for a while, sulked around the house whining about how much she loved Pete and how could he do this to her? At this point I couldn't stand her – and I eventually became better friends with Pete instead of her. In fact, I discovered the reason that he broke up with her is because he caught her cheating on him with her middle school boyfriend, who she claimed she had never quite gotten over. Suddenly Mary Anne hated me, and spent most of her time being passive-aggressive and stomping around the house angrily and not speaking to me. She also tried to convince everyone that they shouldn't be friends with me anymore. Of course, some people (like Kristy, mostly) went along with and some people – Claudia, Abby, and Anna, and Stacey – did not. We all branched off into new groups of friends, and when Pete and I finally realized how we felt about each other, Mary Anne got especially angry. She has yet to have forgiven me. In fact, at this point my mom and Richard are getting increasingly irritated at the fact that they can't spend a holiday with both of us at once.

I looked out the window again. We were arriving at the track.

I got out of the car and went to find somewhere to sit, preferably close to the action. I wanted to watch Pete win, like I knew he would. He had been racing since he was 14, since his brother left for the military and left his bike. Now we were both 21, and he had gotten really good with all of his practice. Reckless, dangerous, and completely irresponsible, his parents would say, but still good.

I sat on the bleachers, watching Pete and waiting for Claudia and Alan to show up. They had dated in high school, but now they were just friends. Claud had moved out here about the same time I started going to grad school to go to Naropa, a Buddhist university specializing in art, writing, and religious studies. Alan was just visiting in order to see the big race. He was now living in Boston and was evidently clerking for some law office. The sun was shining on us, and a little breeze was blowing around the dusty track. I saw Claudia and Alan carrying some overpriced beers my way and waved.

"Hey", said Claud, handing me a beer.

"So how was the drive up here?" I asked.

"Oh, pretty easy, I guess. I mean it is Sunday. Not too much traffic. You excited?"

"Of course! I know he's going to win. I just can't believe the prize money. $50,000? Pete said something about putting it toward a house, but I think he should use it to finish up his degree. I mean, racing is great and I know he loves it and he's awesome at it, but we both know that he's not going to be racing professionally anymore by the time we're forty. It would be nice for him to have something to fall back on."

"Oh, you're no fun Dawn! Always future this and future that. Live in the present for once, duh!" Claudia giggled. My friends all laughed at me when I talked about Pete and I getting older. But this time I knew she couldn't laugh for long.

Pete and I had gone out to dinner last night at my favorite restaurant. I thought we were going out because of the excitement to do with the big race. But that wasn't the only reason. He asked me to marry him right before dessert. Not that it was a surprise – I knew quite a long time ago that we were made for each other. There's nothing wrong with confirmation, though.

I show Claudia my ring and she gasped. "Oh my god, that's so cool, Dawn! You must be so happy!" She threw her arms around me in celebration.

"Okay, now I guess you have an excuse." She conceded. Then her face lit up. "Wait a sec – do I get to help plan the wedding?" Claudia was getting really excited.

"Of course, Claud. What would I do without you and Stacey? Don't say anything about it though – I wanna be the one to tell her, okay?"

"Definitely." She took another sip of her beer, and then threw her arms around me again, almost spilling both of our beers all over us.

"Oh, I'm just so happy for you!" she squealed. "You and Pete turned out to be the best couple ever! You know, at first, Stace and I weren't so sure it would work out, but now look at you! Cheers!" We knocked our plastic cups together and I sipped while Claudia chugged the rest of hers. I just couldn't stop smiling.

At this point I handed Claud my drink and headed into the pit to see how things were going for Pete. As I got there, I saw Pete being followed around by some kid that I had never seen before. The guy must have been a fan or something. He was stilled suiting up as I snuck up and kissed him on the cheek. He turned around.

"Hey love." He seemed sort of annoyed and frustrated, which was not really characteristic of him before a race.

"Are you okay, Pete?" I asked. Immediately he started to attempt to play it cool.

"Oh, yeah sure! Hey, Dawn, this is Eric." he said, pointing to the kid that was following him around. "Eric, this is my fiancée, Dawn."

"Damn, Pete, we all knew you could pick up the chicks, but this girl is royally hot!" I looked at the kid as he said this. There was just something not right about him, something that seemed unnaturally nervous.

The kid then looked me in the eyes. He seemed pretty young and a little pale. "It's my first real race, you know? I'm so nervous!" Now I sort of understood.

"Oh, so you're not even pro yet? And you decided to start with this race?" It was a pretty difficult race, considering that everyone else was much more experienced and the track was notoriously difficult. That was why there was such a big prize for the winner.

"Yeah, my dad is one of the sponsors. He pulled some strings so I could ride against my favorite racer." He nodded toward Pete. Just a for a fleeting second, his nervousness seemed to give way to pride. Pete however, still seemed irritated. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows. Obviously Pete shared my concern. I shrugged at Pete, as it wasn't really my place to say anything. I grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. It seemed to ease some of his tension. "Love you, babe." He said with a slow smile.

"Love you too". I said as I kissed him and walked back out the door. The race would start soon, so I needed to leave Pete alone to concentrate. As I sat back down with Claudia, I could see some of the guys already wheeling out their bikes and lining them up. I saw Pete's cobalt blue bike, #325, followed by who must have been Eric, both of them all suited up. Pete waved at me and blew me a kiss. Eric just stood there, looking ahead. They got on and almost all of the racers started their engines simultaneously. Yes, I realize that bikes create pollution and all of that – hell, if you had talked to me about racing in eighth grade, I would have said it should be banned – but obviously a lot has changed since then. My heart started pounding in anticipation. The announcers started talking, saying something about the sponsors, which they always do before a race starts, and introducing the racers by number. When Pete's number came up, Claud and Alan and I, along with many other people in the crowd, stood up to cheer.

Then the countdown started. We all sat down and the only sounds were the announcer and the bikes – everything else was complete tense silence. As they reached one, I felt as though I was about to burst. Suddenly, the flags went down and the bikes shot off the starting line. Suddenly the crowd started screaming and cheering on their favorite racers. Pete was already ahead of everybody. I was so sure he was going to win.

The bikes flew around the track, a rainbow of streaming colors and dust. The world was filled with track dust, the sound of shouting and cheering and engines. The autumn sun shone and reflected on the dust particles floating through the air. Claud ordered us some more beer from a passing vendor as I downed my first. I watched Pete intently. He was so natural at racing, the way he eased around the course, the way he looked completely at peace on his bike, not a care in the world, Obviously he liked winning, but the act of racing was what he truly lived for. .

All of a sudden someone who looked like he was completely out of control was coming up on Pete. This must be Eric, I thought and rolled my eyes. He was swerving all over.

"Pete, just get the hell away from him!" I shouted, rather vainly, since there was no way he would be able to hear me. Pete sped up a little and, for a second, lost him. Then Eric was right on him again. They were on their second to last lap, so I was sure Pete could lose him again, and for good, by then. But all of a sudden, Eric sped up and pulled ahead of Pete and made towards the exit, cutting Pete off. I could see Pete trying to stop. I hoped he could but there wasn't enough time. My world stopped as I saw Pete's bike collide with Eric's, t-boning it at first, then tearing right through it. Before the dust settled I was out of my seat running toward the accident. I completely lost sight of everything except Pete, lying there, motionless. The paramedics who were there on standby were already hovering over him by the time I got there. I was told to get back, give him some air. When I refused, a paramedic grabbed me and forced me away. At that point I backed off in hopes that they would be able to do their jobs, to save my love's life. I stood shaking and staring at him. Claud tried to hug me, but I shook her off. I couldn't think of being touched by anyone but Pete right now.

Off to the side, I heard someone screaming, "Whaddya mean, he's dead?!" I saw who I assumed to be Eric's father collapse in a sobbing heap. Suddenly, someone tapped my shoulder.

"Are you any relation to Peter Black?"

"I'm his fiancée, Dawn Schafer."

"I'm really, really sorry ma'am," He looked down at his feet. "His injuries were too serious. He didn't make it."

I collapsed on the ground.