A/N: Happy 2009! Hope you all partied hard on New Years Eve, but it sucks we're all back in school now
Another dark oneshot, but it gets happier by the end, I promise. Hopefully you wont be too confused.
Thanks to jss2420 for editing :)
I dont own anything! And this is legal- a HMxCR crossover. No reporting!
Enjoyy and review pleasee
Forever
NatexMiley
Oneshot
Partial. Empty. Unfilled. Vacant. Hollow. Void.
Gone. Departed. Vanished. Shattered.
L O S T
I am stuck in a hole, and I can't find my way out. I'm looking for a door, a window, a way to escape, but it's all walls. I can't escape. There is a hitch in my throat, and I can't yell or speak for someone to save me. It is like everyone on the earth has disappeared, and I am the only one left. Alone and on my own.
I sink against the wall, feeling the cold bricks on my back. I shiver, and goosebumps run up my arms and down my spine. "Help!" I try to cry, but all that comes out is a small whisper, and even in the hollow, enclosed space, it doesn't echo. It is eerily silent. I am sure that I am done. Is this heaven, or was I really that bad that I'm in hell?
The nightmare is interrupted by a loud beeping noise coming from beside me, and I roll over in the bed. The red numbers are flashing 6:23 AM, and I turn off the alarm. After a few seconds, I throw my long, lean legs around the bed and sit up. I rub my eyes tiredly, then get up and trudge across the room to the bathroom. After coming back, I dress into my dark denim jeans and a dark purple cardigan, then put a little bit of eyeliner on. I'm not trying too hard, because Nate won't be there today. He'd been home sick the past week, and wasn't coming back for a few days until they are sure that he is okay.
Nate is my boyfriend, much to the envy of the rest of the female population, since he is one third of the famous group Connect 3. We'd dated for a year and a half, then went through a rough breakup a year ago, but when he came to my school, we ended up being lab partners and somehow hit it off again. We'd found ourselves back at where we started, but this time I loved him even more, if that was even possible. We shared a connection that didn't happen between many teenagers. We were inseperable, and would climb the highest mountain or swim the largest ocean if it meant being with each other.
Driving to the school, my mind goes back to the dream I had. It was scary- like all other dreams I'd had the past week, I'd thought it was real, but thankfully, I woke up. I realize I'm at the school, and park and turn off the pickup truck. I grab my books on the passenger seat beside me and then push open the door. It creaks open, and I jump down from the high seat.
I wave to the people I know and smile. They smile back and I find Lilly and Oliver waiting for me at my locker inside the school building. I greet them, and then spin the combination of my locker. It opens, and I put away my math book and trade it for the Spanish book. I shut the locker and then begin walking down the hall with my two best friends. They begin talking about the hockey game that was on the night before, and my mind goes on vacation. My attention span is very little when it came to sports.
I thought about Nate. The last time I'd seen him was a week ago at school. It was that night when he got sick. I tried to go over to his house each day during the past week, but his mother insisted that I stay away. She didn't want me to catch whatever bug he had. I just hoped that it was a small flu and would be gone soon. I've missed him- his comforting voice, his warm brown eyes, his tousled curly locks- everything about him that made me fall so hard for him. I knew from the moment I met him 4 years ago that he was and would always be different. No matter how many guys came and went, there was no way that any of them could ever compare. I smiled at this thought, and made note to at least text him later. I need to know that he is going to be okay.
We arrive at the classroom as the bell rings loudly throughout the school. We cringe and take our seats towards the back, where the three of us, and four when Nate was here, sat together. Thankfully the teacher, Mr. Gonzales, is extremely lenient on seating charts.
"Class, I have some serious news to share," Mr. Gonzales announces to the class at the front of the room. We straighten up in our seats. He is never this serious. He looked directly at me, and it seemed like he was singling me out. I got nervous, wondering what I did that was so bad. "Your fellow classmate Nate Gray has passed away this morning," he said in a dull, lifeless voice.
No. He has to be kidding. It was just yesterday morning that he texted me teling me how much he cared about me. It was just a week ago that we were kissing gently at my front door, trying to make curfew. It was just a month ago that he told me, for the first time, that he loved me.
"What? No! Wait, you're kidding me, right? No!" I scream. Mr. Gonzales just looks to the floor and ignores my glare. I feel tears rising quickly in my eyes, and look to the desk on the left of me, where Nate had sat all year.
"His mother called and delivered the news this morning. I'm so sorry," he adds quietly. I get up from my desk and don't bother to gather my things. I push open the door and run down the hallway and towards the main entrance. I push open the wide wooden doors and sit down on the stairs, slumping into a ball to cry.
My mind once again flashed back to the images in my head mere hours ago. It wasn't any different. If he was gone, I was going to be stuck in that maze again, with nowhere to go and no one left worth seeing. I would be all alone.
xx
-3 Months Later--
White. It is all white, and unfamiliar. There are no windows or doors or places to escape. My eyes travel around the room, trying to find something recognizable, but all I can see is white. I blink quickly, but nothing happens. "Miley?" I hear a familiar voice ask behind me.
I turn around quickly, surprised that there is someone else in the room with me. I smile when I saw Nate smirking, his arms crossed. "Nate?" I ask. I am surprised at how angelic my voice sounds.
"How are you?" he asks. He pushes a brown curl back and takes a step forward, closer to me. I am afraid to reach out and touch him, because I don't want the illusion to dissapear. I want this to last for as long as possible. I'm afraid that if I touch him, I'll realize that he isn't real.
I search for the right word. "I'm… I am making it through each day. It's a little lonely without you, though," I manage, choking back tears. He doesn't need to see me sad.
"Miles, I've been watching you ever since that day that I passed. You need to let go and start living! For me! You can't continue living in silence and ignoring all the people that love you," he says softly. He reaches out and places a gentle hand on my arm. I am surprised at how it felt the same as it did three months ago. Nothing dissapears.
"Why, Nate? Why did you have to go?" I cry. "I need you right now! Did you know that my dad is getting married? He's not going to have time for me anymore, and Jackson's going to college in a few months, too! And now Lilly and Oliver are dating, so there's nowhere left for me here!"
Nate's thumb runs across my cheek and brushes away the hot tear. "I'm here now, Miley. I'm here." He wraps his arms around me, and I hug him back tightly.
"I just don't know what to do," I whisper, more tears stream down my face. He squeezes me tighter, and I can feel the love radiating off of him.
"Just be happy." His voice is warm, and I knew that was what he wanted me to do, too. "Let the people that you once were inseperable with back in. Talk to your friends and family, and they'll let you back in. Just don't keep dwelling on my death. Please, Miley, just know that I'm fine here, and you'll join me one day, too. All I want is for you to be happy."
I take a deep breath. "Okay."
He pulls his head back and looks at me. "Miley, you know that I love you, right?" he asks. I nod my head slowly, and more tears run down, because I know this is most likely going to be our last reunion.
"Are you going to be alright?" he asks. "I'll always be with you, right here," he says, putting a finger on my chest where my heart is beating quickly.
I laugh. "What?" he asks. He's offended.
"Nothing. You're just never that cheesy," I smile. He smiles back, and I see his eyes fill with tears.
"I love your smile," he breathes. I give him one last hug.
"I'll miss you," I say quietly, biting my lip.
"I'll miss you too, but I'll see you sooner than you think. And be happy, Miley, okay? Be happy. I love you. I will always love you. Forever."
I smile, and turn to leave. I take a few steps, and I hear him whisper "forever" again. I don't turn back.
I wake up, and smile. Next to my bed, on the wooden dresser, is the chain necklace he gave me a six months ago on our anniversary. I put my fingers on the cold metal, but unlike before, there's an unfamiliar ingraving. I turn it over, and the word F O R E V E R is engraved in gold. I run my finger over it, and it feels like he's with me again. I clasp my fingers around it, and then drop it back in the drawer, sealing it shut. For now.
I walk downstairs and greet my father with a smile and kiss, and decide to take Nate's advice. We sit at the table and talk and laugh and joke, just like before. And I'm happy.
xx
"Mommy, can I have one more pancake?" My 7-year old daughter Nicole asks me with a smile plastered across her face.
I sigh and nod my head, knowing I could never say no to her big blue eyes. She giggles and takes a small golden pancake from the stack and picks up the plastic bottle of syrup. She pours it all over the plate and soaks the pancake. I roll my eyes at her and then continue flipping the circles of white batter.
Two warm, sturdy arms wrap around my waist, and I turn around to see my husband David smiling down at me. "Good morning, sweetheart," he whispers into my ear, and it gives shivers down my spine. I giggle and he kisses me lightly on the cheek.
"Eww," I hear my 12-year old daughter Natalie mutter. I laugh and hand her a plate with pancakes. David takes his lunch and grabs his jacket out of the closet. He hugs the girls and then waves goodbye and heads to work.
"You got all your homework done last night, right?" I ask Nicole. "You were up pretty late last night talking to that boy." I try to look stern, but know that I was only a year older when I first fell in love. I can't be too harsh.
"I really like him," she sighs. I smile at her. "Hey Mom?" she asks curiously. She cuts the side of her pancake and stuffs it in her mouth. Just like her mother, thirty years ago.
"Yeah, honey?"
"Who was your first love? Was it Dad?" she wonders.
I smile shyly. I figured that I would have to tell them sooner or later. "I was in love with a boy named Nate. That's actually where your name comes from, Natalie."
"Do you still talk to him? What happened? Does Dad know?" they both ask, firing questions at me.
"No. Nate passed away when I was almost sixteen. And Dad knows that I will probably never love him as much as I loved Nate, and he's fine with it." I look down and turn off the stove. I place the pan and the spatula in the sink and start running cold water over them.
"Well?" Natalie asks.
"Are you going to tell us the story?" Nicole finishes.
I sigh and turn around, wiping my hands with a towel. I take the chain out of my pocket and run my fingers over those seven letters. I sit next to them, and start to tell them about the boy who captured my heart years ago, and who taught me that happiness is important in life. And how someday, and I didn't know how much longer, I'd join him in heaven where we could be together, forever.
Satisfied. Pleased. Content. Delighted. Enchanted.
Thrilled. Curious. Overjoyed. Excited.
H A P P Y