Title: Counting on Forever
Rating: T
Genre: Tragedy/Romance
Summary: AU. John Morrison is a young solider serving his country in Iraq, leaving his fiancée. How can she cope when she learns that he's never coming home?
Dedication: This story is for Chic. Hope ya like it chica!
Note: For your reading pleasure while reading you should listen to Carrie Underwood's "Just a Dream", kay?
Disclaimer: I own nobody. Kay? Kay, good.
-Start-
The wedding dress was already picked out. The wedding invitations, sent out as he would've been home soon. His party for his arrival home was already planned. Even her outfit was picked out. It was a yellow sundress, he loved her in the color yellow.
Eiris stood staring at the beautiful wedding dress. It was a strapless grown, with white beads at the top of it in a cute design, and it was poofy coming down. She looked beautiful in it, and knew at first glance when she seen it, it was the one. Her fiancé, John Morrison, had even agreed that it looked beautiful on her. Then again, she could wear a box and he'd still think she was still the most beautiful girl in the world.
Tear cascaded down her face as she walked towards the dress. Slowly she reached for the dress and ran her ringer along the beads.
"I love you, Eiris." John Morrison's sweet immature voice spoke. "Dad says when you love someone you should marry them...marry me?"
Eiris pushed her dark hair back before laughing at him. "I can't marry you, I'm already married." She reminded him, as he pushed her even higher on the swing. They were at the neighborhood park, where they had met when they were five, that was five years ago. They were both ten now. He was seven months older than her though.
"But, Eiris, please?" he begged.
"Ugh, fine. But only because you're my bestest friend." She rolled her eyes before smiling at John. "But you're telling him."
"Please, Mike won't care. Besides, I heard he likes Maryse. He's crazy, because you're more beautiful than her."
Eiris nodded. "Thanks, and I agree. I mean, you're more handsome than he is."
"Yeah, I know." Morrison told her before he stopped her swing.
"Hey, what you'd do that for?" She hopped off the swing and put her hands on her hips facing her 'soon to be husband'.
"So I could kiss you." Without saying anything else John placed his lips upon Eiris's. She kissed him back and then he pulled away. The girl blushed but the boy laughed.
"Race ya to the monkey bars!"
"No." Eiris huffed.
"Huh?" she usually loved racing to the monkey bars.
"I said no..."
"Why?" Eiris didn't answer, but instead ran towards the monkey bars.
"No fair! Cheater!" he raced after the laughing girl.
That was one of the memories that they had shared with each other. It was their first kiss, and it was hard to believe that they wouldn't share anymore moments like that and there wouldn't be no more kisses. A sob echoed through the room and she fell to her knees, her hands covering her eyes as she cried even harder, and it hurt so bad that he wasn't even there to comfort her. Like he had always been.
"Baby...oh my." Her mother entered the room and ran to her daughter, hugging her tightly like she did a lot nowadays. Eiris was only nineteen, John was twenty. They were high school sweethearts and everything.
Eiris sobbed as John's tight embraced was wrapped around his girlfriend.
"Baby, it's going to be okay." John tried to stay strong, but knew that seeing his girlfriend like this was taking a toll on him and he couldn't stop the tears from spilling from his brown eyes.
"No, it's..." she hiccupped. "not. He's gone, dad...is..." she sobbed even harder into his chest. They were on his porch sitting on the bench there.
"He's always with you, in your heart." He couldn't think of anything else to say and that was the only thing he could think of.
"Stop being cheesy." The fifteen year old told her boyfriend.
"Hey, I can't help it." He had never lost anyone close to him, and usually in TV shows and movies that's what they told the person who was suffering.
Eiris looked up at John and he took his thumb wiping away her tears. "Tell me you'll never leave me."
"I will never leave you, I promise."
"Hey, don't promise something like that. Daddy promised and well, here's the result." she sniffled.
"Fine, I don't promise. But, I won't ever leave you on my own free will. Will you settle for that?"
Eiris nodded her head and John kissed her forehead.
"Good, it's you and me forever baby."
"I'll hold you to that," she hugged him tightly and he returned the embrace, loving the way she felt against his body.
As foolish as it sounded, Eiris was really, truly counting on forever. She was and always had been. Was she so stupid to think that? He didn't go back on his word though. I won't ever leave you on my own free will echoed through her mind.
"Mommy, why did he have to go to war?" John was against the war, and so was he.
"He wanted to fight for you, so you could be safe and the world could be safe for the family you would've had." Her mom had tears streaming from her eyes. She had too lost her husband and to see her daughter go through this was hard. Her daughter would never possibly understand why the good always die young. Why her fiancé would never return to her alive and safe.
"No! No! No!" Eiris yelled, stomping her foot.
John sighed as he looked at his fiancée. "Babe, listen...I already signed up."
"You can't go. You can't go to Iraq. I need you here, I need you. Is that so hard to believe?"
"I know you do, I know."
"You don't even believe in this war, so why are you going to fight for us."
"Because I love this country."
"To hell with this country!" John shook his head at the love of his life. "I rather have you. I rather you be here, than to not know if you're coming home or not!"
"Are you ready, baby?"
Eiris looked up to her mom, she could barely see her through her teary eyes. "Were you ready to bury dad? No, mom...I'm not ready, I'll never be."
She would never be ready to say her last goodbye.
"Whoa. What's the special occasion?" Eiris giggled with her house door open. John stood there wearing a suit, dressed like a prince. She of course, wore a yellow cream colored dress, as if she were a princess. In what they were riding in, to the prom, or so she thought, was a horse pulled carriage, it was as if she were Cinderella.
He held out his hand and she placed her hand in his. He took in her scent of lavender and vanilla as he walked her to the carriage and helped her get in, and then he got in himself.
"Where's my corsage?" Eiris asked, joking of course. She didn't want to go to the prom, he knew that. But he told her it was important to her, so that's why she had decided to come.
"We're not really going to the prom."
"Er...okay?" She smiled. "Then where are you taking me?"
"To where all lovers go..."
She rolled her eyes. "Chessy, but I love you." She leaned forward and kissed his lips.
"Sometimes I wonder if that's enough." He muttered.
"Enough...for what?" She had clearly heard him.
"You'll see."
"Okay." They began to chat about the littlest and stupidest things. They were being completely themselves, the one the other had fallen in love with.
After a few minutes John the carriage had stopped.
"We're here love." He got out first and then helped his lover out.
They were in the park...
"We're...in the park. You made me get dressed up for this?"
"Look around you though." John laced his fingers with hers.
Eiris looked up, all the trees were covered with lights shinning their brightest. The stars that night, were bright and beautiful, shining more than ever, lighting up the dark sky.
"This is where we fell in love, where we met. You said you wanted to get married here one day."
"You remember?" Eiris looked back to the most handsome man she had ever seen, the only man she had ever loved. Her first friend, her first kiss, her first love, her first everything...
"I remember everything my dear, especially the simplest of things."
"So what are we doing out here?" she glanced around, a smile in place on her face.
"Well, I'm working up the nerves to propose."
Eiris snapped her head towards his direction. "Yes!"
"...I didn't ask yet."
"Then hurry up."
He laughed as he noticed tears in her eyes. So, he got down on his knees and pulled out a velvet blue box. He opened it. "This ring has been passed down in my family; my dad proposed to my mom with this, he had gotten it from grandma. Now if you say yes, it's yours. Eiris Hales, my beautiful girlfriend, will you make me the happiest, luckiest man alive and marry me...for real this time."
Tears of joy spilt from Eiris's eyes as she hugged John tightly. "Yes, baby. Yes, forever you and me."
Eiris was counting on forever, but now she'll never know...
-End-
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A/n: Okay, so...there it is, it's sad. But I like it, and I hope Chic likes it. Review, please. – Tiffany.