Prologue

Stephanie looked at the scrapbook in front of her. She smiled softly as her fingertips lightly traced the happy faces in the glossy photograph. Paul had his arm draped casually across her shoulder and his blonde hair was covered by his baseball cap which was pulled on backwards. He always wore it like that especially back then when he'd thought it really cool. His usual cocky smirk adorned his face as he posed for the camera. They had been ten years old when this picture was taken. They had been at Millie Stevens' birthday party. The only reason they had been there was because the whole class had been invited. It certainly wasn't because Millie had been their friend. In fact, it had been the polar opposite. She was their sworn arch enemy and quite frankly they hated her and with good reason. Millie was the picture perfect little girl and totally up herself. She wore frilly dresses and pretty curls and looked down her nose at girls like Stephanie. She was the token tomboy with messy pigtails and grubby dungarees who preferred collecting snails and climbing trees instead of playing with Barbie dolls and stupid plastic tea sets. In fact, it was while she was climbing one particular apple tree that Stephanie had met six year old Paul Levesque.

Stephanie's tongue poked out the side of her mouth as she lifted her leg onto the lower branches. She grunted as she pulled the rest of her small body up. She gripped the tree tightly as she glanced down at the ground. Strands of hair had escaped her loose ponytail. Her faded denims were covered in dried in muck and moss had stained the knees green. One small hand rested against the rough bark of the trunk while the other brushed back the hair that tickled her face. Her feet now balanced precariously on the long, thick branch as she stopped to catch her breath.

"You'll never do it. You're just a stupid girl."

Stephanie's nose wrinkled with her disgust as she heard his voice. She scowled and glanced up in the direction the voice had come from. She saw a pair of sneakers swing to and fro among the leaves above her.

"Get lost, dork!" she called out to the feet. She gritted her teeth determinedly as she grabbed the branch in front of her and positioning her foot correctly, she hoisted herself on to the next branch. She puffed and blew the hair out from her eyes as her arm gripped the thick trunk of the tree. An apple went hurtling by her and she heard him chuckling. She glared angrily at the pair of legs now in front of her. "Stop that!"

"Why? You gonna cry?"

She clenched her fist and took aim at one of the swinging legs.

"Ow!"

Stephanie smiled triumphantly. "What's wrong dork? You gonna cry?"

The leaves rustled as the legs disappeared. She shifted her feet as she shuffled round. As she looked across, she saw the same pair of white sneakers appear on the branch directly opposite her. They were closely followed by a pair of navy track pants, a navy hooded sweatshirt and a pair of brown eyes that glared at her. His nose was scrunched as they stood facing one another, staring as their arms gripped the large tree trunk.

"I'm gonna kick your ass!"

Stephanie jutted out her jaw determinedly. She wasn't intimidated by him. She was used to bullying boys. Her older brother, Shane, picked on her and tormented her constantly. "I'd like to see you try." she replied.

"Oh I will. I'll be waiting for you at the bottom." the boy replied, menacingly.

"Well, maybe I'll make it to the bottom first."

The boy snorted. "Yeah right. You're a girl, you idiot. I can beat your ass. Easy."

Stephanie placed her free hand on her hip. She flipped back her ponytail. "You think?"

"Yeah, I think."

"Okay then. I'll race you."

The boy snickered. "You wanna race me?"

Stephanie nodded her head. "You scared?"

He looked at her indignantly. "Of course I'm not scared. I'm not afraid of stupid little girls like you!"

"Well I'm not afraid of a jerk-off like you!"

The boy pointed his finger at her. "For that I'm going to beat you and then I'm going to kick your ass."

Stephanie snorted. "Whatever, lame brain!"

The young boy glared at her. "Right then! We'll go on the count of three." He shifted his feet and looked down as he pulled away from the trunk. "One, two……"

He scowled as he looked back up and saw Stephanie's head as she disappeared onto the branch below. "You're cheating!" As he scrambled to the wood underneath him, he heard her laughter. His heart pounded in his chest as he began to descend the tree. As his feet touched the grass below, he straightened up and saw her blue eyes laughing at him. Her hands were on her hips and a smug smirk crossed her face.

Without saying a word, he grabbed her messy ponytail and yanked it hard. His laughter carried in the wind as Stephanie began to chase after him.

Stephanie smiled fondly as she continued to pore over the photographs. From that moment onwards, she had Paul had been inseparable. Through all the taunting and the teasing, they had somehow become best friends spending every waking moment together until now, twelve years later she was having to face saying goodbye to him.

Stephanie closed over the scrapbook as a wave of sadness washed over her. She placed it down on the double bed and walked across to the open bedroom window. She felt the August heat as the rays from the sun beat down on her face. Paul was leaving today. He was moving to Anaheim in California. He had been accepted into their graphic design and multimedia programme. She had been so proud of him when he had told her the news but deep inside she had also been devastated. She was going to be studying in Boston. For the first time ever, they were going to be thousands of miles apart. And despite promises to keep in touch and see one another during vacations, Stephanie knew she was going to miss him really badly. Paul had become such an important part of her life. He'd been there for her through everything. He'd smeared ice-cream on her face on her seventh birthday. He'd picked up for her when Millie and her little clone friends had tried to bully her. He'd teased her when she'd had to wear a bra for the first time. He'd even told her she looked cute when she'd had to wear ugly braces for most of her sophomore year. He'd been her rock when her cheating scum of a boyfriend had broken her heart. In fact she couldn't remember a time or an event where he hadn't been there. It was going to be scary not having him around to turn to when she needed someone. Yet somehow she was going to have to find a way to cope without him.

She blinked back the tears that burned the back of her throat and glanced at her watch. It was time to go. She was meeting Paul in the park down by the river. They were going to say their goodbyes before his parents drove him to the airport this evening.

Letting out a shaky breath, Stephanie turned around and picked up the scrapbook from the bed. She clutched it to her chest with a heavy heart as she left the house.

Stephanie spotted him as soon as she had entered the park. Paul was sitting on the swing and his hands held onto the chain as his long denim clad legs stretched out in front of him. He was obviously deep in thought. She could tell by the way he was sitting still, staring straight ahead yet seeing nothing. The sun shone down on her face warming her skin and yet she felt so cold inside. Ignoring the couple strolling hand in hand towards her, she sighed and walked across the grass. She gripped the scrapbook even closer to her feeling the tears as they stung her eyes once more. She blinked them back furiously. She had promised Paul that she wouldn't cry today despite knowing there was very little chance she would be able to keep that promise.

She saw Paul look up as he heard her approaching the swings. His blonde hair glinted in the sun and Stephanie pushed back the lump in her throat as she admired him. He was no longer the scruffy little boy with the unruly hair. Instead he had grown into a tall, broad handsome man; her best friend.

"Hey."

She sniffed and somehow managed to smile. "Hey."

Stephanie sat down on the swing hearing it creak underneath her weight. Her bare legs stretched out in front of her. Her manicured nails peeked out through the toe of her sandals.

"So, what's that you've got there?" Paul asked in a soft voice.

She shifted in the seat to smile at him. Her left hand brushed her hair behind her ear with the other handed the scrapbook to him. Her eyes fell on the "Best Friends Always" slogan she had written on the front cover. "It's a gift. For you."

As Paul reached out to take it from her, she saw the unshed emotion in his eyes prompting fresh tears of her own.

"Wow. This is way harder than I thought it would be." Paul sniffed as he flashed that crooked grin of his her way. "I thought I'd feel happy at finally getting rid of your ass. No more nagging. No more chick flicks at the movies. No more t-shirts mysteriously disappearing from my room." he said, raising his eyebrows in her direction.

Stephanie flashed him a watery smile as she wiped at her wet cheeks. "They look much better on me anyways."

"I won't argue with you on that one."

Paul began to swing back and forth, his shoes scuffing along the tarmac as he held the scrapbook in his hands. He chewed on his bottom lip as he tried to control the emotion that overwhelmed him every time he thought of leaving Stephanie. Being without her terrified him to death. She was the glue that constantly held him together. She was the one who had encouraged him and supported him through everything. She was the voice of reason in his head telling him that he was doing the right thing by accepting the college in Anaheim. It was a shame his heart disagreed.

Deep down Paul had really wanted to follow Stephanie to Boston. He had been willing to forfeit the programme he really wanted to be with her. And the reason he was so ready to give up everything was the simple truth he was in love with her. He had been ever since the carnival ride two summers ago. They had been on the big wheel. Stephanie had been terrified of course due to the fact she hated heights. He had teased her about her fear while they stood in the queue waiting to go on. That had made her all the more determined to go on the ride. It had been a clear starry night as they had sat near the top. He had turned his head and looked across at her. Her big blue eyes had sparkled with her excitement. Her hair was windswept and her cheeks flushed with colour. As Stephanie had grinned over in his direction, he felt a fluttering in his stomach. From that moment on, he knew he had fallen for her.

Of course, he'd never told her that. He'd never had the guts to. Although, that wasn't strictly true. There had been one time he had decided to tell her. They'd been sitting on a bench down by the river eating ice cream. Stephanie had a dribble down her chin. He'd reached across and wiped it with his thumb. As she had flashed one of her knee weakening smiles his way, he had decided he was going to tell her. He'd even opened his mouth to form the words but she had spoken before him, informing him that she had a date that weekend. Of course he had pushed his jealousy aside and pretended to be pleased for her. And from that moment on, he had kept his feelings to himself.

"Penny for them?"

Her voice got his attention. As he turned round to face her, he saw the sad expression in her eyes mirroring his. "I'm just thinking how much I'll miss you." he told her honestly.

Stephanie started to cry causing his own tears to blur his vision. He blinked them back as he pushed himself off the swing and placing the scrapbook on the seat, he held out his hand towards her. Her hand felt like ice despite the heat. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Paul."

He closed his eyes as he breathed in the smell of her vanilla body lotion, committing it to memory.

"Promise me we'll keep in touch." Stephanie said, lifting her head and looking at him through her tears.

"I promise." he whispered.

"You'll write?"

"Hey if you're lucky, I might even call."

She smiled shakily as she brushed her fingers through his soft short hair. "We'll see each other every vacation."

"Of course."

"Best friends always, right?"

Paul paused a second finding his composure. "Always." he eventually told her before nudging her playfully. "No one else would want to put up with you anyway."

Stephanie smacked his arm before pulling him to her and gripping onto him tightly.

Paul kissed her hair inhaling the strawberry scent. He reluctantly broke their embrace. "I'd better go before my parents send out a search party."

"Okay." she sniffed loudly.

Paul lifted his hand as his fingers lightly traced her cheek. "Take care Steph." He placed a gentle kiss on his forehead before stepping back. His hand reluctantly dropped to his side.

Stephanie didn't even try to stop the tears as she watched him pick up the scrapbook from the swing. He slowly turned towards her. His smile was forced.

"I'll see you soon, okay?"

She nodded her head. As he hugged her one last time, she clung to him desperately.

"I love you, Paul."

A pained expression crossed his face as he closed his eyes. "I love you too." he whispered into her hair allowing himself to breathe her in one time before finally breaking their embrace. "Goodbye Stephanie."

Stephanie choked back her tears as her hand lifted in a small wave. "See ya Paul."

Clutching her gift tightly in his hand, Paul quickly turned around. His feet crossed the grass as he left her, his tears blurring his vision. It took everything he had not to turn back and look at her once last time. If he did, he knew he'd only be tempted to stay.