A/N: As much as I wish I did, I don't own the Jonas Brothers or JONAS, they belong to Disney :) The song in this story is "Eternity" by the Jonas Brothers.
ETERNITY
They lay there on my bed, all crumbled up. It had all the strength I had, just to pick it up, to look at her sweet face. My hand shook as I studied the first picture. My heart immediately swelled up in pain, but it brought a smile to my face. It was a picture of us at her 8th birthday party…
"Nicky, come on, it's your turn!" she yelled, and handed me the bat. "You can do it, Nicky!" she cheered. I gripped the bat tight, and swung it at the horse piñata. No luck.
"Come on, Nicky, two more tries! You can do it!" I took my second swing, and the bat hit it on the head, only causing it to swing around wildly.
"Come on, Nicky!"
"I'll get it this time, Steph," I promised. I focused on the piñata, and swung the bat hard, hitting it on the neck, sending candy flying out in all directions. Five other kids screamed and ran to the free candy, hastily grabbing whatever they could.
"See? I knew you could do it, Nicky!" she told me, and wrapped me into a . I blinked from the sudden flash of the camera that her mother was holding, catching us at the perfect moment…
I smiled at the memory, and slowly placed the first picture down. I moved onto the next one. It was us at the beach, playing a game of Frisbee. We must have only been around twelve, just a few years before she got the news…
The sun beat down on my skin, I knew I was going to get sunburned, but I didn't care. I was having too much fun to go back inside.
"Want to play a game of Frisbee?" she suddenly asked, holding up her new, red Frisbee.
"Why not? I think we both know that I'll beat you," I teased, and stood up, brushing off the sand.
She laughed, "It's on!" she yelled and grabbed my hand as I helped her up. We ran to the edge of the beach, so the cold, ocean water surrounded our feet when the tide came in. She quickly pulled her long, dirty blonde hair into a pony tail, and threw the Frisbee at me.
"Good catch, Nicky!"
"Told you I'd beat you!" I yelled back.
"Who said the game was over? That was only one throw! Now come on, throw it back!" she demanded. I laughed and threw it to her. It went right over her head.
"Aw come on! That's cheating! You know I'm short!" she complained. I rolled my eyes, she was such a sore loser.
"Then jump next time!" I told her. She groaned, and whipped the Frisbee at me, probably trying to hit me. Too bad, I caught it easily.
"Now jump this time!" I warned her, and threw the Frisbee high enough to go over her head again. She jumped, and I saw a quick flash of a camera, once again catching a perfect moment. She had caught the Frisbee.
I almost laughed, remembering that game. She had actually won, for the record. I sighed, knowing the next picture would be the one of the hardest to look at. It was the day she had gotten back from the hospital…
"Stephanie, what's wrong?" I asked, more worried than I could ever remember being. She let out another cry, and gripped my shirt, resting her head against my chest.
"I-I have leukemia." My heart almost stopped, and I felt tears coming from my own eyes.
"Shh… Steph, it's alright. You'll get through this, I know you will," I told her. "I know you will. You have to," I whispered. I looked down at her, this beautiful thirteen year old girl, who just discovered she has leukemia. She was strong, no doubt about it and I believed with all my heart she would get through this. She had to.
"Come on, Steph, it's your birthday, let's go celebrate," I told her. "We brought cake."
"Chocolate cake?" she sniffled.
"Of course, how could we not get your favorite for your thirteenth birthday?"
She laughed and wiped away her tears, "ok, let's go eat!"
I led her downstairs and into the kitchen, where our families were waiting.
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Stephene
Happy Birthday to you!
She pulled back her hair, made a wish and blew out the candles. I heard the click of the camera, capturing everything. We all had red eyes, not from the camera, but from crying. I wish I could have made her birthday happier…
I put it back down, and picked up the next one, her fifteenth birthday. Her last birthday party…
"Nicky, are you sure you want to be here? Don't you have a concert to be at or something?" she asked. I studied her. She wasn't little Stephanie anymore. She had lost her beautiful blonde hair. Now she was bald. But it didn't bother me. To me, she was just as beautiful.
"Of course I want to be here! It's your birthday! Have I ever missed one of your birthdays?" I asked her.
"I guess not. But now you have fans. Now you're famous."
"But you still mean more to me than any fan," I told her. She blushed, causing her to show more color in her face than I had seen for the past year or so. "Now open your present."
She rolled her eyes and I handed her the small box. "You still haven't gotten any better at wrapping presents I see," she commented.
"Shut up, it took me forever to get it to look like that," I said. She carefully opened the box and pulled out the charm bracelet I bought for her.
"Oh, it's beautiful. Thank you," she said as she twirled the bracelet around, admiring each charm. There was a four leaf clover, for luck, a heart for love, a smiley face for happiness, the word HOPE, and a cross.
"I'm glad you like it," I said. "I saw it in New York and knew I had to get it for you."
"I love it. Thanks Nicky," she said, smiling and hugged me. And I heard it again. The click of a camera: catching the perfect moment…
I put that one down, and moved onto the last picture. Her sixteenth birthday, the last day she lived…
"Hey Steph," I said cautiously, afraid that she was sleeping and I would wake her up. Her bloodshot eyes opened and she managed a smile.
"Hey, Nicky," she slowly said, you could hear the weakness in her voice. "What-what are you doing here?" she asked in between coughs.
The real answer? It was her birthday and I got a call saying she was dying. What I said? "Just wanted to see my Stephy on her sweet sixteen." She smiled and patted the side of her bed. I walked over and sat at the edge.
"Come on guys, smile! I want to have a picture of the two of you on your sixteenth birthday!" her mom said, holding up a camera. We both smiled, and she took the picture. The same picture I was holding right now. Her mother left the room and Stephanie studied me and frowned.
"Nicky, both you and I know that I'm dying. It's no secret. Just promise me one thing?" I could feel the tears already forming in my eyes. Just looking at her made me want to cry. Her skin was turning grey and she was just skin and bones. Her hair was gone, and her eyes were always red. She wasn't the happy, little Stephanie anymore. She couldn't even enjoy her sweet sixteen.
"Anything," I said.
"Promise me you'll have a happy life. Enjoy everything while you can, because life is short. You need to live it to the fullest," she paused and managed a weak laugh, "take the time and appreciate." She always loved that song. "But seriously, Nick, I want you to have the best life you can. I-I love you, Nicky."
By now we were both crying. She slowly sat up and I gently pulled her into a hug. "I love you too, Steph, with all of my heart." She looked at me with her dark, chocolate eyes. I pulled her closer, and kissed her soft, lips. It was our first kiss, and for Stephanie, her last. She pulled away and I felt her go limp in my arms.
"Steph?" I gently shook her. "Stephanie!" I placed her down and quickly called a doctor into the room.
"I'm sorry, son. She's gone," he said and placed his hand on my shoulder. I let out a cry and rested my head at the side of bed. I noticed she was wearing the charm bracelet I gave her. I took her cold hand and kissed it, knowing she was gone. Forever.
I looked at that picture and remembered my promise. I had promised her I would be happy. And I knew I needed to stop moping, and to move on with my life. Because after all:
It's not goodbye
Cause I will remember you
And I will see you again
When I rise
Cause I know and I believe
I will see you in eternity
A/N: well, there it is! I really hope you enjoyed it. I wrote this a looooong time ago, but it got deleted along with all of my stories back in like, 2008. So I decided to re-post some of my stuff. I'm very proud of this one-shot, especially because it won a JB Fanfiction award for "best one-shot." please review and tell me what you think :D