-A week. That is all I have left. One week, and he's gone for four months. He's a good friend. Why does he have to go into the Marines?

He looked over at me and smiled. "What are you looking at?" He asked.

I laughed and shook my head, "nothing."

He gave me a funny look, "uh-huh." He grabbed my hands and pulled me into his lap.

His bright blue eyes connected with my green ones. "What are you looking at me like that for?" I asked him.

He gave me a little smile, "you really are something great, you know that?"

I let out a laugh, "where is this coming from?"

He placed his left hand on the side of my face. "I'm just going to miss you while I'm gone," he admitted, stroking my cheek with his hand.

"I'm going to miss you, too," I said, running my hand over his bare chest.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He placed his other hand on my face and pulled me in for a rough kiss. Once our lips parted, we opened our eyes and looked at each other.

"I don't want you to go," I admitted to him.

"I don't want to leave you," he started, "but I'll be back before you know it."

I placed my hands around his neck, "you're going to be gone for at least four months, Chance. How is that 'before I know it'?"

"Because when I get back, you can finally be mine," he said, stroking my cheek with his right thumb.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

Had Chance really said what I thought he said? Did he just admit he had feelings for me?

"Nothing," he replied, pressing his lips against mine forcefully.

I pulled away, "did you say what I think you said?"

He sighed, "I guess I can't really get out of this one, huh?"

I shook my head no, "just tell me."

He put his hands around my waist and inhaled deeply, "I like you. A lot," he said, pausing briefly. "I never meant to, it just kind of happened, and I don't really know what to do about it."

This was exactly what I was expecting. Half of me wanted to hear this, and the other half was completely terrified of it.

"Oh," was all I managed to get out.

He let me go when I started to climb off of his lap, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you."

"No, no, no," I said. "I'm glad you told me."

That was partly a lie, and partly the truth. I couldn't meet eye contact; hell, I couldn't even look at him.

He grabbed my face and tried to make me look at him, "than why won't you look at me?"

I still couldn't look at him. My eyes were tearing up and it just hurt too much to look at him.

"Will you look at me!" He yelled, pushing me back into the couch. He gripped my arm tightly, "I don't play this shit, look at me!"

I finally looked up at him, tears sliding down my cheeks. When Chance gets like this, it's hard to tell whether he's joking or being completely serious, and that is absolutely terrifying.

"There. Is this what you wanted to see?" I asked, pointing to the tears and make up going down my cheeks. "Are you happy now?"

His face softened and he let go of my arm. "Kay, I didn't mean... I'm sorry."

I stood up and started walking towards the staircase to go to his bedroom. I just wanted to be alone, and away from him.

"Where are you going?" He asked, following me.

"Your room," I replied quietly.

He grabbed my arm as I walked up the stairs and pushed me against the wall, "Kay, stop playing this shit! Just talk to me and cut all this out!"

I cried even harder. He was getting madder and he was getting scarier. His frail mother was the only other person home and she was in her room watching a movie loudly. If I would have yelled for help from him, it wouldn't have mattered anyways.

"Chance, please," I begged. "Please, just let me be alone for a few."

He grabbed my other arm and held me to the wall, "I'm not gonna play this shit, okay!"

I cried harder, "please..."

He met my eyes and let me go. "Fuck," he mumbled, realizing what he had just done.

I turned and ran up the stairs and into his bedroom, closing the door behind me. I curled up on his bed under his comforter and started sobbing uncontrollably. Eventually, I cried myself to sleep.

-I was woken up by Chance sitting down on the side of his bed.

I looked up at him, "hi."

He flashed me a little smile, "hi. How was your nap?"

"It was okay," I said. "What time is it?"

"It's midnight," he told me.

I shot up, "what! Shit, I'm so dead!"

He chuckled at my reaction, "I called your mom. She said you could stay the night since you were already passed out, and I said that we'd be in different rooms."

"Oh," I said, laying back down. "Okay."

"So, I can take the couch and you can stay in here, or you can take the couch and I can stay in here," he offered.

I looked over at him and let out a laugh, "wow. For once, you don't want to be in bed with me?"

He chuckled, "no, I do. You know I do, but I don't want to make things weirder or anything."

"You can stay in here if you want," I offered.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

I sat back up, "yeah, it's okay."

He gave me a smile, "okay. Do you want a shirt and shorts or something?"

I nodded my head, "that would be kind of nice."

He chuckled and got up. "Are these okay?" He asked, after pulling out a red tee and black shorts.

"Yeah, thanks," I said, walking over to get them from him.

He motioned to the door, "want me to leave while you change?"

I laughed a little, "you've seen me naked before, I don't really think it matters."

I pulled my shirt up and over my head, Chance's eyes glued to my body as I put his tee on and slipped from my skinny jeans into his shorts.

I smiled at him as I returned to his bed and laid down again. He climbed right in beside of me.

"I really do want to be with you," he told me, wrapping his arms around me.

"I'm not going to wait forever for you," I said.

"I don't expect you to, just until I get back," he said, pulling me closer to him.

"When you get back, we'll see," I said, snuggling closer to him and resting my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

He kissed the top of my head, "if that's what you want."

I fell asleep, right there in his arms, listening to his heart beating.

-When I woke up in the morning, he had been watching me sleep for who knows how long.

"Good morning," he said, smiling at me.

I smiled back, "good morning."

"How did you sleep?" He asked.

I turned onto my back and looked at the ceiling, "pretty good."

He smiled, "that's good. I did too."

I looked over at him, "can we get breakfast or something? I'm kind of hungry."

He sat up, "yeah, of course."

-Chance and I hung out when he got off work three times that week, and during the weekend. Sunday was the day, it was our last day together. We spent it mostly -with his family and close friends, until later that night. We stayed in his room mostly, just talking, we did the usual of course, but there wasn't just that. He took me home at 11, we said our final goodbyes and I went inside my house, only to cry some more. I'm going to miss him.

-My best friend Rian has really been here for me lately. We've been hanging out, seeing movies, flirting, everything. He is so much fun to be around, and he really makes me happy. I always seem to be smiling whenever I'm around him. I like the way he makes me happy and how he makes me feel. I think I may be starting to like him. He's so cute, funny, and he's goofy. Even thinking about him makes me smile and I get this funny feeling in my chest and tummy, like I did when I dated my first love.

After a few weeks of talking, he finally made his move and asked me out. He seemed a little nervous, but it was totally cute. I spent most of my free time with him, but it was always time well spent being with him, no matter what we were doing.

Three & a half months later...

"No, no, no," I shouted, squirming around as Rian tickled me.

Rian just laughed at my misery and kept tickling me.

I squirmed some more, laughing, "Riaaaan, stoopppp!"

He chuckled, "fine, but only since you begged."

"You are such a jerk!" I teased, giving him a slight shove.

He laughed, putting his arm around my shoulders to pull me closer to him. "I know," he whispered to me, leaving a kiss on my temple as he spoke.

He knows I crumble whenever a guy does that. "Not fair," I said, faking a pout.

He chuckled at me, "you'll live."

"Jerk," I said, pushing him away from me.

He smiled at me and pulled me close again, "hush."

I let out a little laugh, "make me."

He chuckled, "fine." He leaned down and met his lips with mine in his usual charming way to shut me up.

When our lips finally parted, he just looked at me and smiled.

"What?" I asked him, nudging him.

He shook his head, "nothing. You're just so beautiful."

My cheeks flushed a light pink. "You're the sweetest," I replied, smiling back at him.

"I try," he said, playing with my hand.

A week later...

"You know Chance comes back in a week," Kelli said. She's my best friend, but she sure knows how to bring people up when I try not to think about them.

"I've been trying not to think about it," I told her. Truthfully, I thought about it a lot. How was I going to tell Chance that I don't want to be with him? How am I going to hurt him like that? I can't hurt him, I hate hurting people, especially when I care about them.

She looked up at me, "do you miss him?"

I looked down at my hands, trying to hold tears back. "I've been trying not too," I admitted.

She wrapped her tiny arms around me, "I'm sorry, babycakes."

I hugged her back, forcing the tears back. "It's okay," I said.

"What are you going to tell him?" she asked.

I shook my head, "I have no idea."

She put her arms back around me, "it'll be okay!"

I sighed, "I sure hope so, Kelli."

-The days flew by, and soon enough, it was the day Chance came home. I had been kind of distant with Rian, I just didn't know what to say to him. He tried so hard to get out of me what was wrong, but I just couldn't bring myself to tell him. How was I going to tell someone, who I like so much, that I have to make a choice between him and Chance.

There were several things I liked about Chance, but even more that I didn't. Chance may have looks in his favor, but he scares me and I don't even know if I could ever trust him. Granted, I don't fully know if I trust Rian completely, but after everything I've been through in relationships, I understand why I'm still a little hesitant. Rian, though, he doesn't scare me, he's so sweet, he's so cute, he means a lot to me. I don't want to lose Chance, but I think I'm even more worried about losing Rian. I don't want to hurt either of them though, I don't know what to do...

-My phone began to ring, a tone I hadn't heard in awhile was playing: it was Chance.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, Kay!" He replied, sounding excited to hear from me. "How are you?"

"I'm pretty good," I said. "What about you?"

"Not bad," he answered. "I'm kind of glad to be back home. When can I see you?"

This was one of the questions I feared him asking, "I don't really know."

He sounded disappointed, "why not? I've been gone for four months! I miss you..."

I did not want to hear this. Why did he have to say that? "Oh," was all I could manage to choke out.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm dating Rian," I blurted out.

He was silent for awhile. "What happened to waiting for me?"

"I told you I wasn't going to forever, Chance."

"What does he have that I don't!" He started flipping out on me, this was something that I was afraid of. "Why would you do this? I spent so much time wanting to be with you! I only slept with one girl, and I felt terrible afterward! I knew something was going on with you two, there was no way in hell you were just friends. Seriously, fuck off then. Don't talk to me."

He hung up. He's pissed at me. I knew this wasn't going to turn out well, I just hoped it was a little bit better than this...

My phone rang again, it was Rian.

I choked back my tears and answered, "hello?"

He sounds surprised that I answered, "hey."

"Hi," I replied.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm great," I answered, trying to keep the tears back.

He could always tell when something was wrong, but I'm sure I wasn't that great at hiding it right now because all I wanted to do was go cry my eyes out.

"Kay, don't lie to me," he said. "I can tell you're about to cry. What's wrong?"

I have to tell him, no more hiding all of this.

"Come over?" I asked, still fighting back the tears.

I could hear him grab his keys in the background, "oh, yeah. I'll be there soon."

We hung up, and I have to at least hold the tears back until he got here. I have to hold it together. I can do this, I can do it. Oh, who am I trying to fool? I can't do it!

-Rian knocked on my door and I went to the door, trying to put myself back together before I opened it. As soon as I got the door open and Rian took a good look at me, his arms were around me and I have lost it once again. Crying in front of people is something I hate to do, but I didn't even care right now.

We went into my room and were laying down on my bed. Rian's arms were wrapped around me as I was crying like an idiot.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" he finally asked.

I looked up at him, "Chance is home."

The look on his face told me that confused him, "and why is that so bad?"

I paused, this is it. I have to tell him. "Before he left, he told me.. he told me he had feelings for me and told me to wait for him..." I admitted, feeling terrible having those words come out of my mouth and thinking of all I have done.

Rian was silent and wasn't looking at me. I couldn't tell whether he was mad or upset or anything.

"Obviously, I didn't," I told him. "But he called me.. and he was so mad and hurt and I just hated it. I hate hurting people, you know that."

When he finally spoke, I could tell he was holding back.

"Why did you even answer?"

"I couldn't not talk to him," I told him. "He at least deserved to hear it from me and not Facebook or one of his friends that we're together, Rian."

He looked back down at me, "what does this mean for us?"

I hugged onto him, "I still want to be with you, you should know that. I don't want Chance, I want you."

"Okay," he said, sounding kind of relieved.

He kissed the top of my head and just held me there. I was mostly calmed down, and I felt better getting that out. But I still hated the fact that Chance was so mad at me. I don't want him mad at me, but I guess, I'll just have to live with it.

-A few days later, I was at the mall with Kelli, Fiona, and Michelle. Guess who was there too? That's right, Chance was there. He had buffed up a little bit, but it was still the same old Chance.

He grabbed my arm and started pulling me away from the girls, "come with me."

I looked at my friends, unsure of what to do, but I walked with Chance, not that I really had a choice as he was pulling me with him.

We went to the hallway with the bathrooms and behind the vending machines. No one was down there, so we were all alone.

He pushed me up against the wall, "where's your boyfriend, huh?"

My voice caught in my throat and I could only shake my head.

"Not here, huh?" He said, pulling me up from the wall. "Did you already break up?" He shoved me back into the wall, pinning my arms down.

I shook my head again, to afraid to even talk.

He shoved me into the wall once again, "what's he got that I don't?"

It was like Chance was just bouncing me off the wall. He was being hard with it and I know he's just getting started, which terrifies me.

"Chance, please..." I begged, hoping he'd stop.

"No, answer me!" He demanded, pushing me back into the wall again. "What's he got that I don't!"

I know my answer wasn't a smart one, but I don't tend to think before I talk. "Me."

He pushed me back into the wall and put a hand around my throat, "I don't play this shit, Kayla. Stop fucking playing this shit with me."

He wasn't squeezing my throat or anything, just holding his hand there. I was using my free hand to try and peel it off, but he's stronger than me, it doesn't work out that way.

"Chance, stop," I said as bravely as I could, looking into his eyes.

He didn't release me like he usually does, he shoved me into the wall again. "Stop playing this shit!"

We heard footsteps and he released me like that. I took that as my opportunity to get the hell away from him, and ran. I found Kelli, Fi, and Michelle, and told them we had to leave. They could tell I was shook up, but didn't want to ask in front of a bunch of people what had happened. Once we were alone, that's a different story.

I had to tell them what Chance did, but Rian is never going to hear about this. It would only make things get even worse, and I don't want that.

-I stayed with Rian, but I've still never told him about Chance that day in the mall. I don't really plan on telling him at all, and I know my girls have my back and aren't going to tell him for me unless it happens again.

-A few months have gone by now. Rian and I are still together, and I haven't talked to Chance since that last day. I've seen him once, and I was terrified, but he just -looked at me and didn't do anything.

-My phone began to ring. Chance's ring tone blaring from my phone's tiny speakers. Why would he be calling me? I guess I can answer it, right?

I gave in, sliding the answer button at the last second, "hello?"

"Wow, you answered," he said, surprised.

"Should I not have?" I asked.

He was doing his stuttering thing again, which is normal for him in the beginning of spring. "I just.. I just wanted to know if you could come outside for a few?"

I was hesitant. Should I go outside, or is this just a trap? What if it's something important though? "What do you need me to for?"

"I just have.. I have some news, and I just.. I just want to tell you in person," he told me.

I sighed. I couldn't get out of it, he's to stubborn to say it over the phone, "okay."

I went to the window, only to see Chance's car sitting in my driveway. I walked to my door and went outside, stopping in front of his car.

"You came," he said, getting out of his car. He was dressed in his uniform.

"Why.. are you...?" I asked, trailing off when I couldn't find the words to say.

He walked towards me a little, watching my reactions to see when he's gotten to close to me. "I got called for duty," he said.

I opened my mouth to speak, but quickly closed it when I couldn't make the words come from my mouth.

He took another few steps towards me, "I have to be at the airport in two hours."

The tears rose in my eyes, I couldn't help but worry for him. "How long will you be gone?"

"I'm not sure," he replied, finally closing the distance between us.

I looked into his blue eyes, letting a few tears slide from my eyes.

He pulled me in for a hug, "I know we haven't been getting along, but I couldn't leave without telling you about this."

I managed to choke back my tears enough to say, "I'm glad you did."

"And I have to tell you," he started, pulling away from the hug and looking straight into my eyes, "I'm so sorry, so fucking sorry, for what I did to you. I know I can be a real dick, but I really do care about you a lot. You mean a lot to me, and I know I ruined that, but I had to tell you that I'm sorry because I couldn't leave knowing I never apologized and that you still hate me."

I took his rough hand in mine, "I don't hate you, Chance. You didn't do anything to help prove you've cared about me until this. I accept your apology, but this isn't going to change anything between us." I could see the pain in his eyes as they started to tear up, "Rian means so much to me, and I don't want to lose him. I will always be here for you whenever you need me, but only as friends. You were always a good friend, and I hated that changed, but it is something I've just learned to live with because no one is reliable."

He smiled at me through the tears, "I'm just glad you accept my apology, that's all I really care about."

I flashed him a smile and saw Rian's car pull up to the curb. "I'm glad you came by, Chance. I wish you the best of luck while you're on duty."

He looked back, seeing Rian's car. "Thanks, and I wish you the best in your relationship."

I smiled at him and gave him a tight hug, and whispered to him, "be safe."

"I'll do my best," he whispered back, letting me go.

I walked to Rian's car, not looking back until after I got into it. I saw Chance standing there, a smile on his face. I smiled and waved to him. Little did I know that that would be the last time I ever saw Chance alive...

"What's that about?" Rian asked me as he pulled away from my house.

"He came to tell me that he got called for duty," I told him. "And to apologize for all the happened."

"Oh, nothing else?" He asked.

"No, nothing else," I said with a laugh. "You've got nothing to worry about, Rian. I'm all yours."

He looked over at me and gave me a smile as he took my hand in his, and I smiled right back at him.

In that split second that Rian took his eyes off the road to look at me, was the last second we had. A truck swerved into our lane and collided with us head on...