Summary: 'She smiled in a big way, the way a girl like that smiles when the world is hers. And she held your eyes...' He went there looking for someone...what he found was something bound to change his life... NOFC

Timeline: Summer of 1989 from June to August.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything...well, actually, the CD is burned into my computer and I own a copy...but I don't own the band or CD... (that's the point I'm tryin to get across). The CD Dusk and Summer and all of the songs belong to Dashboard Confessionals. We are in no way shape or form (sadly) associated with them. Jerry Brukheimer and Anthony Zuiker own Nick and all his family, though we just gave his siblings names...no need to sue...

Title: Dusk and Summer

By: Futuremisscsi60

A/N: Alright guys, this books is, yes, another chapter book...but it shouldn't be too long, so bear with us. This is dedicated to my best friend/sis spacecoastbabe15, and is beta'd by Maestoso. This book is the creation of a very bored, fan fiction addicted, angst-y girl, who's best friend just moved practically across the Country, and the love of a CD lent to her by the very same girl. The book is based on the newest CD by Dashboard Confessionals, Dusk and Summer, and is Kit's favorite by Dashboard Confessionals. Keep in mind, this story is totally fiction (as far as I know) and just came to me one day when I was doing my hair (...which is where I get all my great ideas). This is done merely for my entertainment and to cheer up my friend and distract her from her crazy neighbors. No CSIs or Texans were harmed during the making of this book... (wait, do I count? Cause I'm pretty EMO right now...I miss KIT!!!)

As of now the rating is T, it will probably stay the same throughout the book. I don't know how teens in the eighties acted, because I wasn't born then, so if I get some of the terminology, or clothing styles wrong, pardon me. I'm mostly going to base this on early childhood things I remember the older kids were doing...so bear with me. I apologize for any errors I make pertaining to the common trends of the mid-late eighties. I am also aware that in the show Nick made the comment that he wasn't 'cool' or popular in high school, but in this book let's pretend he is...you'll see my reasoning for him making that comment in the show by the time the book is done. The prologue and a few other chapters towards the end will be set in the present time...

I'm going to be straight with y'all right off the bat...this book is very sad. I cannot guarantee you a happy ending...because there isn't one. A lot of crappy things are going to happen to good people, and they're going to deal with them in ways that probably aren't the best. THERE WILL BE NO HAPPY ENDING. There will be lots of fighting, exchanging of hurtful, heat-of-the-moment words, horrible secrets, dark and EMO conversations and character death...I know this book sounds pretty sucky, and really EMO...but there is one shining light and strand of hope throughout the book that, hopefully, will keep everyone reading. I've pitched this book to quite a few people, and they've admitted that it's a tear jerker, but very deep and meaningful. I ask that, even though it sounds sad and tragic, you give it a try...just have your Kleenex's ready...lol.

Just so everyone knows...this is kind of a joint Christmas gift...this is my beta Maestoso and my Christmas gift to our friend, but my father just informed me that he is going to publish one of my books...and this is the one we chose. Once this book is finished, we're going to submit it to his publisher, and if they like it, it will be published, and we will provide a link for anyone who wants to buy it...-shakes head- I'm still a little frazzled at the news...but I'm really excited!

With that being said...on we go...

Introduction

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Las Vegas, Nevada

Stokes' Residence

November 22, 2006

9:13 p.m.

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They say that in every life there are defining moments...moments in which a person's life is changed completely. How they thought they wanted to live was just a prelude to the development of their actual character. They learn new things about themselves, and test their own limits to see just how far they can push themselves without slipping and braking into a million pieces.

Most of them do brake...some of them aren't able to be put back together...then you get the lucky few who pull themselves out of the fire, and move along. No matter what else comes their way, they keep going through their Hell because they know their limits, they know just how far they can take it...and once they've discovered their limits...

They push them every day.

They continuously relive the defining moment in their life over and over again subconsciously...that is how they function through the day, and sleep through the night. Where do you think dreams come from? Science will tell you that dreams are merely one part of your brain becoming aroused while the others are simply dormant. It's emotional overdrive and nothing more than chemicals reacting with each other playing on the reactions and fusions of one anther.

Maybe those scientists need to be pushed, and tried to their very limits...to see just how much they can take...and just how human they are.

I guess you could say that point in my life was when I was younger, back when I was a teenager...seventeen to be exact. Man life was sweet then. No worries in the world. Just me and whatever girl was on my arm, cruisin' around town with my boys in the car with us. All of us boozin', causin' a riot, and 'soiling the good Stokes name'...

Then one day...I can still remember it like it was yesterday...the smell of the night, what brand of alcohol I was illegally drinking, what the air felt like against my skin, the string of cheap Christmas lights haphazardly thrown along the sides of the building and strung across the open sky, the sound of the cars passing on the streets below us, the wind passing softly above us, the music that was playing too loud for any adult's liking...and how good it felt to finally get out of that tux!

...But the thing I remember most wasn't the smells, or the sights, or the sounds...it was the feeling that stirred inside of me when her emerald eyes finally found mine. Across the roof we made a connection. It wasn't love...oh no...but it was as close as I'll ever come to it...

I've pretty much accepted the fact that I'm not an easy person to love. Sure, I may seem like it to most, but when you get right down to it, I'm complicated. I don't like sharing my morning newspaper even though my Mama always taught me to. I don't like peanut butter, and for some reason this is a detriment to most women. I mostly watch the Discovery Channel or nothing at all. I hate cooking, don't like it when women hog the covers, and can't stand a messy house...

And I'm 36 and set in my ways...but she didn't seem to care about all those annoying tidbits...mostly because she's the reason they are there.

Whenever I think back to that night and how I felt...I think to the night a few months after that...I still can't decide which one is my 'defining moment'...maybe it was the whole two months in between them that shaped me...or maybe it was the years after...I don't really know. All I know is that the summer of 1989 changed my life forever...as cliché as it sounds.

I guess all in all...she was my defining moment.

A/N: So???? Let me know what you think. That was kind of the prologue to the book...

Oh, and Merry Christmas everyone! I hope y'all enjoy Schabu's gift! Lol.