Her brother was silent.

Her best friend was sobbing.

And she sat there with them on the couch, blank. Her brain had to process it all; it was all too much to handle. She blinked her eyes a few times. Her brother looked at her.

"... Elly?" he asked, putting his hand on her shoulder. She didn't look at him. He sighed. "Elly… talk to me. Please… I'm your brother. You need to talk to me."

"Carlos," she started, her voice dry. She hadn't spoken in the last few hours since they'd found out. She held in her tears; she had to be strong for her best friend. Carlos looked into his sister's eyes.

"Talk to me… talk to us," he said, rubbing her shoulder.

"He's not gone," Elly said. Carlos looked at her.

"Elly- they doctor's said-"

"DON'T YOU DARE FINISH WHAT YOU WERE SAYING CARLOS GARCIA!" she exclaimed, standing up. It was all too surreal. Elly let out a cry. She'd yelled at her brother, in front of her best friend. "Carlos… I'm sorry," she said. The tears brimming her eyelids started to slide down her cheeks. He brought his sister into his arms.

"Sh… it'll be alright. Elly, sh," he said, stroking his sister's hair lightly. She sobbed into his shoulder. Elly's back heaved in and out from crying, her mascara smeared. She looked at Anna who was hugging her knees, her head resting on the couch. Elly frowned, seeing Anna's make-up smeared as well. They looked at each other, and smiled at both of the black smears on their face. They started giggling, which soothed the pain. Carlos smiled at them. He sighed, rubbing both of their backs, bringing Anna into his arms. He kissed her head softly.

Elly rested her head on her brother's shoulder, pulling back. "We just celebrated our one year anniversary," Elly said, frowning. Carlos frowned as well.

"One year that you spent with him," Carlos said. "Besides… there's always a miracle that can happen. He's in a coma…" Carlos said.

"I want to kill that drunk driver," Anna said bitterly, clenching her fists. They all sat on the couch that was in Carlos and Anna's apartment. Elly nodded.

"I know, Anna. But it's in the past, you can't take that away," Carlos said softly. She shook her head.

"I just want my brother," she muttered into Carlos' chest. Elly nodded sadly.

"I just want my boyfriend back," she said, sighing.

"All we can do is pray," Carlos said. "Kendall is a fighter." They giggled. They all sighed. Anna spoke up.

"Elly, I stopped my your apartment, and went into Kendall's room. Kendall had had me promise him, that if anything like this ever happened, to show you this box." Elly raised an eyebrow as Anna bent down to get the box off from the floor. It had photos over the year of Elly and Kendall that had been protected and glued on specially so it wouldn't fall or peel off.

"What is this?" Elly asked. Anna smiled.

"This… this is a box of 365 letters Kendall wrote to you. One for each day that you guys had been going out. You just had your year anniversary a week ago… so that's why there's 365 letters."

"I've never seen this box before," Elly said. Elly and Kendall had moved in together when they'd been dating for over seven months into their relationship. Elly took the box Anna handed her and opened the cap to see various colors of envelopes, each having Elly's name on them with little drawings. Elly smiled at his random doodles, and just the way he wrote out her name ever so perfectly. She heard Anna sigh. She pointed to the numbers in the upper right hand corners of the envelopes. She explained how they went in order, obviously from when they'd started dating from their year anniversary. Sighs were heard.

"I'd start reading them now," Anna suggested. Elly yawned and stretched.

"Yeah," she said, "I think I'll go take a shower and get ready first. I'll be back." She got up from her place on the couch and turned back before heading for the spare room where a lot of her stuff was kept. Anna was curled into Carlos' arms, his hands stroking her hair softly, kissing her head.

Elly came back in a t-shirt and sweat pants. She noticed Anna changed into a t-shirt and sweats as well, with her brother in a t-shirt and shorts.

"I'm tired," Anna said, rubbing her eyes from her crying. "I'm gonna go to sleep guys," she said, stretching and starting to stand. Before she could, she was scooped into Carlos' arms. She rested her head on his chest. "Night Elly," Anna said, before vanishing. She waved goodbye as she grabbed envelope number one. It was a purple; her favorite color. She smiled as she carefully opened the envelope, pulling out the paper which was purple as well. Elly unfolded the paper containing the letter gingerly and started to read it.

Elly,

After months of crushing, I can call you my girlfriend. It's so surreal. I knew from the minute we first talked, there was something incredible special… and just something that lingered there between us. And I love it. I know, we've only been dating for a day… but I just like you so much. You're probably wondering why you're even reading this. Well, I had Anna promise me, if anything ever happened to me… that'd you'd know I thought about you every single minute. We might date for two months, two years, or two decades and I'd have a million letters to you. But I just wanted to you to know… since we first hung out I always wanted to date you, for you to be my girlfriend; me be your boyfriend. And now? On September 21st, 2020, it's finally true. I'd just thought I'd let you know why I was doing this, and how I'm so happy that we're dating.

-Kendall.

Elly blinked a few times, the tears streaming down her face. She sniffled, and grabbed the tissue box next to the lamp. She got up and shut the hall light on, hearing her brother quietly lullaby Anna to sleep, hearing her crying and her heavy breathing. Elly crossed her arms, her brown eyes shedding more tears. This was all too much: her boyfriend got into a car accident and was now in a coma, her best friend was crying hysterically, and her brother wasn't wearing his helmet. Elly got the next envelope, and opened it.

Elly,

It was our second date today. I had so much fun planning it, but more being with you. I love seeing the gleam in your eye whenever you're happy. It makes me happy. I loved holding your hand on the pier; it felt just so right…

-Kendall

Elly had 363 more letters to go through. She yawned, and grabbed a blanket. She wrapped herself in it, turning the lamp on and went through the box, letting the colorful envelopes slip through her fingers. She was tired; it had been a rough day. She'd start again later. Elly shut the lamp off, and snuggled with pillow… where Kendall should have been. But he wasn't.