My problem at home with the internet crashing has given me time to create another case of the rare double-update. You guys are really going to hate me for this one, but I hope you like it anyway. It was really depressing to write, but I'm sure you guys realize that things like this do happen.

My Immortal

"I am so sorry," he had whispered to me, his gentle brown eyes losing their lively glow as he lay there, gazing up at me, his final hope, the only difference left between his life and death.

"About what?" I had asked him, unable to hold back the tears that had been forming, threatening to fall from the moment that uncontrolled car flew off the road, directly into the same sweet boy I was now leaning over as he clung desperately to what life was left in him. "There's nothing to be sorry for. The ambulance is on the way, and you'll be okay soon. Just hold on, I know that you'll make it through this!"

He looked up at me, all traces of his innocent optimism lost in the confining grasp of impending death. "You know as well as I do that what you said to me is a lie," he said, his voice nothing more than a fading murmur. His fingers lightly brushed over my hand, triggering the painful feeling of regret deep inside of me.

"It should be me lying there, not you," I said, taking his hand into my own and bringing it up to my face. "If I would have come out of the store first, this wouldn't have happened to you…"

"No…it's not your fault…" he whispered, his voice strong even in his dying moments, as though he welcomed the death that was overcoming his entire being. "Please don't blame yourself, not now…"

I placed the hand that was not holding his against his cheek, gently resting it there, careful not to put any pressure on him. "If that's what you want," I said softly, stroking his cheek a bit with my fingertips. A slight smile formed on his lips as I did so, which told me I should continue. "You are so strong," I told him as I continued to stroke his cheek. "If you were anyone else…" I paused, not wanting to mention the fatality of the accident to the boy. As much as I didn't want to believe it, he was as good as gone already, and I wanted to make his last moments as enjoyable as possible, which was so difficult considering the pain he must have been in.

"I'm so sorry, Sam," he whispered again out of nowhere, weakly taking his hand from mine and resting it on the one against his cheek. "So very sorry…"

"Sorry for what?" I asked him softly, not allowing myself to lose my patience with him.

"Sorry for never telling you the truth… That I love you…"

With that said, Freddie Benson closed his eyes and left me forever.

"Hey there, Freddie," I said as I approached my friend's headstone. The wonderful white marble gleamed mysteriously, yet beautifully in the setting sun, creating a suspenseful, though enjoyable setting for the evening. It was a beautiful stone, really, and I had given Mrs. Benson all the money I had been saving since I was eight years old to help her buy it for Freddie. The fair, flawless marble was what caught the eyes of most visitors to the cemetery, but my favorite part would probably have been Freddie's as well: the quote engraved below his name and dates. It read, "Quality shall always overcome quantity, for one true friend is by far superior to one thousand who could care less."

I smiled, remembering the day Freddie had told me and our other friend Carly about this quote. We had all agreed that it was true, and we'd rather have each other than a whole crowd of careless friends any day. I allowed my fingers to trace the cool marble of his headstone as I thought of his innocent face. "You have the most beautiful grave here, Freddie," I whispered, staring at the name engraved into the stone. "But this isn't anywhere near the way things were meant to be."

Tearfully, I lowered myself to the ground over the spot where he had been buried only five months before, careful not to lose contact with the ever-frozen marble that should not have been in the cemetery for a very long time. "You were only seventeen…so young. Seventeen-year-olds aren't supposed to die, especially how you did… But you were so brave, Freddie, looking up at me with courage, fighting for your life, even though you knew the battle had already been lost.

"The truth is, Freddie, I'm tired of being here without you. I feel childish with all these fears taking over me, fear of how life is going to play out without you here with me. I used to wish that you would just leave, because it seems like you're still here, even though you're gone, and it used to scare me, and even though it doesn't anymore, it still refuses to leave me alone. But there's nothing I can do, and the emotional wounds caused by your unintentional leaving will never be able to heal, because this pain is real, true, something that time can never erase from my soul."

I lay my face against the earth, allowing the tears to fall just as I had five months before as I watched Freddie die, just as the ambulance pulled around the corner, about to save his life. I cried, trying to let the tears that I had held back since the horrible moment heal my broken heart, but nothing seemed to help, not even being with him at his grave.

"Do you remember how we used to be when we were younger?" I asked through my tears. "How we always used to fight all the time? I'm glad we stopped that when we turned fourteen, or I never would have gotten to know you… How about when you found out that your dad had died, how I was there with you, drying your tears, helping you fight away the fear it brought? I wish you'd be here to help me with that now…

"But nevertheless, I've been here with you through all these years, Freddie, even when we were fighting. You've always been one of my best friends, and I just want you to know that you'll always have all of me…" I looked to the sky, taking note that the sun was no longer visible and it was pitch black. "I'm sorry, Freddie. I have to leave. I'll be back tomorrow, I promise."

"Sam, wake up!" A familiar voice disturbed my sleep, causing me to shoot up from my bed and gaze over at my door only to see the one person I thought I'd never see again.

In my doorway stood an extremely lively, hugely grinning Freddie Benson, looking even better than he had before all the unfortunate events that had taken place on the day he had died. "Come on, Sam, you don't need to sleep all day everyday, do you?"

I should have been confused, wondering how it could be true, but I didn't bother to think of any of that, it was Freddie! "I thought I'd never see you again!" I cried, running into his arms. But that was when I realized something was wrong. "You're not Freddie," I said, pulling away from whoever was intruding into my home. "Freddie's been dead for nearly a half a year."

The apparition smirked, twisting Freddie's perfect face into an evil snarl of a smile. "You didn't even try to save me, did you Sam?" he growled, sending pure unadulterated fear shooting through my entire body. "You did nothing but watch me die, when the least you could have done was move me anywhere but there!"

"I didn't mean to let you die, Freddie!" I cried, backing away. I tripped, falling to the floor in front of Freddie, which only caused the falling tears to multiply to include embarrassment. "I called an ambulance and I tried to make you as comfortable as possible! I did everything I could…"

"Well everything wasn't enough, was it?" he asked darkly. As he stepped closer to me, a deadly looking dagger appeared in his hand.

I lay there on the floor, helpless to the advancing spirit, unable to move, frozen in time. "I'm sorry, Freddie," I murmured, closing my eyes so that I could not see what had become of the boy I loved. Just as my eyes had shut, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach, caused by the knife that had appeared in his hand only moments before, which immediately brought my eyes back open.

"You deserved it," Freddie said, darkly glaring down at my defenseless body. "In fact, I think you deserve to–"

"Leave her alone." The new voice sounded similar to the one above me, only pure, gentle, the way it was meant to be. As this voice spoke, the apparition in front of me vanished, revealing another more innocent looking spirit standing in my doorway. "I'm sorry you had to get hurt," said the real Freddie, approaching my dying body and taking me into his arms. "But I'm sure you know that wasn't me."

I nodded, burying my face into his chest. "I've missed you so much," I said softly, letting myself cry again. "I visit you in the cemetery every day after supper and stay until after dark."

"I know," Freddie said gently, stroking my hair as I cried into his chest. "But you should go back to sleep now. When you wake up in the morning, everything will be okay."

I obediently allowed Freddie to lay me in my bed and cover me up. "Will I ever see you again?" I asked him quietly. "Or is this the last time?"

"We will meet again," he whispered, placing a finger to my lips, indicating that I should not speak again. "Good night, Sam. I love you." He softly kissed my lips once, and then, everything disappeared.

I never did wake from the horrible nightmare that turned into my most wonderful dream, but it doesn't matter to me anymore. As long as I'm able to be with Freddie, that's all that truly matters to us now. We miss our lives every day, and wish more than anything that we could go back to them, but God had decided that it was our time to go, and we were willing to obey. I still wish that Freddie's life hadn't ended the way it had, and I hate that my life ended by stress and depression, but nothing can be done anymore. We're home now, together for eternity, and when it comes right down to it, that's all we wanted in the first place.

Even though we never thought it would end this way.

Sam's stress had proven to be the end of her, because it's a terrible feeling when you just discover you are in love with someone on the day they die. And to clarify, the events in her dream about the evil spirit did not occur. These events were merely her body letting her know while still dreaming that she was dying. the part where Freddie's spirit came for her, however, did actually happen. Freddie was sent by God to help Sam find her way to Heaven, even though Freddie wanted Sam to live on.

I'm sorry it had to be like this guys, because I hate killing characters that I love, but it had to end this way. I hope you liked it, though.