-Please excuse the lateness of this chapter. I've been on vacation, and then when I got back I started to write this chapter, and was almost finished, when my dad accidentally deleted all the documents on our computer. I'd like to thank Swimmerkitti, my only reviewer from the last chapter. This is the final chapter, and the song for it will be Love Reign O'er Me.-
Zack was laying on the beach, alone. All the other kids had gone inside after they woke up, but he stayed. It was still really early, and he was the only person on the beach. He was thinking about all the things that had happened to him in the past week or so. And he realized that everything in the world was a let down.
He tilted his head a little so that he could the waves. It wasn't a very comfortable position, but when had he really ever been very comfortable? The waves crashed against the beach over and over. He watched them for a long time, and then it started to rain. Not a light sprinkling of rain, but a downpour. Zack let it hit him.
The waves crashed harder and harder on the beach, gaining momentum from the rain. Zack felt transfixed by it all, and stared at the waves as the raindrops fell on him and got him soaked.
Only love
Can make it rain
The way the beach
Is kissed by the sea
He felt the sand underneath him, the same sand that had been underneath Katie too, not so long ago. Zack thought about the night before, and the night a week before this. The memories brought him a lot of pain, and also a bit of longing. He picked up some sand in his hand and rubbed it against his hands roughly.
The sand was rough and had little bits of shell in it, and the pain from it took Zack's mind off the thought of him laying next to Katie, at least for a little while.
Only love
Can make it rain
Like the sweat of lovers
Laying in the fields
Only one word was going through Zack's head right now: love. Love, love, love, love, love. It tormented him, it gave him a little bit of what he wanted and then took everything away. And people told him love was a "happy emotion". Yeah right.
Love wasn't happy. Love was the saddest thing in the world. It was a lot like rain. Rain was another of the saddest things in the world. But the saddest thing of all was that love and rain were necessary, love for people, and rain for grass. But love was different from rain because it was something you couldn't explain, a feeling inside, a certain kind, where you feel hot and cold way down in your soul.
Zack knew then that love sucked, but it was also the greatest thing in the world. And that sucked even more.
Love
Reign o'er me
Love
Reign o'er me
Reign o'er me
Rain on me
Zack switched to a sitting position and gazed up at the sky. He could see tons of droplets coming down from the heavens, and he wished that he was in heaven. Or hell, for that matter. Just as long as he was anywhere but on the earth.
He knew that he had the power to do it, to end his life right then and there. he gazed at the ocean. Murky. Good. Maybe a shark would bite him, and he could be free of love and Katie and his drunk mother and everything forever. Zack stood up and walked towards the sea. He waded in up to water that covered half his chest. The waves kept coming down, and they were getting rougher and rougher. One came down on him and forced him under.
His face was pushed into the sand at the bottom of the ocean, and the little shells in it scratched his face, and the salt water flowed over every one of his tiny wounds. He tried to come up out of the water, but he couldn't. He wanted to scream, but knew that he would die right then. And it was right then that he realized something: he didn't want to die. He had to live!
And with that thought he pushed up with all his might and broke the surface. Zack took gasps of breath until he could breath normally again, and started to make his way back to the shore.
Only love
Can bring the rain
That makes you yearn
To the sky
He was running back to the shore. he was almost there, but it was difficult to run in the water. He tripped and fell flat on his face. He didn't have the strength to get up, so he crawled to the safety of the sand.
Zack started to cry. He couldn't really help it. everything was taking its toll on him now. Don't be stupid, he thought, crying is for girls. But he couldn't hold back the tears. The rain still fell on him. If he hadn't been completely soaked before he went into the water, he was now.
The rain mixed with his tears as both fell to the ground. The rain was almost like the tears of God, falling from heaven. It was almost as if God was crying for Zack, and for all that Zack had been through. You know stuff really sucks when God cries for you too, Zack thought.
Only love
Can bring the rain
That falls like tears
From on high
Zack's tears stopped flowing and he thought again of Katie. He thought about the love he felt for her. And how much his entire life just completely sucked. How his life was run by love.
Love
Reign o'er me
Love
Reign o'er me
Reign o'er me
Rain on me
Zack thought about what the rest of his life would be like. He would never spend another night with Katie ever again. The thought seemed to make his life worthless. But he was only a teenager, surely he'd get over it sometime, right? The thought didn't convince him very much.
He dreaded the night. It would bring so many painful memories.
On the dry and dusty road
The nights we spent apart, alone
He seemed to realize just then that he was soaking wet and cold. He had to get back home. He just couldn't stay here any longer. He got up and walked slowly back to the hotel. He walked in and saw Katie and Freddy drinking coffee in the lobby. "Look what the wind blew in!" Freddy yelled, and Katie laughed. Zack tried to look strong on the outside, but on the inside, her laughter hurt him more than anything in the world.
Zack went up to his room and took a shower, and put on some clean, dry clothes. He had to get back home, now. He packed up his suitcase and headed out to the elevator. A bellboy offered to carry his bags, but he said, "Oh no thanks, I can do it myself."
He reached the lobby again and this time, more of the gang from the band was congregated in the lobby. They all pointed and laughed. He ignored them and checked out at the front desk, then went out to his car. He was going home.
I need to get back home
To cool, cool rain
He drove the car in complete silence. the radio was off. Zack didn't look forward to going home to his parents. He didn't know what was going to happen. He drove faster and got home quicker.
Zack parked in the driveway and walked into the house. He found that his parents were still asleep, probably having major hangovers. He was having a little bit of one himself.
The day passed. His mom and dad got up around one in the afternoon and complained for the rest of the day. They didn't seem to remember that they had sent him off the night before, and they had no idea that he had gone to the coast. The less they knew, the better. Zack went to bed early.
It was a hot night, really hot. Zack slept on top of his covers and was still burning up. He couldn't sleep so he thought about everything that had happened. Then he heard the pattering of rain on his window. He needed to lay out in the rain. He needed the rain to fall like sweet redemption upon him.
Zack ran down the steps and out the door. He laid down in the middle of his yard and felt the rain fall down on him. It was nice and cool, it was perfect.
I can't sleep and I lay and I think
The night is hot and black as ink
Ooh oh God I need a drink
Of cool, cool rain
Katie's image lingered in his head, and Zack realized what he was. A prisoner of love, haunted forever by her face.
Love
Reign o'er me
O'er me
Love
Reign o'er me
Love
-That's it! Do you like the way it ended? I couldn't think of a better way to end it. REVIEW! Next I'm going to finish Every Breath You Take, then I've got another story planned. So look out for some new stuff! And REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!-