I'm so sorry, guys! I'm at that stage in school now where I'm applying to college after college and it's taking up a whole bunch of my time! I will try so very hard to get a chapter out every day, maybe more per day if I can fit it in, but I can't make a guarantees! I took the only two hours of free time I've had the past three days to write this little snippet for you guys. Hope you enjoy!

She doesn't cry often but when she does – I hate it. Absolutely hate it and it makes me feel worse when I can't do anything to help.

I thought I had heard some of the worst sounds in the world.

I had heard men fall to the ground dead after being shot multiple times. I had heard the sound of our vehicle exploding into a million pieces.

I had heard the doctor say that I was probably never going to see again.

But when I walked into the apartment during my lunch hour, I heard a new noise, one that floored me even harder than the explosion had.

I heard it just as sniffles at first. Then as I walked through the apartment, it turned into sobs that were coming for our bedroom. I ran the last few steps and almost slammed into the closed door.

"Annie? Are you okay?" She just sobbed harder. I made my way over to her and climbed up on the bed where she was currently seated. Gingerly reaching my hand out, it came to rest on her head which I assumed was in between her knees. I slowly grabbed her and curled her into my chest. "What's wrong?"

She didn't speak. She just clung onto my shirt and cried. I think she tried to say some things, but her words turned into squeaks. I let her cry into my chest, murmuring soft words to her while rubbing her back.

"It's okay, baby, I'm here. I'm here." Her arms wrapped tightly around me and slowly but surely her sobs became a little bit quieter. She lifted her head slightly and rested it on my shoulder.

"I'm sor-sorry," She hiccupped.

"It's okay. Cry all you need, it's okay." My hand never stopped rubbing her back and I never moved my face away from hers. "Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

I knew from experience that sometimes when something makes you upset, you just want everybody to leave you alone. That you just needed space to sort through everything in your head and make yourself understand how you feel in the situation before you can explain it to anyone else.

"It's...I...I just..." She buried her face in my shoulder again and let out a few more sobs. My heart broke into a million tiny little pieces as I felt each tear slide down her face and land on my shirt. I gently swiped at her face, faintly hoping that if I got rid of the ones that were already there then no more would show up.

Her cries died down again and she lifted her head. "I just got a call." She said with such distinct clarity I recoiled a bit. I kept my hand on her back and brought my other hand to hers, squeezing it gently.

She sniffed. "I got a call from my mom, saying that she got news that my best – " She cut off, took a deep breath, and kept going. "That my best friend from high school died in a car accident this morning." She clutched tighter onto my shirt. "I hadn't talked to her recently, but we had sent letters and had hour long phone conversations with each other, even after we graduated high school."

I gripped her shaking hand tightly. I knew what it was like to lose a friend – to lose someone you loved. And if she was taking it as hard as I did...

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and brought her close to me again.

"We were going to get together this weekend. Have coffee. Go shopping." She whispered into my shoulder.

There really was nothing I could say. Was there really anything to say to someone that was grieving? I knew for sure that there wasn't.

"I can't take the pain away, Annie," I whispered into her hair. "But I'm not going to leave your side until your heart can beat by itself again."

The sobs stopped for a moment and her head lifted off of my chest. After one more tiny sniffle, she tackled me and gripped her arms around my neck in a bear hug.

"Thank...thank you." I don't know how long we stayed there, just curled up in each other's arms. Once in a while Annie would have a slight sobbing attack, and I'd clutch her even tighter, nuzzling my face into her shoulder.

We must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, the alarm clock on the nightstand was blaring away reading out 5:30 A.M. Annie shifted next to me and groaned.

"It's morning already?"

"Afraid so, sweetheart." I kissed her nose softly. "Do you want to shower first?"

"Will...will you shower with me?"

"Absolutely."

Most people would consider showering with your significant other in the morning to be a purely sexual thing, but for Annie and I it was a calming ritual. Of course, there were times when it was...intimate, but this morning was definitely not one of those times.

I stood behind her and kept my arms around her waist as she automatically washed her hair and body. I could tell that she was still broken up inside, but she was better than she was last night.

"You've got to get clean, too, silly. My tears made you all salty." She giggled a bit and ran her soapy hands through my damp hair. I smiled and let her wash my hair and my body while she was at it. Thankfully, I could feel her body physically relax and her breaths came a little eaiser.

She didn't eat much at breakfast, although I was able to coax an entire piece of toast down her throat. As we were packing up she wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me close.

"Thank you for being there last night. I just...I kinda lost it."

"It's okay," I whispered, hugging her close. "I understand about losing it."

She was silent for a moment and said, "Of course. Of course you do. By the way, the funeral is this weekend now and I was wondering...if you would..."

"I'll come with you." It'd be awkward for me, I had never even heard of the girl, but I'd be there for Annie.

"Thank you...again." She gave a soft laugh and unwrapped herself, lightly fixing my suit collar.

"I hate it when you cry." In my defense, the words just kind of...fell out of my mouth. Her hands froze and I knew she was probably giving me a puzzled look.

"Why?"

I took a deep breath. "Because I normally can't fix the problem. If you were crying over spilled milk, I could wipe that up. If you were crying because you broke the heel on one of your favorite shoes I could buy you a new pair. But you're strong, Annie. And even the strongest break down and when you do... I can't fix a broken you, no matter how hard I want to."

Annie slowly stood on her tiptoes so that her face was right across from mine. I could feel her breath on my cheek and her lips settled right by my ear.

"You did fix me last night, Auggie. Just by being there. Sometimes...most of the time...all I need is you." Kissing my lips softly, she continued. "I wish I could have been there for you."

"But you have, Annie," my words caught in my throat and now it was I who was holding back tears. "You have been there for me and you've done so much more."

We hugged tightly and didn't break apart until my phone started ringing. I reluctantly let go of Annie and answered it.

"Hello?" I asked roughly.

"Aug, man, where are you? We have to get this code done by lunch remember?"

"Oh, yeah, Barber, I'll be right there. Give me fifteen minutes."

"Ok. See you soon."

"Yep." I ended the call and intertwined my fingers with Annie's.

"We should go. I don't want Barber blaming me for you being late," She tugged me through the front door and with excellent skill reached behind her and quickly locked it.

"Ah, he's fine. He just gets his panties in a twist sometimes is all." She laughed, a glorious sound that made me forget about her tears.

"Then you should go untwist them," she joked as we jogged slightly down the stairs.

"That...was not an image I needed."

She laughed again, and I made it my goal to get her to laugh every day.

Because if the sound of her crying broke my heart, her laugh surely mended it.

Wow, I got real real sappy with this one. I felt sentimental tonight because my best friend called me sobbing that her boyfriend had broken up with her. There really is nothing you can say to someone that goes through grief. Although the guy wasn't that great anyway in my opinion...but don't tell her that. As always, please read, favorite, review, and tell your friends!