The burning amber sun was setting behind the silhouetted mountains, its last rays of light streaking through the recently budding trees. There was nothing to be heard except for the sweet songs that flowed from the trees as if even they were mourning her. The soft wind rustled the grass at Darren's feet as he stood at the side of the road. His flowers lay on the floor alongside a picture of the smiling girl that he'd loved for so long.

The saddest part? That she'd died somewhere where only a few lucky people had known her. To the rest of this selfish city, she was a no-one. A young lady who's fate had been decided, and could not be avoided. It was a tragedy of course, but it was nothing for them to mourn, after all, they hadn't known her. Why should they mourn?

Hannah had died in the emergency room. Darren had been with her the whole time, until the final light was flushed from her eyes, he's held her hand and felt her grip loosen just seconds before she passed. Hannah didn't once complain about dying. Neither did she complain that she didn't have her family around her. It was just her and Darren and the occasional Doctor that checked on her. They'd had to pull Darren off of Hannah's body, he'd clung on to her body with all the strength he could summon, but the three doctors had managed to pull him away from her, separating him from the body.

He hadn't seen her after that. She'd been enclosed behind the blue curtain, and as soon as she was announced dead she'd been flown home to her mother. Darren had been the one to tell her. She didn't even know who Darren was. The silence that followed those four short words, that must have torn her world apart, were something Darren would never have wished for anyone to be a part of. If he'd have known that chasing her to the airport that day would have killed her… He would never have dreamt of doing anything. If he'd have respected her wishes like any gentleman would have done… she may be alive and well now.

A loud roar from an overhead aeroplane brought Darren back to where he was. She was gone. There was nothing more to say, hurting himself by thinking through 'What If' and bittersweet memories would only hurt him further. She was back home. And all he had was a picture that he'd taken on his phone, placed on the side of a busy LA road, getting dirtier and dirtier a each car passed, without taking any notice of the man that stood, pouring his heart out to the girl in the frame.

'Hey Han. I miss you. I guess, I just wanted to say that, and I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry…' Darren's voice choked as he burst into a fresh wave of tears. He bent down and soon enough he was on his knees, holding his face in his dirt covered hands.

A soft rustling of grass behind silenced his crying, and he turned around to see a pair of black boots standing a metre or so behind him.

Darren lifted his head slightly, and although the sun blinded him slightly he recognized her instantly. He hadn't spoken to her since the accident; it had been a whole week.

'Mia' Darren croaked. He rose to his feet, keeping her gaze. His eyebrows creased, partly due to the sun that was streaming behind her, but mostly due to the anger that was slowly taking over his already weak body. 'What are you doing here?'

His voice was monotonous. And there was no emotion in his eyes apart from a blind fury that he was trying his best to restrain.

Mia spoke softly, aware that she was, for the first time in her life, afraid of the man that stood before her. 'I…' her voice broke, and she took a deep breath before continuing. 'I came to pay my respects. She was my friend, and you can say what you want but it was an accident.'

Darren didn't move his focus from her face as she walked forward and dropped the bunch of pure white roses underneath her picture. Mia pressed her fingers to her lips and then placed them on the glass of the picture frame.

'You killed her' was all Darren needed to say. As Mia turned to look at him Darren saw the tears in the corners of her eyes.

Mia nodded slowly, and the tears poured silently. 'I know. And I've tortured myself every minute of the past week. I went to the airport to save your relationship and all I did was murder it. Murder her.' Mia nearly collapsed and Darren caught her arm, leaning her against a nearby tree.

'I should be in jail.' Mia whispered.

Darren's eyebrows softened. He couldn't stay mad at her forever. It wasn't Mia's fault. 'Don't be stupid Mia, you didn't break the law, and it was Hannah that ran in front of you, there is no way that you could have stopped in time.'

Mia shook her head. 'I could have been driving slower. At least if they had put me in prison I could have had some sort of punishment… I'm walking free on the earth and I killed someone Darren, I killed Hannah!'

The name shook Darren to his core, and if Mia wasn't shaking uncontrollably in front of him he would have surely cried, but his time for weakness had passed. He had to be strong. That was what Hannah would have wanted.

Darren sat down on the pavement and held Mia's head into his chest, rocking her back and forth. 'It was fate; you don't need to feel guilty. It could have been anyone. If there was any inclination that what happened was in any way your fault you wouldn't be here right now. You'd be in a cell. But you're not. You're here.'

Darren ran his fingers through Mia's soft hair, now wet with tears as he cradled her into him.

Mia stopped shaking and looked into Darren's eyes. The guilt of being there in between the star crossed lovers forced her to her feet. Mia pressed one last kiss to the frame and turned and walked away, leaving Darren standing on his own again

A soft breeze rustled the trees again and Darren was sure he heard a soft voice calling from behind him.

I'll always be with you,

Darren saw a soft form take shape in the corner of his eye, but as he turned it disappeared, gliding away on the winter breeze, the soft voice calling out as it rode through the twilight streets.

I'll always be with you.