I know, I know...I said I was on break from the Milo fandom. But in light of recent events, I can not resist doing something like this. We lost NBA great Kobe Bryant on Sunday in a helicopter crash in Southern California. In response to this sudden tragic news, I have a special Milolissa short featuring their reaction to the news.

Timestamp - January 26, 2020. The Rolex 24 at Daytona had concluded and so had Milo and Melissa's 16th straight all-nighter watching the race flag to flag. They had seen it all from Tony Stewart's mechanical failure with 45 minutes to go in 2004, Wayne Taylor's win in 2005, Scott Pruett tying Hurley Haywood's overall win record in 2013, Jeff Gordon winning with Wayne Taylor Racing in 2017, the rain-shortened race last year and now the record-breaking race this year - 833 laps were completed around the 3.56 mile Daytona International Speedway combined course and for the 3rd time in 4 years, it was the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing entry that came out on top after 24 hours.

Milo's sister soon came around to check on the couple. "How do you guys do it?" she asked.

"Do what, Sara?" Melissa rebuttalled.

"How are you guys able to stay up for 24 hours?"

Milo smiled. "Our kissing keeps us going, Sara..." Milo remarked. His phone then pinged. It was a text from Zack.

"Sara, did you get this same text from Zack?"

"Yeah, he just texted me...how about you, Melissa?"

"Same here. He mass texted you, me, Milo, Amanda...everyone in school..."

The text read...

'Everyone! Turn on channel 7...NOW! There's been a helicopter crash in California and sources are reporting that Kobe Bryant was on board!'

Quickly, Milo flipped the TV to channel 7, the ABC affiliate, and sure enough...there was a special report. Not a minute after he turned on the report, Milo and Melissa heard the words that would shock them.

5-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant and his 13 year old daughter Gianna...have been killed in a helicopter crash in Southern California. Kobe Bryant was 41 years old.

As soon as he heard this, Milo took Melissa by the hand and rushed up the stairs to his room.

"How...how could this have happened?" Milo asked, crying into Melissa's chest.

"I don't know, Milo...I just don't know."

"I can't believe it, 'Liss..."

"Neither can I, Milo," Melissa remarked, snuggling up to her jinxed boyfriend.

"You...you think I caused this?"

"Now don't you dare go thinking you caused this! You didn't! You thought you caused the death of David Bowie and you didn't! You thought you caused Prince's death and you didn't! Heck, you thought you caused Mariah Carey's Times Square mishap...but you didn't! So don't go thinking that you caused this one!" Melissa snapped. "You know what you are, Milo? You are a sweet, caring, handsome young man. You're the most wonderful man a girl can ask for and Murphy's law or not...you do have friends that stick by you..."

Milo smiled, still crying, but relieved to know that he has friends that stick by him no matter what...and a beautiful girlfriend to snuggle up to.

The next day at school, there was purple and gold everywhere. Everyone was wearing #8 or #24 Lakers jerseys. Twitter tags like #RIPKobe, #RIPMamba and #KobeForever were trending.

Amanda had tweeted 'Aye Dios Mio! I can't believe the Mamba is gone...he was and forever will be Bigger Than Basketball. #RIPKobe'

Lydia had put in 'As a Lakers fan myself, I'm stunned to hear this news - thanks for everything, Kobe. #KobeForever'

Zack's tweet was a major tearjerker. 'I'm stunned beyond words right now. We've lost an MVP, a legend and a true friend to all. Thank you, Kobe. #RIPMamba'

Milo had posted a whole thread on the shocking news, channeling the words of former NASCAR President Mike Helton after Dale Earnhardt's fatal Daytona 500 crash in 2001. 'This is undoubtedly one of the toughest threads I've ever had to tweet. But after a helicopter crash in Southern California...we've lost Kobe Bryant. He was a loving father to his 4 girls, an 18 time All-Star, 5-time champion, an Olympic gold medalist and a hero to all. You didn't have to be a basketball fan or a sports fan in general to know who Kobe Bryant was. He was and will always be...Bigger Than Basketball. #RIPKobe'

"The entire school's taking this hard..." Zack assessed.

"Yeah...teachers, administration...even our fellow students..." Milo added before walking off.

"I've lost track of how much purple and gold I've seen today," Amanda remarked. "Most everyone here is wearing an #8 or a #24 Lakers jersey. I've also heard that at tonight's Geckos basketball game against Middleton, both teams will be taking 24 second shot clock violations in honor of Kobe Bryant."

"Just shows how much Kobe meant to so many people..." Melissa said to Amanda. "Just look at Milo...when we heard the news, he thought he caused the crash. Milo looked up to him because he never took a day off, he never let injury slow him down. He took physical abuse every single game and bounced right back. To lose that sort of presence in your life so soon..."

"Just imagine how Kobe's wife feels right now, Melissa. Not only did she lose her husband, but she also lost one of her daughters! That really hurts. Something tells me Milo needs his girl right now."

Melissa gave a nod, knowing that there was one place Milo would go when he felt down - the football field. He was in section 3, row 3, seat 1. Reason being - that set of numbers represented Melissa's birthday.

"I had a feeling you'd be here, Milo."

"Oh...hey 'Liss."

"Still feeling shocked at the news?"

"Shocked...dismayed...heartbroken."

Melissa snuggled up to Milo and pecked him on the cheek. "Tell you what, Milo - how about after school...you, me, Zack and Amanda all use our transporter phones and flash over to Staples Center to pay tribute to your hero. What do you say, Milo? Will that ease the pain a bit?"

"It might..."

Milo held Melissa close and kissed her softly. "I love you, Melissa."

"I love you too, Milo..."

After school, Milo, Melissa, Zack and Amanda gathered in front of the school, transporter phones in hand and all gave the command 'Go To Staples Center'.

Instantly, the quartet was flashed to Staples Center in Los Angeles, where tributes to Kobe Bryant continued to pour in. Amanda laid out her old Lakers jacket, Zack - his #8 Kobe Bryant jersey, Melissa - her Lakers hairband and #24 Kobe Bryant jersey and as for Milo - the ticket stub for his first NBA game (which was also Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals), his #8 Kobe Bryant jersey, a Kobe Bryant player card, a Kobe poster, a Lakers basketball signed by Kobe himself and a sign that read 'Understood by few, loved by many. Thank you, Kobe'.

"Guys...thank you. I'm still shocked by the news of Kobe's tragic death, but I know that none of us have to go through this alone."

"That's right, Milo. We're all in this together," Amanda told Milo.

"We'll always be there for you, Milo!" Zack added.

"That goes double for me, Milo!" Melissa chimed in, pecking Milo on the cheek.

"Thank you...all of you..."

Like I said...this had to be done after the shocking news of Kobe Bryant's passing. All-Star, MVP, Hero...there are so many words and phrases that can be used to describe him, but only one can ever truly describe him. That's...HERO. Thank you, Kobe Bryant.

#RIPKobe