A/N: Hey everyone, chapter two is up! ENJOY!
Chapter 2: Day One
Sam
I woke up in a cold sweat. I looked around me to see where I was, but the only two things in the room that were familiar were Maggie and Ben. Maggie was laying on the bed beside me, her eyes closed, and Ben was typing furiously on the computer. Tears were streaming down his face, and he was sweating with concentration.
"Ben?" I whispered. He jerked around, facing me and breathing heavily. He stood up and walked to the bed, where he curled up beside Maggie, wrapped her in his arms and whispered her name softly.
"Maggie? Hey, baby, wake up..." His voice was so soft and loving, I almost got jealous that Maggie had someone like that. But then I remembered Tony. So what if I met him in a chat room and have only spoken to him on the phone and over the computer! I loved him, and he loved me. It would always be that way.
Maggie stirred awake. She seemed surprised to be waking up in Ben's arms in a strange room, but she immediately calmed with Ben's loving touch.
"Hey..." Ben whispered. He looked so sexy, his hair rustled and his clothing wrinkled. He still managed to look hot.
"Hi," Maggie replied, questioning.
"You girls get up. I'll be down the hall making breakfast, okay?" he asked both of us. Maggie nodded sleepily, but she buried her face in his chest, pressing her body against his.
"Hey, its alright. I'll just be down the hall," he said, still speaking softly. Maggie nodded. I looked at the clock and saw that it was already 12:00. Ben hastily wiped his tears, as if finally remembered the stains on his cheeks.
"Ben?" Maggie asked, standing up with him. But, she stumbled and fell into his arms, pushing him backwards so he fell onto the bed with her on top of him.
"Woah! Are you okay, Mag?" He looked scared.
"I feel so... disoriented," she whispered, trying to stand again. Then, when she stumbled, she fell backward clumsily and fell into the chair in front of the computer. She looked drowsily at the screen, but then her eyes sprang open as she read.
Maggie
At the top of the page read, "Trauma from Evanescence concert." As I read down more, my eyes caught sight of sentences reading, "chemical imbalance due to flame exposure," and "Death after seven days." I gasped. The flames had apparently caused a chemical imbalance in our bodies, leaving Sam and I, as well as many others, seven days before our heart gradually stopped beating.
I turned to Ben, who was crying again. I finally realized the truth. He was in love with me, and I with him. I walked over to him, concentrating on not stumbling in drowsiness, and fell into his arms. Sam was breathing heavily, staring at nothing in particular. Then, she got up and left the room.
I cried in Ben's arms as he did to for what seemed like hours before he spoke.
"I love you, Maggie." His words were soft, nearly a whisper, and they were muffled by my hair, which he had buried his face in. However, I heard them clear as a night sky.
"I love you, too," I answered. In my minds eye, I saw Kyle again, and the way he held me that night at Faith's party when I was crying. More tears spilled down my face. I still loved Kyle, and I was sure of it. I still loved the way his hair was brown like coffee, and the way he spiked it. I still loved the way whenever he held me or I lay my head on his shoulder or chest, everything seemed right in the world. He was always warm and cozy, always comforting when I needed him to be. And his voice pierced straight to my heart. He was perfect in every way. Yet I still loved Ben, too?
"Ben?" I asked, hesitant. There was one way to know if I loved him or not.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Remember Kyle? Well, I told you that he and I were just friends. Don't worry, that's true, and that's all we ever will be, but I... I'm in love with him, too. I think I always will. But when I'm with you, I feel love for you also."
He smiled at me, tired. With that easy smile, I knew that I did love him. He understood.
"I know. I kind of figured that all out. But I don't think it's possible to fall out of love with someone that you truly did love at one point. You'll love him forever, but that doesn't mean you can't love someone else. That doesn't mean you can't be with someone else, right?" He comforted me.
"Right." I nodded my head and smiled. "And guess what?"
"What," he asked.
"Here's what," I said, playfully. Then, I leaned into him, and he lay back on the bed with me on top of him, and I kissed him. His lips were warm, soft yet strong, and they worked passionately at mine as mine did to his. Yet we weren't just kissing. We were telling each other everything the other needed to know. He slid his hands up to my ribs and moved his lips from my mouth to my neck.
"Ben..." I warned, halfheartedly. I wanted this just as much as he did, but I wanted him to know that I wouldn't let it go too far.
He stopped kissing me and grinned at me, playfully. Then, he rolled me over so that he was on top of me. He nibbled on my ear lightly, then moved back to my lips. He slid his hands down to the hem of my shirt, and flipped his hands underneath. As he slid his hands over my bare stomach, my heart beat faster and faster until he reached exactly where I did not want him to go. I pulled away and slid his hands out from under my shirt.
"Ben!" I scolded playfully. But he just grinned down at me, straddling me and placing one hand on either side of my face. Then, he kissed me again, but this time just a little, innocent kiss.
"You know something, Ben?" I asked.
"What?" He seemed curious.
"When you were bringing me to see Amy Lee, and you kissed me... that was my first kiss. And you've given me every one after."
He laughed, good naturedly.
"You're kidding!"
"Nope. I'm dead serious."
I immediately regretted my words. At the word dead, his face froze, his smile gone.
"I'm sorry... I-"
"No, it's okay. You didn't do anything wrong... It's just..." His voice trailed off.
"I know, Ben, I know."
"I'd better go make breakfast... or lunch now, anyway." Then, he moved off of me and left the room.
I glanced at the clock. It was almost 2:00. Next to the clock lay my cell. I picked it up and pressed seven and held it down. Speed dial. Kyle.
He picked up his phone after two rings.
"Lo?" he said.
"Hey, Kyle... It's MJ."
"Hey MJ!"
"I love you Kyle. I love you so much!" I choked back tears, but I'm sure he heard that I was about to cry. He was silent. I didn't expect him to respond, really. I knew he wouldn't say, "I love you, too." but I listened and waited anyway. I just wanted to hear his voice...
"What's wrong?" he asked. The concern was breaking through is voice. He knew, somehow, that this was serious. He knew that I cried a lot for stupid little reasons, and he also knew that I suffered from depression and manic depression, but he could hear in my voice that something was truly wrong. I could hear it in my voice as well.
Finally, the tears that were threatening to pour over my eyes rimmed over and poured down my cheeks. As they did so, I remembered the feel of Kyle cupping my face in his hands that night at Faith's party. I pushed away the thought and forced the words from my lips.
"I... I'm dying, Kyle." My voice cracked at the word "dying," and at first I wasn't sure he heard me.
"Y-yeah right," he stuttered. I could hear fear in his voice.
I stumbled over to the computer, sobbing so hard that I was afraid Kyle might hang up on me. But I knew that this time I wouldn't be able to hold back my tears. I fell into the computer chair and read Kyle the web address.
"Kyle... I'm not l-lying. I wish I were, but I-" I tried to explain to Kyle. I felt like I owed him an apology. But he didn't answer. I knew he was reading the article on the website. And then I heard a small click. His heavy breathing was gone. He had hung up.
Sam
I don't know why I left without saying good-bye to Maggie, or even my parents. I just knew that I had to see Tony. As soon as I left the bedroom, I stumbled over to the door. I stepped out onto the street. I wasn't crying. I wasn't sad. I didn't feel anything. I was in shock.
The road wasn't familiar at all, but I heard a train in the distance. I knew what I had to do. I followed the sidewalk in the direction of the sound, until finally the train station came into view. Then, I broke into a run. I ran into the station, bought a ticket for a train to Freeport, then ran up the stairs to the upper level.
As soon as I ran into the cold, windy air, I broke down. I fell to the concrete, finally realizing what had happened. The wind cut through every bone in my body, and I suddenly felt so weak. I leaned against one of the pillars and cried in choking, heart wrenching sobs. I don't know how long I cried, but eventually the train came and the tears were silent. It was about five minutes that I sat on one of the cold, hard benches of the train, silent tears streaming down my face. Then, the announcer called out the stop. We were there.
As I stepped out of the train, I finally realized what I was about to do. I walked down the road to the bank. It was pretty simple, I thought as I walked into the cool, air conditioned lobby of the bank. I would take all my money from the bank, which was my entire life savings of about fifteen hundred dollars. Bat mitzvah money really came in handy, I thought, as I signed the withdrawal sheet. I held the hundred dollar bills in my hands, then stuffed them into my pocket. I headed back to the train station. I knew that before I went to Maryland, I had to hit the mall.
Green Acres mall was the closest. The train ride wasn't long, and the walk to the mall was only a few blocks from the station. Green Acres wasn't my favorite mall, but this wouldn't take long. As soon as I stepped into the cool, high ceiling mall, I headed for the GG.
The summer styles weren't that great, but it wasn't that expensive. I walked around the store slowly, and stopped at a rack of jeans. I picked up three pairs. They seemed about my size, and they were tight and sexy. They were perfect for Tony. I found two denim skirts and four cute tops, and headed for the changing room. Everything, for once in my life, fit perfectly.
I started to head for the registers but then I realized that there was one thing I needed that I had missed. Lingerie. I head for the lingerie department. I wanted something that was fun and sexy, yet comfortable. I spotted a red and black, clear lace tanga with a matching push-up bra and I picked up a C-cup and the panties in both red and black. And then I realized I'd need something sexy to sleep in. I found an extremely sheer black nightdress that would reach only half way to my knees. I tried everything on and found that, once again, I fit perfectly into everything. My good mood could not be mellowed by anything. I paid hastily and headed for Sephorah.
Sephorah was the absolute best makeup department in the world, but I rarely shopped there because it was so expensive and got most of Tony make-up from my mom's store. But this was a dire circumstance. I picked up orgasm blush, light lip gloss, an eye shadow kit, eyeliner, and of course mascara. It came out to nearly two hundred dollars, but I had plenty to spend.
Yet my next stop would not be in the mall. I turned on my heel and hurried out of the mall and back to the train station. I was just falling into sleep when the reality of everything hit again. I would soon be seeing the love of my life, Tony. I smiled. Maybe seven days left to live had its benefits...
I stepped off the train. Luckily, everything in the city was easily reachable. It didn't take me long to get the to John F. Kennedy airport. I was so excited to finally see Tony that by the time I had purchased my one-way ticket to Maryland, had boarded the plane, buckled up, and popped my ears on the incline, I was completely worn out. It was nearly 10:00 at night. I thought of Tony and how soon I would be seeing him in person for the first time, and then my eyes closed and I surrendered to sleep.
Maggie
All I could think of was Kyle as I cried the day away. I knew he would hate to see me cry like this, but it felt so good the curl up under the warm covers of Ben's King Size bed and cry for hours. I breathed in Ben's scent, which was so comforting that I had fallen asleep more than once. But now, when I woke up, I wasn't alone in the bed and I didn't feel the need to cry anymore.
Ben had tucked himself under the covers with me and we were in the same position as the night before when we had spent hours talking in the hotel room. My back was against his chest, his arms around me from behind. I smiled and snuggled into him. I placed my hands against his on my stomach.
"Hey, sleepyhead," he whispered. His voice sent shivers up my spine.
"Hi," I replied. I pulled the covers tighter around me and turned around to face him. I giggled and he pulled me close to him and I buried my head in his chest.
"You've really slept the day away, you know," he said. I heard the smile in his voice. I guess it felt pretty good to him to have a girl that he was in love with spend the entire day in his bed. I laughed.
"Yup! That's me! Lazy Maggie!" I laughed. It felt so good to be with him, and he was so warm ad comforting.
He looked at me and kissed me lightly on the lips.
"How you doing?" He asked, sincerely.
"Actually, I feel great. I'm all cried out, I'm sure you'll be happy to hear."
He looked surprised.
"It's okay to cry, Maggie," he said. I was taken aback. I looked deeply into his eyes.
"Is it? Because I'm not sure. My dad slaps me if I cry, my Mom ignores me or tells me to stop it or I'm grounded, and Kyle just pretty wishes he were anywhere but with me when I cry." I could hear the scorn and anger burning in my voice. Why was I so angry?
"It is! It's okay to cry! Don't let anyone ever tell you different!" Ben seemed just as angry as I, but not at me. He muttered something that sounded like a curse.
"Why, Ben? Why is it okay to cry?"
"Because if you suffer from depression, you can't help it." He looked at me and I knew that he understood.
"I love you, Ben," I said.
"I love you, too, baby," he said. My body tingled as he called me that. I loved the way he made me feel. Then, I closed my eyes. Ben softly kissed each eyelid then held me tightly in his arms again as I fell asleep.
A/N: Please Please PLEASE review!!!! FOR THE SAKE OF THE STORY! AND MY SANITY!