Author's Note: Here's the next chapter. The story is definitely finding its way towards the end. I think there may be two , possibly three chapters left. Please read and review! HM
A Second Chance – Chapter Twenty-two
As David listened to Lizzie ask about the scruffiness of his hair, his heart immediately skipped a beat as an enormous smile spread quickly across and over his face.
Oh my god, he whispered to himself, she believes . . . .
"She believes!"
He leaped out of his chair and started to pace furiously back and forth in front of his desk. His body was now surging with pure energy and adrenaline. He was exhilarated beyond belief, and all he wanted to do right now was to shout and yell "we did it" at the top of his lungs.
And that is exactly what he did.
He jumped, leaped, and sprinted around his living right while constantly chanting to himself, "We did it! We did it! Oh my god, we did it!"
He was feeling so incredibly, deliriously happy that he didn't even notice that he had knocked a banker's lamp off of the end table with his flailing arms, a lamp that his mother had given to him for one of his birthdays.
At this moment, it was as if he was walking on cloud nine. He could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, and he began to feel his despair and helplessness start to fade away.
At this moment, he was beginning to hope once again, and that burgeoning sense of hope and renewal was making him extremely excited about his future.
For the past several years, ever since Lizzie died, he absolutely dreaded life. Each morning, he awoke, sad and weary, knowing his day would be filled with an inevitable and unbearable loneliness. He went through each day on automatic pilot, never fully engaged in the present. Each day was torture, because he longed for a past that he could not return to, a past in which Lizzie was still alive, a past in which Lizzie was still a beautiful, amazing, loving, and integral part of his life, an integral aspect of his very own being. Every day he dreaded having to live another day without her.
But, now, in this moment, he could sense that everything was about to change. He could sense a future full of joy, laughter, happiness, passion, love and liveliness.
He could sense a life with Lizzie, once again.
"David, are you still there?"
"Oh!" David yelped. Caught up in his visions of the future, he had forgotten about the people waiting for his answer on the other side of the radio, he had forgotten that he had been asked a question about the status of his hair.
She's waiting for me to respond! Calm yourself down, sit back in your chair, and answer the girl!
He dashed back to his chair, grabbed the microphone, and in an excited voice said, "Lizzie! Oh my god, you believe me, you believe us! That is so unbelievably incredible!"
David's excitable tone made her giggle softly. His unrestrained enthusiasm was infectious, and suddenly she began to feel and absorb his sense of excitement.
"Yes, I believe you Mr. David Gordon number one. And I believe you as well, Mr. David Gordon number two," she said, as she turned to the younger Gordo and acknowledged him with a flirtatious wink and a smile.
Gordo blushed slightly as he let out a half-annoyed grin. He wasn't sure that he liked being referred to as David Gordon number two.
She returned his ambivalent grin by blowing him a kiss, as if to tell Gordo that he was still her number one, then she turned back to the microphone to respond to David.
"Hey, you still haven't answered my question, David! So, is your hair still scruffy or what? This is important information, so you need to tell me the truth!"
David laughed, and said, "Well, if you must know the truth, I'm bald, I'm as bald as Bruce Willis."
"What?!?" Gordo shouted, utterly shocked and bewildered. David's answer hit him like a lightning bolt. "I'm twenty eight years old and I'm bald? Nooo, that can't be!" He shouted out loud as he grabbed his hair to make sure it was still all there.
"Really? Ohmigosh, are you really bald?" Lizzie asked, her eyes wide as saucers.
"Ha! Nah, I'm just kidding. If you must know, yes, I do still have my scruffy, curly hair. In fact, I think it's actually gotten scruffier since I've gotten older," replied David, with a playful, mischevious tone in his voice.
Gordo, immensely relieved upon hearing that news, grabbed the microphone and said,"Hey, man, that was not funny. You shouldn't kid around like that, not about the hair. Thank god I still have hair."
Lizzie laughed, as she stared at Gordo, trying hard to imagine what he would look like without any hair.
She tried, but she just couldn't do it.
She playfully roughed up Gordo's hair as she took the microphone back from him. "David, honestly, I'd still love you no matter what, but I'm really glad you still have your hair!"
Her response hit a chord, and suddenly, a wave of sadness and melancholy hit him like a tidal wave. She loves me, he whispered to himself. He had not heard those words for a long time, and again he was suddenly conscious of how lonely his life was without her, and just how much he missed her every single day since she's been gone.
Lost in his emotions, he was barely able to muster up a cogent respond. "Uh, thanks, Lizzie."
She noticed immediately the sudden, abrupt change in his voice. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry about me. It's just that everything that's happened the past few days is just starting to hit me. Oh my god, Lizzie, it's like all those dreams I've had these past years are coming true. I'm here, and talking with you, the best friend I've ever had, and the only girl that I ever . . . that I ever . . . "
He stopped talking, as he just couldn't get himself to finish his sentence, he just couldn't get himself to say what he really wanted to tell her . . . that she has been the only girl that he had ever loved in his entire twenty-eight years of existence.
"Ever . . . what?" She asked gently.
"Um, well, it's just that I've just missed you so, so very much. I've missed you . . . ." He said, his voice trailing off. He was overcome with grief, and he could not finish his sentence.
"Hey, I understand. And it's okay, everything 's going to be okay, trust me. I've got your back, David," she said, in a firm yet soft, soothing voice, hoping to give him some reassurance and comfort. "I really wish I could be with you and just give you a big hug."
Oh my god, I would love nothing more than to hold you in my arms again, he thought. It was unbearable, the distance separating him from her. Here he was, talking to Lizzie, hearing her beautiful voice, feeling her emotions over the microphone. Yet, he knew just how far away from him she really was.
"Me, too, Lizzie. There's nothing I'd like more right now," he replied softly.
After his response, he leaned back in his chair, tugged at his hair, and began to think about the recent course of events. When he realized that Lizzie finally believed what was really going, he had half-expected that everything would change on that account, and that they had accomplished their mission to save her life.
Yet, in his heart, he knew that nothing had changed yet. Because of his head injury, he still was unable to make out any new memories, but now, he could sense something different going on inside of him. The past few years of his life were suddenly going blank, as if they were being erased, but without any new memories to fill the void. It felt like everything was in a holding pattern. The old past was being changed, but as of yet, it was as if the future had yet to be written. Right now, things were in limbo, and David knew deep down that the next few moments would be crucial to determining Lizzie's destiny and his destiny.
He knew that right now, he had to talk to her directly about what had happened with her and Jimmy, and he had to convince her that she did not belong wit h Jimmy, and that instead, that she belonged with him .
With that thought, he took a deep breath, firmly grabbed the microphone firmly, and began to speak in a slow, deliberate voice. "Lizzie, I know it's going to be hard, but we need to talk about what happens to you and Jimmy in a few years."
She froze, as her mind was overwhelmed with feelings of fear and trepidation, as she began to recall what Gordo had told her about the two times she died in her brief lifetime.
Softly, she replied. "I – I don't want to believe it, David, I really don't. It can't be true, right?"
He felt a palpable sense of fear in her voice, and he responded quickly to reassure her and to tell her that everything would turn out alright. "Hey, listen Lizzie, everything's going to be okay. We've changed history once, we can do it again. I know it."
She did not respond. She instead turned her head towards Gordo, who had been sitting there silently listening to the two talk. He had a serious, solemn look on his face, as he were deep in thought. As she turned to him, he instinctively grabbed her hand again and started to caress it. He didn't know what to say right now, but he did know that she needed his strength and comfort.
She closed her eyes and allowed herself to be calmed by his soothing touch. With a surge of quiet confidence, she turned back to microphone and replied, "Do you – do you really think we can change what happens, um, you know, what happens to me? What, what should we do, so that it, you know it, doesn't happen . . . ."
She was having an extremely difficult talking about the reality of the situation. She wanted to know what she needed to do in order to save her life. Yet, she just could not get herself to say those words, to admit and acknowledge the truth of her impending death in just a few years.
As he thought on his response, he could feel his heart creeping up to his throat. This was the moment. He needed to tell her, he had to tell her, he wanted to tell her.
He knew that his younger version of himself had already told her the truth. But, now, it was up to him, it was up to him to muster up the courage and to tell her what he's been wanting to tell her for 28 years. He had thought that he would never get this chance again, but somehow, God, the Universe, Fate, Destiny, was giving him a second chance . . . a second chance to win the heart of the girl he loved, a second chance to transform his life into something wonderful and beautiful.
He closed his eyes and said, "Lizzie, it won't happen, you are not going to die. There's only one thing you need to do and everything will be just fine."
"What – what is it?"
"You and Jimmy aren't meant to be together. We're meant to be together, Lizzie, I just know it. I mean, you and the boy sitting next to you. He's been in love with you for as long as I can remember. He loves you so very much, and he'll do everything to protect you, he'll make sure nothing ever happens to you. He belongs together with you, and you belong together with him," he whispered.
For David, even though he knew that his younger version had already told her that he loved her, for him, it really felt like this was the first time he was opening up his heart to her. Yet, as he spoke, he was suddenly hit with a sense of deja vu. Even though his slight concussion prevented him from "remembering" what had just happened that night, deep in his heart he knew he had already expressed his love for her in the past. But, he also knew that Lizzie had never responded to her, she had not yet told him that she felt the same way about him. Now, after a lifetime of waiting, he was finally about to find out the truth.
TO BE CONTINUED