* She walks out onto a dark empty stage, blackness and silence enveloping
her shuddering figure. Slowly she raises her head, terrified at the
thought of what was about to happen to her. As her neck is straightened,
a bright white light falls on her body, and it begins. Objects of various
size and shape hurtle through the air, each one aimed toward her, each
one hitting with a terrible thud, then cluttering to the floor. Over and
over she is hit, eventually falling to the floor, dead. *

A/N: HEHE, that was fun. I'm not overdramatic or anything am I? Anyway, I sincerely apologize for my extreme lateness with this chapter. Please don't stone me. School started, I'm a senior, I'm suddenly super involved in like everything, and I've been having some personal problems. I honestly haven't thought about this story in like a month. Please forgive me. I'm sorry if I scared anyone into thinking this wouldn't be finished. It will be, even if I have to spend the rest of my life doing so. Hopefully, it won't take that long but who knows. Ok, let's see, um, season 2 of the actual show does not apply to this story. I began this after Home and that's how it's going to stay. Colin's not dead. Amy doesn't hate Andy. It's all like it was when season 1 ended. So, on with the story. I hope you enjoy. Please review. The next chapter will probably be up in a few weeks, but I've got SATs soon so I make no promises. Just keep checking back. Thanks for your continued support of my little story. Review.

Chapter 12: Realizing Too Late

So, she was supposed to say goodbye. He wouldn't hear her; she had learned at least that much from her nightmare with Colin. She wasn't doing this for him; she was doing it for herself. Dr. Brown had made a decision and now she needed to say goodbye but she wasn't sure that she knew how. She couldn't figure out how to let go of the boy who had changed her boring little life into something almost scary in it's fast, dizzying excitement.

Amy settled into the chair beside Ephram's bed, holding his hand and staring at the thick tube that protruded from his mouth.

"He's already gone," she suddenly whispered to herself, "Why am I even saying goodbye, he already left. I'm too late. God wouldn't keep him here like this. He's already gone. He's gone. He left me. He's not coming back." And then, out of nowhere, Amy felt overcome with rage. She wrenched her hand from Ephram's limp one.

"You left me! You bastard! I need you and you're gone! I can't tell you goodbye! You're not here anymore! You selfish jerk! How dare you leave me here alone? How dare you leave me before I can be as good a friend to you as you've been to me? How do you leave before I tell you how much you mean to me? How dare you leave before I tell you that I love you?" Amy once again collapsed into the hard plastic chair, terror seeping into her as she realized what she'd said, what she felt.

She tried to tell herself she was wrong. She only said that because she was emotional. She felt guilty about never having been a good friend to Ephram and now he was going to die without getting the friendship he deserved. She just said it to ease her conscience. No, there was no use in lying to herself. She knew. It wasn't regret or a product of the extreme pain that now filled her entire body, leaving her physically ill.

It was the truth. Sometime in the course of the night, no the year, she had fallen in love with a dark, sarcastic boy who dressed in black, read weird comic books, dyed his hair purple, and was so incredibly different from anyone she had ever known.

"But what about Colin?" she whispered to herself, remembering the man who had held her back when she was trying to help Ephram. Who was she kidding? Colin wasn't the boy she fell in love with, and even if he was, she didn't think that that "love" could even begin to compare with the overwhelming wave of emotion that had stirred within when she'd seen Ephram's eyes gaze back at her from the other side of her doorway earlier that evening. After all, only immense love could possibly explain the heartache she felt now.

Raising her other hand up to run her fingers through Ephram's soft hair, she sadly smiled at the way the light caught the purple that barely shined on the very tips of the dark strands.

"I feel like I'm dieing, Ephram. It's like someone is sawing through my body, starting with my heart, removing half of me. They're taking my favorite half too. It's the half that makes me smile when there is nothing to smile about, the half that tells me I'm weird and smiles because that's a good thing; it's the half that saved my life. Ephram, I can't live without that half. I'll stop breathing, stop being. So, you see, you can't leave me. I really don't think anyone wants to see me walk around with only half a body. You can't leave. Please, don't leave me." Amy's whispers plead.

She leaned over and kissed his bruised cheek, lips trembling as she choked back a sob. She slowly stood up, disentangling her hand, and sliding her fingers out of his hair, the soft digits stopping for a split second to wipe away the tear she had left behind as it slid down his cheek.

"I love you." Amy whispered, turning and walking out.