Frowning at her closet, Gabby sighed. How is it possible? I don't get it. I have a ton of clothes yet nothing to wear. Great. I guess I'll just go for the usual black mock turtleneck with jeans and a belt to brighten it up. The black suits my mood anyway. Grabbing her shirt and jeans out of her closet without giving it much thought, she turned around to her dresser, searching for the right belt. After deciding upon an emerald green belt, Gabby hurried to dress. Once dressed, she added a necklace and earrings to her ensemble. Glancing in the mirror she decided that she looked passable. Great! It's already five o'clock and I still haven't put on any make-up.

At five after five, as Gabby was still putting on her make-up, the door bell rang.

"MOTHER! WILL YOU GET THE DOOR?" Gabby yelled down the stairs to her mother. "I'm not ready yet!"

"Sure honey," her mother replied cheerily and Gabby heard her move to the door. "Sam! How nice to see you. Come on in, Gab's still getting ready to go, as usual. It'll be a cold day in hell when she's ready on time!"

"I agree Mrs. Smith. But Gabby wouldn't be Gabby without her being fifteen minutes late to everything."

"I heard that you two. You can stop chit-chatting about me anytime. And I am not always late…just 99.99 of the time! Mom, we'll be back before eleven. Call me if you need anything."

"OK Dear. I'm probably going out with Dan this evening, so I might not be home when you get home. I still trust that you will be in before eleven or you'll call me."

Rolling her eyes, Gabby replied with a short, "Yes Mother. I'll be here or I'll call you."

"Shall we go?" Sam asked, extending his arm to Gabby who took it readily.

"I feel like a princess when you do that."

"I know. That's why I do it."

After they both said good bye to Gabby's mother they left the house and went to Sam's car. Once in the car, Sam gave Gabby a kiss and looked at her, his eyes full of concern. "You ok?" he asked inquisitively as he started the car.

"I'm fine." Gabby said her voice empty of emotion.

"So Gabs, where do you want to go? Crazy Mae's?"

Crazy Mae's was a little restaurant they often went to because it offered diabetic food. This appealed to both of them, as they were both diabetic.

"Yeah, Crazy Mae's is good." Gabby replied, a lot quieter than she usually was.

"Talk to me." Sam said simply. When she didn't respond, he decided to fill the silence. "My classes are going well. I got a 94 on a research paper. It was on Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and the social changes the book caused." Sam was a freshman at UNC Chapel Hill, studying journalism.

"Good job!" Gabby said excitedly. "I liked that paper. I thought it was really good."

"Well, now that I know you can talk, I want you to talk to me about something real. How are you feeling?"

"Mentally or physically?" Gabby asked, answering a question with a question.

"Both."

"OK I guess. I'm nervous. Scared. I feel pretty normal today. Coughing more. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Stay on topic. Tell me what Dr. Phillips said."

"I really don't want to talk about this."

"And I really think you should. If not with me than I guess someone else. Have you even said two words to your mother about it?"

"Maybe."

"And maybe always means no. Gab, come on. Get with it. This is your li—"

"Damn right it's my life. Means I get to make the decisions and that means who and when I want to talk to and what about. And I said drop it!"

"Gab—"

"NO. Not now. I refuse to ruin my night. I need a good night more than I need to talk right now. If you want to help me than that is what you will do."

"Fine. New subject. What movie do you want to see?"

"Um I dunno. How about this. Let's go to dinner and if you give me enough time we can talk about everything like you want to. I just need sometime to be a normal, healthy teenager. Is that so much to ask?" Gabby asked ruefully, a small, grim smile on her face.

"OK normal teenager? How about we go back to my place, get into so trouble there, then hit up a couple drinking parties, get stoned and get you pregnant?" Sam said as he ducked from her slap.

"You are such a pain in the ass!"

"Yes but I'm your pain in the ass." He said sweetly. They laughed at each other, and for the first time, a genuine smile spread across Gabby's face. Sam smiled when he saw her smile, glad he was at least providing some comic relief.

When they pulled up to the restaurant, Sam got out of the car and went around to Gabby's side of the car, helping her out of the car. Once they were both standing he leaned in and gave her a kiss.

"Hey." He whispered softly.

"Yeah?" Gabby whispered back.

"I love it when we get together."

"Me too."

"Shall we go in?"

"Yeah."

Together they walked to the door, arm in arm, smiling at each other.

"Welcome to Crazy Mae's. Hey Sam! How's it going?" The owner, a small rotund gentleman, said as he greeted them at the door. "Brought the little lady I see. How are you Miss Gabby?"

"I'm good Tony. You're looking well. Looks like you've lost some weight."

"Five pounds. Too bad I can't give it to you or Sam, eh?" Gabby smiled. Both she and Sam were painfully thin for their heights, a result of the Cystic Fibrosis.

"So, two then? Let me get you two seated so you can enjoy your dinners. Bad for business, making y'all stand out in the cold.

"Tony, it's like 40 degrees out!" Gabby said laughing.

"And all I need is for my two favorite customers to get sick. Come on now, move along."

Tony led the pair back to a corner booth in the back of the restaurant. It was their unofficial place, where they always sat. It was near the kitchen yet afforded all the quiet and privacy the pair wanted and needed. Far from the prying eyes of the curious, it occasionally felt like a haven to both. And today it was the one that Gabby needed.

"Some things never change, do they?"

"There are very few constants in life. And one of those things is change. But I digress, what never changes?"

"This place. I mean, think about it. How long have we been coming here together? Almost a year and a half? And what has changed? Sure, the waiters change. But the food doesn't, the decorations don't, Tony doesn't."

"We've changed though."

"I know. Sometimes I wish everything would just stay the same. You, me, life in general, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess. But if we were always the same, life would get boring."

Gabby laughed. "God, you have no idea how I wish my life was boring!"

"Yeah, I do. We both have the same problem, don't we? Only yours is a little different now. So maybe I don't understand. And if I don't understand, the only way for me to understand is for you to give me a glimpse by telling me why you want everything to stay the same."

"I could die you know. And I will without the transplant. But the ironic thing is, without death, I won't live. I need someone else's lungs to live. Do you know how scary that is? It's like this. Someone is going to die. If not me, than someone else. If someone else dies, than I live. How sick is that?"

"Um, can I get you some drinks?" A waitress said, interrupting Gabby's monologue.

"Um, two waters please." Sam said before turning back to Gabby. "That's not sick, that's the miracle of modern medicine. Gabby, you've got to do it. I know you'll make it if you have faith in yourself. Everyone needs you. Your mom needs you. Despite what he thinks, your dad needs you too. Hell, I need you more than either of them!"

"So I should do it for everyone else?"

"In part. But don't you want to be a famous photographer? Don't you want to make a difference?"

"Well yeah. Everyone does."

"So make it happen. Only you have the power to save your life right now." Gabby thought about what he said, closing her eyes for a moment. Inside her head, emotions raced around, the majority of them saying, "He's right you know." But before she could voice what she was feeling, the waitress came back with their drinks, and demanded their order. With a quiet sigh, Gabby gave her order and then changed the topic.

"Enough heavy stuff. Let's be light and careless like the teens we are." Sam smiled, and thought "Well at least I think I've made her think about the consequences a little bit.

"So how about them Cardinals!" Sam said, launching into a play by play version of last night's game. Gabby smiled too, letting him take the reins of the conversation, nodding in the appropriate places.

After dinner, Gabby and Sam left the restaurant after saying good night to Tony.

"Hey Sam, I know it's only nine o'clock but I'm really tired—"

"It's been a long day for you, hasn't it? Why don't I take you home and we'll call it a night, k babe?"

"Thanks Sam. I owe you one."

"Don't even worry about it hun."

So Sam took Gabby home. After giving her a quick kiss at the door Sam turned and left. As he called "Good night!" over his shoulder Gabby smiled and waved. She went inside and stood at the door, waiting for the sound of his car to leave. After Sam left, Gabby took her medication and immediately went up to bed.

A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to update. My muses ran away and joined the circus for a little bit. But they're back now  Please read and respond. I appreciate the feedback. Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see.