I wasn't a very happy camper when I swung my legs over the side of the bed that morning. Any normal person wouldn't be happy if they had to get up just before six o'clock in the morning to answer the damn phone. I think my wife Denisse wasn't included within that category. As the phone clanged in my head, once, twice, up to seven times, my wife didn't even shift from her sweet slumber. Well… lucky her.

My hand fumbled around on the nightstand as I reached for the telephone. When I managed to answer the line, I wasn't quite awake yet, and all that came out on the trail of my morning breath was a dissatisfied humph.

"Kinneas! Are you usually up at this time?" an energetic, almost high-pitched voice rang into my ears. Only Royd would be cheerful enough to call someone in the early morning hours. He always seemed so damned happy about everything.

"No," I grumbled, looking at my alarm clock on the nightstand. The numbers five, four and six glared at me from the safety of the plastic shield that covered them. "I'm usually sleeping… like any sensible person who normally goes to work at eight o'clock."

"Well you'll be going to work a little early this morning!"

Another humph came from my mouth. I imagine it probably matched the image I was projecting. I sat hunched over on the side of the bed, clearing my throat to the floor as my hand held the phone lazily to the side of my face, a face covered with a patch of week-old stubble. What was wrong now? Couldn't work just leave me alone and let me spend my daybreak eating cold bagels on the beat-up card table?

"Whatever this is… can't it wait? I wanted to dig up the microwave and actually eat a hot breakfast this morning."

Royd sighed on the other end, something he wasn't really known to do often. "I know you're still trying to unpack everything, but some kids managed to upload a bug into the system. I need someone who can take care of this matter quickly."

I brought my free hand up to my face and slowly massaged my temples. Perhaps I woke up too fast which caused me to have that feeling of being completely drained. The night before I didn't drink, I didn't make supper and I didn't roam through the many boxes lined up against the walls. Lawrence went to bed fairly early, which for him was around ten o'clock, and he didn't cause too much trouble. He played in the bathtub with his plastic farm animals and pretended he was herding them away from the drain. Denisse came in to help wash his hair, because after all, she's mommy and only mommy can wash his hair the right way. She read him a book and he fell asleep. We as a couple didn't do anything, which was how it was since we moved into this damn house.

That was it. Stress. Stress from moving into the house.

"You still there Kinneas?"

Unfortunately, I was. I pleaded, "Can't you find anyone else to go in and fix it?" Many of the guys at Trabia were qualified to do the job. Why pick me?

Another audible sigh came from the other side of the conversation. "Risa's anniversary is today, you know, so she took the day off to go visit her family down in Dollet. Didn't you look over the schedule for this week?"

"Yeah, of course I did," I replied, bringing my legs up to the bed and shuffling them under the covers. "I didn't think she had today off."

"Well, Irvine, it's October second."

Shit. It was the second, wasn't it? Denisse probably had the date written down somewhere and neglected to tell her husband about it. Hell, she probably already sent the card for Risa too. This was going to be a lovely day…

"Danne, isn't he still floating around Trabia? Call him."

"Sorry, Irve, he called in sick late last night just before his shift. You're the only one I've got right now..."

I almost groaned, partially because I was getting sick of his routine nicknaming. I wasn't going to be able to get out of this one. They always came to Irvine Kinneas when trouble popped up. Irvine, fix this. Kinneas, fix that.

I remembered back when I was a certified SeeD. I had many missions I was assigned to do, but I was paid well and didn't have to worry about the nonexistent family back home. It wasn't the constant droning on and on about Irvine fixing this and fixing that. I came back to the dormitory every night with a proud paycheck in my hands and the satisfaction of knowing that what I did was well worth it.

It almost makes me wonder why we make so many different changes in life. I wouldn't mind a few different takes now and then, say… when it comes to women, heh, but I'd like to stay with one job, one group of friends, one home. The idea of vast changes virtually frightens me, because it's taking that one giant leap. Thinking of the consequences of that giant leap is terrifying. Hyne help me… how have I made it this far in life?

" - Kinny? Hey, Kinneas, are you going to do this for me?"

Hyne help me… how have I made it this far with his job?

"Do I have a choice?" I asked, sarcastically.

Royd didn't seem to take any notice of it. He never did. He had the brains when it came down to business, which he didn't see much of because he worked for the collective of Trabia Garden, but otherwise we all just knew him as good old gullible Royd.

He responded, "You have half an hour to get here."

"Right-o, Royd," I sighed, glancing down at my wife, as she slept comfortably beside me.

"Thanks bud."

Click.

For a moment, I almost felt like imitating Lawrence and blowing a huge raspberry at the phone, but I resisted the urge. After all, Trabia was calling now…

I began to process of getting out of bed. Two boxes lay at the foot of the bed, with all of my socks, underwear and work boots. Three boxes huddled on top of each other at our bedroom door, containing all of the jeans and work shirts I had composed over the years. A fat pile of hangers was on the floor next to the boxes of shirts and pants. Ugh, this is what I have to come home for after work…

I stood naked roaming through the boxes upon boxes of garments. After I had changed, I took a whiz, and was greeted by… yup… more boxes in the hallway. I trudged on toward the kitchen but I accidentally misjudged a step and my foot kicked a stray box in the hall. I heard glass tinkling inside and both my mind and my foot knew, something had busted.

"Fuck," I mumbled, kneeling down to open it. I was positive Denisse would be opening this box and slicing her hand on a piece of glass, so I figured I'd find out what had shattered inside.

As I unfolded the flaps, I could only think of how annoying it was to be wasting five minutes of my time to clean up. But to my amazement, I began unfolding the things from my distant past. Beneath the crumpled newspaper, I touched something hard and round. I lifted the shreds away to find my old cartridges from my rifle! I realized… it had been years since I had shot anything from it. The last gun I ever held was my son's, when I bought one for him on his birthday. He nearly shot Squall with it once, and that was when my wife decided to pack the gun away… heh.

I probed deeper. After carefully setting the tiny pellets back in, my hand came across something soft. I had no idea what it could've been until I held it up to the light.

My old cowboy hat!

It had been years since I last wore it! My fingers caressed the brim with slick ease, and I experienced a surge of emotion hiking throughout my body. This is what I've been missing! The memories of picking up my gun and closing one eye to shoot, memories of walking in my long coat and black boots, memories of tipping my hat to…

I picked up my hat to discover the jingle of glass I heard when I kicked the box.

"… of tipping my hat to the gang…"

A picture smiled back at me from behind a single crack of glass. I sat fully on the floor to take it in.

I took a long look at myself. Wow, was I a stud or what? I trained my eyes onto the cocky smile and the cowboy hat upon my rusty hair. Those were the days. Those were the days indeed. The only worries I had back then were homework and getting to class on time. My midsection was lean and tanned, I had no wrinkles on my face, and the ladies always wanted to be close.

Even Quistis wanted to back then. Her arm was slung around my shoulder like we were best pals. She wasn't an instructor yet, she didn't ask for her old job back until much later. I never had her as an instructor, but everyone always told me she was the best. I guess I didn't see what made her so great. Behind her rimmed glasses, I knew there was torment and pain. She had a temper that Quistis, quick to judge and… I don't know… she always seemed so reserved about something. She married an officer from Deling and adopted two little girls. I bet they're the jewel of her eye.

Squall and Rinoa, now those two were a couple… I hoped Denisse and I would be the same someday, but it hasn't reached that peak yet. We never held hands as we walked and we never cuddled together like they did. Our love was so kept. When Lawrence came along… it seemed to make our love so much more held back. Squall and Rinoa were engaged for a long length of time and then Rinoa died. He was blessed with a daughter… but to imagine their love torn apart by birth is so heart-wrenching. I think he's doing better now, but I always envied the love they had.

Oh, yeah! Hah! Then there was Zell on the far right with hot dog falling from his lips and chin. That kid was something else. He wasn't arrogant, but to make up for that, Zell was wary. He was wild, but to make up for that, he could be content with certain subjects. The thing I remembered most about him was his caring side. Damn, did that kid care. He would risk his life to save someone. Hell, I guarantee if he knew Edea then as the person she was now, he would have thrown himself in front of my shot when I was assigned to kill her those many years ago. It's a shame though, I haven't heard a thing from him in such a long time. I'd kill to see that kid eat another one of Balamb's hot dogs, heh.

I'm not sure why I didn't notice that little swatch of yellow next to me in the picture, but I think it was because of the jagged crack running through it on the far left. Quickly, I turned the frame over to obtain the picture and cursed when my pointer finger on my right hand slid across the edge of the glass. I set down the frame and turned the picture over into my hands.

A blotchy fingerprint of scarlet was caught in the folds of her yellow dress.

Oh Hyne… had I forgotten her…?

Her sweet melodic smile instantly filled my sullen eyes with regret. I felt a drop of it fall down my cheek. Certainly my life hadn't changed that drastically, to the point that I would forget Selphie… my dear sweet Selphie…

The defeat of Ultimecia had thrown us on our separate paths. I was determined to get my official rank, and since she already was a SeeD, she didn't have to worry about it. I had classes at Balamb, Selphie didn't. I spent my nights doing homework underneath the brightness of a desk lamp and she spent her nights in the Quad scheduling activities for a Garden Festival like no other. Even when I did become a SeeD, things didn't change much. I was assigned on several missions right away, and well… Selphie never was assigned to anything. Not when I was at Balamb anyway.

I felt another tear slide down the side of my face. My last mission… my last official mission from Balamb Garden…

That night was long ago, too long ago it seemed. Long enough to the point when I'd forgotten Selphie herself, but not the details of her tragic end.

I'd never forget the argument we had though… never…

Selphie wasn't one to get mad over anything, but I think it was my own doing that did it that night. I had made her upset. When she got mad, her whole face showed it. Her lips would draw tight, her forehead would crinkle and her eyes would spit that salty aquamarine into my face.

"You're leaving when?"

"Tomorrow morning," I replied, holding her hand gently as I hung up the phone next to me. I had received a call from Headmaster Cid, asking me to return to Balamb right away, Headmaster Martine was making an unexpected appearance and I needed to be there.

She gazed at me with only the beginning of her suffering. "You just got here!"

I looked at the phone and saw myself staring at it. "Yeah I know babe…"

"Tell Cid you need a vacation!"

I squeezed her fingers in my grasp. Selphie's hand felt warm, but it wasn't inviting. I had arrived around nine o'clock that morning for a little relaxation with Selphie, my first real crush… my first real love… I hadn't seen her since she transferred to Trabia about eight or nine months before. I didn't want to upset Selphie, but I didn't want to upset Headmaster Cid, or Headmaster Martine for that matter. If I chose not to follow orders, that meant losing my SeeD status I worked so hard to get.

"… Irvy?"

I turned my head to her and she placed her other hand on top of mine. I watched the sorrow circulate within a pool of green and blue that was her eyes. Hyne… she was so beautiful… her curled brown hair and tiny frame… it made my day just to see her dazzling smile.

"I haven't seen you in so long…" she said, repositioning herself so that her head was sitting comfortably in my lap. Dammit, she was going to make me sympathize with her by gazing up at me with those cheerless eyes. Well, actually, she always made me a little weaker when she placed her head in my lap.

I leaned forward and kissed her sweetly on the lips. I had to make sure I wouldn't give in to her this time. Selphie had never asked me to call Headmaster Cid back to try and avoid a mission before, but she had pressured me to do a lot of dangerous things in the past. Which was surprising, I thought I'd always be the one asking Selphie to join me on some risky business, but I guess when I… when I saw Selphie, I… I guess I had more respect for her.

Shit.

Selphie wriggled in my lap and gave me that look of complete longing again, even though I was right above her, holding her, watching over her to make sure she was going to be all right. I couldn't give in to what she wanted, and I couldn't give in to what I wanted. The past two or three years had been what my instructor, or Headmaster Cid or what Balamb Garden wanted. Damn it all, if I had to take off in the morning and leave Selphie sleeping unknowingly in her bed, I was going to do it the right way.

I grasped both of her hands and pulled her close to my face. Her complexion was so perfect, so petite and shameless in every way. I was so lucky to have her… to have her trust and to have her respect… and to just… have her there at all… why did I let it go so easily?

Selphie took the initiative and brought her soft hands up to my face. She placed long kisses on my cheeks as my generous hands lifted her little body. I set her down neatly on top of my lap and slowly exhaled as my wistful eyes studied her. Selphie wasn't tense, but she seemed more mild than usual. Well, if that was how she wanted it…

After Selphie had enlightened my lonely lips, I laid her down, her hair parting both ways into a cloud of white cotton. She kept her eyes open to mine, not watching my hand slowly lift her dress up to caress her stomach. I was only thinking of her… and how she felt… I was only going to be there for Selphie that night. The next day, it was off to work again.

When I began to move my hand upward, unhurriedly, Selphie clasped onto my hand pleasantly from above her dress as my fingers trickled under the lace which concealed her elegant breasts. She still didn't seem to take it in fully, but… she had done that before. Selphie did that to try and trick me once in awhile, I mean… she did have an unruly personality to her, but it was nearly impossible to get it out in the sunshine. At least, I'm almost positive it was there… after all, she did… run out into the most dangerous and coldest of nights, not within a suitable state of mind… all because of something rash… something I did…

I remember my love looking down and seeing herself half-naked, and I watched hopefully as a glaze of affection and desire slipped over her eyes, effortlessly, almost enchantingly. I could nearly taste her radiance as it dripped off of her glowing body. I didn't catch myself lustfully savoring her magnificence, when inside… Selphie was deeply troubled…

My body detached itself from my mind immediately… after she boldly rose up from my hand upon her chest and grasped for my shoulder. She slithered closer to my body, slowly enough to suggest that a new character had risen from within. But then, within an instant, she had wrapped her fingers around my triceps and sucked me into a blissful wonder of a driven woman, bound by her duty.

My mind was forever lost in Selphie as I heedlessly began to unbutton the back of her dress with one hand.

"Irvy? What do you think?" she whispered, her lips so close I swear I felt each one tickling my face.

My other hand had retracted from the innards of the yellow fabric to assist the other. "… Huh? What do I think about what?"

"What do you think about this?"

I released the first button, and the next before I mumbled, "Uhh… think about…"

"Is this clean?"

"Of course you're clean sweetheart… we're clean…"

Selphie smiled at me as my fingers tugged the final button loose. She didn't hesitate as my hands held on tight and agreeably lifted the golden dress from her body. From beneath the woven strings of the fabric, I felt her smile fabricating itself onto my face. Her lips didn't waver.

"Irvy? Is this justified?"

I silently, but noticeably rejoiced when I was at last able to curl my arms around her body and feel her flesh sliding along with me. Mentally, I wondered how such a beautiful feeling could not be justified.

"Please, no more talk babe…"

Her pasted grin was wiped from her face. I gently lowered her body to mine. Selphie followed suit by taking my SeeD scarf and tossing it away with the flick of her hand. She reached to the zipper of my jacket and unzipped it halfway. Underneath, her cold fingers brushed by my neck, and I cooed.

"Why? Why stop talking?" she asked, her eyes trailing up and down the length of my neck.

I could see her searching just beneath the suit of my SeeD uniform, and it made my situation all the more tense. By then, it was more than tight quarters down there, and now the beast was lashing out against the walls of its imprisonment.

"Selphie…" I breathed, nearly rolling my eyes back into my head as her leg lifted itself from its perch and slipped across the tops of my thighs. I was sweating now, as was she, but she could get away with it. The glean of her body's salt made her skin a pale, peach color, shining happily under the light of the room.

"Hmmm?" she asked, sliding her fingernail under my chin. It was obvious her purpose, but I needed to make sure she and I were on the same page. Why I tried… I'm not even sure anymore…

"Selphie," I asked, bringing myself up with her seated comfortably on the soft bed sheets beside me. "Can it… be tonight?"

She touched my hand, stable upon her shoulder and not willing to let go. Selphie gazed down at my hand before her eyes came back to mine, trouble and confusion boiling within. Her brow came over her eyes just slightly, and cast a shadow over her lids. Her top lip trembled.

I leaned down to look up to her directly, hands glued to her shoulders, tension and desire subsiding gradually…

She closed her eyes when I leaned in to gaze into her. I came back, neck exposed and scratched, nearly trembling myself when I explored the possibility of hurting her with a straightforward question. Was it forceful upon her? Did I… say it the wrong way? I never wanted that… I just wanted – no, needed to be with her tonight… this one last night before I was off yet again… unable to be with her, or… to see her sparkling smile upon her complexion…

The thought of being without Selphie at all was just… unfeasible… unbearable.

When I peered up again into her eyes however… she had something else on her mind…

"Is… is…" she started, straining to speak through a throat that was nearly clenched tight. I saw a tear fall from below a swatch of fluffed brown hair and dark shadows intertwined. Her fist was clasped shut. "Is that… is that the only thing you want tonight?"

My heart was filled with regret instantly. The mood was beyond the point of trying to initiate once more. I squeezed her shoulders gently and tried to save what we had started there, but when my hand came up to wipe her wet cheek, she slapped it away.

I looked at my hand, shocked. "Babe…"

"Don't y-you babe me!" Selphie rasped, lifting herself up from the bed on weak legs and pointing her finger straight at my face. "Why? Why? Why would y-you do this?"

"Hyne, Selphie… what am I doing?"

She huffed and thrust her arm to the side. "This! Making a move on me!"

It started first with the drawing back of her lips. Moments before they had been a rosy lust of plump tissue on her face. But now they were tight, thin, and white. The skin would rip apart if she pulled them any tighter. I couldn't tell then if she was still aroused or faking something.

I hesitated. "Is… is this a joke?"

Selphie's lips seemed to disappear within the folds of her skin. She would never know what it was like to have those wrinkles on your face, to show where the skin was pulled apart in the wide embrace of a smile. When she smiled, they were there, prominent and capping the full length from her nostrils to the ends of her lips. It still makes me wonder today… how she was never going to see that and experience that in her lifetime…

"I don't know Irvine…" she said. She never called me Irvine. She only called me that when it was business, or when she was angry with me. Selphie wasn't angry with me now though, she was furious. "Is this a joke?"

The forehead wrinkled with that question. She'd never have to deal with those troublesome wrinkles either. I had them already, ten years later.

"What am I doing sweetheart? Just tell me..." I pleaded.

Selphie made a choking sound as she held back a sob. "You're… I… Irvine, you're only asking this of us because you're l-l-leaving tomorrow…"

"I thought we were in mutual agre – "

"Well, apparently we weren't!" Selphie snapped. Spittle flew from her lips. Those stretched lips. "I was having fun until I realized… until I – "

"Until you realized what honey? Come on… this is stupid…" I got up from the bed to approach her, and to wrap my arms around her body, but again she whisked herself away from her grasp.

"Yes, this is stupid!" Selphie quickly snatched her discarded dress and fumbled to fit inside of it as her body shook with anger. She adjusted her dress as it slid down to the tops of her knees. Seeing her hands fidget with the material was disheartening. She tugged and pulled at it as if it didn't belong on her body… and it made me feel all the more worse as I stood there foolishly in front of her. "What you're doing is stupid!"

"Selphie, for Hyne's sake… what am I doing?"

The eyes. Oh Hyne, it was the eyes then… she just couldn't skip the best part, because after all, seeing her eyes was one of the things that made my day so much more special. But nothing… nothing about what her eyes were telling me that night was special.

"Selphie!" I cried. "Just tell me!"

"You were going to do this to me tonight and then leave me tomorrow morning! You were going to go back to Headmaster Cid like his slave, lapping at his feet and tending to his every need and leave me behind!"

Silent stance. I let her go on as the guilt rumbled inside of me.

"Irvine… hasn't our relationship meant taking measures to ensure we did have time for each other? I thought you respected me. I thought you had told me you had saved everything for a time when it was perfect…"

"It wa – "

Blemished rage. "It wasn't perfect Irvine! It wasn't perfect!"

"But…"

My hands were held out to her, and this time, though I'm sure her hands were as warm and as uninviting as they were after I had hung up the phone with Cid… she didn't take them. They beckoned to her, curling the joints and calling her name… but she did not take them.

"Irvy…" she said, without catching herself. "You were going to leave me to lie here in the morning… weren't you…?"

Her hands came forth in a gesture toward the bed behind me, but my arms sunk down to my sides. They sunk with my shoulders as the weight was hoisted upon them. As many may have said, that was the moment of truth.

I stood, solid, unwavering, although I could see my vision doing the opposite. A quick breath sucked the guilt from my eyes, but not from my heart. Tears threatened to break the barrier, but I held them back.

This was not a time for Irvine Kinneas to be weak. Irvine Kinneas was a certified SeeD, graduated two years before from Balamb Garden. I was paid well for the work I did for Balamb.

But as I remained… I couldn't help but wonder…

If I had lied to Selphie that night, and taken her by the hand, would she have let me hold it? If I had lied to her and calmed down the argument, would she still have let me sleep with her? If I had lied to Selphie… would she have died…?

How idiotic I was back then! How could I have mistaken her actions for a simple game of cat and mouse? A simple game of hard-to-get…?

Why? Why is it that life seems so similar to that? What is everything in our lives but a measly game of hard-to-get? We began in an Orphanage as children… growing up together and all it took was a junction with a Guardian Force to forget everything. I enrolled at Balamb Garden and it took me a year before I was a certified SeeD. Before that, I had spent almost seven years at Galbadia Garden, reaching toward the same goal!

And now with Selphie… two years of being with her… having our inside jokes… feeding each other fries from the cafeteria in Balamb, when I was able to see her…

Her smile… her eyes… never forgotten in the two years with Selphie…

And all it took was something like this to happen… for all of it to come crashing down…

My head was hung low, my rusty hair tickling the tips of my eyelashes. I brought my eyes up to hers, and the battle was lost between my mind and my tears.

She saw the truth in them. Selphie didn't need me to say it to her.

"No more…" she whispered, her head now drooping to the floor. "No more Irvine…"

"I… no, S-Selphie…" I stuttered, a tear following the trail from my nose to the edge of my lip.

"I'm sick of waking up to an empty bed every time you come to visit… no Irvine…" she cried, her eyes squinted to hide the ocean that was battering against a brick wall. "… No more."

I couldn't remember the moment that she said that entirely, because it was blurred and fuzzy. One moment I was trying to see her eyes through a veil of tears, but the next thing I knew… I was slumped down to my knees, and Selphie was at the door. I was trembling. Badly.

I saw her there, waiting, but waiting for what, I wasn't sure. Selphie had crushed absolutely everything inside of me… my mind, my heart, my courage and strength… Finally, she took one last look at me… oh Hyne, that one last look brought horrifying nightmares for months after she had died… and she said to me…

"I love you."

Then there was nothing in the air but the door clanking shut.

Not ten minutes after that, I heard the gunshot into the night. But… it was so far off to me… I didn't even think to connect it with my dear lost Selphie… Hyne forgive me… I was already packing up my things to leave…

It turns out, my last mission from Balamb Garden wasn't to meet Headmaster Martine after all. I would've rather completed that mission than to carry out with the one I ended up doing. Balamb shouldn't have assigned me to do it… I'm not a fucking funeral director… they knew…

I was never disclosed to any information, and I guess… that's the way I would've wanted it after that spat. I chose to ignore it when someone brought it up. I never went to the trial when they sentenced the killer behind bars. By then, I had already met Denisse… but… Selphie's love was well deserved… so innocent until it came to it…

Denisse could never compare with Selphie.

I brought her body back to Balamb for them, but… then I turned in my SeeD uniform. Seventeen years at Galbadia… Ultimecia… another year to achieve SeeD status… no, I told Headmaster Cid, and Headmaster Martine… I'm finished with SeeD. Martine never showed his true emotion, at least before I never saw him do so… but when I told him I was through, he looked… disappointed. I hope he was disappointed. Headmaster Cid just nodded his head. Good. Neither could understand, but nobody needed the emotion to show that day.

My eyes focused back to the picture in my hands. My blood was dried now on her dress. Without thinking, I took my finger, licked it, and wiped it away… as if Selphie's death meant nothing to me…

It did mean something to me… something so great I gave up eighteen years of my life in honor of her… but… I have a new life now. It's not any better, but I at least I could remember every detail…

I slipped the picture back into the frame and closed the box with my memories. When I had the time, I'd go ahead and stick the box into the empty closet in the bedroom. It was nice to skip breakfast unintentionally and spend some time thinking… recollecting… but now it was time to go to work… to support the family I have now… many years later.

I rose from the cardboard in the hallway and proceeded to find my coat. I discovered it thrown over the side of the couch, and as I was sliding the first arm through, I heard a yawn from across the room.

"Denisse?" I asked.

She yawned again and tightened the strap of her robe. "Did you hear the phone ring Irvine?"

I smiled and slipped my other arm inside. My hair was trapped within my jacket, and I took both hands and fished my ponytail out. "Yeah… about a half hour ago… oh shit!" I was going to be late for work. "Oh fuck, Royd's going to have a cow!"

"Oh?" Denisse replied, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. As I was rushing to get out of the door, I flew past her and only touched her hand. She stood, a little surprised and said, "Is that all I get? Not even a good-bye? You were just going to go?"

She was right. "Sorry baby. Here…" I came back, hugged her tightly, and again proceeded out the door… when she said…

"You were going to leave me lying there this morning, weren't you?"

Ohhh Hyne… I almost felt tears coming to my eyes after I heard that. It wasn't my wife though… it was Selphie speaking that time.

Shit.

I guess I didn't move on so quickly after all.

"I did that once…" I said, shutting the door for a third time and approaching her. She didn't draw her lips tight like Selphie did… and Denisse didn't wrinkle her forehead like Selphie did… but her eyes acted the same. Her own aquamarine eyes would stare right through me as wildly as Selphie's had when she was upset… and they were now. I was in debt.

"Yeah… I did that once…" My arms wrapped around Denisse, and I swear, she felt as soft and silky as Selphie did when I held her… so many years ago…

"… And I promised myself, I would never do it again."