I can't believe this is the last time I'm going to be saying this on 'this' story…
Rally4ever does not own RFR, and yes I still wish I did, because it would still be on and
I wouldn't be missing it…. That's why writing is so important. It's a way to bring back a show I truly loved, other than the tapes… LOL.
Shouting Out To: Everyone who took the time to read this story (C.I. this esp. means you) Thanks just IS NOT enough. I'm so grateful to each and every reader for sharing this story with me, and taking part in it as much as I have. Trust her when Rally says, it is always hard and bitter-sweet to say goodbye, … to finish her stories. Esp. ones that are her baby, like this one is… My baby. Though 'You Belong To Me' is my epic, which I am proud of… In a way, I see this story as my baby… the first one I wrote for RFR.
I am so sorry, I haven't posted its ending sooner… I've been busy and also I admit it was hard to find the heart to see it end. But … It would be a disservice to this story if I didn't let it, and I'm not 'that' selfish. I kept my promise to the story and to myself.
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Lily busts through the gym doors with an urgency she wasn't aware she was feeling.
One thought runs through her mind, 'I hope I'm not too late… God, please don't let me be too late."
Lily moves through the hallway towards the doors leading out of Henry Roscoe High,
She opens those double doors…
Seeing an answer to her earlier, silent prayer stooped on the stairs
relief fills her, as her panic ebbs away….
He hasn't even looked up yet, lost to himself; even like this she can't help but find him breath-taking. Honest-to- goodness, breath- taking… and he's the only one who has that affect on her, to this day, to this moment , still after all these years… he steals her breath
and weakens her knees. He makes her heart beat faster and slower at the same time.
She feels a lot in this moment, hoping and fearing what would come after…
It's hard to get control of herself and her emotions, but she has to. She just has to.
She takes a deep breath in, and carefully approaches him…
Not sure how to start, but needing to…
"Hey, there… Mr. I was hoping to find you."
Ray gives a quick look up, then back down again,
He states abruptly but without hostility, "Lil."
He says her name matter-of-factly, almost throwing it around, throwing it out at her.
"Oh, Ray…:" Lily sighs, just happy to hear her name on his lips no matter how he says it,
Though she comes to the realization things are never as easy as they should be.
But, she also knows... something worth winning, is something worth fighting for,
And she'd fight for him, time and time again.
He asks simply, "Don't you have a dance and a boyfriend to be getting back to?"
Caught slightly off guard, she responds,
"Yes, to the first one… No, to the second."
"Oh…" Ray doesn't even want to get his hopes up again, he hates seeing them crushed.
His heart can't take much more of that.
"Why 'no' to the second one, Lily?" He asks out of pure, simple curiosity.
She steps closer to him, choosing her next words with care…
"Because, Ray… you said I can choose or loose. If saying 'yes' to him … means saying 'no' to you…
that's not much of a choice is it; No-brainer really."
Lily stands him up, so she can look him in the eye.
"Ray, please listen to me…. I never, and I mean never want to ever lose you. I couldn't bear it."
Ray half smiles as he looks back at her, "Well, Lily… You will never, and I mean never, ever have to lose me."
She brightens up and asks hopefully, "Do you mean it Ray?"
He pulls her in to hold her; he brings her to his chest and assures her,
"With all my heart, Lil. I mean it with all of my heart."
The music from the gymnasium seeps into the air around them…
"Lily Randall, at time like this … I can only think to ask you one thing…"
"What would that be Raymon Brennan? Ask anything of me…"
"May I have this dance, with the girl I love?"
Lily smiles as she looks up at him, feeling him tugging her closer,
"Always Ray, you may…"
He smiles back at her in response.
"Ray?"
"Yeah, Lil?"
"You know, Maybe… it's not too late after all"
"Never doubted it for a second," Ray smirks.
She kisses his cheek sweetly before she whispers in his ear,
"Me neither."
They continue to dance the night away, in each other's arms.