He sort of smiled, and kissed me goodbye,
The tears were beginning to show.
As he drove away on that rainy night, I begged him to go slow.
Whether he heard, I'll never know.
No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No.
Look out, look out, look out!
Leon had realized why I was breaking up with him, and he understood. This was not the first time that someone had let him down in his life(although it was the first time that he knew he was in love). He should have been ready for it, really. The shock was what caused most of the pain. This was the first time in a long time that he had let himself get close to someone, to love someone.
And I broke his heart. I let him down. I was taking away his ability to trust in another human being.
"Your parents..." he said quietly. I gave a gentle nod.
"But please don't be mad at them...please just accept it," I responded through my tears.
"I'm not mad...I understand, Aerith." He looked away.
We were both dripping wet. The atmosphere was reflecting our moods...the rain seemingly matching my tears. A few moments passed, mostly with us glancing at eachother. My crying had not eased, I could not expect it to.
"I'm going to miss you more than you know," I said.
"I think I know...I love you, Flower Girl."
I cried even more at his words. He still sounded so caring, so loving, and yet I didn't deserve it...I hurt him. I broke his heart. I shook my head even thinking about what I was doing. I reached to my neck and unclasped the necklace containing his ring. I offered out to him in my open palm, but he shook his head.
"That belongs to you...and always will."
"I don't deserve your love anymore," I replied but replaced it around my neck. I would have felt so lost without it.
"Of course you do. It's not your fault that your parents don't understand."
"You're right...and you know how much I love you. Maybe someday...once I get out on my own...but I couldn't expect you to wait," I trailed off.
"I would wait a lifetime for you."
I cried deeply now. I loved him so much. Leon put his arms around me and held me close as I cried into his shirt, he stroked my hair.
"Don't be sad, my little flower. This is not the end. Maybe we will be together again someday, but even if we aren't, you will have a great life. You are making the right decision, you know, breaking up with me..." And yet, as he said it, his own tears formed over the thought that this could be his last chance to hug me.
"If it's right, then how can it hurt so bad?" I sobbed.
"Sometimes the right decisions are the hardest to make, darling."
I let out a sigh and finally pulled away from the embrace, one of the hardest things I had to do in my life. I could see Leon's tears clouding his sapphire eyes, although he wore a strong expression; a gentle smile with the purpose to only make me feel better. He leaned in and let his lips touch mine, just a quick kiss, and stood back up, straight.
"Goodbye, Leader of the Pack."
"Bye, little flower..." he turned his head away and mounted his motorcycle. I could see how absolutely distraught he was now, although his tears were hidden by the rain.
"Please drive carefully," I said quietly. I realized how clouded his vision must be with his tears.
Leon only looked at me one last time before driving off down the street. He was not quite speeding, but nor was he going slow. He just needed to get away, go somewhere alone. I cried gently as I watched him ride down the street.
What followed is hard for me to remember. It happened so fast that it makes my head spin.
A car was speeding off from a side road onto my street, its windshield hard to see out of due to the driving rain and darkness of night. Therefore, it did not see Leon in time, nor could Leon much get out of the way in time. His reflexes were slow. Perhaps if the weather had been nice it never would have happened, but his motorcyle had terrible traction on the wet ground. I heard the squealing tires, the honking of the car horn.
"Look out! Look out! Look out!" I shouted to Leon, mind whirling. It was so unreal, all of it.
And then I heard the crash...I thought I would faint right there...the crash. The car colliding with the bike, sending it into a telephone pole. The glass from the car windshield breaking. And Leon, my one true love, being thrown off of the motorcycle, landing closeby in a pile of crushed glass.
I screamed. I don't know how I ever got my legs to move, but somehow I was running. Oh God, please let him be alive. And then I was on my knees next to Leon. He was alive...barely. I could hear voices, the car driver calling an ambulance. But my mind was set on Leon.
How he looked...it was devastating. Holding on to conciousness only for me...blood everywhere, shards of glass piercing his delicate skin. His breathing sounded pained and forced. I leaned over him. With one of my hands I held onto his, and with the other I stroked the side of his face and his hair.
"A-Aerith..." he stuttered, as he tried to speak he choked on blood, coughing it up. Forcing my tears back was hard, but I knew I must, for him.
"Leon...Leon. I'm here. It's okay, you're going to be okay. Just hold on." My voice was shaking, overly high-pitched.
"Remember what...I said...before," he was desperately trying to speak, though it was hard. "I would...wait...a lifetime...I lied." I was confused by his statement, until he continued. "...I will wait...an eternity."
"Leon, don't talk like that. You're going to be fine...the ambulance is on its way, just hold on." I began to cry now.
He reached a hand up and wiped away my tears.
"You'll do better...without me...I promise."
"Stop talking like that," I pleaded.
"Don't be sad...beautiful...flower...I love..."
His body began to convulse with muscle spasms, shaking uncontrollabily. I was so frightening, not knowing what to do. I wrapped my arms around him, holding him against me, but it continued. And then the worse happened...it stopped. I let him go, now up next to his face. His eyes were open, but blank. Face paled from the loss of blood. No...no!
"Leon...Leon!" I began to sob, shaking him gently. I refused to let him go.
"I love you! Don't leave me!" I collapsed on top of his lifeless body, sobbing wildly and painfully.
I was wracked with these sobs for many minutes. I lost track of all of my senses...everything went blank. I did not hear the ambulances, I did not see the flashing lights. I did not hear my crying, worried parents as they ran behind me. I did feel as someone tried to get me off Leon. "He's gone." they said. They were silly, of course he wasn't gone. I tried to tell them, but they weren't listening to me.
"No...no." I was muttering over and over. And then I was ripped off him by my father. I sobbed more, desperately trying to get back to Leon. He needed me, but the paramedics were hiding him from view, putting him in a bag. Stop...
And then my senses came whirling back. I raised my hands up to my face, sticky crimson. And I looked down to my dress, stained with blood, and my face smeared with it. Pieces of glass were piercing my knees from the ground. I screamed loudly, quaking with fear and disturbance. Paramedics picked me up and set me on the back of an ambulance, where they removed the glass from my knees and cleaned the cuts.
My mother held onto my hand, crying for me. My father looked on with a somber expression. But they didn't care for Leon, they didn't care that he was gone. Gone...My tears did not relent. I could hear my father talking to a paramedic about me. And then he scooped me up in his arms and carried me back to our house, my mother walking alongside us.
"I can walk..." I cried, but he wouldn't put me down, afraid that I would run back to Leon. I probably would have.
And then I was at my house, where I ran to my bathroom as soon as I was put down on my feet. I immediately stepped into the shower and let the icy water wash the dried, and wet, blood away. My tears, too, were washed away. That is, until I had finished and went to bed. There I sobbed for the entire night.
o--------------------o
A/N: I honestly did think I would get more reviews on this...but it's okay. I've had fun writing it. Until now...now I'm just sad over this chapter. I hope I did Leon justice in this. I cannot even express how hard it was to write, even if it is just a story with fictional characters. Death is sad.
There is just one chapter left, with one stanza. A sort of epilogue, I suppose.
