Ok so here's the next chapter! Yeah! Now I better see some reviews on this one. I know all you people are reading it so you better tell me what you think. Good bad and ugly! Ok you can read now. But review! (please!)
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Keith's POV:
Once I'd finally calmed her down Natalie fell asleep fairly easily. Me, not so much. I always hated when she had "The Dream." It always looked like that in my head. Capitalization and everything. She'd started having it the day I found out about the new chemo treatments. I remember waking up to Natalie's ringtone blaring in my ear.
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"Partner. What's wrong?" She was calling abominably early.
"Keith! Oh thank God."
"Natalie its-" I rolled over to look at my clock. "3:42 AM. Is something wrong?"
I could hear her sniffling. "I just had a nightmare and needed to be sure you were ok."
This jolted me awake some more. Natalie's feelings were always important to me. "What happened Partner? You ok?"
"Ya-a," I could hear her voice break. She was crying again. Well, no more sleep for me. No matter how much I desperately wanted to roll over and return to my very pleasant state. "Ju-just a b-bad dream." I could hear her take a deep breath. That's my Natalie. Always trying to be the brave one.
I left my warm cocoon and swung my feet onto the floor. "Now you know that's not true. Is it?"
Sniffling.
"I'll be there soon." I looked around my room for my jacket. I was sure I'd thrown it on the foot of my bed when I got home from the hospital.
"Keith! No go back to bed." I grinned. She was more concerned about me than about her dream. The thought brought a warm feeling to my chest. "I'm fine. I'm going to get some more sleep then I'll see you later, ok?"
"Ok." I found my keys in my jacket pocket. "But be sure to meet me when I get there."
"Keith no-!"
I closed my phone.
Natalie. Sometimes I think that she's the best thing that ever happened to me. Well, I know she is. I just don't think I could tell her yet. She'd always been the one to say things first. I don't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing but that's the way it was. I grabbed my sleeping bag from my closet along with the extra blankets I kept there. It was a fairly warm summer night but the blankets would help with cushioning my truck bed. I was gonna take Natalie to our spot. I moved as quickly as I could. I still didn't know what the dream was about but I knew it had to be bad for her to call me like this. Not that I really minded. Like I said, anything for Natalie.
I pulled up to her house as quietly as I could. She was sitting on the curb waiting for me. She had on that hoodie that I loved. It was just tight enough for me to make out her curves and the color brought out the iridescent quality of her eyes in the moonlight. Quickly, she got in and slid over till her head was resting on my shoulder.
"Hey Partner."
"Heeeeyyy." She yawned. She was so cute sometimes. She had me wrapped around her finger. Damn.
When we finally got to our spot and got everything situated and settled in the bed of the truck I expected for her just to start spilling everything that she was thinking. Usually she babbled about everything she was feeling until I connected enough dots to get the picture. But she was silent. Absolutely silent.
I kissed her forehead and rubbed her back some, trying to put her at ease as we lay looking at the stars. Still nothing from her though.
Finally I couldn't take it any longer. "Partner you've gotta tell me what's going on."
"I had a bad dream."
"I got that. We've been over that. But what happened? Why did you call me at 3:42 AM and sound like someone just murdered your puppy?"
I could feel her quick intake of breath. Oh no. this wasn't good. "Hey, hey, partner its ok. what, did you dream someone really did murder you puppy?"
"Worse."
"Worse than killing harmless, adorable animals?" That's it keep up the banter. Maybe she'll forget. "Now that's a shame. Lets see..what's worse than killing puppies? You failed a test?"
"I dreamed the chemo didn't work again."
In this moment I thought for sure someone had snuck up on us and hit me over the head with a knapsack full of bricks. It took me a minute to recover. "Natalie. Natalie look at me." She finally tilted her head enough to see my eyes. "I'm not going anywhere Partner. Its gonna take a lot more than some angry cancer cells to make me change my mind."
"I'm just scared."
"Me too."
We lay there for awhile. Neither of us wanted to break our time together. She was exhausted. I could feel her breathing slow.
"I'm not gonna leave you Natalie," I whispered fiercely into the night. "I love you, babe."
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I sighed. I was just as true now as it was then. I loved the girl I held in my arms. We'd grown a lot together and been through the gambit of hardships. But after all these years there's no place I'd rather be. Cliché, I know.
Awww! So cute! I know I know. Well remember to review and let me know if there is anything in particular you wanna know about for the next chapter!