Remember me When I'm Gone

A/N: Well, I'm back. Hope you liked the last chapter and for yellow14 sorry for not letting W T H in on the secret I just didn't know where to put that part. Anyway, this is chapter 7 and I hope you like it.

Chapter 7:

It had been a week since Keira and Irma told Caleb about Cornelia's secret and since then, Will, Taranee and Hay Lin were told about her secret too. Since then they've been closer than ever, at practice they didn't take it easy on her, just like she asked, but they were carful not to hurt her, at school they tried to be supportive of Cornelia's wishes as to ignore Hayley with her cruel comments but there was so much they could take. On Monday, Will had an argument with her, well it was more like a fight because Will was only moments away from smacking the crap outta Hayley. Luckily for her, Irma pulled Will away just in time. Now they had two weeks without as much seeing her face since it was time for winter break.

Flashback:

Cornelia, Irma, Will and Taranee were sitting at a table in the best Chinese restaurant that could be found in Heatherfield, The Silver Dragon. They decided they'd have an afterschool snack before doing their History assignment on 'the French Revolution' but the real reason they were there had to do with Cornelia. She finally decided to tell them after Keira and Irma told Caleb, Mark and Josh. She had been a bit mad that Mark and Josh knew before Will, Taranee and Hay Lin but then she accepted it, what else was she to do?

Keira and Hay Lin were in the kitchen fixing up some milk and cookies while Will and Taranee talked about the topics they'd discuss for the assignment. Cornelia just texted Caleb from underneath the table until it was time to tell them the news if you could call it news.

As soon as she put her I-phone away, Keira and Hay Lin came out of the kitchen holding a big tray full of chocolate-chip cookies and milk. They each took one and started munching while talking between bites. Once Cornelia drank the last of her milk she spoke;

"Uh…guys I need to tell you something." Irma and Keira looked at her and nodded as they put the cookie they were about to eat away. She took a deep breath and proceeded. "The reason I've been acting all weird and strange is because I have leukemia." As soon as they heard her say the word 'Leukemia', Taranee dropped her cookie, Will turned whiter than paper and Hay Lin almost chocked on a couple of chocolate chips.

"Heh…please tell me you're joking even though it's not a joking matter." Will said.

"It's true, I do have leukemia." Cornelia said as she took another bite out of her cookie.

"I don't believe you. You're taking this too lightly." Taranee said.

"What am I supposed to do? Start tearing up my hair. Over time I learned to accept it." Cornelia said.

"It's true, we saw her with our two own eyes." Irma said.

"She was in a hospital bed and everything." Jumped Keira.

"Oh my, God!" Taranee said, she got up from her seat and gave her a bone crushing hug followed by Will and Hay Lin. They apologized for giving her the cold shoulder and she happily accepted their apology. Cornelia spent the remainder of the afternoon explaining how Irma and Keira knew before them, how she was getting better thanks to the chemo and that now she was back with Caleb.

End of Flashback

It was Friday night, Christmas Eve to be exact, and Cornelia was now lying on her stomach in her bedroom doing her English homework while her mother was cooking dinner. Lillian was at her friend's house so there was total silence in the house except, Cornelia had her Mp3 player blasting through her ears so all she could hear were the banging drums being played by 'Paramore'. As soon as she finished the last line of her essay, she felt someone press against her back and with strong arms envelope her in a warm hug, she smelt his cologne and immediately knew who it was. He grabbed one of her ear phones and put it in his ear.

"Hmm...it's got a good beat." He kissed her cheek until she burst out giggling.

"Yeah, I thought so." She turned off her Mp3 and closed her file and books, "What are you doing here?" she said with a smile.

"I got bored at home and decided to come and see you." He slipped off of her and lay on his side, "Why don't we go out? We could go to the Christmas carnival, or maybe we could see a movie; I heard 'Avatar' is good." Caleb said.

"Go out again? We've already went out the past few days." She laced her fingers through his as looked deep into his emerald-green eyes. She could get lost in them any day.

"So? Please? I really want to make it up to you for that Hayley thing. Besides who in the right mind stayed home on Christmas Eve?" Caleb said as he looked at her with puppy dog eyes. Just one puppy dog look and Cornelia felt her heart warm up. So, naturally, she gave in.

"Ok, fine, we'll go out. But how about we go to the carnival?" she asked.

"Sure. Now get dressed and we'll go." He stepped out of the room to give her, her privacy. After a couple of minutes she emerged wearing a black pair of pants, a pink top and a white coat with matching boots. They said goodbye to and then entered the silver Volvo parked outside of the house. They drove to the carnival which was situated at the Pier. It was kind of cold so it was a good thing Cornelia had her coat on. They got out and made their way to the ticket booth where they bought two tickets. Once inside they decided to go on the 'Bumping Cars' but in this type of 'Bumping Cars' the difference was if they bumped numerous people they won 'Joker tickets' and this went for all other games. So once they got enough tickets they could win any prize they wanted. They entered the rink and chose a stripped-blue car with the number 13 on it.

"Caleb, the number 13 is bad luck." Cornelia said as she made herself comfortable.

"No, it's not, we won the war against Phobos on Friday the 13th and I met you on Friday the 13th." He reassured her, he smiled at her and she smiled back. The bell dinged and Caleb stepped on the gas pedal, hard. He smashed into a rival couple, earning him 10 tickets. They took turns bumping people when finally their turn was over. At the end of the game they had a sack load of tickets.

"That was fun. Hey, let's go to the 'Crossbow target shooting' range." Caleb said as he led Cornelia to the big booth. They maneuvered themselves through the crowd as best they could.

"Sure, why not." Once there, she could see tons of big stuffed animals, most of which were panda bears, baby pigs and green frogs amongst other toys and posters.

"One, please." Caleb said as he got out a dollar.

"Make that two." She handed over her own dollar and smiled evilly at Caleb. She took off her coat for better comfort and set it on the table. The Game Operator handed them two bows and a set of arrows each. Caleb smiled as he saw Cornelia grab an arrow and set it in place, aim at the target and launch the arrow, which landed directly above the bull's-eye. "Top that!" She teased, she watched him closely to see if he had a better technique, which from her arrow, that was set in the target, was kinda impossible but he proved her wrong. He did actually have a better technique than her because he landed the arrow straight into the bull's-eye.

"I just did." He teased back. They kept launching arrows until there were no more. Naturally, Caleb won since he used to be an armature archer back in Meridian so that didn't surprise Cornelia. And besides, he liked a challenge. "So, seeing I'm such a great boyfriend, I'll let you choose a stuffed animal as an early Christmas present."

"Oh, you're so cute when you go all soft on me." She said which made his cheeks go a bit red, "Hmm…I kinda like that reindeer plushie."

"The reindeer plushie it is then." The Game Operator handed him the stuffed animal and said;

"Merry Christmas me good fellows." In a kind of piratey voice.

"Merry Christmas." they said in return. They started walking randomly through the crowd until Cornelia spoke up "Looks like it's getting colder by the second. Why don't we go and get some hot chocolate from that vender?"

"Sure, I am getting kinda cold." They made their way to the vender where they bought to piping hot cups of hot chocolate. It was getting kind of noisier there so they decided to go sit on the benches which gave a wonderful view of the sea. They spent a couple of minutes in silence only listening to the calming sound of the waves crashing on the beach while enjoying each other's company. Just then, a boy and a girl ran past them yelling and screaming with delight as the boy ran after his sister with seaweed, the girl just squealed more until she couldn't run anymore. Their parents walked hand in hand after them making sure they didn't get out of their sight.

This sight just brought a smile to the young couple's faces. "I just love kids," Caleb said and he played with Cornelia's hands.

"Me too. If I do manage to beat this battle…" she began saying but Caleb cut her off.

"Do not say that, you will win. I'm gonna help you through it." He looked her in the eyes and saw them go misty.

"But if I don't, I just want you to know… I do want to have kids, preferably with you." She felt the warm tears make their way down her freezing cheeks.

"You will get better, I can feel it." Caleb said as he felt his own eyes water, he leaned in and gave her a soft lingering kiss. "Know that I too want to have kids with you, preferably a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes like yours."

"Or a boy with the same sense of humour you have." They spent the remainder of the night playing Carnival games, laughing and just having a great time. In the end, they cashed their 'Joker tickets' and got a big brown teddy bear for Lillian. When it was time to go home they entered Caleb's Volvo and drove home.

Christmas Day:

The following morning was Christmas Day and Cornelia awoke special early. Her mother was already up having her coffee but Lillian was still snoozing in bed.

"Merry Christmas, mom." She gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and grabbed a bowl from the cupboard.

"Merry Christmas, sweetie." said.

"By the way, today we're eating at Caleb's 'cause he invited us over for Christmas dinner." She poured some 'Sugar Puffs' in the bowl and grabbed a spoon from the drawer.

"Even Lillian?" asked.

"Yeah, he said we can go at about noon. But I need to go in an hour 'cause I need to help him with dinner and stuff." Cornelia said as she spooned a spoonful of cereal.

"Oh, ok. I'll drive you there since you need to carry the gifts." Her mother said. Cornelia ate her cereal, got dressed and packed the presets in the back seat of her mother's car. Then she drove her to Caleb's house. Once there she saw Caleb waiting for them on the front porch.

"Hey, . Merry Christmas." He waved; he made his way over to the car to help Cornelia with the gifts and stuff.

"Merry Christmas. Do you need me to go and buy you some cranberry sauce or something?" She offered.

"There's really no need. See you later."

"Bye." She turned on the engine and drove back home. They went inside where they put the gifts under the Christmas tree. They entered the kitchen where they found Keira, Mark and Josh cooking. Caleb put a white apron on with the words 'I kiss better than I cook' and then handed Cornelia a pink one, she put it on and noticed hers had the words 'Kiss the chef but don't touch the buns' she just couldn't help the smile that crept it's way across her face.

"Hey, Cornelia like the apron." Mark said with a smile.

"You better not touch the buns." Keira said warningly. Cornelia looked down at Keira's own apron and read 'Don't mess with the Chef'. 'Now that apron really suits Keira' she thought with a chuckle. Cornelia got busy stuffing the turkey with the help of Caleb, Keira and Mark peeled, washed and cooked the potatoes while Josh steamed the broccoli, Brussels sprouts and Cauliflower. At 11.30am dinner was ready so all they had to do was set the table, Keira placed the forks, Mark placed the knives, Josh and Cornelia made the napkins in a fan kind of way while Caleb placed the napkins in the center of the plates.

"Uh… Cornelia I just wanted to apologize for picking on you since we moved here. I'll try and be your friend if you'll have me." Josh said as he folded the last piece of his napkin.

"Oh, Josh you were always my friend, an annoying friend but a friend at the least." She folded the last napkin and passed it to Caleb. "Merry Christmas, Josh."

"Merry Christmas, Cornelia." Josh said as he gave Cornelia a hug. Just then the door bell rang. "That must be Lillian and your mother. I'll go get the door." They pulled apart and he got up to open the door. They heard little foot steps enter the dining room which belonged to Lillian, she went running into Caleb's open arms and gave him a hug.

"I missed you, Caleb." She said which brought a smile to everyone's face.

"Me too, Lillian." He lifted her up and gave her a kiss on the cheek which made her turn bright red. "Merry Christmas." Everyone let out a chuckle as they saw the bright red Lillian. He sat her down in her seat followed by everyone else but before they sat down, Caleb, Cornelia, Keira, Mark and Josh took off their aprons since they were dirty.

"Before we begin eating I wish to propose a toast." Caleb said, he raised his glass as did everyone else, "May this Christmas be the best Christmas yet and may the following year be full of joy and cheer. Cheers!"

"Cheers!" they said as they clanked their glasses with each other's glasses. Dinner was great and everyone was so full, that they felt kinda sleepy so after dinner they cleared the table and served dessert which was a Raspberry Christmas Cheesecake. They ate to their heart's content until it was time to open presents so they gathered in the living room where the presents were. First, Lillian opened her gifts and she got the big teddy bear Cornelia and Caleb got her, new Barbie dolls and a brand new Barbie doll house. She thanked them for the gifts and proceeded on to giving her big sister and Caleb her gifts.

"Here Caleb, this is from me to you. Hope you like it." Lillian said as she handed him the gift. He unwrapped it to reveal a new 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' video game.

"Wow, thank you. I really wanted this game." He lifted her up and gave her a hug and another kiss on the cheek which made her blush.

"You're welcome. Now this is for you Cornelia, I think you'll like it." She handed her sister the gift and waited for her to unwrap it. Cornelia unwrapped the gift and found a pair of red gloves and a red scarf with the gold lettering 'Best big sis'.

"I love it. Thank you." She lifted her up on her knees and showered her with kisses until she burst out giggling. Next on the list was , Cornelia and Caleb gave her a gift box filled with lotions, hand creams and raspberry scented shower gel while Cornelia and Lillian gave her the latest 'Charlie' perfume. After, was Josh who got presents, Keira gave him aftershave and the new David Beckham cologne while Caleb and Cornelia gave him a new IPod because he lost the last one he had. Keira got a new make-up set from Cornelia; Caleb bought her a new straightening iron while Mark gave her the whole series of 'F.R.I.E.N.D.S'. Mark got a new skateboard from Keira along with a new helmet and elbow pads.

Finally the only two were Cornelia and Caleb, Caleb got his presents first though. He got new joystick controllers for his Xbox from Josh, and Keira bought him the 'True Blood' Book series. Finally Cornelia gave him her gift.

"Now it's something small but I think it means a lot." She handed her gift to him and waited for him to unwrap it. Once unwrapped he found a charm bracelet with a heart as a charm. Engraved on it had, 'Be mine forever.' He put it on and gave Cornelia the tightest hug she'd ever received along with a small peck on the lips.

"Thank you, I really love it." He let go of her and got her, her present. "Open it with care, I think you're going to like it." She tore the wrapping paper to reveal a silver necklace having a pendent of a silver ice-skating boot. "When you saw it in the window last month I immediately knew you wanted it so the next day I went and bought it for you." She placed it around her neck and gave him the same treatment he gave her.

"Thank you, I love it." She said. Then, gave her, her gift which was Vance Michael Justin's whole movie collection; from Keira she got a curling iron while from Josh she got Avril Lavigne perfume. They spent the reminder of the day drinking egg nog and having a very happy Christmas.

End of Chapter 7

Well, that's chapter 7 for ya hope you like it btw I don't know if Vance Michael Justin is the guy Corny likes just a wild guess. Well leave a review or 2 and merry xmas –xKrissyx---