Chapter Three:
A/N: It's always a smart idea, the night before your last exam, to start writing a chapter of a story at eleven thirty at night when I should be oh, starting to study, or maybe even sleeping! Bah! Who needs those things! FEW HOURS TILL SUMMER! WOOT!
Here we go, and thank you muchly for all the wonderful reviews! I apologize for the lengths of time between my updates! I am in an OOBER weird mood tonight, so I am going to probably end up writing this really weirdly, so bear with me.
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"How do you figure?" He wondered.
"You'll have love. You'll have her."
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Seconds of silence turned into minutes as they avoided each other's gazes. If Eric had hopes of this conversation staying hypothetical or vague when it started, they were long gone now. The way she looked into his eyes when she said the last spoken words, the words, which were echoing vividly through both of their minds… she knew. She knew, but she still said that he'd have her. She loved him. She loved him!
Where colours combine and fire ignites. The lone line was running through her head as she stared intently at him now, waiting. Waiting for him to look up. Anticipating the inevitable. She loved him, and he loved her. An ending. A beginning. Today was sad. Today was tragic. Today was the best day of her life, and that killed her inside. She could only imagine what it would do to him. Today was worse than tragic for him. Today was the day a part of his life ended. A big part of his life. She knew today was possibly, and most likely the worst day to being a relationship. She was glad Eric was not a philosophical man. Aristotle once more or less stated that Tragedy was where pity and terror combined. Terror, he had experienced. Terror was waiting, searching for clues, for a killer, while his sister was dying in a hospital bed. Terror was facing head on the prospect of never seeing someone you loved more dearly than life again, ever. Terror was saying goodbye. And pity. Pity had come plentifully. She could name offhand thirty people at least, that she knew by name that pitied Eric at that moment. But if Eric was to think about it, he would naturally assume that this was pity. The way her hand ever so slowly reached for his was pity. The way their fingers connected and intertwined was pity. The way she leaned the slightest bit closer and green eyes met brown. There was no more pity; there was no more terror. There was no more tragedy in that moment. There was nothing but green, but brown, but intensity that two souls had never before known existed. There was truth. There was love, but tragedy was no more. Tragedy, for a short period of time was forgotten. Somewhere far away, in the back of their minds, they knew it was lurking, for it was something that could not be so easily escaped, but this temporary refuge would due. Yes, this temporary refuge would be more than okay.
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By this point, Horatio Caine, alone and confused, could not tell the difference between reality and the nightmare from which he had just awoken. As reality sunk in, and his dream began to fade away into consciousness, he realized the two were not so different after all. In fact, his nightmare might have been better. At least it didn't seem so real. She was gone. He felt gone too. She had been his life, she had been his second chance, and she had been his third chance. And she had been perfect. The most beautiful person, the most beautiful thing period, he had ever laid his eyes on. Yes, a breathing, loving, human, reflection of perfection indeed. And she loved him. He had deliriously thanked every god he could think of each time she cast her adoring gaze on him. Each kiss, surreal, each memory made his heart race. He would have given anything for her not to die. He would have given anything for it to not be his fault. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and yet he would have taken back every second he had spent with her if it meant she would still be alive. If it meant she would still be radiating beauty in the way that only she could, that she was happy. That she was safe. He didn't think he would ever be okay again. He knew he wouldn't. Forever. Forever should be taken out of the dictionary. There was no such thing. Forever was a lie. A promise destined to be broken, yet a promise he had made. He should have known better than to promise her that. How did he let himself slip away? He could answer that question easily. He may be heartbroken, he may have been dead inside, but he still wasn't stupid. He'd never been stupid. He'd be captivated. He'd fallen in love. He had been infatuated with her. He would have done anything for her, and he ended up doing this. How could something that felt so right suddenly seem so wrong? How did he let her waste those last months of her life on him? She deserved so much better. She deserved so much more, yet she never got the chance. He didn't know what to do with the rest of his life. He was no longer partial to his work. That didn't matter anymore. He had found love, he had lost love. He had nothing to do but wait to die. He had nothing to do but wait for forever. For he now related forever with the end. Forever was promise of ending. And he wanted it now. He wanted the pain to go away, he just wanted her. He just wanted to be with her one last time. To here her laugh, to see her eyes light up when she smiled. He wanted to here her call his name, he wanted to see their child. They never got the chance to have their child. The unborn, unconceived memory he longed for. A piece of her, a piece of him, which was never created. That was all she ever wanted, and all she never got. How had something that seemed so right, how had they been so wrong?
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A/N: Damn! Exam in seven hours, and sleep zero so far. Must go sleep and dream about To Kill a Mockingbird and The Merchant of Venice now! Ah, the joys of Grade Nine English, DONE IT NOW! Woot! There's no way I can fail English, even if I skip the exam I still pass! Woot! Good night everyone, and please review!