It felt like years ago, we were sitting in the prop house playing truth or dare. It felt like years ago we were racing around in a pile of fall leaves Sonny forced me to make with her. It seemed like yesterday she was blowing out her 17th birthday candle.

It seemed like years ago, we were actually happy.

CPOV

The cool fall breeze rode smoothly through the air, whisking away leaves. The sun was peeking out of the clouds, attempting to use up its last few minutes with the earth. The ocean water swished back and forth, entertaining birds who were playing in it.

I lay down against the sand, shells prickling my body. I hummed quietly to myself, enjoying the peaceful time of day. I felt like I was floating on air.

Suddenly, I heard a soft noise come from behind me. I jumped up, and turned around. I spotted brown hair running into the forest. I ran behind her, and stopped when she mysteriously disappeared. I swirled around; she was no where in sight.

"Pssssst… Chad." Somebody hissed. I walked in the direction of the voice. "Chad. Come faster. Chad." She said. I did as I was told, and spotted a gleam of light a few yards away.

I walked into it, and was instantly amazed. It was a magnificent meadow with a waterfall, animals, and plants growing all around it.

"You came." A voice I knew all to well said. I turned around once again, and spotted her.

She was wearing a turquoise sundress that stopped at her knees like a pick-up. Matching it was blue stiletto heels and a sapphire necklace.

But that wasn't what made me gasp.

What she was wearing was nothing compared to her face. Her beautiful, beautiful face. She had heart-warming chocolate brown eyes, a small and perfect nose, and lips shaped as if they were from the heart. Her hair was shining perfectly in the sunlight, swaying this way and that. She was an angel.

"Sonny." I mumbled. She nodded slightly, and walked closer to me. "Oh, you're OK. Thank God." I said to her.

She grinned slightly, and enclosed the distance between us, leaving merely centimeters between our faces. Way too far off.

"I've missed you a lot." She mumbled. I caressed her face with my hand softly. She closed her eyes gracefully and tilted her head into my hand. "You're beautiful." I told her.

She opened her eyes, and tears threatened to fall. My heart leaped. What did I say?

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "What do you mean?" I asked her. She shook her head, and I dropped my hand from her face. She took both of my hands and looked me in the eye. "You don't know how hard this is for me to do." She said.

"What are you talking about?" She took a shaky breath, and gulped.

"Tell me something. Anything." She said, squeezing my hands.

I took a good look at her, and said what my heart desired me to say. "I love you."

She nodded, tears falling down her cheeks. "That's just it."

"Tell me you love me." I told her. Her eyes widened, and she gasped. My heart took another leap, and I mentally slapped myself for letting that slip.

"I-I can't." She cried. "You don't understand."

"Don't understand what?" I exclaimed, bringing both of her hands to my chest. "We belong together, Sonny. We always have."

"That's what you think." She croaked. She took a step back, but her hands were still in my grasp. She couldn't move any further.

"It's what I know." I argued. "Just tell me what you feel. Hate. Love. Like. Anything. Just tell me something."

"I don't hate you." She whispered. That wasn't good enough.

"I already know that." I said.

She gulped, and looked into my eyes. I instantly got hypnotized into her chocolate brown ones. They were so warm, so delicate. So were her hands. I cradled them to my chest lovingly, treasuring every second I had them."

"I have to go." She said unwillingly. She grabbed one of her hands back, but hesitated at the next one. I held it tighter.

She looked down, and slowly pulled her hand back. Our fingers were only touching now. She moved them further and further away from me, until we were no longer touching.

"Sonny!" I cried. She began drifting away, slowly floating like a ghost. Her hair moved in all directions elegantly. She truly looked like an angel.

And then, she began disappearing. I ran forward, attempting to grab her. I lunged, but it was too late. She was gone. I fell to the ground, rolling a few times. Taking a few shaky breaths, I looked up. "Sonny!" I yelled. "Can you hear me? Sonny! Please! Answer me!" I screamed.

"CHAD!" Someone yelled. "C'MON! IM NOT GOING TO PUT UP WITH THIS ANY LONGER! GET UP!"

Somebody was shaking me. Hard. It hurt. I gasped, and jumped up. Suddenly, I wasn't in the clearing anymore. I was in a hospital room. It was dark. I blinked a few times, and the lights went on. I saw Tawni, staring me down. "What is wrong with you?!? We are in a hospital, stupid! People are going to start complaining!" She hissed.

It was a dream. A helpless dream. I sighed with relief.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. How did I get in a hospital room? I could have sworn I fell asleep in the hallway.

Tawni must have noticed my confused expression because she sighed. "I dragged you in here after you fell asleep. Some elderly couple needed the chairs." She said. I nodded.

I quickly jumped up. "Where's Sonny?" I cried. A depressed look washed over her face. "She's behind that curtain." Tawni explained to me, pointing to a curtain separating the two half's of the room.

I cautiously walked over to the curtain. I opened it, and gasped.

Sonny was lying down on a small white bed. She was cleaned up, but her face was pale. I sat in a chair next to the bed, silently cursing the minute this happened. I wanted to punch the monitors and needles connected to her, but I couldn't. They were what were keeping her alive.

I took her hand in mine, and an electric shock passed through my entire body. My heart beat a million times faster, and my breathing sped up. "Oh, Sonny." I mumbled. "It's horrible." Tawni said from behind me. "She's not even Sonny any more. She's like a whole new and different person." She cried.

I nodded slightly, and closed my eyes. "You want some coffee?" Tawni asked me. I nodded, and she whisked away to the cafeteria.

Turns out, Tawni wasn't so bad and self-centered after all. She still was, but there was a deep and caring side she felt for Sonny. She hadn't looked in the mirror not once that day, and not one complaint about the way Sonny looked in that bed was ever heard.

"C-Chad?" A hoarse whisper said. My eyes shot open, and I sat up in my chair. Sonny blinked a few times, and let in a shaky breath. She looked to her right, and saw me sitting next to her. "Oh, Sonny. Thank God." I said, and sighed with relief.

She smiled slightly, and a warm fuzzy feeling filled my heart. "Your OK." She said to me. My eyebrows furrowed, and I leaned forward in my chair. "What do you mean? You're the one sitting in a hospital bed, Sonny!" I cried with a hint of humor in my voice. She looked down, and saw all the needles and wires attached to her. "Oh." She said, and giggled. "My bad."

How does she do it? She just wakes up from a horrible car accident and begins laughing? I thought aloud unnoticeably.

"I don't know. I guess it's the fact that you still care and that I'm still here." She said. I blushed, not knowing I said that our loud. She smiled back, and looked down at our hands intertwined. She stared at them for a second, and I began letting go.

"No." She said hastily, and grabbed my hand again. "I like it." She grinned madly, and I just had to smile at that. It was heart-warming.

She suddenly froze, and yelped in pain. "Sonny!" I cried. I got upo go call a doctor, but she stopped me. "Chad!" She gasped. "Don't-go! Stay! I'll-oh!-be fine!"

I held onto her hand tightly, forcefully watching her in pain. She didn't want me to leave, but I could just leave her here. It wasn't right.

I spotter a button next to her bed, and pressed it a few times. I secretly hoped it was the button that signaled for the doctors to come. After a few dreadful seconds, I heard the door band open. The curtain swang to one side, and I was pulled back from Sonny. Our hands pulled apart, leaving me all empty inside.

"Chad." She gasped. "It has always been you and me. Never forget that." And then, my heart stopped.

SPOV

It became hard to breathe. Too much shuffling was around me, I couldn't calm down. Sharp pains enveloped my body, suffocating me. It was as if a large bubble was enclosing on me, and I merely had seconds left. Every second the pain increased, traveling to another part of my body. A mask was pushed down on my mouth, forcing air into it.

It didn't feel right. The air was too cold. Suddenly, I felt like I was in freezing weather. I shivered uncontrollably, and the shouting increased.

And then the pains stopped. It slowly drifted away, traveling downward. My heart, it became calm again. I breathed in correctly. Every ounce of agony slowly floated off my fingertips, relaxing me.

My eyes began closing; sleep was all I could think about. I just wanted to relax, just for once second….

And then, the darkness circled around me, drifting me off to sleep.

CPOV

All the doctors froze for a minute. It was as if someone froze time. But this was real. All of it was reality. A living nightmare.

A doctor turned toward me, a sad expression on his face.

Tawni came in holding two cups of coffee, all smiles. Until she saw everyone.

Slowly placing the cups on a nearby table, she walked over to me.

"She's fallen into a coma." The doctor said.

My breath stopped. Everything around me seemed to become a blur. I closed my eyes, waiting for it all to stop.

Because really, when did this all begin?

"Chad." Tawni whimpered. I just shook my head, and sat down in a chair. Brushing my fingers over Sonny's face, I shivered.

It was so pale.

So lifeless.

"It's always been you and me, Sonny. Don't forget that."