My Black Dahlia

by mzfeistyx3

Paul would do anything and everything for her because he loved her. But she didn't love him the same way he did.

24. White

A/N: I believe I said once or twice that this story will end at chapter 24… and this chapter you guys are about to read is chapter 24, if you guys haven't noticed haha. I see I left a lot of you off guard with last chapter, but hey, I love leaving my readers in shock (:

I hope you all enjoy this last chapter!

White symbolizes love and hope.

---

Horror flashed in her eyes and the first thing she did is run back straight into the building. Tears fell from her eyes and her heart was beating fast against her ribcage as she continued to run inside the building and make it inside the ballroom.

Various thoughts kept going through her head all at once.

What was that? Was that a gun shot? And how come it sounded so close by, especially while on the phone with Paul?

Dawn struggled to run through the building and once she made it into the ballroom, she stopped midway to find Ash through the crowd.

When she spotted Ash with Giselle, she shoved her way through the crowd, practically screaming at everyone who was in her way.

Her hand immediately grabbed him by the shoulder and whipped him around. "Something happened to Paul!" She screamed, tears falling from her face. "Please help me, I think something happened to Paul!" she sobbed, her hand gripping his arm.

Ash and Giselle looked at the crying Blue Diamond in deep concern.

"Where is he?" Giselle asked, taken aback by Dawn's sudden reaction.

"I don't know, I heard a gun go off a few blocks down from here, but as soon as I heard it, the line cut off." She trembled, looking horrified in the face.

"We have to go find him," the brunette ordered, looking at Ash with a serious look.

Ash stared at Giselle and then looked over at Dawn. "Okay, let's go."

Dawn roughly let go of Ash's arm, accidentally scratching him along the way, but she didn't care though, she ran out of the ballroom along with Ash and Giselle following behind.

All she could think about is Paul and that gun going off.

In her heart, she desperately hoped he didn't get shot. She desperately hoped that his phone died and the gun going off had nothing to do with him.

As she was running, all she could hear was that gun going off in her head again.

BOOM.

It sounded so close by when she had heard it and she feared that maybe Paul was close by too.

When they made it outside, she struggled to get her heels off since her feet was hurting her.

To make matters worse, she listened as the sound of sirens played in the air and she looked up only to see an ambulance along with three police cars passing by.

She didn't stop to think; she grabbed her heels in her hands and began running on her bare feet. She had to follow the ambulance and police cars to wherever they're going; she just had to follow them, just to see who had been the person who had got shot.

She desperately hoped it wasn't Paul.

A moment later, Dawn paused in front of a familiar looking Mercedes Benz CLA 250, causing Giselle and Ash to stop at their tracks too.

Her heartbeat picked up.

They were literally right next to the ambulance and the police cars too.

"Why did you stop?" Giselle questioned, fear in her heart as well.

"That's Paul's car…" Dawn trailed off.

Shaking, she turned her head briefly toward the ambulance and the police cars and she instantly panicked when she saw medics place a body on the gurney.

Dawn didn't think, she ran towards the medics, curious about who was on the gurney. As she ran, she kept repeating inside her head: Please don't let it be Paul.

She stopped in front of the gurney and she couldn't believe what was right in front of her.

Paul.

It only took a second for her to freak out at the sight before her. "Paul!" She shrieked. She painfully slammed her hand on one of the medics to get them out of the way.

A pair of hands held her back, trying to control her temper since she was screaming in fear.

All she saw was a small dark red hole evident on his forehead, blood seeping from it and from the back of his head. Paul's eyes were closed and he was lying there looking dead.

"PAUL!" She screamed again.

She felt people grabbing her, trying to calm her down, but all she could think about was the love of her life dying right before her.

"Oh my god," The brunette, Giselle gasped, covering her mouth with her palm as tears began to form in her eyes.

"PAUL!"

Dawn threw punches at the medics and the other people grabbing her. She just wanted to get to Paul and get to a hospital as soon as possible.

"PAUL!"

Why wasn't they letting her touch him?

"PAUL!" She sobbed uncontrollably.

"Are you guys going to take him to the hospital or what!?" A voice yelled in a loud demand. It sounded like Reggie, but Dawn was seeing everything in a blur, she was too scared and too confused to even notice that he was there.

She felt the medics pull her away just to put Paul in the back of the ambulance truck.

Dawn felt like her head was spinning. She couldn't believe what was happening right in front of her.

"PAUL!" She screamed again.

Paul licked his bottom lip as he waited for her to turn over the last card.

"The future…" She trailed off, grabbing another card and staring at the last card for a short moment before turning the card over.

It showed a picture of a knight that had been killed across the floor with a horse over his body and a skeleton knight sitting on the horse. The picture's caption read 'death'.

When Dawn saw that word, she slowly looked up at Paul, her mouth slightly dropped and her heart now beating faster. She wasn't the type to believe in tarot cards, but the simple fact that those cards she picked out determined the future of her relationship with Paul with something really bad, she wasn't sure how to react.

It was just a couple months ago they were playing tarot cards and just thinking about that last card she turned over, that last card that determined their future together, she found herself wishing that they had never played it.

The Blue Diamond sat there inside the truck, looking over at Paul.

"N-no need t-to worry Paul. Y-you're g-going to be o-okay…" she cracked. She kept trying to tell herself over and over again that everything was going to be fine, but that horrifying sight of that gunshot wound in his forehead literally had her thinking otherwise.

Tears were falling from her eyes uncontrollably as Reggie and Maylene sat on the opposite side of Paul, Maylene trying to comfort Reggie while Reggie cried silently to himself with his head down.

Dawn chewed on her bottom lip nervously as she remembered something.

"Go to hell!" She screamed, making it sound like more of a demand.

Paul slowly turned his face to look at her. She could see that huge red mark forming on the side of his face, but she didn't care.

"I never want to see your face again." She whispered. "I hope you die,"

I hope you die…

Dawn looked at Paul again, tears still falling from her face.

Did I kill Paul? She wondered. Was this my doing?

Dawn frowned again, now burying her head into her knees as she sat there on the floor waiting to be at the hospital already.

In her heart, she desperately hoped that maybe, just maybe he could survive this, that maybe not all bullets to the head could kill a person instantly.

He had to be okay. He just had to.

The rest of the ride was a huge blur and she felt like she was inside that truck for hours.

As soon as they made it inside of the hospital, they placed Paul inside of one of the hospital rooms and began working on him.

Dawn stood outside of the room, waiting for the doctors to take care of him.

Reggie and Maylene were there and so was Ash and Giselle.

As Dawn stood outside of Paul's room, she continued to stare in deep thought, hoping that he would be alive and well.

Yeah, it was most likely impossible to survive a bullet to the head, but she was remaining hopeful. Paul is the only person she knew that was so strong and never let anything bring him down. So how in the world could he go down with a small bullet to the head?

Her hands clenched tightly at her sides as she continued to stare through the window.

"I told him to be careful," Reggie said, shaking his head as tears fell from his eyes.

Dawn kept her eyes on the window as she listened to Reggie.

"It's not your fault," Maylene frowned, trying to comfort him.

"I didn't think he would be so stupid and steal from him, you know? I thought Paul was better than that."

Dawn blinked, raising her eyebrow. She slowly looked over at Reggie, a bit confused about what he was talking about.

Steal? Steal from who?

"He's going to be okay, I know he is…" Maylene continued, trying to say anything to make the moment better. But Dawn knew in her heart that maybe Paul really isn't going to be okay.

"Trip is going to fucking pay for this, I swear he is."

Trip? Who the hell is Trip?

Dawn sucked in a nervous breath and slowly let her eyes narrow at the window again.

Could this Trip guy possibly be the person behind this?

"Dawn?" Ash whispered, standing right behind her and leaning on a wall with an arm around Giselle.

Dawn remained quiet. She didn't bother to speak. She didn't even want to speak to Ash, as a matter of fact.

If it wasn't for her being stupid and kissing him, then maybe, Paul would've never got shot and maybe he would've been okay.

Dawn stared at the heart monitor from the window, seeing a straight line with no sign of changing into zig zags which signals a heartbeat. But just by looking at it, she already knew that she lost Paul.

A moment later, one of the nurses walked out of the room and stood before Dawn. Reggie and Maylene stood by Dawn's side, waiting for the news from the nurse, but Dawn already knew what the nurse was going to say.

"I'm sorry to say such terrible news, but that wound was very fatal and there was no sign of a heartbeat. I'm so sorry for your loss." The nurse frowned.

Dawn shook her head, trying to fight back the tears that were trying to pour from her eyes.

It only took a few seconds for Reggie to break down into sobs, along with Giselle, Maylene, and even Ash.

Dawn shook her head though.

Paul dead? This had to be some sort of dream, some sort of nightmare or something.

There's no way in hell that he could be dead. She just couldn't believe it.

"Can I see him?" She blurted out, not thinking.

The nurse looked at the girl and then frowned again. She nodded her head. "Sure,"

Dawn brushed past the nurse and walked inside of the room.

The sight before her made her heart hurt and she stood next to him, staring down at him with his eyes closed and his forehead covered, though blood was still seeping.

Just a couple days ago, she told him that she hoped that he would die and then all of a sudden he does. Like it all happened so fast and so sudden. She just couldn't believe that the worst happened. The worst of all…

Dawn chewed on her bottom lip hard as tears now poured from her eyes. "Paul…" she cracked.

A part of her felt like his death was her fault.

They played the tarot cards and their future determined death.

And then she told him to die, as if she was responsible for his death.

"Paul," she choked out again.

All she got was silence in response.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, still crying to herself.

If only she hadn't kissed Ash, if only she hadn't made such a stupid move, then maybe Paul would be alive.

As she stared down at him, she felt her heart twist in pain.

He was really dead. He was really gone for good.

"Paul." She choked out again.

She felt so horrible and so broken and she wasn't even sure of how she was going to live without him.

How can she live without Paul? He was supposed to live! They was supposed to get married and have a family together!

How can one little bullet suck the life out of him so quickly just like that?

"I love you,"

Paul.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make you happy."

She remembered his last words like it was just a second ago. And then all of a sudden, fear came at her heart again.

BOOM.

It all happened so fast, way too fast for her to comprehend.

Why would anyone want to kill Paul? What could Paul possibly do to make someone want to kill him?

"How could you leave me like this?" She whispered, a tear rolling down her face.

Dawn already knew that her make up must have been all over the place. She knew that she must have looked like a ghost in the face with smeared mascara and eyeliner, but right now she really didn't give a damn about how she looked. All she really cared about was her Paul, her strong, unbreakable, Paul.

"I can't live without you," she cried, now holding onto his cold hand. She gasped by feeling how cold his hand was. His body temperature dropped so much and she knew that whenever someone dies, their body immediately gets cold. Dawn stared at him with fear in her eyes. She wasn't ready to accept the fact that he's dead.

She kept praying for him to open his eyes, to move, to speak, to do something.

A stream of tears poured down her cheeks as she continued to stare at him.

Her hope was dying pretty quickly, especially after feeling how cold he is.

"I'm sorry to say such terrible news, but that wound was very fatal and there was no sign of a heartbeat. I'm so sorry for your loss."

Dead…

After all this, after everything she has been through with him, she loses him forever.

Dawn pressed Paul's cold hand tightly, holding onto it as if her life depended on it.

"Paul?" she spoke, sounding obviously concerned and also nervous.

"I'm assuming you found my little gift?" he forced a smile as he stared at the building in front of him. He was gripping his phone so hard that he felt like he was close to breaking it, that's how angry he was.

Dawn stood outside in front of Grand Hyatt, looking around to see if Paul was around, but he was nowhere to be found. She frowned again, knowing he was being sarcastic with that comment. "Yeah, I saw the roses and the rings… I loved it." She forced a smile and then frowned again, knowing that he witnessed the kiss she shared with Ash. "You were going to propose?"

Paul hardened his eyes as he stared at the building in front of him. "You don't deserve to get fucking proposed to." He said angrily.

Dawn could feel how angry he was by the sound of his voice. She knew his heart was breaking. "I know," she breathed, frowning again. "But I can explain—"

"You ripped my HEART OUT." He screamed.

The Blue Diamond felt her lips trembling at the sound of that, feeling tears forming in her eyes. He sounded so hurt and so broken. She was beginning to believe that she really did rip his heart out.

And to think that the last moment he even had with her was nothing but pain and betrayal. She broke his heart and he didn't even get to die a happy man.

Dawn closed her eyes as she held onto his cold hand, feeling like complete shit.

He truly believed she didn't love him and just by knowing that really, really made her heart ache even more. She loved him just as much as he loved her. But he always doubted her and always believed she loved Ash and not him.

It was crazy, really, how he would even think something like that. But then again, she couldn't blame him for reacting the way he did before… before the accident.

Dawn slowly opened her eyes and then looked at Paul's face again.

She stared at it for a brief moment before saying, "I love you," in a choked whisper.

For a moment, she could've sworn she saw his eyebrow twitch, but she began to realize that it just had been her imagination. Dawn inhaled a shaky breath and slowly leaned down to press her lips on his now cold lips, her body shaking and tears still streaming down her face.

All this time, she dealt with him accusing her of loving Ash and what does she do? She instantly kisses Ash and screws everything up.

Dawn was beginning to believe that she may have been responsible for Paul's death.

If she never had kissed Ash, all of this could've been prevented.

As Dawn pulled back from Paul's lips and looked at him one last time, she just couldn't bare looking at him anymore. She felt that if she stood inside that room any longer that she would just go berserk and she might even consider on committing suicide just to be with him.

Letting out a shaky breath, Dawn somehow found a way to begin leaving out of the room and as soon as she exited, she brushed past her friends and mumbled, "I'm going back to Prom," and began walking down the hall to wherever the exit was.

Everything was going in slow motion as she walked back to Prom. She was holding her heels in one hand and her flowers along with the engagement ring box in the other hand while slowly walking back to the dance.

Her face was emotionless and her lips were pressed tightly into a firm line.

As she was walking back, she kept trying to let her mind wander off onto other things.

The wind kept blowing against her skin, moving her hair and everything. She tried to put her mind on anything else but Paul. But as she closed her hand tighter on her bouquet of flowers and ring box, the thought of him made its way back into her head and she tried her best to fight back the tears that wanted to pour from her eyes once again.

When Dawn made it back to Prom, she hadn't even noticed that Reggie, Maylene, and even Ash and Giselle decided to follow her on the way back.

Dawn kept a straight face as she slowly approached the steps to the building. She saw May sitting down on the steps with a frown on her face.

Ash had told May the news about Paul and May just knew that Dawn was going through so much and she needed to be there for Dawn.

As May got up, May noticed how much of a mess Dawn looked, she almost looked like zombie in the face with her make up smeared all over the place and all. May frowned even more. "I'm so sorry Dawn," she said in sympathy, pulling Dawn into a hug.

Dawn didn't bother on giving a hug back.

"I can't imagine what you're going through right now," May frowned, pulling back from the hug and looking Dawn in the face.

The Blue Diamond didn't bother on making eye contact with her. She moved her body down and took a seat on the steps. "I don't want to talk about it." She mumbled, bringing her heels and her flowers and the ring box to the floor.

As she sat there on the steps, placing her heels right under her feet, May took a seat right next to her.

Dawn slowly looked up at Ash and Giselle. Giselle was still crying in Ash's arms and Ash kept a sympathetic look on his face. She really wasn't in the mood to speak to him, but she also didn't want to be around any of Paul's things right now.

"Ash?" she said lowly.

Ash raised his eyebrow at her, his arm around Giselle. "Hm?"

Dawn grabbed the flowers and the ring box in her hand again. "Can you take these flowers and this ring home for me?"

"Sure," Ash rubbed Giselle's arm and pulled back from her as he went to retrieve the flowers and the box. When Dawn watched him retrieve the ring box, she thought for a moment.

"Wait," she said.

The basketball player looked at her.

"Give me the box," she mumbled.

Ash looked at the box and then slowly handed her the box. As Dawn took the box in her hand, she slowly opened it and looked at the diamond rose gold ring.

May gasped slightly at seeing what was inside. "Was he…?" she was at a loss for words. "Did he…?"

"He was going to," Dawn mumbled, staring at the rose gold ring. The ring was so beautiful that it took her breath away. With the three diamond stones on the big ring and the skinnier ring under it contained a variety of diamonds. By the looks of it, it must have been a promise ring attached to the one with the rock.

Dawn picked up both of the rings and visualized it briefly as she read the engraved texts on them.

I'll love you forever.

She nearly felt her heart jump out of her chest as she read that on the engagement ring. She licked her lips slowly and looked at the engraving on the promise ring.

No need to worry, I'll always be here.

She almost felt tears rushing down her face again, but she blinked them back. Dawn didn't want to cry anymore.

"I did something stupid," she whispered as she shoved the box in Ash's hands, holding the rings in her right hand and staring down at them. "So he didn't propose…" she trailed off.

May frowned, feeling really bad for Dawn.

Ash frowned too. After hearing her say that, he knew that Paul must have witnessed her kissing him and maybe that was why Dawn didn't even want to speak to Ash after losing Paul forever.

He honestly wouldn't blame her if she didn't even want to speak to him again after tonight.

Dawn stared at the rings for a little longer and she brought them together, just like how it was placed inside the box when she opened it. As she got the two rings stacked together just like how it was displayed, she slowly placed the rings in her left hand on her left ring finger.

It took a lot for her to not end up crying as she left her hand out to look at how the rings looked on her finger. It looked so beautiful and she honestly believed that Paul was with her at that very moment.

"But if he did, I would've said yes." She mumbled, staring at the ring, now forcing a smile on her face.

That was the first time she has smiled since Paul's death.

May's frown deepened. And he was going to propose to her too.

Dawn dropped her hand to her lap and then looked up at the flowers Ash was holding and then looked up at him in the face.

He was staring at her with sympathy. But she felt anger rise in her body just by looking at him.

"Just go to my house and drop off the flowers and the box for me," she ordered, now narrowing her eyes towards the floor.

"Okay," Ash turned to leave to go and do as she wished, but Dawn's voice stopped him.

"And Ash?"

Ash slowly turned to look at her again.

"I also don't want to be friends anymore." She told him. "I think it's best for you to stay the hell out of my life."

May looked at Dawn in confusion at that comment and then slowly looked over at Ash.

Ash stared at Dawn for a little longer, taking in those words.

Truth be told, those words hit him really hard in the heart and it hurt him because he had been friends with Dawn for years.

He understood why she even decided this, especially after she kissed him. Ash knew that maybe Paul must have witnessed that kiss or maybe Dawn had told him about the kiss, Ash didn't know. But he knew that Dawn was feeling really guilty, especially now since Paul died and Ash knew she must have been feeling like she was responsible for Paul's death.

"I understand," he said finally, a hurt look playing on his face.

As he turned away, wrapping his arm around Giselle and began walking off, he was beginning to feel like he was also responsible for Paul's death.

Dawn blinked and then slowly looked over at Reggie and Maylene who were standing a couple feet away.

Reggie was staring off at one of the buildings, as if he was trying to calm himself down and think of something else while Maylene held his hand and kept looking at him in concern. She also kept looking at Dawn too.

The Blue Diamond instantly tore her eyes off of the pair and began to put on her heels again.

"Are you sure you want to be here?" May wondered. "I can walk you home."

"No," Dawn decided, looking over at May again and pausing with putting on her heels. "I don't want to go home," she said. "I want to be here, at prom. I want to dance, I want to have fun." She felt her lips trembling again as she slowly looked down at the floor again. "At least, I want to try…" she shook her head and returned to putting on her heels again.

May frowned again. She knew that Dawn was going to have a difficult time trying to take her mind off of Paul that night, but May was willing to help her try.

"Well let's have fun then," May said, trying to sound bright.

Dawn looked over at May after putting on her heels.

"But before we do, we have to stop by the ladies room so I can fix your make up. You look like a zombie right now," May chuckled lightly.

A small smile formed on Dawn's face and she laughed lightly.

The girls slowly got up and linked hands, May looked over at Reggie and Maylene in concern, wondering if they would like to come to. "Do you guys also want to come?"

Maylene looked at May and shook her head. "No. I'm going to take Reggie home, you guys go ahead."

May stared at the pink haired side kick for a little while longer and then looked at Reggie who looked so lost just like Dawn and she frowned again.

May turned to look at Dawn and began to walk up the steps with her and into the building.

---

The Blue Diamond sat in front of her mirror, just staring blankly at her dresser.

Today was the day of Paul's funeral service and it had only been a week since Paul's death.

Dawn stared hard at her dresser, already dressed up in all black. She was wearing a long sleeved black lace dress, the sleeves over her elbows and only reaching near her wrists, but not directly on them. The dress was all lace, but the sleeves showed her skin and the neck part of the dress was designed in curves, somewhat like a zig-zag design.

Dawn also had her hair put into a low bun with one black hair bun stick attached inside; she had hair parted on one side and she had her face done naturally, with light pink lip-stick on her lips and eyes done a light brown mixed with dark brown color, making it look like a smoky eye design with the eyeliner and mascara.

She did her make up as best as she could, trying to make herself look as if she was okay, but deep down inside she wasn't. Deep down inside, she felt dead and she felt lonely.

"Dawn?" Johanna, her mother called. "We have to be at the cemetery in a few minutes. Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute," Dawn said loud enough for her mom to hear.

She licked her lips and looked at herself in the mirror once again, taking another looked at herself.

Today is Paul's funeral…

Dawn wasn't even sure if she was prepared to attend his service, she felt that if she even speaks a word to a group of his family members and friends, that she'll just break down and no one would be able to help her.

Tearing her eyes off of the mirror, she looked down at her engagement ring and promise ring she had just sitting down on her dresser.

We could've been engaged. She frowned as she thought this.

Dawn slowly picked up her rings and stared at them.

We could've got married, we could've had a family, have kids and grow old together.

She took another moment to read the engravings on each ring.

It was like he was still there with her, it was like he never left…

Dawn inhaled a breath and put the rings on her left ring finger, taking another moment to admire its beauty.

As she got up, she looked at herself in the mirror again.

Hopefully, I can make it through this funeral… She told herself.

For a moment, she truly believed she could, at least that's what she hoped for.

---

Walking into the cemetery was already one of the hardest things to do, but walking into Paul's funeral was another thing.

It was very ugly outside, the sky was all gray with darkish looking clouds as if it was going to rain. But just by looking at the sky, Dawn found herself relating to the weather in a way. She was feeling very… vulnerable and she also wasn't prepared for all the "I'm sorry for your loss" from several people she knew and didn't know.

As she walked into the service, she could feel a lot of eyes on her. She was holding her mother's hand while walking there. She needed someone's hand to hold onto and all she had was her mother at that moment. Her father had left her mother a long time ago for someone else, so all she had left was her mom. Till this day, it still bothered her to know that her father left her mother just because she was pregnant with her. She didn't understand why some guys leave the girl after they get them pregnant, to her, those kinds of guys are all assholes and deserve to live an unhappy life.

Dawn kept a straight face, a face that looked so broken. She tried her best to look like she was okay, but she wasn't. She couldn't be okay.

When she got there, she couldn't even count the many emotional hugs she received. She received a few hugs from some of her friends and the rest were just people she didn't even know. And she was getting tired of all the 'I'm sorry's she was getting that morning.

"Dawn?"

She sighed again, not ready to receive another hug and an "I'm sorry for your loss" from another person. As she turned around, she nearly felt tears well up in her eyes at the person in front of her.

The dark purpled haired man in front of her did his best to smile at her, as if he was okay.

"Reggie," she whispered in surprise, this time taking a moment to walk up to him and give him a big hug.

Since Paul's death, all she could feel is Paul there with her while hugging Reggie. And it pained her because Reggie is his brother, and just by looking at Reggie in the face, she could feel herself breaking down because she could see Paul in his face, the resemblance was there.

That hug felt like it lasted for a lifetime, but Dawn didn't let go, she continued to hug Reggie and she held onto him as if he was Paul.

"I'm glad you came," he said, his chin resting above her head.

They both were going through the same tragedy and they both knew exactly how they felt. Reggie continued to hug her tight; he too felt like Paul was there whenever he was around Dawn. The only reason why Reggie felt like Paul was there with him is because he knew how much Paul loved Dawn and he knew that she meant the world to him. Reggie even knew that Dawn still does, even though Paul is now in heaven.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her as the two pulled apart from the long hug.

"I'm not sure…" she answered truthfully, looking at him. "How about you?"

"Better, sort of. Maylene has been trying to help me get back on track."

"That's good, I suppose." Dawn whispered.

She took a moment to look at all the other guests.

May and Drew had attended the event, along with Gary and Leaf, and even Ash and Giselle. Dawn personally didn't want Ash or Giselle to be there though, especially Ash just because she still felt that she is the blame for Paul's death… after kissing Ash...

Misty was also there at the event and she was one of the first ones to give her a hug. Dawn was really happy to see her though. She hadn't seen her in such a long time since her break up with Ash.

Dawn wondered for just a moment if Misty was considering on getting back with Ash since she heard that Giselle wasn't looking for a relationship.

Her eyes suddenly fell on Paul's casket, noticing that it was closed. Suddenly, she felt her heart beating again and she almost felt like she was going to break at any second.

"So you chose a closed casket…" she murmured.

"Yeah… I couldn't stand seeing him in an open casket like that." Reggie told her. She understood exactly what he meant. She didn't want to see him dead in the casket, and she didn't want to see the bullet wound on his head either, so maybe a closed casket was a good idea after all.

"I want you to be careful Reggie…" she said, slowly looking him in the eye.

He raised his eyebrow at her. "Why?"

"I can't lose you either." She whispered. He could hear the pained emotion in her voice as she said that. "You're the only part of him that I have left."

Reggie frowned at her statement and then pulled her into a hug again, this time he didn't want to let go. Just being told that really made him tear up. "You won't lose me," he whispered. "I promise I'll always be safe and I'll always be here for you. After all, you are my sister in law."

A small smile formed on Dawn's lips as she heard Reggie say those last three words and she looked up at him, tears forming in her eyes now.

Reggie looked down at her and wiped the tears that were now leaving her eyes, careful not to ruin her make up. As he pulled away from the hug, he let out a light sigh. "We should take our seats. The memorial is about to begin in five minutes."

She nodded her head briefly, still taking in the words of being called Reggie's sister in law. It was like Reggie knew Paul wanted her to be his wife from the beginning, and just by knowing that really made her happy, but it also made her sad in a way.

She frowned again and followed Reggie to their reserved seats. She sat in between Reggie and May.

It only took a few minutes for everyone to get settled in their seats and for the memorial to start.

The weather was really cool and not so hot, but it was still pretty cloudy outside and Dawn wouldn't be surprised if it started to rain. Just sitting there in that funeral, she desperately hoped for it to rain, just so the memorial can get cancelled.

When the preacher walked onto the podium, he stared at all of the people in front of him and cleared his throat. "Greetings friends and family of Paul Sumpter." He said. "I first would like to say thank you all for attending this very emotional event, I believe it would've meant a lot to him."

While sitting in her seat, Dawn felt like she was going to scream at any moment. She felt like the preacher had been speaking on the podium for hours and hours, but it had only been a few minutes. With every word the preacher spoke, she felt tears forming in her eyes, but every time she blinked them back, trying her hardest not to cry.

"If anyone would like to say something about this young man, a story, or a speech, you may come forward now."

Dawn looked around briefly as she waited for somebody to stand up.

She felt Reggie get up from his seat immediately and she was surprised that he wanted to be the first one to say something. She assumed he might've wanted to speak last.

Slowly, Reggie made his way onto the podium as the preacher stepped aside for him. He looked over at the huge crowd and he opened his mouth to speak, but then he closed his mouth shut again.

Dawn stared at Reggie, knowing he was feeling so broken on the inside on just like her.

Reggie looked like he was about to break down any moment, but he remained strong and forced a smile at everyone who attended his brother's funeral.

"Hello everyone," he started. "Um, first I want to say that I appreciate that all of you decided to attend my brother's funeral. I assumed that rarely anyone would come because well… Paul wasn't exactly the type that had many people around to care about him."

Dawn looked down slightly at her lap as she listened to Reggie speak.

"Anyway," Reggie looked down at the podium. "Paul was the only family member I had left. Our parents passed away a long time ago in a car crash and it was just me and Paul. All we had was each other. I took care of Paul since he was seven years old and now thirteen years later, I lose him when he's only nineteen years old. It hurts because he was all I had left and now he's gone too."

Tears were forming in his eyes as he said this and he blinked them back, trying to be strong. "Um…" he looked towards the grass for a brief moment, trying to think of fun moments he had shared with Paul.

"Paul and I shared a lot of fun moments together. I think my favorite one is when he had set me up on a blind date. I can remember that like it was yesterday."

"I'm starting to think that she's not real," Reggie mumbled as he took another look at the girl in his phone.

The girl in his phone was a pretty blonde girl with green eyes and she was skinny, in a way that he liked. Her name was Nani. It was pronounced as Nah-nee.

"Nah, she's real." Paul took the phone out of Reggie's hands again and looked at the girl in the picture. "I wouldn't set you up with some catfish."

"I don't even know why I came here," Reggie sighed, now pacing around. "I don't even know this girl and I'm not even sure if I'm ready to meet her."

"Oh, but she sure seems ready to meet you," Paul handed the phone back to his brother, smirking at his brother. "Don't worry. It's going to be worth it. She's hot as fuck and anyway you really need to get laid. You've been slacking lately."

"I don't want to get laid Paul."

"You are a disgrace to the male kind." Paul pointed out.

"What because I don't want to get laid?"

"Yeah." Paul nodded and then he grabbed Reggie's phone. "Look, she got some nice shaped tits that you can work with. And her ass, well… it may not be that big, but shit, at least it's something." He handed the phone back to him and laughed again. "Just meet her, get to know her for like a week or two, then smash her." Paul smiled. "Trust me, it's all worth it."

Reggie just stared at his brother with a blank look and then turned away. "I'm not taking your stupid advice. And aren't you dating Dawn?"

"What does this have to do with Dawn?"

"Because you're talking about smashing girls."

Paul made a face. "I was talking about you. But I been there, done that, and Dawn is different."

"And how is she different? You sure love getting a new girl all the time."

"I haven't dated anybody past a month and me and her are on our sixth month, so that should tell you something."

"Whatever," Reggie rolled his eyes.

They were currently outside in front of the train station at 149th street Grand Concourse, and Reggie had agreed to meet his mystery girl there for the first time. Paul dressed him up in a nice burgundy dress shirt and dark blue jeans, and Reggie kept his hair in his usual low ponytail.

"Nani…" Reggie trailed off with a bored look, becoming frustrated. "What white girl is named Nani? Isn't that some sort of Spanish name?"

"I don't know." Paul shrugged, looking over at his brother again. "Didn't she say she was going to be here by 8?"

Reggie blinked and then looked at the time on his phone again, seeing that it was 7:55 pm. "Yeah,"

That smirk on Paul's face formed even higher. "Well, I'll leave you here to meet your new girlfriend."

"I'm not going to date her Paul,"

"Whatever you say," Paul chuckled lightly as he walked away from his older brother. He didn't walk too far away though, he walked a few feet away, enough to see Nani walk on by.

Reggie sighed as Paul left him there waiting for his 'date'. Minutes were passing and he was beginning to wonder if she got scared and decided not to show up after all.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he turned around briefly, but then he heard a voice call for him.

"Reggie?"

It sounded like a female voice. As he turned around, he saw a girl that was short and petite and she had black hair. She also looked Asian in the face. He raised his eyebrow in confusion, wondering who this girl was and how she even knew his name in the first place. "Do I know you?"

"Actually yes," the girl said nervously, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear.

Paul stood a few feet away from them, but he could still hear completely. His eyes was set on the Asian girl and he was curious about how she knew Reggie as well, but then something clicked in his mind right there.

"I'm… Nani." the girl said nervously, looking up at him. "I know I'm not the girl that you were expecting, but I can explain—"

Reggie's eyes widened and suddenly he heard his younger brother burst out into laughter, causing the girl to stop her sentence. The girl whipped her head towards Paul as well as Reggie.

Paul continued to laugh uncontrollably, not expecting that whatsoever. An Asian girl? So she really was a catfish. Paul continued to laugh, his eyes tearing up as he laughed. He did not expect that to happen at all. Reggie had been looking at him with a disappointed look and this made Paul laugh even more.

Some of the people in the seats laughed as Reggie told his story and Reggie smiled, looking down at the podium again. "That's the reason why I'm against blind dates or online dating because wow… she was most definitely not the girl in the picture. And she wasn't white."

Dawn giggled lightly at that comment, a bit surprised to hear that story. She never knew Paul set his brother up on a blind date a long time ago, but she did find it funny on how the girl ended up being a fake.

As the laughter died down, Reggie looked at the people again. "So would anyone else like to say something?" he offered.

As he stood on the podium, he hoped for someone else to take his place.

Dawn sat there in her seat quietly and looked down again. She wasn't ready to go on that podium. As a matter of fact, she didn't want to go on that podium at all.

Maylene got up to speak and she shared her favorite memory with Paul. She mentioned that he had opened up to her one day and told her that Reggie deserves to be happy and he believed that she could make him happy. Hearing that memory made Dawn think how unpredictable Paul could be sometimes.

He was always so careless about things, but after hearing that story, she was surprised that he opened up to Maylene that way, but then again Dawn knew that Paul loved his brother a lot and he would want Reggie to be happy.

When Maylene left the podium, Drew got up to speak and his favorite memory happened to be when he and Paul jumped onto other buildings from the rooftops. Apparently that's something they always did together just for fun and Dawn always thought doing things like that was dangerous.

After Drew spoke, Dawn's mother got up to speak and Dawn was surprised to see her mother walk on that podium.

As Johanna stood on the podium, she looked at all of the people in front of her. She was crying no doubt, her eyes were all red as well as her nose.

Her mother's favorite memory with Paul was when he spoke to her about his feelings for Dawn.

"There's something about your daughter that makes me feel alive and healthy. She brings out the good in me and I honestly can't stay away from her. Your daughter helped me get back on my feet and because of that I fell in love with her." Paul stated.

Johanna stared at Paul in all seriousness, listening as he confessed to her about his feelings for her only child.

"I see myself marrying her someday and I don't expect you to approve of me now, but I am hoping that you will approve of me soon." He said, hope filling in his eyes. "She's the only person I really, truly care about and I would go crazy if anything happened to her. I would lose it."

Paul poured his heart out to her mom?

Dawn stared at her mother as if in shock and this time tears were leaving her eyes as she listened to her mother's words.

"It took me a while to believe that he might have those kind of feelings for my daughter, but when I looked into his eyes, I knew he loved her. I saw a lot of emotion in his eyes and that was enough to prove his feelings for my daughter." Johanna looked down at her hands, tears running down her cheeks. "He was a very good young man and I knew he would make my daughter so happy."

Paul made her feel all kinds of ways. He made her feel happy, he made her feel sad, and he made her feel angry. He made her go through many kinds of emotions and just by realizing that made her realize how much she loved him because of that.

No relationship is perfect, and he wasn't perfect. That's the main thing that drew her in in the first place. His imperfections drew her to him.

When her mother left the podium, Misty got up to speak.

Dawn watched her orange haired friend step onto the podium.

Misty stared at everyone in front of her and she even took a moment to look at Ash who had been sitting next to Giselle in the front. She hadn't known the brown haired girl at all, but she assumed she must have been his girlfriend or something.

Dawn stared at Misty and then slowly narrowed her eyes at Ash. She noticed Ash was looking at her with that same spark in his eyes that she always remembered seeing when Ash was around Misty. Just by looking at Ash and seeing how he was looking at Misty, she knew that he still loved her.

Misty immediately tore her eyes off of Ash and looked down at the podium, "Um," she cleared her throat.

Slowly, Dawn narrowed her eyes back on Misty. She could tell that Misty must have suspected something with Ash or she must have noticed Giselle since she looked a bit more disappointed than she already had when she got on the podium.

One thing that Dawn knew is that Misty always loved Ash and Ash always loved her, they just broke up because they lived so far away from each other and now that Misty came here to the funeral, Dawn believed that old feelings may be returning for the both of them.

"I'm Misty," she started, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear. "I never really got the chance to know Paul personally, but I do know that he made Dawn really, really happy."

Dawn closed her lips together softly and she smiled partially at that comment.

"The way he makes her smile, the way he makes her laugh, the way he makes her feel like she's the only girl in the world and the way he can make her feel like everything about her is perfect…"

Tears were filling in Dawn's eyes again and she began to think on those words. Misty was describing exactly how Paul made her feel perfectly.

"I know what that feels like." Misty admitted, tears filling in her eyes as well. "Someone used to make me feel the same way…"

Dawn wiped the tears that were threatening to push through her eyes and she looked over at Ash again.

Ash had tears forming in his eyes too and he looked down, trying to blink them back. Just by seeing that, Dawn knew for a fact that Ash still loves her.

She inhaled a short breath and then slowly turned her head towards Misty again.

"And it sucks to lose someone like that. He was and he will always be her everything." Misty continued, still looking down at the podium. "I can't exactly say that I lost someone I was in love with the same way, but I can say that I did lose someone I loved, but he's still alive and well…" she slowly looked up and wiped that tears that were trying to leave her eyes. "I just want to say that even though Paul's gone, he will still love you Dawn." She was looking at Dawn now.

Dawn nearly felt herself about to break after hearing those last few words.

"He'll love you forever…"

Forever…

Dawn smiled, truly believing that. Warm tears ran down her cheeks as she listened to that last part Misty said.

"Thank you," Misty mumbled as she now got off the podium.

As Misty got off the podium, she made eye contact with Ash and Ash made eye contact with her. He frowned and then looked down at his lap.

When Misty returned to her seat, Giselle got up from her seat and made her way onto the podium.

Dawn tried to remain calm as Reggie held her hand, rubbing his thumb on her hand.

"Hello everyone," Giselle said nervously.

Dawn looked up and suddenly that emotion she felt inside of her slowly change to an angry emotion. Giselle got up to speak? Out of all people?

"Um… I never really had much friends, but Paul was considered one of my closest friends—"

"Yeah, a little too close." Dawn spat, loud enough for people to look at her.

Ash narrowed his eyes at Dawn and so did Misty.

Reggie looked over at Dawn too, a bit surprised with how quick she changed from sad to angry. Reggie knew Paul had been having sex with Giselle and been having her over at his place many times, so Reggie understood why Dawn got so mad in the first place.

Giselle blinked, not expecting that from Dawn. "Right…" She knew Dawn was still angry with her about what she did with Paul, but she didn't think that Dawn would suddenly do something like that.

"Well…" She cleared her throat and looked down at the podium. "My favorite memory would probably be when… I was feeling really sad and he told me that I can handle anything that comes my way."

She looked up at him and then looked down at the floor, forcing a smile. "… Everyone hates me." She licked her lips slightly and continued to look down at the floor. "You should know why I am the way I am, everyone knows." She looked up at him.

"Actually, I don't." Paul told her.

Giselle shrugged, letting her eyes fall on his shirt, still trying to avoid eye contact with him. Paul could see tears forming in her eyes and he was surprised to see this because he was always so used to her being strong and being able to take anything.

"It doesn't matter now," she shook her head, moving her eyes to the floor again. "I just… I can't go back to who I was before. What's done is done…"

Paul stared at her for a short while.

It was weird to him, seeing her weak like this.

He placed his drink down on the counter and slowly walked up to her, her eyes still on the floor though.

Giselle felt her breath hitch when she felt him touch the left side of her face. "Hey," he said lowly, causing her to look up at him slowly.

She stared into his eyes, seeing that he was staring at her as if he actually cared.

"You're Giselle Ainsworth." He told her, as if to click something into her head.

She just stared at him, a bit surprised by that comment.

"Nothing can hurt you." He added.

"That was one of the first times he's ever been so nice to me…" Giselle smiled softly.

"So what, you guys fucked after?" Dawn said out loud, immediately causing people to gasp in shock.

"Dawn?" Reggie said in surprise, looking at her in complete shock.

Dawn made a face. "What? It's the truth, she fucked him more than once."

Giselle blinked, now beginning to become uncomfortable.

"Okay, but that isn't important right now—" Reggie commented, but Dawn cut him off.

"It isn't important? She doesn't deserve to say anything about him or even share a freaking favorite memory with him when all her favorite memories are of him fucking her!"

The brunette had a shocked look and she did her best not to break down in front of everyone, instead she cleared her throat and struggled to say her next words. "W-would anyone else like to say something?"

Ash got up on his feet and began to make his way towards the podium.

Dawn narrowed her eyes at Ash, seeing him making his way towards the podium and she immediately lost it.

"NO." She said loudly, causing Ash to look at her.

"How does it happen? The ship is a wreck."

Dawn got up on her feet, making her way towards the podium angrily, though she was wearing black pumps on her feet. "I do not want you to speak at all." She said angrily.

"But—"

"You have nothing to say about Paul, so don't act like you do! You never shared a favorite memory with him because you two were never friends, he never liked you! As a matter of fact you are the reason why he is dead in the first place! If it wasn't for you making me kiss you, he would still be alive!"

Ash looked shocked in the face to hear those words. He knew Dawn was hurting badly, but he never expected her to react that way. Just by hearing her say those words to him really broke his heart and he was feeling really shitty.

"Dawn—" Reggie tried to grab Dawn, but Dawn snatched her arms out of his grip.

Everyone that was there was looking at Dawn like she was crazy, but she didn't care. How dare Giselle goes up there to speak for Paul and then Ash all of a sudden wants to speak too? They don't deserve to say anything at all!

"I want you two to leave!" She demanded.

"But Dawn—" Ash started.

"LEAVE!" She screamed.

Why did it feel like her whole world was crashing down before her? Maybe it was crashing down before her and just now she was realizing how her life is without Paul in it. And it had just been a week since his death.

Ash frowned deeply and slowly left the podium, looking over at Giselle as well.

Giselle had tears flowing from her eyes and the two left together away from the podium and from the memorial.

Misty sat there in her seat, watching as the two left and she frowned deeply, not understanding what was happening. She wanted to stay at the memorial a bit longer, but something was telling her to go with Ash and that girl, so she did what her instincts told her to do and got up, now following after them.

"Dawn," Reggie said again, trying to calm Dawn down. Even her mother was at her side, trying to calm her down.

"Dawn, relax honey, it's going to be okay—"

"Everyone literally keeps telling me that, but it's not!" She screamed, snatching her arms out of Reggie and her mother's grip. She got onto the podium and looked at everyone angrily. She had tears flowing from her eyes.

"Are you sure you want to speak now Ms. Berlitz?" the preacher asked, standing beside her in worry.

"Yes!" She shouted, taking a look at Paul's closed casket once more before looking down at the podium again.

Johanna and Reggie stood back, knowing that Dawn wanted to say something and there was no stopping her. She was holding in her pain for about a week, and it seemed as if she wanted to let out all that pain now.

Dawn originally wanted to attend Paul's funeral and be calm, but the odds most likely weren't in her favor that morning.

She hadn't known that Paul's death could make her feel like this.

"What do we do when it's out of control?"

"Ahem," she cleared her throat, looking at everyone who attended the funeral. They were all looking at her with sympathetic faces and shocked faces, but she didn't care, she did her best to ignore the kinds of expressions everyone was giving her.

Dawn slowly inhaled a nervous breath and looked down at the podium again, trying to calm herself down.

She already made a scene and she didn't want to make anything worse than what it already was.

Where is all this anger coming from?

She looked over at Paul's casket again and suddenly she felt tears blurring her eyes once more.

I don't think I can do this. She thought. I'm not ready to say goodbye…

She inhaled another shaky breath and turned her attention onto the people before her again, now relaxing herself and blinking back those tears that was forming in her eyes.

"We stand, we stand, we can't stand to fall down (Here comes another.)"

"Hi, um…" she paused and looked down again. "I'm not real comfortable talking in front of people, but… I loved Paul and… he was everything to me." Dawn looked up again, trying her best to control herself.

She still looked pretty in the face, her make up wasn't messed up from the night of prom, but she looked like she was in so much pain. It was heartbreaking to see her that way.

Reggie looked down.

He and Johanna were standing right beside Dawn.

Dawn began to fumble with her hands and she forced a smile on her face. "Paul wasn't always the kind of guy that does nice things… he was always so… selfish, cruel, arrogant, and very coldhearted at times. Sometimes he was so hard to understand, but I guess that's why I fell in love with him."

She looked down for a moment and wiped the tear that was about to fall from her eye.

It was so hard speaking about Paul, especially now that he's gone…

"I have a lot of favorite memories with Paul…" Dawn whispered and looked down. "I remember when we first met like it was yesterday…"

"We stand, we stand, we can't stand to fall down (It pulls me under.)"

"Wow, is that the tree I think it is?" Dawn gasped.

She immediately walked over to the wall that had a large painting of a blue tree and she instantly recognized it as the tree that represented love, hope, happiness, and eternity. She personally always wanted a painting of that tree for herself and her mother always told her wonderful stories of that tree of her father and her mother.

"This tree is so beautiful." She said, amazed with the tree, taking in each and every detail of it. "The tree of love, hope, happiness, and eternity. This tree is magical." She sighed in awe.

Just then, she noticed a guy with lavender colored hair and dressed in all black, sitting right in front of the tree with Dr. Dre headphones over his ears.

She looked down at him and smiled. "Hi there."

He looked annoyed and he exhaled strong air out from his nose and then looked at her hard.

His piercing onyx eyes burned into her blue ones and suddenly she felt nervous, but since he was sitting in front of the tree painting, she couldn't help but speak to him at least. She just wanted to be polite and she wanted to make new friends since she's new to this school.

Dawn took a seat next to him and looked back at the tree again. "I know you may or may not really care, but I think that whomever sits here in front of this painting means that they carry the trees myth."

He stared at her as she said this, looking a bit confused in the face.

She looked over at him and smiled. "It's wonderful, isn't it?" She said, while he just stared at her and grunted. "Well I'm Dawn, it's nice to meet you…?"

"Paul." He answered simply as she smiled after getting a word response out of him.

Paul stared at her though and she was wondering why he was staring at her as if he were in deep thought about something. Growing slightly uncomfortable, she began to speak again.

"Well I'll see you around Paul, sorry that I bored you." She nodded briefly as she got up from the bench and walked away.

For some reason, he really made her nervous in a way and there was just something about his piercing onyx eyes that really made her feel some kind of way.

She had to say he was really attractive looking in the face, but he also looked so… intimidating.

"He was very intimidating…" She laughed lightly, causing some people to laugh with her too. "He had always been intimidating, even when I was with him." She smiled again as she said this and laughed lightly again. "At first, he really couldn't stand me because he didn't like the fact that I was a Blue Diamond."

"We stand, we stand, we can't stand to fall down. (Don't pull me under.)"

Dawn stared at the intimidating boy she met just two weeks ago sitting alone at his lunch table again. Why was he always alone and listening to music all the time? Didn't he have friends? She remembered seeing a green haired boy that was apparently named Drew sit with him sometimes, but most of the time Paul was always to himself.

Her Blue Diamond friends were always saying that he was a goth kind of guy, emo and he likes to cut himself, they even said that he's a freak and is sort of crazy minded in the head. But Dawn kept thinking otherwise. She assumed her friends liked to pick on him just because he was different and misunderstood.

Just by looking at him, she could tell he wasn't any of those things. She knew deep down he was probably a good guy and they were just judging him because of what he wears.

"I'll be right back," she mumbled, getting up from her table.

Her Blue Diamond friends looked at her for a moment and Dawn bluntly walked over to Paul's table, not caring about what her friends thought of her going to talk to him.

She stood behind him, seeing that he was obviously into his music. Dawn didn't want to interrupt him from enjoying his music, but then again she wanted to speak to him, so she had to do something.

A thought soon came into her mind and she smiled brightly. Boldly, she pulled his headphones down to his neck and he instantly got upset.

She giggled lightly, taking a seat by him. "Sorry for interrupting your music," She just couldn't help herself.

Paul hardened his eyes on her.

"I notice you're always sitting here by yourself," she started, curious about him. "How come?"

"Because I fucking feel like it," he growled. She gave him a look of surprise. Was he really that annoyed that she interrupted him from listening to his music? It's really not that serious.

Dawn frowned slightly, pulling a strand of blue hair behind her ear. "I was just—"

"Look, if you're here to mess with me, I don't have the time for it." He warned. Dawn looked at him, a bit confused with his assumption. She stared into his onyx eyes, feeling the unwanted tension forming between them.

"I don't know what you're talking about…" she trailed, a bit frightened. Why was he so intimidating? And why was his voice so deep and scary?

Paul scoffed, tearing his eyes off of her. "I'm not stupid," he said. "Your fucking dance friends are always trying something new. I think I'm smart enough to know that once they get a new member on the team, obviously they're going to send that girl to me to try and fuck with my mind."

"They do that to you?" She sounded surprised and he raised his eyebrow.

"You really didn't know that?" he looked at her, a bit surprised too. "I'm sure they've mentioned me to you plenty of times."

Dawn frowned slightly and Paul rolled his eyes, in no mood to continue talking with her.

"Well, they always tell me that you're different and they're always saying some mean things about you."

Paul shrugged, tearing his eyes off of her. "Words doesn't hurt me, darling."

"Then what does?"

Paul licked his lips slowly and turned to look at her again. "I don't share my personal business with just anyone."

Dawn stared into his eyes as he said this, now becoming slightly intimidated by him again.

"You should go back to your little dance friends." He told her.

She opened her mouth to speak, "But, I just thought—"

"I said go back to your friends." He repeated himself, saying it again with venom.

Dawn felt a chill run down her spine as he said this and she nodded nervously, slowly getting up from her seat.

It was understandable why he didn't like her much since she was a Blue Diamond, but what he didn't know is that she isn't like her friends and she would never be like them.

"It took me a while to prove to him that I wasn't like my friends. It was like he wasn't convinced, but then he began to open up to me and became really comfortable with me. That's when I knew that he wasn't like any of the rumors I heard about him. He was just a misunderstood guy."

She felt tears form in her eyes again, but she blinked them back again. She needed to hurry up and finish this speech.

"Um…" Dawn slowly looked down at her hand and stared at her engagement ring and promise ring. She nearly felt herself breaking just by looking at it, but she remained calm.

"Paul was going to propose to me," she mumbled, raising her hand up to show everyone her rings.

Loud gasps was all she could hear.

"He was?" Her mother choked out, shocked to see the ring herself.

Dawn never really gotten the chance to show her mom the rings since Paul's death, but that was only because she was so emotional.

"What do we do when we're out of control?"

"Yeah…" Dawn trailed off, placing her hand down on the podium and looked down at the rings. "He was going to propose to me the night of Prom, but I… I ruined everything…"

"You didn't do anything wrong." Ash disagreed.

Dawn sighed again and looked into Ash's eyes. "Paul was so obsessed with me possibly having feelings for you Ash. That's exactly why he did what he did, to get back at me…"

"But you don't have feelings for me Dawn," he told her.

The Blue Diamond blinked, not sure with that comment. Her frown deepened and she looked down, though they were still slow dancing to the song.

The basketball player raised his eyebrow when she didn't say anything. "Right?"

Dawn shook her head as she did her best to focus on Ash's shoulder. Why was Ash asking these things? Yeah, she already kissed Ash to try and see if she actually had feelings for him at the time, but now she wasn't so sure now.

Paul was right. Ash has always been the good guy, always did and says all the right things.

Just now she was beginning to realize that maybe she did have feelings for Ash, feelings she wasn't even sure of until now.

The Blue Diamond slowly looked up at Ash and Ash raised his eyebrow, noticing that she looked like she was about to cry.

Dawn shook her head and immediately she pressed her lips onto Ash's without thinking.

"Paul kept thinking I had feelings for Ash and I was just confused… I don't know what I was feeling…" She mumbled, now looking up towards the audience again.

"My hands are woooorrrn, my heart is tooorn. We stand, we stand, we can't stand to fall down (Here comes another).

"But after I found this ring on that floor along with those flowers, I knew I screwed up, I just knew that Paul saw what happened…"

"You were going to propose?"

"You don't deserve to get fucking proposed to."

"I felt like a hypocrite and I still do. All this time he believed I had feelings for Ash and the first thing I do is kiss him… I did kiss him once before but that's a long story…" She shook her head, looking towards her rings again. "But I knew exactly how Paul was feeling. All this time I deny my feelings for Ash and then the next thing I do is kiss him and to make matters worse, Paul even saw it…"

"You ripped my HEART OUT."

"The way he sounded on the phone…" Dawn's lips began to tremble as tears now left her face, remembering that night.

"I didn't mean to kiss Ash, I don't know what I was thinking…"

"Bullshit," he retorted back. "You knew what the fuck you was thinking. You knew what you wanted all along!"

"He sounded so angry and hurt, it really made me feel horrible." She whispered, tears falling from her eyes.

"We stand, we stand, we can't stand to fall down. (It pulls me under)"

The Blue Diamond was trembling as she struggled to continue with her story. Remembering that night was making her feel uneasy and she wasn't sure of what was going to happen next.

"What, so you think it's okay to fucking use me whenever the fuck you want? I should've listened to my instincts all along. Fucking Blue Diamonds… All the fucking same."

"I never used you Paul! I love you, I swear I do! I never betrayed you!"

"LIAR!"

"I just… I didn't know what I was thinking when I kissed Ash… I honestly wished I never kissed him at all." Dawn whispered, slowly wiping the tears that were running down her cheeks.

"You're such a fucking liar." He chuckled. "It's hilarious, actually."

"I'm sorry, Paul…"

"You made a promise remember? That you would never leave me."

"I did make that promise one night during a Spring Break party… but then things started changing." She frowned, looking down at her hand again.

"I know…" She trailed off. "And I didn't mean to break that promise. But I just needed space… I didn't think it would lead down to this…"

"You knew what was coming," he growled. "You had it all planned out. Join the dance team and take advantage of me just like your little dance friends."

"I never took advantage of you! I was never like them, you know that!"

"I guess I broke his heart that much that he actually believed I was vicious just like my old dance friends… but I never planned on breaking his heart… that was never my intention…" She whispered, looking toward the audience again.

"It was just a fucking kiss!" She screamed. "I didn't fucking have sex with him just like how you did with Giselle!"

"Paul did do much worse than what I did. He slept with Giselle… since you guys already heard that part from a couple minutes ago… but yeah, he did much worse, so I felt like he was overacting a bit much over just one little kiss with Ash." She frowned again.

"Yeah, I admit that I never exactly trusted you, but that was because you gave me no choice. You kept proving each and every day how much your feelings for Ash are real—"

"But he isn't you! He isn't the one that I love!"

"He just didn't believe me." Dawn cried, her voice sounding a bit off since she was crying again. "He kept second guessing my feelings for him and it was really hurting me."

"Is there anything else you want to do to me?" he asked. "You already ripped my heart out, so are you going to run away with it now?"

"That's not what I meant to do," she cried.

"Oh no, that's exactly what you meant to do."

"That was true though… I never meant to hurt him in any way… at first I did when I found out he was sleeping with Giselle… but that was before Prom night. I wasn't thinking Prom night…" she admitted, looking down at the podium again.

"Don't pull me under…"

"I actually really wasn't planning to hurt him that night… as a matter of fact, I didn't even think he was going to attend Prom after I told him I wouldn't go with him."

"Paul, why are you doing this? I thought we were that couple that fights through it all. I thought we could handle anything that comes our way."

"Yeah, well I can't." He decided, feeling his heart aching in pain still. "I opened up a part of me to you, something I never did with anyone and this is how you repay me?"

"But then he came and… I ruined everything…" She turned her head slowly to look at his closed casket again.

"I hate you," he said angrily.

"You don't mean that…"

"Oh, I do. You're just another worthless girl to me."

"But, Paul—"

"NO!" he growled. "You don't get to feel sad, I do."

"But I love you." She said, her words shaking.

"You don't know what love is,"

Dawn stared at Paul's casket for a short moment and then slowly turned her head toward the audience again, wiping the tears that were running down her cheeks again. "He really believed that I had feelings for Ash… I mean… I don't blame him." She frowned again.

"I fell in love with you, Paul. You made me realize what love is like, not Ash."

"Bullshit,"

"Why don't you believe me?" She asked, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Because you're a compulsive liar!" He shouted again.

"But I never lied about loving you, Paul! I always loved you, I will always love you! You're the one I want to be with, not Ash!"

"Just quit lying to yourself…" He trailed off.

"But, I'm not lying…"

"I wasn't lying." She whispered. "I loved him and I still love him. I don't think I will ever stop loving him, to be completely honest…"

"Believe whatever you want. I'm not sticking around putting up with your bullshit anymore." He decided.

"You're letting me go?"

"I can't take it anymore," he groaned.

"No." She said. "No, you can't do this to me Paul, you just can't…"

A silence fell between them and then suddenly he spoke again. "I love you," he said finally, "I'm sorry I couldn't make you happy."

"The last thing he told me was 'I love you.' And 'I'm sorry I couldn't make you happy'…" Tears began to form in her eyes again as she remembered what happened next. "And then right after that, all of a sudden… I heard a gun going off…"

BOOM.

Dawn stood there with her phone pressed up to her ear. Her eyes widened as she heard the loud sound occur through the phone and into the air.

The bang of gun fire echoed throughout the street and Dawn could hear it from a mile away.

"Paul?"

There was no answer, the line immediately cut off.

Dawn pulled the phone down and stared at it, her mouth wide open.

"Everything started spinning after that." Dawn whispered, looking at the grass for a moment as she remembered how she was that night of his death.

"I won't stay here suspended forever. I must be on my way…"

"Paul!" She shrieked. She painfully slammed her hand on one of the medics to get them out of the way.

A pair of hands held her back, trying to control her temper since she was screaming in fear.

All she saw was a small dark red hole evident on his forehead, blood seeping from it and from the back of his head. Paul's eyes were closed and he was lying there looking dead.

"PAUL!" She screamed again.

She felt people grabbing her, trying to calm her down but all she could think about was the love of her life dying right before her.

"PAUL!"

Dawn threw punches at the medics and the other people grabbing her. She just wanted to get to Paul and get to a hospital as soon as possible.

"PAUL!"

Why wasn't they letting her touch him?

"PAUL!" She sobbed uncontrollably.

As these flashbacks occurred into her brain, tears came pouring down like there was no tomorrow. She sobbed silently to herself and closed her eyes shut, her hands closing on the edges of the podium as she remembered that horrifying night and how she saw him.

"We stand, we stand, we can't stand to fall down. (It pulls me under)"

Reggie immediately wrapped his arms around Dawn and pulled her into a hug, he buried her face into his chest as she sobbed in his chest, crying silently.

It pained her to talk about that night or even about Paul, especially on the day of his funeral.

It was just a week ago she last spoke to him, a week ago she last seen him, and now he's gone forever and never coming back…

The preacher looked at them and frowned before stepping onto the podium and standing in front of everyone.

Dawn continued to cry into Reggie's chest and he kept his arm around her, with her mother standing right next to him as well.

"I just want to say thank you to everybody who spoke today. With your words, you honor this man who honored this great country of ours and I'm sure he appreciates everything that was said right here." The preacher nodded his head, looking over at Paul's casket again. "And now a small choir is here to sing us a song that may mean a lot to some of you."

The preacher slowly got off the podium and waited for the small choir to stand in front of the audience.

A group of four guys stood in front of the podium, all dressed up in black suits and ties, and they all looked black, two of them were light skin and two of them were dark skin. Dawn slowly moved her head from Reggie's chest to look at the choir. Reggie pulled back and looked down at her, whispering "let's go sit down,". She nodded her head briefly and he took her to her seat, with her mother following behind.

"Hello everyone." One of the guys said. He was short and very handsome looking in the face. He was light skin and he almost looked sort of like Michael Ealy with the same colored eyes as him as well.

One of the other guys looked sort of like Shemar Moore and the other two looked like proper church guys. Dawn stared at them though. They were all very attractive looking and they all looked grown.

"We sing at one of the choirs at a church here in Veilstone City." The short guy said.

Dawn turned her head towards the piano which was sitting right next to Paul's casket. She hadn't noticed the piano at first because she was so busy worrying about his casket, but she noticed a piano and one of the guys sitting behind it. She assumed the man sitting at the piano was going to play while the choir sang a song.

"And we will be singing… well we'll let you guys guess what song it is. I'm sure all of you heard this song before." The short man turned around and got in between the other four guys.

Dawn sat up in her seat and wiped the tears that were on her face.

"Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby…"

She furrowed her eyebrows together when she heard the pianist beginning to play the piano and the beat sounded all too familiar. It sounded like the same song that was played at one of her aunts wedding's. Was it All My Life by KC and Jojo?

Gasps came from the audience when they recognized the song as well.

"Oh my gosh I love this song…" Maylene trailed off.

"What ya'll know about KC and Jojo?" One of the choir guys commented as the pianist continued playing the beat.

Dawn giggled lightly and smiled brightly. That song is and will always be beautiful. It always made her cry too because it was about being in love and that's how she felt with Paul. If Paul never died and he and her got married, she would've wanted that song to play at their wedding.

"I will never find another lover sweeter than you, sweeter than you."

The way the choir sang was so beautiful. They most definitely sounded like one of the church choirs for sure.

"And I will never find another lover more precious than you, more precious than you. Girl you are close to me you're like my mother, close to me you're like my father, close to me you're like my sister, close to me you're like my brother. You are the only one my everything and for you this song I sing and all my life, I've prayed for someone like you."

Suddenly, some of the people sitting began to sing the song with the choir, along with her mother and even Reggie and her friends. Dawn smiled, feeling tears going in her eyes again.

"And I thank God that I, that I finally found you. All my life, I've prayed for someone like you. And I hope that you feel the same way too."

Dawn smiled and began to sing with everyone too. The song was so beautiful.

"Yes, I pray that you do love me too."

Three of the guys began to sing the background part while the short guy continued to sing the next part. "I said you're all that I'm thinking of… baby."

All the guys began to sing together again. "Said, I promise to never fall in love with a stranger. You're all I'm thinking of, I praise the lord above for sending me your love, I cherish every hug. I really loveeee youuu."

"And all my life.."

"Baby, baby,"

"I've prayed for someone like you. And I thank God that I, that I finally found you. All my life, I've prayed for someone like you and I hope that you feel the same way too. Yes, I pray that you do love me—You're all that I ever known, when you smile on my face, all I see is a glow. You turned my life around, you picked me up when I was down. You're all that I ever known, when you smile on your face, all I see is a glow. You picked me up when I was down. You're all that I ever known, when you smile on your face, all I see is a glow. You picked me up when I was down and I hope that you feel the same way too. Yes, I pray that you do love me too."

"All my life, I've prayed for someone like you…" Dawn sang, tears filling in her eyes as she thought of Paul.

"And I thank God that I, that I finally found you. All my life, I've prayed for someone like you. Yes, I pray that you do love me too…. All my life, I've prayed for someone like you. And I thank God that I, that I finally found you."

The pianist suddenly stopped playing and looked up at the audience singing with the choir.

"All my life, I've prayed for someone like you. Yes, I pray that you do love me too…"

The audience began to quiet down as the choir continued to sing the last part of the song.

Tears began to fall from Dawn's eyes as she stared at the choir.

"All my life, I've prayed for someone like you and I thank God that I, that I finally found you… All my life, I've prayed for someone like you. Yes, I pray that you do love me too… All my life…"

When the choir finished, they received a gigantic round of applause and Dawn nearly felt her heart melt. Instantly she clapped along with the audience. The song was perfect for his funeral and she suddenly felt a little better, especially after hearing that song. That song always made her emotional, in a good way, and it was so beautiful.

The short man smiled. "This song is dedicated to Paul and to the girl that loved him so much," he pointed his hand at Dawn and Dawn's eyes slightly widened. "Dawn."

"Thank you," she whispered, slowly getting up to give the guys a big hug.

That song dedicated to her and Paul…

All her life, she did pray for someone like Paul. She prayed for someone to love her and cherish her and she got her wish. He really did loved her and he always will even through death.

By this, she silently thanked God for giving her someone like him in her life. Though he is gone now, she knew that he will always love her and he will always live in her heart.

---

Everyone left the funeral service and it was just her and Reggie, Maylene and her mother. She watched Paul's casket getting buried into the ground and just by watching it, she nearly felt her heart shattering into millions of pieces.

He was really dead… She still couldn't believe it…

"Reggie, I need to ask you something," she mumbled as she watched his casket getting buried into the ground.

"What's up?" he asked, watching the casket getting buried into the ground as well.

Dawn narrowed her eyes at Reggie and grabbed him, pulling him away from Maylene and her mother just so she can talk to him by herself. Reggie looked down at her and raised his eyebrow.

She folded her arms and looked behind him, staring at the people burying Paul's casket. "At the hospital, you mentioned something about a guy named Trip… you said Paul stole from him or something like that… I was just wondering if this Trip guy is responsible for what happened to Paul?"

He stared at her for a short moment and then looked down, frowning. "Yeah, he's responsible for it."

"Who is he?" she wondered.

"His name is Trip Stonem. He was me and Paul's drug dealer." Reggie felt his fist clenching just talking about him. "He said Paul stole his money and his gun."

"Paul had a gun?" She said in shock, a bit confused of why he would want a gun in the first place.

"Yeah, apparently he did… but Paul stole from him and Trip barged into my house, threatening to shoot me and Maylene if we don't tell him where Paul was the night of Prom."

"So you had no other choice but to tell him…" Dawn trailed off, now looking down toward Reggie's suit.

"I called Paul and I told him to stay away from the Prom, so he can be safe."

"I was on the phone with him too," Dawn recalled. "He did pause on the line for a moment. I assume he was on the phone with you?"

"Maybe," Reggie shrugged. "I tried to warn him."

"I don't think he was too focused on Trip when you called him, to be honest…" She frowned, remembering that he was more focused on how she broke his heart.

"Yeah…" Reggie trailed off.

"Where can I find Trip?" She asked, curious.

He stared at her and raised an eyebrow again. "Why?"

"I think I deserve to meet the person that killed my supposed to be fiancé."

"I think it's best if you don't…" he sighed.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because you might want to do something crazy to him, I don't know… you really wouldn't want to meet him. As a matter of fact, I won't even let you get around him because I know that he's dangerous."

"I'm not afraid of anybody." Dawn pointed out.

"It doesn't matter. He killed Paul and I don't want you to ever meet this guy."

"Can I at least know what he looks like?"

"No," Reggie said. "I'm serious Dawn, you don't need to know who he is or what he looks like. You already know his name and that's all you're gonna know."

She frowned again, "But why?"

"I just lost my brother, Dawn. I'm not putting your life at risk either."

"What makes you think he's going to hurt me?" She wondered.

"Once he finds out you were his girlfriend or involved with Paul in any type of way, he's going to get rid of you too. I just know it. He's going to cover up his tracks and I know he's coming after me and Maylene next."

"But why would he come after you and Maylene?"

"Because he knows that we know he killed Paul and he's going to try and get us. But I got a plan anyway."

"What plan?" Dawn wondered.

"It doesn't concern you. But really Dawn, you don't need to know him. Alright?"

"Okay…" Dawn frowned, looking up at him. "Reggie?"

"What?"

"I was serious about what I said earlier… I can't lose you either…"

"You won't, I promise." He pulled her by the head and into a hug again, her head leaning against his chest since he was so tall.

She kept listening to these men throwing dirt onto Paul's casket, burying him into the ground.

As Reggie pulled away from the hug, he looked over at the guys burying his brother and he sighed, looking over at Dawn. "We should go."

She slowly looked over at Reggie and then looked over at the guys burying Paul. "I want to say goodbye first." She said.

"But you already said goodbye," he recalled.

"Not really," she frowned, "I was sharing my moments I had with him, but I never got the chance to say bye."

He stared at her for a short while and then sighed lightly. "Okay. Your mother, Maylene and I are going to be in the taxi."

"Alright," she whispered. She watched as Reggie left with Maylene and her mother and she slowly turned her head towards the guys that were burying Paul. They were almost done filling it up all the way to the top too.

I can't believe he's really gone… She thought.

Dawn waited for the guys to finish burying him and once they did, they looked at her and she told him that she wanted to say bye before she leaves, so they left her alone to do so.

Slowly, she took a step closer to where they buried Paul. It was all covered in dark brown dirt, but she knew he was deep in the ground, lying in his casket.

Suddenly, tears began to fill in her eyes again, but she instantly blinked them back.

"H-hey Paul." She said nervously, her lips now trembling as she tried to control yourself. "I know you probably don't hear me, but I just wanted to say that I'm so, so sorry…" She said, her voice shaking.

"I know that I made a huge mistake by kissing Ash, but I didn't think I was going to lose you… at least not this way…" Dawn looked down, she could feel the air hitting her face and she heard light thunder boom through the sky.

It was going to rain very soon, she assumed.

"I'm sorry for breaking your heart and breaking that promise. I just… we both did some terrible things to each other. I felt like… we could've found our way back to each other… you know…?" She stared at the ground, hoping for an answer. But she didn't get a response.

"But there's one thing that I want you to know for sure. I never loved him, Paul." She said, completely sure with her statement. "I always loved you and I will always love you." She promised.

She slowly looked down at her hand and stared at her rings again, smiling softly. "In case you were wondering, I would've said yes if you proposed to me…" she trailed off, looking toward the ground again. "And I loved the rings. They are so beautiful and I will wear them every single day till the day I die and I am with you again… I just hope I don't gain weight." She forced a laugh. She didn't want to gain weight and not fit her rings anymore.

"Anyway… though I basically screwed things up, I still feel like I'm engaged to you." She whispered. "I love you and you're the only person I want to marry, Paul. You're the only person I wanted to have a family with…" Dawn frowned again as she realized that she's not going to have the family she wanted. "I sort of wish you got me pregnant… so that way I can still have a mini you with me… but I guess that's not going to happen…"

It sucked knowing that she couldn't have things now and it just dawned on her that everything she wanted with him is never going to happen because he's dead.

Dawn inhaled a shaky breath, tears falling from her eyes and down her cheeks. "U-um," her voice shook. "I promise I will visit you here sometimes, but… I need time to heal. I'm sure I'm going to need a lot of time to heal, actually…" She frowned even more. "I love you, Paul…" she sniffed.

Thunder boomed through the sky once again and suddenly she felt rain drops fall on her and she slowly looked up at the sky and then looked back down toward the ground where Paul was just buried.

"I won't ever forget you." She whispered. "I will always keep this ring on, I promise." This time, she wouldn't break her promise. She wouldn't even dare.

Suddenly, it began to rain hard and it startled her a bit. Dawn closed her arms over her chest, her eyes squinting and she frowned again. "Goodbye Paul…" A tear rolled down her face, but it was mixed in between the rain drops.

Thunder boomed through the sky again and this time Dawn ran towards the taxi that was waiting for her.

---

One month later.

The night of Graduation.

Apparently the Graduation took place at the Metlife Football Stadium within the city and the ceremony starts at 8 pm. Rumors are that after the Seniors graduate, the city Giants and another football team from the Saints that lived far in the Kanto Region would be going up against the Giants, so the graduates could stay and watch the game for free.

Football season usually starts around August, but just for the celebration of the Graduates, the Giants and the Saints would be going up against each other.

Dawn personally thought the Graduation ceremony was different. She's never been to a Graduation that was held during the night time and she also never been to one at a football stadium. She even found it really cool that they could also see a game tonight.

Dawn licked her lips as she looked at all the people who came tonight. There was tons of people all over the seating rows, she couldn't even count them all if she wanted to. Some of the people attended the ceremony to see the Seniors graduate, while some only attended to see the football game after the graduation.

She told herself she wouldn't go, but then she forced herself to, only because today is the day Paul was supposed to graduate and she knew he would've wanted her to be there, so she couldn't just miss out on the night of his graduation.

Dawn wore her hair down straight with a simple white sun dress with roses on it. She went to graduation with Reggie and Maylene and apparently Reggie said they are having a memorial presentation for Paul after everyone receives their diploma.

It seemed like hours for everyone to receive their diploma, and Dawn was waiting for Paul's memorial presentation to start.

She had been staring at his empty seat in between the Graduates for a long time. The Class of 2015 was huge, she assumed there must have been at least 600 students graduating that day, but Paul was the only one missing since his seat was empty.

Dawn frowned again, turning her attention onto the Principal who cleared his throat after all the Graduates received their diploma and returned to their seats.

"Congratulations, Graduates. But before anyone goes on ahead and throwing their caps into the air, we would like to take a moment to remember a student who would've graduated this year…"

Dawn's eyes lit up at the Principal, as well as Reggie and Maylene.

"Paul Sumpter." The principal stood back and suddenly everything got dark inside the stadium and a bright light shown on the football field. Referee's was dragging a large white board on a flat cart, large enough for everybody to see and placed it right in front of all the Graduates. It was about a couple feet away from the graduates, but it was still in front of them. The light fixed onto the large white board and suddenly the football stadium began to get quiet.

Low music began playing from the presentation.

All the graduates got quiet and Dawn gasped lightly, seeing a giant picture of Paul sitting down with his hands in his pockets. He was sitting down in front of his building on one of the benches and he looked like he was scowling, but he wasn't, that was his usual face.

"There is a house built out of stone…"

The picture faded away after five seconds and another picture came up. It was a picture of Paul checking himself out in the mirror, dressed up all nice. Dawn smiled, liking that picture a lot. She never knew that Paul liked to check himself out, but then again who doesn't like checking themselves out?

"Wooden floors, walls and window sills…"

That picture soon faded and another came up. This one was of him and Reggie. Paul was glaring at Reggie as if he was annoyed about something and Reggie had been holding one of the couch pillows and looked like he was laughing. They were both sitting on the couch in the picture and Dawn was wondering who had took the pic because she hadn't remembered taking a picture of them together on the couch, but then she wondered if Maylene took the picture.

"This is a place where I don't feel alone."

"Did you put these pictures together?" She whispered, turning her head towards Reggie.

"Yeah, I even put some of you and him on there."

"Really?" She seemed surprised and then a small smile formed on her lips. As she turned her head back to the presentation, she suddenly saw a picture of her and Paul together and this almost made her heart melt.

It was a picture of him staring at her like he was in love. She in the kitchen, holding a cup with a spoon in her mouth and a small smile on her face while Paul stood next to her, leaning against the fridge and looking at her. The way he was looking at her in the picture really made her heart melt. He was looking at her like she was the only thing important to him and he looked so in love and just by looking at that photo, she felt tears forming in her eyes.

"This is a place where I feel at home."

She could remember that day like it was no tomorrow. That was one of the nights she was sleeping over Paul's house and Reggie wanted to take pictures just because. Paul always refused to take pictures, but she didn't remember Reggie taking a photo of them that time in the kitchen. He must have caught them off guard or something.

"Did you take that picture without us noticing?" She whispered.

"Yup," Reggie smiled. "I really liked the way Paul was looking at you in the kitchen, so I just had to get a picture of it."

Dawn smiled softly and looked at the presentation again.

"I could tell that he really, really loved you, especially with how he was looking at you that day."

That picture suddenly faded away and another picture came up. It was a picture of him taking a selfie of himself in the bathroom. He was serious and he had his phone pointing toward the mirror, taking a mirror shot of him with his hand shoved in his pants. He looked so serious, but she smiled. He never really took selfies anyway.

That picture faded and another one came up. This one was a picture of her in the bed with Paul, but in the picture she looked like she was kicking Paul and Dawn instantly remembered she was fighting with him that day.

Dawn giggled lightly at that picture. "I remember when I kicked him off the bed that day," she laughed again.

"That was hilarious and he was pissed off too." Reggie laughed, remembering that day as well.

When that picture faded, another picture came up and some people gasped in awe, saying things like "aww" at the picture. Dawn felt tears forming in her eyes at the picture that came up now, it was a beautiful picture of her and Paul kissing at a bonfire. Her hair was very curly that night and he was wearing a white shirt in the photo.

She smiled warmly, remembering that night as well. They shared so many romantic moments together, romantic moments that she wished she could live again.

Dawn briefly closed her eyes as she remembered all the times their lips touched and each time they touched, she always felt that spark, that excitement that you feel whenever you kiss someone.

When she opened her eyes, she saw another picture and this time it was a picture of him smiling, something he rarely does. He didn't look like the Paul she knew all this time, he looked different and he looked very happy. Dawn smiled at this. "I never seen a picture of him smiling before."

"Yeah me too," Reggie recalled. "He was really happy that day because he got a new car."

"Was it the Mercedes Benz one?"

Reggie nodded. "Yeah, the one I got parked by my apartment."

Dawn frowned again, knowing that Paul would never be able to drive his car again.

"Do you have the keys to his car?"

"Yeah, it's in the house." He mumbled. "Why, do you want it?"

Dawn thought for a moment, wondering if she did want his car. "No, you can keep it. I'm sure you need it more than I do."

"And IIIIII built a home for you, for me…"

She slowly turned her head back to the presentation and saw a picture of him dressed up very nice in a red wine tuxedo and his dress up shirt was black. His hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and he almost looked like that one guy from that Selena movie with Jennifer Lopez, the guy who played Chris Perez. Dawn blushed lightly, he looked extremely handsome, but she was also curious about why he looked so dressed up in the first place and why it looked like a picture of him from nowadays…

Dawn slowly opened her mouth to speak, "Reggie, when did you take this picture of him?" She wondered.

"It was the night of Prom…" Reggie trailed off.

By this, Dawn didn't know what to say. He looked like that for Prom? And he was going to go see her that night… and propose to her too…

She frowned again, staring at the picture of him and how he looked. "He looked so handsome…" She whispered.

"He was really determined to win you back that night," Reggie assured her, his eyes still on the picture too.

She bit down on her lower lip and stared at the picture for a little longer before it slowly faded away.

A couple more pictures was shown and each picture that was displayed on the board, Dawn felt tears forming in her eyes.

But then suddenly as the last photo faded away, a video began playing on the white board.

"Held on as tightly as you held onto me…"

Dawn gasped. "Reggie…"

Her eyes lit up. It was a video of him and her dancing together. It was the dance he did with her at her audition… the same zouk dance she's practiced with him for a long time…

"Held on as tightly as you held onto me…"

Tears filled in her eyes as she watched the video. They once practiced in the living room at his place and she filmed the video just to see what it'd look like. What surprised her is that she didn't even know that Reggie even had that video.

"I thought the dance was beautiful so I wanted to share it. I hope you don't mind," he said.

She shook her head, tears falling from her eyes. "I don't," she said, her voice shaking.

The way he was looking at her and dancing with her made her feel very emotional on the inside. She can remember that dance like it was yesterday… The way he held her, the way he moved with her, the way he looked at her…

Dawn smiled softly as she watched their dance. She looked so happy and so in love just like him.

"You dance beautifully, Dawn." Maylene commented. She was sitting on the other side of Reggie and she smiled at her.

"Thank you," Dawn whispered, slowly narrowing her eyes back onto the video.

She looked so relaxed in his arms as he whirled her around with the music. The music she originally used during that dance was It Won't Stop by Sevyn Streeter ft. Chris Brown, but Reggie played another song over the presentation, so it blocked out the original song. Judging from the song that had been playing instead sounded really beautiful and it surprisingly went well with their dance. To her, it also made the dance seem more emotional.

She had her eyes closed when he moved with her and she suddenly began to do strong movements.

Dawn smiled at this, watching Paul this time. He was doing everything so well, mimicking her dance moves.

She could tell her body tensed up when he grabbed her from her waist and began to twirl her around.

"And IIIII built a home for you… for me…"

The tension in the video they had together seemed so intense and so sexual, but also so loveable. They did whatever flowed with the song and whatever felt right.

Dawn felt that just by looking at their dance, they can tell a beautiful story, and that's exactly what it looked like. It looked like a fairytale.

She smiled softly. He seemed so focused and calm and she loved that a lot, she loved that she was able to see the good in him.

In the video, she saw her moving him back against the wall with her fists, dancing with it.

"Untillll it disappeared from me… from you…"

Tears slowly filled her eyes again as she continued to watch their dance together. She hadn't realized how beautiful their dance was until now. It looked perfect and it most definitely needed to be shown to lots of people.

"And nowwww… it's time… to leeeeeeeeaaaaaaaave and turn… to dust…"

She inhaled a shaky breath as she wiped the tears that was sliding down her cheeks, looking at the video again.

The song now went to instrumental and this time in the video, she saw Paul push her down to the floor on her back and he got down on the floor with her, diving the bottom part of his body in between her legs.

People made slight gasps like "Oooh," and even some whistled. She giggled lightly at this, not too surprised that people even reacted like that after seeing that part of the dance.

Dawn slowly looked at the video again.

He bent down on his left knee and had his right leg up with her sitting on it, her back facing him. They mimicked a heartbeat and she smiled warmly again. He always took her breath away, especially with that dance.

The song sounded like it was coming close to an end and they separated, Dawn walking to one side of the living room and Paul walking toward the other.

The song that was playing on the presentation still played though and in the video, Dawn turned around to look at Paul and she smiled brightly at him.

Dawn smiled again at this.

She walked up to Paul and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him on the lips.

Dawn tore her eyes off the video, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Awww," many people said, but Dawn inhaled a shaky breath of air and slowly narrowed her eyes back onto the video of them, seeing that it slowly faded into a black screen.

At the end of the presentation, the words "In loving memory of Paul Sumpter. 1996-2015" appeared on the screen in large white font.

When the presentation ended, the principal stood in front of the microphone as the referee's now began to take the white board away from the field on a flat cart.

"Before I go on, I first would like to say that I'm sorry for the ones who lost this young man. It would've been nice to see him walk across the stage, but I'm sorry that he didn't get to." He looked down at his hands, holding a cap and a gown along with his diploma. The principal raised the cap and gown up for everyone to see, along with the diploma. "We kept his graduation attire and his diploma. Can a family of his please come down to receive his cap and gown, along with his diploma?"

Reggie slowly got up from his seat and began to head toward the field.

Dawn smiled softly as she watched Reggie and she looked at Paul's cap and gown and his diploma in the principal's hands. His cap and gown was beautiful, in bright blue. But it pained her to know that she wouldn't be able to see him in his cap and gown and holding his diploma.

She frowned again and looked down.

It had only been a month and a week since his death and it felt like it's been years since he's been gone.

She missed him so, so much…

Dawn slowly turned her head to Maylene and thought for a brief moment.

Reggie didn't want her to meet Trip, Paul's killer, but she really wanted to meet Trip, she really wanted to see the face of Paul's killer.

He told her he doesn't want her to get involved, but she felt really broken and she found it unfair that Trip can live peacefully after killing Paul.

"Maylene," she whispered, getting up to take a seat next to her.

Maylene looked at her with concern, lowering her voice too. "Yeah?"

"You know Trip, right?"

The girl blinked, a bit surprised that Dawn would even mention him or even knew about him. "Yeah…" she trailed of. "Why?"

"Reggie told me that Trip was Paul's drug dealer… did he have a store or something?"

Maylene frowned softly. "I'm not supposed to tell you…"

"Please?" Dawn frowned too. "I can't live without knowing who this guy is Maylene… he killed Paul…"

"I know," Maylene whispered. "But it can be really dangerous. Trip could hurt you just like how he hurt Paul."

"I won't let that happen." Dawn promised. "I just really need to meet him."

Maylene stared at her for a long moment and her frown deepened. "Are you going to try anything stupid?"

"I'm not sure…" Dawn trailed off.

"Dawn," Maylene said, now serious.

Dawn shook her head, "I don't know… I won't try anything crazy… at least not yet…"

"Dawn," Maylene said again.

The Blue Diamond sighed again. "Please, Maylene? I'm begging you."

Maylene let out a soft sigh. "Fine…"

Dawn looked at her, now hopeful.

"You know that tobacco store that it just a few blocks down from Reggie's place?"

Dawn nodded her head.

"He works there."

"Is it going to be open tonight?" Dawn asked, curious.

"Yeah, but it closes at 1 am."

The Blue Diamond pulled out her phone to check what time it was, it was currently going on 9 pm, so she assumed she had enough to time to go to the Tobacco store that night.

"You're not leaving now, are you?" Maylene asked, raising her eyebrow.

Dawn shook her head. "No, but I will, maybe at 10:30."

"Well you better be careful, okay?" Maylene said.

"I will."

---

The football game started about an hour ago and people were already going crazy over the Giants and the Saints. But Dawn sighed as she sat in her seat, looking over at Reggie and Maylene. Reggie looked like he was healing slowly from Paul's death.

Though it had only really been a month since his death, Dawn still didn't understand how Reggie looked like he was healing. It was taking her a long time to heal. She still felt broken and she felt like she was missing a part of her.

It was currently 10:25 and Dawn had been eyeing the time on her phone since the game started. Tonight, she was going to meet Trip, the asshole who took Paul away from her.

She didn't know what she was going to do when she sees him, but she knew at the moment that she wanted to meet him and see who this guy is.

In her mind, she wanted to get him sent to jail, but then another part of her mind wanted to kill him. Either way, she wanted to get him right then and there, but she promised Maylene she wouldn't do anything crazy, at least not yet.

Dawn sighed as she slowly got up, turning her body to Reggie and Maylene. She cleared her throat and the two looked her way.

"I'm going back home. My mom and I are packing tomorrow and I want to get some rest tonight."

That part was true though, about the packing. Her mother had organized a trip to the Unova region for summer break and they were going to leave the day after tomorrow. But Dawn wasn't going home too soon though, she wanted to meet Trip first before she goes home.

"You're going to stop by my place before you leave to Unova right?" Reggie raised his eyebrow.

Dawn smiled at him. "Of course," she said.

"Alright," he got up to give her a hug and she gave him a hug too.

Maylene was next to give her a hug and once she gave her a hug, Maylene whispered in Dawn's ear. "You better go home after meeting him. I'm going to text you."

When Maylene pulled away from the hug, Dawn looked at her and Maylene stared back at her with a serious look. Dawn nodded her head at Maylene and looked at Reggie. "Bye," she whispered.

She turned her body and began to leave out of there.

It took about fifteen minutes to officially get out of the stadium and it felt like forever for her. But as soon as she made it outside, she called a taxi and gave the taxi driver the address she wanted to go to.

As she sat back in her seat, she was suddenly beginning to feel a bit nervous, but also a bit prepared to meet this guy. She honestly didn't know how she was going to react after seeing this guy face to face, but she hoped she wouldn't break the moment she meets him. Tonight wouldn't be the night to act up in any kind of way.

"Don't make a sound now, don't make a sound now. Maybe it won't find us after all…"

Twenty minutes passed and they were directly in front of the tobacco store. Dawn inhaled a shaky breath as she stared out the window, looking at the store.

"Carry… me… home…"

The taxi driver cleared his throat and Dawn tore her eyes off the window, turning her head to the taxi driver. She licked her lips and slowly handed the guy her money before getting out of the taxi.

As she got out of the taxi and got onto the sidewalk, she stared at the tobacco store in front of her, her heart beating fast.

I can't believe I actually came here tonight.

Dawn let out a nervous breath of air.

"Taken down I give into what I can't disguise… I surrender, ooooh, I surrender. Broken down, I give into what I cannot have… I surrender, oooh I surrender."

The first thing she did was fix her white sundress with red roses on it and fixed her straight hair, along with her bangs. After fixing herself, a thought came into her mind. Guys liked girls who showed their cleavage right?

Dawn personally didn't want to try and… seduce that motherfucker, but she also wanted to get her revenge somehow. Tonight wouldn't be the night, but she planned to most definitely make his jaw drop.

She brought her hand up and pulled down the front part of her dress a little, trying show more of her cleavage and get more of her breast shape a bit more revealing.

"Don't make a sound now, don't make a sound now.. Oooh I surrender, oooh I surrender. Don't make a sound now, don't make a sound now. Ooooh I surrender, ooooh I surrender."

Dawn straightened her body up and looked up at the tobacco store.

It was now or never.

Licking her lips, she pushed the doors open of the tobacco store and stepped inside.

Her eyes fell on a blonde guy who was behind the counter at the cashier and he was the only person who happened to be here at this place.

His eyes instantly fell on her and she tore her eyes off of him, trying to think of what to buy here.

She instantly grabbed one of the hookah pens she saw somewhere and then walked over to him, staring at him face to face now from across the counter.

His eyes was a pale gray color and his hair was dirty blonde. She stared at him for a short moment before taking out her money and handing it to him.

He smirked at her and took the money. "You look good," he commented.

Dawn blinked, now a bit curious if this guy is Trip. "Thanks…" she mumbled. Her eyes trailed off from his and fell on his name tag that was on his shirt.

Her breath hitched quietly at the name. It was him.

"What's your name?" he asked before handing her the hookah pen and placing the money into the cash register.

"Broken down, I give in, I give in… Ooooh I surrender, oooh I surrender…"

Dawn slowly took the hookah pen and stared at him for a short while before answering. "Gwen." She said lowly. "I'm Gwen Levine."

---

A/N: So I know all of you want to kill me since I killed Paul, but I wanted to follow Hollywood Undead's song as best as I could. Originally, I wanted to kill off Dawn, but I killed off Paul instead and I hope you guys can forgive me.

I wanted to make a sequel for this story… and my original thought for the sequel was going to be Dawn plotting her revenge against Trip. I was planning to make the sequel mainly about her… idk, its up to you guys if you want a sequel or not. But if so, I will name it My White Dahlia!

Songs used in this chapter: It Pulls Me Under by Butterfly Boucher, All My Life by KC & Jojo, To Build a Home by The Cinematic Orchestra, Surrender (Piano Version) by Digital Daggers

Well, I hoped you guys enjoyed this story! I really liked it and it excites me to know that I finally got to finish it. I'm so happy. (: Let me know all your thoughts on this chapter and this story overall! Also let me know if you guys want a sequel!