Hello! Chapter 26 is up! This story is slowing starting to come to a close. I'm starting to finish editing the remaining chapter! This is will one of the longest stories that I have written. I'm planning on writing some sort of sequel to this. It won't be up for...a while...I have to get a good storyline going, but if you have any suggestions I'm all ears. Anyways here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy! Read and Review! THANKS!

Chapter 26

"Ashley," I heard Clay call to me.

"What's up?"

"Great game out there today," he said putting his hands on his hips, "great way to end the season, eh?"

"Yeah."

"I wanted to talk to you about something. I got a letter recruiting you to play at the World Champs this year. I told them that you would play."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he said handing me the letter. My eyes scanned over the letter. "Wait I have to leave right after graduation."

"Yeah that 's the only bad problem. Ashley this isn't an opportunity that you want to miss."

"Okay, thanks Coach."

I walked back to the locker room. Worlds, another thing that I was looking forward to, I just thought that I would have more time with Spencer. Spencer and I would only have one day together. Worlds would take out a month of my summer, and Cali would take out the rest.

I let my fingers graze over the strings of my net.

"Come Ash just try, please," Madison whined. I glanced at the lacrosse stick that Madison was trying to hand to me.

"Fine, how to I do this," I said taking the stick from her hands.

"Okay, hold it here like this," she said placing my hands around the stick.

"That's it?"

"Well you have to cradle it, but we'll get to that later. So I guess just try and catch it." Madison rolled the ball into her pocket. Then she threw the ball towards me. I screamed and moved out of the way of the falling ball. Madison was laughing hysterically. I must have looked like a real idiot.

"Ash, you're suppose to catch the ball, not scream and running away," she said laughing. "Come let's try again."

"Fine," I said moving back to my original spot. I watch carefully to see how Madison handled the ball. After she released the ball, I felt my arms move along with my body to try and catch the ball.

"Nice," she said congratulating me on my catch. "Okay now just toss the ball back."

I felt the stick fly forward releasing the ball. The ball hurled straight at the ground; it didn't even get anywhere close to Madison.

"Let the ball go when the stick is about here," she said showing me. Her stick was a little passed her shoulder. I picked up another ball and did as Madison had said. I watched as it soar right into Madison's pocket.

"Not bad, you're a naturally Ash!"

"What's that?" Spencer asked looking over my shoulder.

"I'm going to Worlds again."

"Oh my god! Congratulations. That's amazing!" she said happily wrapping her arms around me. "You don't seem happy about it."

"No, I am. We graduate in three weeks, and I just thought that we would have maybe a little more time together."

"Ash, we'll always have time to each other, maybe just not face to face. But think of it, I leave one day before you, so it's not that bad."

"Yeah, I guess so," I said taking another glance at the letter before putting it into my bag.

"Well how about we go somewhere," Spencer suggested.

We quickly went back to the locker room and cleaned up before heading out to her car. We started to head into the city, but Spencer took an exit a few miles away. We pulled over on the side of the road.

"We have to walk a little," she said getting out of the car. I followed Spencer down a small dirt trail. It opened up to a lake, and there was a little ledge that looked over the rock. This made me miss the cove a little more. I took off my shoes and dangled my feet in the water. Swirling them around, I looked at my distorted figure. Spencer took a seat next to me and looked out onto the water. Her eyes grazed out onto the lake. I felt her lace her hand on top of mine.

"I know that you probably think that I'm making the wrong choose going into the Navy," Spencer said still staring out at the water.

"There were other options, but I'm not going to argue on which ones are right or not," I said trying to catch her eye. I wasn't going to fight with Spencer. My mother always taught us that we make choices for a reason, and sometimes there may have been better options, but we went with our gut. Sometimes you can't blame yourself.

"I'm scared," she said finally looking at me.

"About what?" I asked lacing out fingers.

"Being a failure, not making it through Plebe Summer, disappointing my parents, us, everything. I used to have everything under control and now it seems like everything is just slipping through my finger. I can't have a conversation with my parents without screaming and losing it. I feel lost somehow. But, whenever I'm with you…it feels like everything's back to normal, like I don't have to be scared anymore. I want that…I don't want that feeling to go away," she said as tears were starting for form in her eyes. "Every day is another day spent, and every day is closer to another day without you."

"Spence, hey look at me," I said tilting her chin so that she was staring directly into my eyes. "You're not a failure, and you will never be a failure. I see how hard you work for what you want, and you never give in. You're parents, they love, even if it doesn't show sometimes. They care about what's best for you."

"What about us Ash, what's going to happen to us when those days hit zero?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly. I don't know what is going to happen to us, but I hope that we still are an 'us'. "But those days, they don't have to hit zero."

"I don't want to lose you," she said wiping some of the tears from her eyes.

"You'll never lose me Spencer, I'll always be there for you. I'd never let anything bad happen. Time never runs out until you're in the ground, but our time is unpredictable."

"Time…" she breathed out. "We leave in two weeks Ash."

"I know…but that's two weeks more than we thought we had yesterday. We'll be leaving a day after each other."

We sat there for a little long, circling our feet in the water. I watched as Spencer's focused on the ripples in the water when something hit it. Two more weeks is better than the one week that we might have had together. She was supposed to Plebe Summer a week after graduation, but they pushed it back due to some thing with something. She wasn't really clear. We leave a day after each other.

"What's it like?" she asked. "The Marines?"

"Your job is to protect your country however you see fit. My dad told me that it has its up and downs. Sometimes things come as surprises. But I do know that it changes you. Now I'm not say don't go. But, you won't be the same person you are now if you do go."

I could see Spencer's brain turning as she thought of her options. To be honest she didn't really have a lot. She has the option of going to the USNA and making her parents proud, or being view as a failure in the eyes of her parents and drowning in student debt. I know that Clay tried to talk to some of the schools to get more money, but they would budge. And I know that she family is not as rich as mine, and can't afford to pay for college and Glen's health care bills every month.

"Spence?" I asked, but her eyes remained on the water.

"What going to happen to us when we leave?"

"Well, I'm going to call you everyday and text you every morning and night. Nothing is going to happen to us. I'm going to email or write you, and send you as many things as I possibly can. I'm going to tell you have much I love you every morning and every evening. I love you Spencer and we're going to make this work. You don't have to be afraid."

"But I am afraid," she said wiping another tear from her eye.

"Give me your hand," I said reaching for Spencer's hand and putting it up to my chest right on top of my heart. "Do you feel that?" She nodded feeling the racing beat of my heart.

"Spence, that's what you do to me, every time. I can't control it. You make me feel more alive than I have felt in quite some time. I've never had this continuous feeling for anyone else, except you. When Madison, I felt so lost and everything started to slip through my fingers. That was until I met you. You made me feel alive; you made me feel like me, you made me feel wanted. And like you, I don't want that feeling to ever go away. I love you Spencer Carlin and that is one thing that is never going to change."

Spencer laid her head down on my lap. Hey eyes were still facing the water. The silence it wasn't awkward, but oddly comforting. No words had to be said to understand. The sun had already gone down and the reflection of the moon was rippling on the water's surface. The silence was broken when Spencer's phone started to ring.

"Hello?" I didn't hear all the parts of the conversation, just Spencer's parts. "I'm with Ashley. Yeah…Where at the lake…No…WHAT! WHEN!" Spencer talked frantically for a few more seconds before hanging up.

"What's wrong?" I asked taking Spencer's hand.

"It's Glen," she said unreadable, "he's awake…"

Spencer foot hit the accelerator as we speed towards the hospital. We were at the hospital in half the time that it would have taken us. I watched as Spencer hopped out of the car and started to run towards the doors but stopped.

"Aren't you coming?" she asked opening my door.

"You should spend some time with your family. I'll just wait here," I said. I didn't want to intrude on a family matter, especially one this delicate.

"Ash, you are part of my family," she said leaning in a kissing me. "I want you to come." I let her slowly lead my out of the car and towards the front door. We ran along the crowded hallways of the hospital, weaving in and out. Spencer stopped in front of Glen's door. I peered through the window. Glen was sitting half way up. His eyes were open and Paula and Arthur were talking to him, both of them had smiles plastered on their faces. Clay was on the opposite of the room standing over Glen.

"Ash, come here," Spencer said grabbing my hand and lacing our fingers. She opened the door and we walked in together. All eyes turned on us, even Glen's.

"We'll go get us some coffee," Paula said pulling Arthur along with her.

"Glen," she yelped letting go of my hand, and going over and kissing Glen on the cheek, because she couldn't hug him. "How are you feeling?"

"My head kinda hurts, but I've been worse," he said hoarsely. He's blue eyes were the same as Spencer's and he had that Carlin smile. "Mom and Dad were just catching me up on all that I missed."

"Nah, you didn't miss that much," she said trying to make him feel a little better. "Besides you probably got way more sleep than I have ever gotten."

"Haha…I have to say doing nothing all day and getting to sleep IS the life," he said chuckling a little.

"Living up to you're dream of being lazy, eh?" Clay laughed out.

"You know it," he said. "Who's this Spence?" He nodded his head toward me. Spencer turned around and gave me a little smile before returning her attention to her brother.

"Glen this is Ashley, Ashley this is Glen," she said introducing us. I got out of the chair and went to go shake Glen's outstretched hand.

"You're the Ashley my parents were talking about," he said. I nodded.

"Yeah, they say good thing?" I asked giving him a smile.

"Horrible things," he replied returning the smile.

We stayed there for another hour, until the nurse told us that he needed to rest. Or course, the Carlins wanted to stay there, but the nurse eventually kicked them out, because Glen needed to rest and they were a 'distraction'. I can see why the nurse kicked them out, because every minute Glen would be asking about a certain person or thing. Spencer glanced one more time back at Glen before following us of the hospital.

Spencer got in the car. We sat there for a few minutes, before Spencer turned the car, and then we sat there a little more.

"You alright Spence?" I asked taking her hand and kissing the back of it.

"I'm amazing," she said still a little unreadable. "I just can't believe that he's awake. All those days I spent sitting at his bedside hoping that he would wake up, and now, he's awake. Living, breathing, talking awake. It seems surreal. Am I dreaming Ash?"

"You're not dreaming Spence. You held his hand, you talked to him, you laughed together."

"Thanks Ash," she said kissing my lips.

"For what?"

"For everything. You're amazing, you know that."