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The sun was warm and bright over the southern Florida amusement park that day. Children ran around, mothers ran after them, teenagers held hands and vendors sold ice cream. On the roller coaster, Melissa and Kerri sat in the back seat, their boyfriends Nick and Brian in front of them. Brian gripped anything possible, cursing Nick for making him go on. His eyes were clenched shut as the cars began to move, Nick laughing beside him. The rush of air from dropping down the first slope enveloped the screams of excitement as it pulled everyone's hair from their faces to trail behind them. After the ride concluded, the four got off, the respective couples immediately clasping hands.
Kerri soothingly whispered to Brian that it was ok, knowing his fear of heights. He said he was fine, just scared out of his mind. She smiled softly and pressed a tender kiss to his cheek before glancing ahead of her. Nick and Melissa were laughing and giggling about how much fun they just had.
"Wanna go on again?!" Melissa asked with a grin as she turned to walk backwards, holding onto Nick's arm so that she wouldn't hit anything.
"How about something easy like the carousel?" Kerri suggested as Brian squeezed her hand in thanks.
"Ok…and then can we get some lunch?"
"Sure…"
"Cool," Melissa then turned back around as they walked to the carousel. All four grabbed horses in the same area of the ride, Nick and Melissa on the edge to try to grab rings. At the end of the ride, they all got off. Nick bragged to Melissa that he grabbed more rings than she did and she argued that it wasn't a fair battle since he was a foot taller than her and could reach the rings better. Kerri and Brian just remained quiet as they walked behind the two, stifling laughter.
After grabbing a quick lunch, they all decide to leave the park. The Boys had been mobbed during the meal, Kerri wasn't feeling well, and Melissa was bored. Walking to the parking lot, they made plans for dinner that evening and Kerri reminded Melissa that their parents were coming to town the next day.
"Remember sis, ok?"
"I gotcha…" Melissa said with a wink. The two hugged before Nick opened the passenger door to his Durango and helped Melissa inside. "I love you, Mel…" he whispered, kissing her cheek before slowly closing the door and then walking to the driver's side. He waved as Brian and Kerri climbed into Brian's BMW before climbing behind the wheel. Turning the key in the ignition, Nick looked over to his passenger and smiled. It was hard to believe that they had been dating for almost two years now, and friends practically all their lives.
She was perfect for him: fun loving, sweet, witty yet kind and mature. She completed him in every possible way. He slid the vehicle into reverse and slowly slid it out of the spot, before driving back to the apartment he and Melissa had shared for about a year now. Apartment was an understatement though for the pricey penthouse in the ritzy Florida complex. Nick smiled as he thought of that apartment, and the occurrences in that apartment. The drive was short, only a few miles. Nick opened Melissa's door and helped her out. He knew they would get married one day, they had to. After all they had been through: his fame, her loss of her father, his spat with alcohol, her near pregnancy; and then all the good times: Europe, the first time they made love, scuba diving in the Keys, moving in together. Everybody knew they would be together for the rest of their lives. They walked into the building and to the elevator holding hands. The entire trip to their floor, they held hands, kissed and giggled quietly between themselves. He unlocked the door and let her in, closing it behind his as he wrapped his arms around her waist, passionately capturing her lips with his own. Her hands grasped the bottom of his T-shirt, tugging it up to expose a bare chest laced with muscle, the smooth skin light and soft. They broke the kiss for only a moment so she could yank the article over his head and then toss it to the floor. His fingers mad quick work of the buttons of her cotton shirt and pushed it down her shoulders as their lips and tongues danced passionately. He undid her bra in a quick movement he learned through much practice with her, and sent that fluttering to the floor as he pressed their bare chests together. He shimmied her shorts and panties down her hips as she undid his pants. Once they were both free from their clothes, they slowly sank to the floor, their lips never losing contact with the other. He pushed her onto her back and took her there in the middle of the floor, love and lust coursing equally through his body. She was his and always would be…he was lost without her. Their bodies danced together, limbs entangled and sweaty as they moved together, their hips responding to the other perfectly. Soon in a scream of his name, Melissa shuddered at the extreme of her climax, pulling him over the edge with her. He fell onto the floor beside her, catching his breath as he cradled her head against his chest.
"Let's go to bed…" she whispered once she was breathing normally again. He responded by standing up and picking her off the floor as if she was merely a doll, and he then carried her to their bedroom. He grabbed a pair of boxers and slid them on before handing her his favorite hockey jersey, the one she loved to wear. The black, white and gray materials of the Tampa Bay Lightning jersey enveloped her small body, falling almost to her knees and covering her hands. He then turned the blankets down and crawled into bed. She followed suit and curled next to him, her head falling to his shoulder as usual. He smiled as he watched her drift off to sleep in his arms. She was his one match on this Earth. What a feeling….
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Brian pulled into his driveway and let Kerri out of the car. "I wanna grab a few things for tonight, ok?"
"Yeah…sure…" she replied softly, wavering slightly as he unlocked the door.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah…I just got a little dizzy. Must have been all those rides…"
"Ok…" he said as he went inside, running upstairs as she waited in the foyer. When he returned downstairs, she was even paler than before. "Kerri, sweetie. What's wrong?"
"I don't feel too good, Brian. I just need to lay down a little probably…I just want to go home…"
"Alright. We'll go to your place and you can go to bed, ok?" She nodded and whispered, "Yeah…" He drove to her apartment, helping her up the stairs to the second floor before unlocking the door and helping her to bed. He took off her shoes and pulled the blankets over her as she fell fast asleep. Sitting next to her, he watched her side slowly rise and fall. His eyes moved to her face as a finger softly brush a small tendril of short brown hair from her temple. Looking at her, he finally realized that he loved her. It took six months of dating to realize it, but now he knew. He sat there for an hour, watching her sleep, worried about her. After an hour of sleep, she suddenly woke up with a start, sitting up quickly before exclaiming, "Something's wrong!" and then scrambling out of bed. She jammed her feet into a pair of sneakers and ran out of the room, searching frantically for her keys.
"What?!" he asked, dumb-founded.
"Something's wrong…" she replied again.
"Wrong?! What?!" he called after her as she ran out the door. She drove over to Melissa's apartment to find the door hanging open, screams coming from inside…screams of pain and agony. Mel! her mind cried as slowly walked in, afraid of what was going on. Suddenly, out of the bedroom runs a figure clad entirely in black, a ski mask in place. This person sees Kerri and charges, a sharp pain slicing through her shoulder, piercing her entire side before he ran out of the apartment and down the hall, the knife still in her arm.
She stumbled to the bedroom to find Nick, wearing only his boxer shorts, blood covering his body as he held Melissa, his favorite hockey jersey the only article of clothing on her limp body. Gashes oozed crimson blood over both bodies: his arms stripes of blood, his chest marked with lacerations, his face marred by the slash of the knife. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he cried out, "Mel…" his voice weak as Kerri fell to her knees beside him, her eyes traveling over the body of her sister and then that of the man her sister had loved.
"Nick…what happened?"
"I don't know…" he choked out. "We were in bed and he came in…He-h-he killed her…My baby…" Every word grew fainter as he leaned over Melissa, pressing a kiss to her still warm lips, before he passed out from the loss of blood. Kerri grabbed the phone with her uninjured arm and called 911, tears streaming down her face. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next day, Nick regained consciousness and broke down crying, threatening his own life as he begged Kerri to tell him Mel was still ok. With tears in her eyes at the loss of her sister, she softly told him how the knife punctured her heart and she died instantly. The attacker had been watching the couple for months, ploting an attack. Had Kerri not walked in, had he not heard her foot steps and the creak of the door, Nick would have been killed as well. They had found the man responsible and arrested him as he swore he'd still get Nick. Every bitter word from him mouth cursed the fact that Nick had become wealthy through singing while he had to work all his life to go into bankruptcy. Kerri then told Nick that Melissa's funeral was being planned by their parents.
"No! I loved her!" he cried out, tears spilling onto his cheeks. "Do you know her last words on this Earth? Do you?!" he exclaimed. "She said, 'I love you, Nick…promise me we'll be together forever.' How can I do that now?! How can I?! I love her!!!!! I love her…" Her one arm now bandaged and in a sling, Kerri wrapped the other around him and pulled his face to her shoulder as he repeated softly, "I love her….I love her…I love her…"
"I know, Nick…and she loved you too…" Kerri whispered.
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The next week was the funeral. Nick stood in the cold rain, the stitches on his face black against his pale skin, matching the dark suit draped on his slumped shoulders. He stared at the casket with tears in his eyes as the priest talked of a wonderful girl with sparkling green eyes and wild brown hair. The priest talked of her large heart and warm smile that touched the lives of all she met.
Thoughts and memories crossed Nick's mind, the words no longer clear, only a hum in his ears as he began to cry, the tears and raindrops melding on his cheeks. Once the priest quieted, Nick stepped forward and placed a single red rose on her coffin. It was what he gave her their first date. It was what he gave her every anniversary. It was what he gave he the day he told her he loved her. A single crimson rose, the long stem bare of thorns…it was her favorite. He placed it on the center of the mahogany box, the tears no long controllable as he sank to his knees beside it, the sobs overtaking his body. Suddenly, a pair of arms came around and he turned to find Brian. Always there for him, Brian was his best friend and helped him with everything. Nick rose to his feet and embraced his friend, his wet face buried in Brian's shoulder, the sobs shaking his entire body.
"She can't be gone…" he cried.
"You'll see her one day…you'll see her in heaven…."
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THE END