In the 2 hours she had she took a shower and spent plenty of time fixing her hair and makeup and choosing what to wear. She figured since they were going to the beach she'd wear her bikini underneath the long white sundress she picked out.
When she got to the beach and saw Nick, he was carrying a duffle bag full of stuff.
"What's with the bag?" she asked.
"It's a suprise," he told her.
"C'mon tell me what's in it!"
"Nope, It's not the right time yet," he told her as he lead her down the beach until they reached a deserted strip.
"OK fine, whatever. Let's go for a swim," she suggested as she slipped off her dress.
"OK," Nick agreed as he picked her up and ran into the water, bringing her under with him.
Melissa came back up in his arms laughing, "You dork," she teased him.
They swam for a long time and then somehow they started playing Marco Polo.
"Ok, I'm going to get you this time," he promised her as he started counting.
"That's what you think," she told him as she swam back to shore and laid down on the towel he had laid out before while he was busy counting.
"Marco!" he yelled.
"Polo!" she answered back from her place on the blanket.
After a while Nick finally figured out that she wasn't in the water anymore and yelled, "Fish out of water!"
"Oh damn. You got me! I was enjoying watching you look clueless," she said with a laugh.
Nick opened his eyes again and saw her laying on the blanket, leaning up on her elbows with her legs extended out and the moonlight dancing upon her body.
He swam towards the shore and then sat behind her on the blanket with one leg on each side of her and wrapped his arms around her, allowing her to lean up against him.
Melissa was staring up at the stairs that shone brightly tonight for some reason. She looked up thinking was it really these same stars I wished on at the beginning of the trip for the chance to be able to experience something like this? Tonight it seemed that the stars were shining just for the 2 of them.
"Babydoll?" he whispered softly as he ran his fingers in circles around her belly button.
"Yea?" Melissa answered, entranced by the moment.
"This is our last night here."
Melissa sighed, "Don't remind me."
"I wanted to make it extra special. Now its time for me to show you what's in the bag."
"Really?" she said sitting up in surpass and looking into the bag as he unzipped it and took out four glass candles, matches to light them with, his portable CD player with mini speakers, and a bouquet of roses.
"What's all this for?"
"To have the perfect night," he told her as he began lighting and setting up the candles. After he finished that he put Where You Are by Jessica Simpson and Nick Lach ey on his CD player softly and handed her the roses.
"Wow! Nick, I don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything at all," he told her, putting his index finger on her lips and kissing her softly, slowly getting deeper and deeper.
Melissa forgot all about her worries about dying and her sadness about leaving tomorrow. All that mattered at that moment was him and how much she loved him but as they slowly and carefully made love she couldn't help but think that this could very well be her last time.
At that moment Meg was in AJ's room laying on the bed with AJ's arms around her. They had spent the whole day together and now they just wanted to take a break and relax, just enjoying each others company.
"So what do you want to do now?" he asked her.
"I don't know. I'm kind of tired but I don't want to fall asleep. Any ideas on how to wake me up?" she asked.
"Actually I do," he said picking her up and lifting her off the bed.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked.
"You'll see," he told her as he set her down in the bathroom. "A nice hot bubble bath should you wake up."
Meg giggled seductively. "Bubble baths just usually make me more tired."
"Not when I'm around," he told her.
"I like the sound of that," she said slyly.
"Good," he told her as he stepped closer to her and kissed her as he slipped off her shirt.
For a moment Melissa was last and had no idea where she was. The place was dark and rainy. There were tons of people around but they were all dressed in black. Melissa felt out of place in her jeans and t-shirt.
She desperately looked for someone familiar and soon spotted Meg.
"Meg!" she called but Meg never turned around. Standing next to her was AJ and she noticed that Meg was crying. She had wrapped her arms around AJ, crying on his shoulder. What happened? she wondered.
She then spotted Nick standing a little bit further away by himself. She came up behind him and gave him a hug but he never even noticed. It was then she realized he too was crying.
Why is everyone so sad? Why didn't they notice her? She started to yell and scream, anything for attention but no one even lifted an eyebrow.
Then she saw the casket and it all made sense. This was a funeral but who's?
Deep down Melissa knew the answer but refused to believe it. She had to make sure though as she started walking towards the open casket like she was being pulled by a string and looked inside.
She was looking at herself.
Melissa woke up shaking and breathing heavily. It was only a dream she told herself as she realized that she was still on the beach laying next to Nick. The sun was just starting to rise and she realized that the dreaded day had come when she had to leave Cancun and return to NY.
Beside her Nick stirred and then opened his eyes. The sound of her heavy breathing from the nightmare must have woken him up.
"Are you OK?" he asked noticing how she looked like she'd seen a ghost. "You're shaking like a lea f."
"Not really. I had a horrible nightmare. I was at my own funeral and didn't even know it and I saw you and Meg and AJ, and you guys were all crying. Then I went over to the casket, looked inside and saw myself."
She had promised herself that she wouldn't cry but now the tears flew down her face freely. It felt like her sickness was haunting her whenever she tried to forget about it, it came back reminding her that she might not make it.
"Shh," Nick said wiping her eyes and wrapping his arms around her tightly.
They stayed like that for a long, long time just holding each other while all she could do was cry. When the sun finally fully rose they both reluctantly let go of each other and realized that now they had to face reality.