Ch. 35
"Where are they?" Brian huffed, tapping his foot impatiently. The rain had stopped for the moment and they were waiting on the shuttle bus promised to take them to nearest shelter. They decided to turn in their rental cars for the time being so they wouldn't be paying when the hurricane destroyed them.
They watched two cop cars go by and through a big megaphone attached to the top of the car, they blasted out the same message that they'd been saying all day: "This is a mandatory evacuation. Please seek a shelter island immediately."
Nick stood up, fed up, and cupped his hands over his mouth. "Get the damn bus over here then!" The cops glared at him so Nick flipped him off. Amy slapped his arm down.
"Stop that," she snapped, "Or you'll be hauled off to a shelter of a different kind.." Nick looked at the disappearing cop car and back at Amy.
"Okay Amy," he sneered, "I'm sure they'll arrest me for telling them to 'fuck off'." Amy looked off.
"You never can tell." She looked back at Nick who had this who-are-you-trying-to-fool look on his face and started laughing.
Kevin stood up, looking out in the distance. He saw two big brightly colored "Bahamas Welcoming Center" buses coming their direction and looked at the others.
"There's our ride," he announced. They all cheered and muttered, "About damn time..", then standing up with luggage in hand and on arms, and waved the bus down until it stopped. The bus stopped and let them on. They found seats and were off to the shelter.
******
Well, that night was a pretty eventful one. The high 150+ winds drove rain through the brick walls and ripped off the roofs. By daybreak about 400 people were crammed together in a hallway in the basement. A few were injured and there was damage inside but nothing like what they saw the next morning outside. All of the condos on the beach had been washed away in the 20+ foot storm surge, debris covered the streets and the beach. It was heartbreak for all of them. For the tourists, they could just hop on their plane and go home. For the others, all they could do was pick up the pieces and start anew.
*****
Three days later..
Amy sat quietly on the sand next to Nick, laying her head on his shoulder. Neither could really talk because there was nothing to say. This was the end. They were leaving in two hours, nothing stopping the inevitable. It was about 7 a.m. but had been up all night. They had to make the best of what was left of their time together. This was it, the day they dreaded, a month in the making.
Amy began to cry. Nick looked from the beautiful sunrise to his beautiful sunrise and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Aww, Amy, don't cry," he pleaded with her, "Let your smile be what I remember most, not your tears."
"I can't help it. You...you..were my first everything, now I have to say goodbye and I...I can't.."
"We don't have to say goodbye. You're moving to Florida this year.."
"Tallahassee, though. Still would have a good five hour drive from you unless I transfer to CFU in Orlando or UT in Tampa..."
"Which you could do if you wanted to and even live with me.." Amy smiled wistfully.
"I'd never see you with you on tour and being in your home would be too much pain for me.."
"You could go..." Amy shook her head.
"No. I couldn't go on tour with you because I saw a lot of the pain it caused you and Mandy. Besides I'd only be a burden to you and sooner or later you'd hate me for it.." Nick shook his head.
"No way. I love you too much to hate you.." Amy smiled softly.
"No you would. Because there would be all those way more beautiful girls for you to fool around with and you'd resent me for 'tying you down'. " Nick didn't answer; just stared out at the water deep in thought.
"Hmm...if you feel that way..."
Amy nodded. "I do. Another reason I won't is because finishing school, going to college, is very important to me. Nick, this is gonna be a goodbye. We can keep in touch but nothing will ever be like it was this summer. I wanna thank you though." Nick looked over at her.
"For what?"
"When I came down here I swore up and down to Jessie I'd never let my heart love anyone else after Lance. Then I met you and you showed me that getting hurt is a part of life. You weren't only my best friend, you loved me. If it wasn't for that, I would have never loved again. Thank you for showing me the real side of you. For opening up to me." Nick smiled.
"Well, how do you think you affected me? I mean before I met you I was letting myself be run over by the same girl over and over again, thinking that someday she'd love me. You showed me how to move on. You opened my eyes. Your friendship and love more to me than almost anything and I'm so scared of losing you."
Amy pushed Nick's legs apart and crawled in front of him, leaning back against him, feeling his heart pounding. She wrapped his arms around her waist as they faced the rising sun. Nick nuzzled his nose in her soft hair and kissed the side of her neck just to taste her skin one more time. Amy nuzzled against his warm strong body.
"It's not necessarily gonna be all over but things will never be quite the same. I'll never stop caring for you.."
"Amy, can we please save our goodbyes for the airport. It's depressing me.." She looked up at him and nodded. She turned sideways and cupped the side of his face, pulling her to him. Their lips met softly but quickly deepened.
****
Brian and Leighanne watched Amy and Nick quietly and in the car parked next to them, A.J., Howie, Kevin, Beth, and Emily did the same. Everyone was ready to go, except Nick and Amy. They weren't ready emotionally to let each other go.
The flight left out at 9 a.m. It was now a little after 7:30. They were flying to Orlando and parting from there where Amy would fly solo to Atlanta and drive home from there.
*****
"The two of them are going to be so miserable without each other," Leighanne sighed sadly. Brian watched his best friend's frowning face as he and Amy walked up to the car.
"Yes they are," Brian replied, "And what's so sad is that they may never see each other again." Leighanne shook her head.
"No they will, if I can help it," his fiancee vowed, "I put them together, I'm keeping them together. They've got something special and I don't want to see them lose it."
"Well, I'm sure you'll figure out something," Brian said, "You always do."
About that time Amy and Nick opened the car doors and climbed in, both extremely quiet. Brian turned and faked his best comforting smile.
"Ready?" he asked. Nick glanced at Amy and then out the window.
"As we'll ever be," Nick said, his voice extremely shaky. Brian looked back at Leighanne and she backed out, driving to the airport, Kevin following closely behind.
*******
The plane ride to Orlando was pretty uneventful. You could already feel the loss experienced between Amy and Nick. At the airport everyone sat at the terminal for Amy's Atlanta flight coming in any time. Soon, those dreaded announcements were heard.
"Flight 687 to Atlanta is now boarding," boomed out.
Nick had been fine but seeing Amy get up and realizing this was goodbye, the tears he'd forced down were overfilling his eyes and pouring down his cheeks. Amy was crying again too.
She hugged Leighanne and Beth first. "Thank you for everything." They smiled warmly at her, each shedding tears of their own.
"No problem. Keep in touch.." Amy nodded then kneeled down to Emily's level, hugging the tiny girl.
"Don't forget about your big sis and you treat Aaron good when Nick lets you meet him. Take care of your Dad and Mom." Emily nodded. Amy stood up and hugged A.J., Howie, and Kevin.
Next was Brian. After receiving a bear hug from him, he reached in a corner pocket of his bag and pulled out to Polaroid pics. He handed one to Amy, smiling through his own tears.
"I took them the night you and Nick fell asleep on the couch," he explained, "I thought you might want one." Amy nodded, her eyes glistening with tears. She hugged him again.
"Thank you." She stepped away from him and looked up at Nick. Seeing the tears in his eyes made her break down. Nick picked her up, holding on to her tightly and swayed side to side.
"I love you so much, Aim, and don't you forget it." "I love you too, Nick. And I don't think I ever could."
"Last call for Flight 687 to Atlanta.." Nick slowly let her down and they kissed briefly. She handed him a note with her address and phone number and told him to read it later.
"I've gotta go," she whispered. He nodded. She leaned down, picked up her bags, and started walking through the terminal, too scared that if she looked back she'd never make it out of that airport. She boarded the plane and had a seat.
*****
Nick stood there numbly as he watched her plane take off. Brian and A.J. walked up, wrapped their arms around his shoulders, pulling him a little.
"C'mon, let's go before someone recognizes us," Brian addressed Nick. Reluctantly, Nick picked up his bags and they all piled out into each of their own cars, heading straight back for their so-called "normal life". After that summer, things would never be normal again.
*****
Amy looked out the window, tears rolling down her cheeks. She came with a heart full of pain and now she was leaving with the same. She grabbed her bookbag from under her seat and unzipped the front of it. As she reached in to grab her CD player she felt an envelope in front. She pulled it out and opened it. There was a letter and a piece of jewelry enclosed in the envelope. Amy sniffled and opened the note, laying her bag on the floor.
"Dear Amy,
When I wrote you this note, it was to tell you good-bye. I didn't realize how hard it would be to put that in words. You taught me so much this summer and I will never forget what we shared. Your love for me made me stronger, more confident, and in some ways, wiser. You made me see that I wasn't alone, that there was someone out there that understood me. I wish things didn't have to be this way, I wish I could press rewind and spend the summer with you all over again, but I can't. All I have to rewind are the memories of the two of us. Through all the laughter and tears, we grew individually and together. Anyways, I want you to know that you will always have a special place in my heart and that I will always love you, even if we never see each other again. My way of keeping our memory alive is in the gift enclosed. That night that we went to the carnival, while you were playing that basketball game (and kicking my ass...that's okay though), I went and got us a necklace each with our initials engraved in them. The necklace I give you here has my initials on it and the one I gave myself has yours. I will wear it always and keep you ever so near to my heart. Well, I've got to go. Brian's yelling for me to get out of the bathroom (I wrote this on the plane..hee hee). Talk to you later. I'll miss you and love you always. Good bye.
Yours truly,
Nick"
Amy reached in and pulled the long, thin, gold chain out and there on the end of it, like he said, was the gold ring with his initials inscribed on the outside. She smiled and hooked it around her neck. She re-read the letter and sat back in her seat.
"How am I ever going to get through this?" she whispered to herself. She fingered her necklace and smiled. "The best way I can.."
******
Nick pulled up to his Tampa home and turned off the engine. He couldn't get out without reading the letter Amy had given him. He unfolded it and started reading..
"Dear Nick,
Wow. I can't believe how fast this summer went by. It was definitely the hardest but greatest summer of my life. Never did I imagine that I would learn so much from you. I came down here with low expectations and a broken heart. Now I leave you with high expectations of life and still that broken heart. Knowing I won't wake up to you every morning, knowing I won't go to sleep in your comforting arms, knowing I'll never taste the sweetness of your lips again, knowing I won't be able to hear your voice through my tears telling me it's all right, that you'd always be there for me, knowing you're out there living your life kills me, but I am feeling so lucky that I did experience all those things with you. We'll both move on, probably find someone else we love even more than we could have ever loved each other but a first love is always cherished and it always remains in our hearts. There is no way I could ever forget you. I love you so much. No matter if we see each other again in our lives or not, we've always got our ship of dreams. That takes care of everything.
Forever yours,
Amy"
Our ship of dreams, Nick thought, Nice touch, Aim. Nick slipped the note in his pocket and got out to be welcomed home by his family and friends. He fingered the ring on his necklace that bore Amy's initials. With a smile on his face, he went inside.
"We'll be reunited again, Aim," he vowed silently, "Like you said, God brought us together and there's no way he can keep us apart."
The End