“Hey, Scott, what do you think of this for Sara and my anniversary? I want something special for her,” Bob said. He held up a little black box and threw it to me across the room.

I opened the little box. Inside was a small green stone on a delicate silver chain. “This is really nice. What kind of a stone is this?” I asked him.

“It’s peridot, her birthstone. Do you think she will like it?” He asked me I looked at the necklace. Of course Sara would love it. I felt a stab of jealousy rack my body as I realized Kate and I would never have this kind of relationship. I squeezed my eyes shut and closed the box.

“Scott?” Bob sounded nervous. What, does he think I’m gonna steal it and sell it on the black market?

“Oh, yeah. She’s gonna love it. What else are you doing?” I asked him and gave him the black box back.

“I have reservations for dinner at that fancy restaurant downtown in the theater district. They make incredible cheesecake, and Sara really loves cheesecake. You know, the kind with the cherries on top. Then I have tickets to see “Les Miserables”. She loves that too,” Bob smiled happily as he put away his clean clothing.

“Ahh. That sounds really good Bob. Definite assurance you’re gonna get some,” I smirked evily. Bob gave me a confused look.

“What?” He asked, not knowing what I was talking about.

“You know, give her everything and then vice versa. Hehe,” I laughed to myself.

“Excuse me? Scott, what the fuck? I can’t believe you! Is that all you think about? You know, this is exactly the reason why you haven’t gotten any,” He said nastily. Oh that dick, I’d kick his ass if he wasn’t right.

I shut up and continued to read the new book I had bought. I had gotten it earlier that week when all of us went on a shopping trip to Liverpool. It was about the Beatles, and I was trying to brush up on my sappy love lines for songs.

The phone rang. I didn’t move a muscle. Bob took the hint and picked up the phone.

“Hey. Really? That’s so cool! I’ll put it on right now!” Bob said excitedly into the phone. I looked up at him, wondering what it could be about. He ran up to the TV and turned it on the European equivalent of MTV—basically shit but with music videos.

“Because ours, is a love of the ages; Yes, our love will always make it through; Ours, is a love of the ages...” The TV blared. The screen showed me kissing Kate’s neck as she stared icily into the mirror. A shiver ran down my spine as I remembered what had really happened behind the scenes.

“Oh my god! Look Scott! They are playing our video!” Bob started to shout. He was laughing excitedly with the phone still in his hand. We both watched the screen fixedly as Dave was being kissed by Natalia before he was beheaded. It took six tries before we finally got that right. Natalia thought Dave’s head was a lollipop, but Dave didn’t seem to mind.

The video ended and some random guy came on the screen. “Hello, and you are watching 1515 MTV News. Tonight on MTV news, Britney Spears has plastic surgery. Again,” Picture: Britney Spears’ plastic surgeon.

“Snoop Doggy Dog acquitted for murder in twelve states,” Picture: Snoop Doggy Dog’s murder weapon.

“Moffatts and Nine Lives: are they really what we think they are? Stay tuned,” Picture: Dave and Natalia sitting by a water fountain looking very chummy.

“WHAT??” I shrieked, and jumped out of my seat. Bob stared at the screen, equally shocked. He slowly raised the phone to his ear.

“Did you just see that?” He asked. The voice on the other line was muffled, I couldn’t make out who it was.

“Yeah Liv, we’ll be right over,” Bob hung up the phone and motioned for me to get up. “Come on, we’re going to talk to the rest of the guys.”

“Where are Dave and Nati? I’m gonna kill them!” I said through clenched teeth. I had just fucking yelled at Liv and Clint for their little mishap two weeks ago, didn’t they listen?

“They’re there too, trying to explain what happened. I’d like to hear this one,” Bob said. We left the room and ran down the hall. I pounded on the door to Kate’s room and heard voices inside.

“Come in!” someone shouted. I kicked open the door and raced for Dave’s neck. He ducked behind the couch and hid.

“You idiots! What the hell was that?” I yelled at them. Natalia was silent and Dave peeked his head out from behind the couch. Sara motioned for him to come out, so he did, and sat next to Nati.

“Yeah, savor the time you two have left. When Dad finds out, its all over,” Clint said, shaking his head.

“He won’t find out, I promise,” Dave said and gripped Nati’s hand. She yelped with pain and he lessened his grip.

“Yes, he will. I’m going to tell him. We just went through this with Liv and Clint, I thought you two would be the most discreet. How could you have been so stupid to let a reporter take a picture of you?” I asked them.

“We didn’t let him! I don’t know where they got that! I didn’t let anyone take a picture of us. It’s not our fault,” Dave said. I knew they really didn’t mean to let this happen. But they were still pretty stupid.

“This is going to ruin everything. What the hell are we supposed to do now?” Bob asked.

“I have a suggestion,” Kate said, eyes not leaving the magazine she was reading. God, I hate how she can be so cool sometimes.

“We need to have a press release. Reassure the fans that there is nothing between Dave and Natalia. Tell them that Natalia was feeling homesick, and being the good friend Dave is, he was comforting her. That’s it. Anything more will make them suspicious,” Kate told us. Clint stared, mouth agape at how quickly she solved the problem.

“Wow. Did you just come up with that? Or did you take the time to think?” Bob asked her with a hint of sarcasm. He was on the brink of madness. Only a little bit more would piss him off. And you don’t want to piss Bob off.

“Ok, watch it Bob. I can see the veins popping out of your neck,” Clint said softly, and backed away from him. Bob breathed in and out quietly before he looked back.

The door burst open. Sara jumped as Dad ran in and threw a newspaper at Dave and Nati. “Care to clarify this?” He asked angrily. Sheila ran in behind him, she looked pretty pissed too.

“Oh god….Dad we can explain,” Dave started. “We didn’t mean for it to happen. He just took the picture!” We didn’t even know he took it!”

“Bullshit Dave. You guys were incredibly selfish. You have jeopardized the careers of all of us. We’ve been lenient with you’re relationships, but there’s no way in hell you’re getting away with it anymore. “ Dad told us. I panicked. He’s not saying this is he? Clint and Liv hung their heads in shame.

“Dad! That is so unfair! We’re not ten anymore! You can’t run our lives any longer. We’re sick and tired of being told what to do and when to do it. We want to be able to do things our way, without being afraid of what people will think. I don’t give a fuck what people think, “Dave said. Wait, who is this kid? The same stupid Dave cooking Chinese food and reading comic books?

Dave stood up in front of Dad. He was tall enough to look down at him, yet still stupid enough to talk back. Clint, Bob and I knew what happened when you challenged Dad. Dave was about to find out. Dad reared his hand back and slapped Dave across the face. Sheila shrieked and ran to Dad.

“What the hell do you think you are doing, Frank?” She yelled at him for hitting Dave.

Dave looked back up at Dad with shock, holding his face in his hand. He walked back to Natalia and she hugged him tightly.

“I’m sorry for hitting you Dave. But your language was inexcusable. My decision stands. No dating. It’s all over between you and Natalia. It’s all over between all of you,” Dad said as he stalked out of the room. Sheila turned to us.

“I will speak to your father, and try to lessen his charge. But I tend to agree with him,” She said, and left the room.

A silence came over the room. We didn’t know what to say to them. I was torn between rushing to help my brother and his girlfriend or giving them a piece of my mind too. But I decided to keep quiet.

“Nice going you guys,” Liv said menacingly. Her eyes narrowed at the couple and she walked into Sara and her room. She slammed the door shut and the room vibrated with her anger.

“That was interesting. I’ve never seen Dad so mad, ” Clint said. He plopped down on the couch. Oh, that looks like a good idea.

“What the hell are we going to do now?” Kate asked. No way are we listening to Dad.

“Well, legally, you and I are OK, Kate. We don’t need to do what Dad says. None of the girls need to listen to him either because he isn’t their manager. But you guys have to go what he says. You’re still under his rule,” I told them.

“Oh shit. I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe it. How do you get out of it Scott?” Bob said, running his fingers through his hair. Sara walked up to him and hugged him.

“When I turned 18 I had to sign a new contract. It entitles me to certain rights, including having a girlfriend,” I told them. Kate smiled, but it quickly wiped off her face when she saw the tears silently running down Natalia’s face and dropping on Dave’s shoulder.

Everyone watched silently as Natalia wept. Dave hugged her close before finally taking her outside into the hall. They left the room and we all sat wondering what was to be done.

NATALIA

“Kate, what should we do? Oh my god, I love Dave so much, I can’t all of a sudden stop being with him. We messed up once. We didn’t mean to get caught. Oh god. When Dave was slapped, I could feel my own face get hot with Frank’s hand-print. I can’t let him go Kate. I can’t give up that easily. I just can’t,” I cried, the salty tears dampening the pillowcase.

“Natalia, just give Frank sometime. He was very upset. Be neutral; I’m not saying that it was ok for you guys to be so affectionate out in public, but I’m not saying what Frank did was acceptable either. You don’t need to break up with Dave, but you shouldn’t cling to him either. Keep your distance. If you think you should let it cool for a while, then do what you think is right,” Kate advised me before turning over to sleep. I took it as a sign that she didn’t want to be bothered anymore.

I signed dramatically, but drew in barely enough to get a full breath. I laid there between the starchy white hotel sheets, thinking about what she said. Maybe we do need a break. But if we stopped for a while, would we ever be able to get back together? Would we lose interest? Or would we just hold onto what we had until the time was right again? I knew I wouldn’t be able to last very long without Dave. No matter what everyone thinks, Dave is perfect. He may act stupid, but that is just an act. On the inside, Dave is one of the sweetest, smartest, kindest, most loving people I know. If I let him go, where would I go to find that love again?

BOB

“This sucks! This is fucking bullshit! I can’t believe it! Oh God, what am I going to do now?” I shouted aloud to myself. Scott peeked his head out from the bathroom where he was brushing his teeth.

“Calm down Bob. It’s late,” He said, and spit the white foam into the sink.

“Grrrr, Dad pisses me off so much! Just because Dave and Natalia were fucking idiots doesn’t mean the rest of us are,” I said, folding my arms and flopping down on the bed.

“Well, why are you so mad at Dad?” He asked me as he came back into the room.

“I have to cancel all the plans I had with Sara for our anniversary. No dinner, no opera. We have to stay in. God this fucking sucks!!” I shouted, louder than before. Clint pounded on the wall for me to shut up.

“Bob, you don’t honestly believe that you would be able to get away with taking Sara out to a fancy restaurant, and a big play without being seen?” Scott said skeptically.

“I was hoping,” I said sheepishly. I honestly never thought of it until now.

“Just because Dad confines you to the hotel doesn’t mean you can’t do anything. Have dinner here. I’ll sleep in Clint’s room. You can have it all to yourselves. Watch a movie together, have a nice dinner. It will be almost the same thing. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you’re with Sara,” He said to me. Damn, my brother can be really nice when he wants to be.

“Yeah, I guess so. I’ll think about it,” I said, and laid my head on the pillow to dream sweet dreams of Sara forever more.

Not ten minutes later, I jolted awake from a dream. My forehead was covered in a light film of sweat and my breathing had becoming rapid, almost to the point where I couldn’t take a deep breath.

I got up off my bed and raced to the bathroom in a panicky fury. Flipping on the light switch, turning on the faucet and sticking my head into the cool flowing water came in one fluid movement. The light must have woken up Scott, because I heard him step up behind me.

“What’s the matter? Are you sick?” He asked me, and rubbed his eyes from the harsh lights glaring at him in the bathroom. I shook my head and wiped my face clean with a towel.

“Are you sure? Why are you so pale?” He asked me again. The dream...it was so vivid. If I told it, it might come alive again.

The dream felt like reality…I couldn’t revisit it again. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping the scenes would disappear. But all it did was make them clearer. I was afraid, afraid that it might be true. It would explain a lot, and then again, it seemed like it would never happen.

“It’s nothing. Really. Just go back to bed,” I told him, waving my hand and turning off the bathroom light. He studied my face a second longer, trying to pick up on my panic. But he soon realized he couldn’t, and got back into his warm comfy bed.

Curiosity and dread overcame me, and I couldn’t brood on the dream any longer. “Scott, what would you ever do if Kate cheated on you with one of us?” I asked him suddenly. I could hear him shift in his bed. He didn’t want to think about that question.

“I never thought of it. I don’t think Kate would do that to me. She’s too loyal. Besides, why would one of you do that anyway? We’re brothers, it’s just not right. You can’t deceive someone like that. Blood is thicker than water, right?” He said to me. I knew that he had thought of it, many times. An answer like that doesn’t come out of the blue.

“Right. Anyway, goodnight Scott,” I said to him, ending the conversation. I could feel the sleep creep up behind my eyelids, but I just couldn’t fall asleep. The dream was too real, too menacing to just let me fall asleep without hesitation. I shivered in my bed for what seemed like an eternity, until I could see the first rays of light streaming through the window. Then I knew I was safe.

DAVE

“Please, come this way. You will be on camera in twenty minutes,” The stage manager hurriedly said aloud. Natalia was in a trance. She hadn’t said a word since we got here, it made me nervous. I wondered what she was thinking. What exactly were we going to say to everyone? Lie and say we’re just friends, but save the futures of the bands? Tell the truth, but hurt what we both know as the biggest things in our lives? I neurotically checked my watch for the sixth time that hour, sighing heavily. Natalia suddenly turned to me.

“Whatever goes on today, I trust you. Whatever you say to them, whatever I say, itss for the best, whether it’s the best for the bands or the best for us. I trust you completely,” She whispered in my ear, as if she had read my mind the whole time. I nodded my head and fought the urge to take her hand, because if someone saw, it would be over.

We were alone, prepared to defend our status as “just really good friends” on a UK talk show. We had decided to do this, instead of letting the rumors die down, because if we dispelled it ourselves, there might be a better chance people would believe it. Frank, Sheila and the rest of our two bands stayed back at the hotel. We were determined to right what we had wronged, ourselves.

“Come on, wait here with me. You go on in five minutes,” A different stage crew guy said to us. I checked my watch in disbelief. Fifteen minutes had passed? I looked at Natalia wearily, but changed my expression in time to greet the backstage manager waiting in the wings.

“Hi, you’re Dave and Natalia right? They are introducing you now, you’ve got twenty seconds,” The woman with the clipboard said. I panicked for a moment, my insides fluttering and turning to mush. What if they didn’t believe us? I thought for a moment about telling the truth, the easiest thing in the world. If we confirmed that we were a couple, we would be able to stay together. Nothing could keep us apart. But we would have to answer to our band-mates. And as much as I love my brothers, I love my life also.

“Ok, you’re on!” The same woman said, checking her headset and pointing in front of us down a narrow hallway. Natalia led the way to the stage and I relayed in my head what we were about to do.

KATE

“Everyone in here. The show is almost on. We’ve got to see what they are going to say,” Scott said as he turned on the TV in Clint’s room.

“Hey, my room, my TV. I get to turn it on. Get your grubby mitts off of it,” Clint said jokingly. Scott backed away from the TV and wiped it off so Sir Clint could turn it on.

“So sorry your grace,” Scott said, and kicked Clint in the ass. Clint yelped and whipped around to wrestle with his brother. Liv and I rolled our eyes in disbelief.

“Now I know why Natalia is with Dave,” I said. Liv nodded her head and laughed.

“Hurry up!” She called to Bob and Sara, who were coming into the room. I pointed to the TV, which showed Dave and Natalia, sitting in separate chairs. They had a look of nervousness, masked with cheerful confidence upon their faces. Natalia was sitting up straight and looking right at us, as if she knew we were watching.

“Kate,” Scott said to me, and held out his arms. He slipped an arm around my tense shoulders as I sat down on his lap. Sara and Bob sat down on a bed, Liv and Clint sat on the floor.

“Here we have with us today, Natalia from the States-based pop band Nine Lives, and Dave from the Canadian-based pop band The Moffatts. The Moffatts and Nine Lives are touring across Europe on a joint tour, and from what I’ve heard it’s not your first time playing together,” The host introduced our friends. Dave went on to give a lengthy explanation our first tour together, and why we are doing a second joint tour in Europe.

“This is boring. We all know what’s going to happen. Let’s go swimming in the heated pool,” Clint said, sighing heavily. He just didn’t understand.

“Clint, actually, we don’t know what they are going to say. We WANT them to tell everyone its just a rumor, but knowing Natalia and Dave, they might tell the truth. That’s why we are watching this. I want a head start to kill them if they tell everyone what’s really happening,” Sara said bluntly. Hey, not fair, I get to kill them too.

“It’s a moral dilemma now isn’t it? You want them to be true to their hearts, but you want to keep the bands. Oh well, can’t have it both ways, now can you?” Bob said, defending the couple. He understood their problem. Sara glared at him jokingly and tossed her hair.

“Could you not fling me with your hair? Thank you love,” He said, putting his hand up to shield his face.

“Shut up, I want to hear what they say,” I told them. My heart was racing. I had no idea what was going to happen. I just hoped it was for the best.

“So, I understand you two are on today to dispel some rumor that has been circulating. Please, help us to understand,” The cocky host said to Natalia and Dave. Natalia shut her eyes for a moment and then opened them, as if she was reading a tiny script in her head that told her what to say.

“Well, it’s been going around lately that Natalia and I have been dating. We saw the clips, on MTV, all those other shows. And we are just on today to tell the public, what really happened, so no one gets upset,” Dave said. Natalia’s heart was breaking with every word he said.

“The truth is, that being so far away from home, I was homesick. And Dave, being the good friend he is, was trying to make me feel better. Some sneaky photographer just happened to take a picture and decide what he wanted about us,” Natalia said, plastering the fakest smile I ever saw on her face. Yet, the audience seemed to buy it. Dave looked at her, stunned.

“I guess they had planned to say something different?” Scott said. We all sat in shock. First, because they actually had saved the bands. Second, because Natalia had said it. I don’t think the Moffatts understood how much it took Nati to say those words, but we knew.

“Oh, so, Dave and you are just good friends. Is that it?” The host snickered, not believing a word we said.

“Absolutely. Dave and I are like brother and sister. We’ve gotten so close you couldn’t imagine. We’ll be friends forever.”

BOB

“Um, I have to go for a while. I’ll be right back ok?” I said, after I had checked my watch a million times. I wanted to surprise Sara with a fancy dinner and the opera. We had to settle with dinner in the hotel and a tv show.

I raced down the hallway, running over in my mind all the things I needed to do before Sara arrived. I had to clean up the room, call the hotel’s room service and order a big dinner, get dressed up, and anything else that would make this night special for us.

The room was a mess, but it would take longer for the food to arrive, and so, I ordered our dinners from room service first. A full five course meal, just for me and her to splurge on without anyone trying to pick off of our plates. And of course I ordered the cheesecake, just for her.

With the food taken care of, I took on the task of cleaning up our damn room. Clothing was strewn about, hanging out of drawers, off of lamps and hooks, on the floor of the closet. Empty soda cans littered the tables. Unworthy beginnings of songs, crumpled up loosely and thrown away overflowed the trash-baskets. I shrugged and wondered whether to get dressed first.

I drew back the door on the closet. Peering into the dark cabinet, I tried to decide what to wear. I had a pair of dress pants and a nice shirt, but no jacket and only a tie that didn’t match. I shrugged my shoulders and figured Scott wouldn’t mind if he let me borrow a jacket and tie. He certainly had enough ties with him.

I kicked the clothing into the closet, threw the trash back into the baskets, and put the soda cans into empty drawers. I put the trash-baskets in the closet, on top of the clothing and shut the door quickly, so nothing would fall out.

“Ok, clothing, food, what else?” I said over to myself, nervously checking the time to see how much longer I would have. Good, at least forty minutes. I ran to the bathroom to make sure I had everything Sara would need. Scott had explained the dilemma previously to Kate, who had in turn picked out a dress of Sara’s for her to wear tonight. It hung nicely in the bathroom, along with a pair of strappy shoes.

“Shit! No music!” I shrieked into the still night. If it was going to be a perfect night, at least we would have music. I then remembered Scott had speakers to listen to his CDs with on his discman. I ran to the night table beside his bed and stole them. He wouldn’t mind, it was for a good cause.

I tried to remember a long time ago, some of the early conversations with Sara. She wanted her wedding song to be “More Than Anything” by Hanson. I threw away my morals as I took the MOE CD from Kate’s room.

“Clothing, food, music. NOW is there anything else?” I thought once more to make sure it was all taken care of. Fifteen minutes remained until Sara would be coming. I wondered whether or not the food would be here before her.

KNOCK KNOCK. “Room service,” Speaking of the devil. I let in the service guys and told them to put food on the table by the window. I tipped the cheeky butlers and then quickly threw them out. Five minutes before Sara’s arrival.

I sat down on the bed, immersed in a trance, just waiting for the minutes to pass. Sara would be surprised, that’s for sure. She didn’t seem like she remembered our anniversary, but that’s ok. I don’t blame her. It was the anniversary for the time we FIRST went out, not the second time. I had completely blocked out the bad things, and so only the good remained. I was celebrating the first time I had ever clapped eyes on her.

“Hello? Bob? Can I come in?” Sara’s melodic voice called to me through the door and pulled me out of my hypnotic state.

“Um, hold on a sec!” I shouted back to her, fixing my tie in the mirror and smoothing back my hair. I nervously checked the room for flaws, but found nothing more I could do. I wiped the sweat from my brow and opened the door slowly.

“What’s going on?” She asked as I clamped my hands over her eyes. She wasn’t allowed to see the secret dinner yet. I ushered her into the bathroom to change.

“Please, just trust me! Change into that dress and then come out into the room,” I said to her through the door. I felt a twinge of guilt from throwing her into the bathroom like that. I might have scared her.

“Can I come out now?” She asked me five minutes later. I checked the dinner, put “More Than Anything” in the CD and opened the bathroom door. Sara stood there, magnificently glaring at me. Even when she was mad, she was beautiful.

“What the hell was that?” She asked me, hands propped up on her hips. The soft maroon velvet dress showed off her sculpted arms and I swallowed hard to fight the butterflies who decided to have a square dancing contest in my stomach.

“Come with me,” I said to her, barely above a whisper, I was so taken aback. She relaxed her face and her expression turned to one of curiosity. I led her to the window, looking out onto the busy city. The bright lights lit the dinner table, illuminated Sara’s face, and made her already brilliant eyes sparkle even more. I could barely take my own eyes off of her.

“I’m speechless. What is this all for?” She asked me when I had helped her to the table and we had begun our meal. I smiled at her.

“Happy anniversary. This is all for you. I’m sorry it couldn’t be better. I had plans for “Les Miserables” and dinner at a fancy restaurant, but obviously we can’t do that anymore. But it doesn’t matter what we do, as long as we do it together,” I said. Reaching my slightly shaking hand across the table, I draped my own on hers. She smiled up at me, eyes still glittering.

DAVE

It had been an unbearably long day. My eyes were weak with lack of sleep. But the feeling that I had lost Natalia, through no fault of our own, was gnawing at my soul. After the light had gone out, I threw on a sweater and crept barefoot to Nati’s room, hoping she would be awake.

I knocked softly, wishing it was earlier so I wouldn’t have to be so secretive. A moment later, Kate opened the door.

“Please, Kate. Don’t tell Dad. I need to see Natalia. Really quickly,” I begged her, voice wavering. She looked out into the hall behind me and then ushered me into the room.

“I shouldn’t be doing this, Dave. But I don’t care. I’m going into Liv and Sara’s room. If Frank asks, the door was open,” Kate said to me. She pointed to the bedroom. “She’s in there, I think.”

I nodded thanks to her and she shut the door quietly. I turned to face the bedroom door and knocked softly again. I stood outside, waiting for an answer that took an eternity to come.

Natalia opened the door, her eyes stained red from crying again and again. I suppose she was prepared to see Kate and not me, because her eyes widened in surprise.

“Dave, I didn’t think...God, come in. Did Kate see you?” Natalia said and led me into the room quickly. I grinned slightly.

“She said that if Dad asked, then the door was open,” I told her. She shrugged.

“That’s Kate and her willingness to help,” She said, and opened the formally drawn curtains, revealing the deep blue midnight sky, lightly speckled with stars.

“I wanted to see you. I don’t care if we have to sneak around to do it,” I whispered to her, and bent down to kiss her neck. She backed away from me and I was left there stunned.

“Or not...” I blinked my eyes and looked at her bewildered. She bit her lip, looked up at the sky and then back down at me.

“Dave, I think Frank is right. The most important things in the world right now are the bands. It’s selfish to jeopardize what we have. I think we should, um, cool off for a while,” She said to me, very slowly, very softly. A single tear dropped from her eye. I became aware that I had been holding my breath the whole time. I let it out sharply.

“Do you understand, Dave? No matter what, I’ll always be your friend. And I’ll always love you.”

I felt my soul rip apart, tiny shreds scatter into the distance, never to be found again. Nati was the last person who would listen to rules, but here she was doing just that. I couldn’t be mad at her, she meant too much to me. It just hurt so much.

“Dave? Please say something,” She said, the tears starting to flow faster. I realized how much it was hurting her too to say this to me. I took her in my arms and kissed her. We stood there just holding each other. It was the last time we would be together for a very long time.