Once You Love Someone...

You never realize how much you care about someone, until they're gone.

     He had pale white skin with tiny brown freckles on his cheeks. His dark chocolate eyes made contact with mine as he was combing his fingers through my hair. The sunlight hit him perfectly on his skin, so perfectly, he was glowing. We were covered by white sheets, just lying there silently. I was wondering what he was thinking. Why was he staring at me like a sad puppy? He sighed and turned away and looked at the ceiling above.

"What's wrong Adam?" I asked.

     He looked at me and smiled.

"I love you," he whispered in his British accent.

"Truly?" I asked.

     He sat up and pulled out something out of his drawl.

"I wanted to wait on the day I dropped you off at college, but I want to give it to you now."

"You're not proposing are you? We're 18," I stuttered.

     He chuckled and his cheeks turned pink.

"No silly."

     He opened the box and there was a blue diamond necklace.

"This was my mothers'. My father gave it to her before she left to college."

     I was speechless. The diamond was so small, but yet so precious and beautiful. He crept up behind me and I pulled up my hair so he could put it on me. My heart was beating so fast, I was so nervous on how it would look on me. 

"There. Now let me see," he smiled.

     I turned slowly and showed him.

"Beautiful. It looks lovely on you," he kissed my forehead.

     I got out of the bed to look at myself in the mirror.

"It's quite a rock. When shall I wear it?" I asked.

"Everyday of course."

"Everyday? But its so fragile."

"Just be careful, and it'll be safe."

     I turned around and walked towards the bed.

"Are you sure? Maybe I should only wear it on special occasions." I suggested

"Wear it when you feel comfortable then," he smiled.

     I crawled back into the bed with him and smiled.

"Thank you," I said.

"You're welcome," he smiled.

     He got out of bed and threw his white shirt on. I was feeling the necklace, and kept on wondering when I should I wear it. I stopped messing with it and looked at the big glass window that we had in our apartment. I clearly saw the neighbors across and watched how people started their days. Adam looked at me and looked where I was looking.

"Don't worry. I'll get curtains soon," Adam said.

"What color? White?" I joked.

     Everything in our apartment was white, except the black wood floors and our kitchen.

"I'll let you choose."

     I looked up at him and squinted my eyes.

"Really? But this is your apartment?"

"I need something to remind me when you're gone."

"Navy blue curtains," I crossed my arms and smiled.

"I can see that. It'll look nice."

"Are you sick?" 

     He laughed and threw on his sweater over his shirt.

"I'm perfectly healthy."

     He walked to the kitchen and grabbed his lunch off the counter. I loved watching him getting ready for the day. It somehow entertained me. I think I just loved the feeling that I was here with him. Right when I turned 18, I quickly moved in here. I was in foster care for 8 years. Both of my parents died in a car wreck when I was 10. Adam has been there for me ever since. He would visit me, see if I was okay. Brought me food, books, and movies. At the age 15, we started dating. His mother died when he turned 16 from cancer and his father bought him this apartment because he thought Adam was mature enough, and he was. He has 3 jobs, he pays all the bills, and he's taking good care of himself. Adam rarely sees his father since he's a pilot, but he does try to be the best father a son could ever have. After graduation, Adam asked me to move in. Of course I said yes because I had nowhere else to go, and nobody to go to. Now I'm leaving for college. Four years in a dorm with a complete stranger. Four years away from Adam. Four years of sadness and hope. It took awhile for Adam to accept me going to an out of country college. I had a reason though. My parents wanted me to go to the same college they went to. I received a scholarship there so I didn't have to pay a cent, and I want to take that opportunity. I'm going to a college in the United States, in the state of California where I was born. I'll be attending CSU Fullerton, majoring in family psychology. We live in London. I was sent here right after my parents died. When I was 8, the judge told me that the foster care here was better and safe...besides, it was my parent's wishes. 

"I'm going to work now," Adam said.

"What time will you be home?"

     He handed me a cup of coffee.

"Around 5, I'll call if I'm running late."

"Okay, love you," I said.

"Love you too," Adam closed the door.

     I felt very lonely whenever Adam was at work or out with his mates. I felt embarrassed too because I didn't have a job or any friends. The only girl I knew was our neighbor Claire. Claire was a quiet, awkward, and shy person. Adam told me that her boyfriend died six months ago in a car accident. I could never imagine what she's going through. I walked over the fridge and noticed that we were out of eggs. I went over to my safe and took out some money. Taking my time, I dressed casually and got my purse. When I locked the door, I saw Claire sitting on the floor with a paper in her hand. I walked over to her calmly and kneed down to her level 

"What happened?" I asked.

"I don't have enough money to pay the bills, so they kicked me out," Claire said sadly.

     I didn't know what to say. I couldn't just leave her there. She looked very depressed and helpless.

"How long were you sitting here?" I asked.

"Just a few minutes. I just saw Adam leave for work." she sighed.

     I couldn't find anything else to say. Should I invite her to come with me to the store? I asked.

"Really?" Claire looked at me with a slight grin.

"I'm pretty lonely when Adam leaves. I could use a friend. Especially a girl friend," I smiled.

"Sure."

     I helped her up and we locked arms together. We stepped outside and walked to the grocery store. I noticed her staring at the coffee shop across the street.

"Do you want a cup of coffee?" I asked.

"Oh. I'd love to but I don't have cash."

"I'll buy you a cup."

"Thank you."

     The smell of the coffee scent in the cafe woke me up better than the cup of coffee I had at home. She ordered a soy latte and I ordered a vanilla latte. We sat down at the table near the window where the sun can perfectly shine on your face.

"So how long have you been living with Adam?" Claire asked.

"Two months now."

"Can't believe he's been there since he was 16. Paying the bills and stuff. Was he stressed all the time then?"

"I'm sure he was but he never showed it. He was always happy and never complained about anything."

"I was 23 when he moved into that apartment. I was surprised that he never had friends over or had any parties like most teenagers, especially boys."

"I guess he didn't have time. He was always working."

"He made time for you thought right?"

"Yeah. I don't know how he did it though. He makes things possible I guess."

"He seems like a great boyfriend."

"He is. I'm very lucky to have him."

     She looked down smiling at her soy latte and reached into her pocket and took out a photo of her and the guy who died. 

"This was Peter," she smiled.

     I pretended like I didn't know anything.

"I never seen him before."

"He died six months ago in a car accident."

"Oh. Oh my gosh I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. I moved on," she sighed.

"Moved on? How can you move on from something like that?" I asked.

"It was a long process. I had to realize that life goes on and I can't keep hanging on to something that's gone."

     I looked down at my latte and sighed.

"I don't think I could move on if Adam died. He would still always love him."

"I still love Peter. I always have, always will. I really can't imagine myself with anybody else but I'll find somebody else...but he'll be nothing like Peter."

     I started to feel cold and nervous. I started thinking about things that could happen to Adam when I'm gone. Who's going to look after him? Will you suddenly go crazy? Will he fall in love with another girl? I never had these thoughts before but now they were appearing in my head. I felt uncomfortable talking to Claire and tried to think of something to get away from her. I told her I had to go to the bathroom but I snuck out of the bathroom window and walked back to the apartment. 

     I locked my door and crawled into the bed and put the sheets over my head. Time passed and I looked at the clock when I opened my eyes. It was after 5 and Adam said he would call if he was running late. The thoughts started to come to me again and reached for my phone and checked if Adam called me. I didn't get any calls or voicemails or text messages. I started to freak out as I was dialing his number. I heard keys rattling and the door knob twisting and saw Adam...but he wasn't alone. I saw Claire standing right by his side looking angry.

"Adam, why are you home so late?" I asked trying not to look at Claire.

"I saw Claire sitting on the floor outside her apartment and she told me that you ditched her at the coffee shop today," Adam frowned.

"Why didn't you call me?" I tried to change the subject.

     Adam rolled his eyes and gave me a cold stare.

"It was probably my fault Adam. I probably scared her off."

"How did you scare her off?"

"I was talking to her about how I moved on from Peter's death and I probably gave her thoughts about if you leave or die, she could never get over you?" Claire guessed.

     They both looked at me and waited for me to respond.

"Is that right Lilly?

"Maybe," I sighed.

     Adam put his hand on his head and breathed heavily.

"Okay well, I'm sorry about this Claire. Do you have a place to stay tonight?" Adam asked.

     I was hoping that he wouldn't invite her over to sleep over. 

"I can go down to the lobby and sleep on the couch they have. It's quite comfortable," Claire giggled.

"Alright. Well goodnight."

"Goodnight," I said.

     Claire looked at me and looked at Adam and walked away. Adam closed the door and looked at me. 

"She scares me." I said.

....to be continued

Author's Note

I put to be continued at the end because I wasn't sure if the story was going good or bad.... please leave comments!

Reviews

[K.E. Son]

I love how at first Claire seemed to be a friendly character, then suddenly she makes everybody else uncomfortable. She is actually scary. :) There are a couple of grammatical errors, but they're not too major. I look forward to reading the rest of the story. :) Keep up the good work!

[C.M]

Thank you :)