Chapter 6
Kevin walked into Nick's house, barely able to
hide his excitement. Today he was planning on taking Elizabeth on a tour of
Orlando never seen before.
As he walked into the house, he noticed it was unusually
quiet. It was if everyone had disappeared leaving him alone.
"Hello? Is anyone here? Can anyone here
me?" Kevin called out.
Nick walked into his house from outside.
"Oh, hi, Kevin. What brings you over here?"
Kevin grinned. "You have to ask?"
"Damn, Train. I forgot. Let me get my coat
and I'll be ready," Nick teased.
"What are you talking about, Carter?"
"You forgot about our plans again? What's
with you?"
"Kaos, I'm sorry, but I don't know what
you're talking about."
"Seriously, why are you here, Kev?"
"To see Elizabeth, of course!"
Nick looked at Kevin seriously. It was if he
was trying to read what was going on in Kevin's mind.
"Kevin, I think You'd better sit
down."
"Why what's going on?" Kevin asked,
trying to keep his panic level down.
"I
have something for you. Elizabeth wanted me to give it to you as soon as I saw
you." As he spoke, Nick handed Kevin a letter.
Slowly Kevin opened it and started to read...
Dearest Kevin;
You know how in life there are some things that
come to you so unexpectedly you don't know what to do about it? Well, it's
happened to me again.
Someone
dropped into my life that I care for deeply. It's a feeling I've never felt
before; even when I was with Chris. He's sweet, kind, caring; in short, he's
every girls dream come true. He's my best friend, but at the same time he's so
much more!
When I realized how close we had gotten, I was
scared. I don't want to live through the whole Chris nightmare again. This man
has taken my heart, and I don't want to see it broken again. I care for him so
much, I don't want to see him live through my nightmares with me.
The reason I asked Nick to give you this letter
is because I don't know who else to turn to. He's the only one that knows how
I...What I'm trying to say is, when you get this letter, I won't be here.
I had to leave.
I promise you that someday I'll be back, I just
don't want to be there when my heart gives out because the man I care about
doesn't care about me the same way. It's safer to make a clean break of this.
I'm safe; and yes, Nick does know where I am.
He's making sure I'm taking care of. Please don't worry about me, Kevin. This
is what's best for both of us. I haven't dropped out of your life forever, even
if it's just for a little while.
I Love You,
~Elizabeth~
Kevin looked up from the letter, tears
streaming down his face. For the first time in his life he was speechless.
Nick walked up and put his arm around his big
brother. "It's going to be ok, Kev. She just needs some time."
"I know, Nicky," Kevin whispered,
"but it hurts. How could she just walk out of my life without looking
back? I thought I meant something to her. I thought we were getting somewhere.
I though..."
"Whoa, Kev, slow down! Don't you get it?
She loves you. She loves you more then she ever loved Chris, and that scares
her. Elizabeth doesn't want to get hurt again. can't you see that this whole
thing is eating her alive? She loves you some much, she's willing to give up
everything so you'll be happy."
"Being with her is what makes me
happy," Kevin whispered. "It's like there's a big hole in my life
where she use to be. I can't even look at another woman without comparing them
to her. What am I going to do with out her. She's my everything."
"My advise is to go tell her. Elizabeth
needs to know. If you don't tell her, who will. She needs to hear what's in
your heart and soul, or she'll die not knowing what she did to you."
Kevin looked over at Nick, admiration shining
in his eyes. "When did you grow up, Nicky. It happened so fast."
Nick laughed. "Go get her. She's at my
cabin in New York."
Kevin hugged Nick tightly before bolting
out the door in pursuit of his one true love.
Elizabeth stared into the fireplace, transfixed
on the flames. Her thoughts a thousand miles away. her heart back in Florida.
"God, Kevin, why do you have to be so
perfect," she said to herself. "Everything you do and say is just
right. You know what I need and you give it to me. What did I do to deserve
you?
"I don't want to hurt you, Kevin, but what
choice do I have left? I don't mean to do this! Really! But I'm lost, I don't
know what else to do."
Curling up deeper into her quilt, Elizabeth
laid her head on the arm of the couch and fell asleep watching the fire dance
in front of her.
The fire cracked and the heat penetrated the
room, but Elizabeth was oblivious to everything around her.
Elizabeth looked around her. She was in Nick's
cabin, but she knew she wasn't awake. 'What's going on here?' She thought to
herself.
"Hi, gorgeous."
Elizabeth spun around at the sound of someone else’s voice. She
had thought she was alone.
Standing in front of her was someone she hadn't
seen in a long time.
"What are you doing here?" she asked
"I came to talk to you."
"Why? Haven't I ruined your life enough?
What more do you want?"
"Come here, please," the stranger
asked, reaching out his hand to her.
Slowing she took it and followed him to the
couch.
"You know what I miss the most? Hold you
like this. We use to be so happy, Elizabeth, what happened?"
"I think you know."
"You've got to stop kicking yourself in
the ass. What happened wasn't your fault."
"If we hadn't had gotten into that
argument, you won't have left in that awful storm; and you'd still be..."
breaking off, she started crying.
"Baby," he said, tilting her head so
he was looking into her eyes, "It was my time to go. And don't say it was
because of you, it wasn't. You're fighting a loosing battle here. If not for
me, then for yourself.
"You're killing yourself, love, and I
don't want to see you up here with me so soon. I've always dreamed of you being
happy, are you trying to destroy that?"
"I'm sorry, Chris," Elizabeth wept,
"It just hurts so much. I can't be with anyone else like you want me to.
if I do, they'll leave me just like you did. I'm cursed Christopher Alan, and
there's nothing I can do about it."
"Listen to me, you are not cursed! And I
want you to stop think that way! You couldn’t have done anything to stop me
from dieing, Love. If I hadn't had died in that car crash, I might have died in
your arms. Personally, I'd prefer not doing that. Do you understand what I'm
saying?"
"Do you mean it?" she asked, looking
up into Chris' eyes.
"Yes I do. And if I'm not mistaken,
there's a young man waiting to take care and love you. Don't turn away from
him, Baby. You'll only be destroying yourself and him. Love him, like you loved
me. Promise me you will."
Slowly, Elizabeth nodded her head, "If
that's what you want."
"Good!" he smiled. "Now go tell
him. And be the happiest you can be. I don't want to have to come back and lecture
you again."
"Yes, sir," she giggled, a smile
crossing her face.
Elizabeth smiled and stretched. Chris didn't
blame her, Justin was getting the help he needed, and life was finally looking
up. All she had to do now was convince Kevin not to give up on her just yet.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. How are
you feeling this morning?"
Elizabeth opened her eyes in shock. Kevin
looked at her, a smile lighting his eyes.
"What are you doing here? How did you find
me? Where..."
"Shhh, it doesn't matter. What matters is
that I'm here with you now."
"Kevin, we need to talk."
"Before you say anything, there's
something that's been on my mind, and I have to get it out."
Elizabeth looked at him, feeling as if her
heart was going to heart. "Go ahead, I'm listening."
"When we meant at the beginning of the
summer at Nick's house, we became instant friends. I never expected you'd do to
me what you ended up doing. I mean, who would have thought me, Kevin Scott
Richardson would find the one he was suppose to be with.
"Here, maybe I can explain it better. I
never thought that we'd become anything more then friends. Somehow you go into
my head and into my heart. I don't know when or how, but I fell for you, and I
fell hard. If anything can describe how I feel it's the music I sing.
"What did I say? What did you do? How did I fall in love with
you?" he sang.
Elizabeth wiped the tears from her eyes,
"Kevin," she whispered, "I thought you hated me after what I
did. I mean, I took off and left you nothing but a letter. I've been through so
much, I was afraid you didn't want me just because of that. You love me? I've
loved you since you reached your hand out and said you be there with me. I love
you, and I'm afraid I'm going to loose you, just like I lost Chris."
"But baby, don't you see? That's why I'm
here! I'm not going to leave you, I promise. Whenever you need me, I'm going to
be here taking care of you."
"Do you really mean it?"
"With all of my heart and more."
Elizabeth smiled and wrapped her arms around
Kevin, smiling up at him.
Leaning down, Kevin gave her the sweetest kiss
she had ever experienced.