Why did he do it? Did I do something wrong? We were on our way home from our date; he was going to drop me off on his way home. He was such a gentleman. Does that mean he still cares for me? We sit in silence, the radio barely making noise, on our way down the windy road in the snowy dark.
“Are you ok?” he asks, his words like ice.
“Yea…fine.” I look away. I just can’t bear looking at that face I’ve loved for so long. We drive for a while, him watching the road and me watching the trees go by, trying not to smell his smell or see his face. I can’t stand not knowing.
“Why?” I choke out, tears running silently down my face.
“What?”
I wipe my eyes and turn, trying to put on a more serious face. “Why did you do it?”
Sighing, he pulls over, turns the car off, and looks at me with those perfect eyes.
“I don’t want a relationship right now. It’s just too much to deal with.”
“What?” Confused, I try to make sense of the words he just threw at me.
“I don’t want to make this any harder than it already is…” he looks away, gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles.
“Oh….” I sniff, watching the snow fall gracefully outside my window. I hear him lean over the center console and reach for my face, gently turning my chin towards him.
“Don’t cry. It’s for the better. For both of us.”
As I look into those beautiful dark brown eyes, I realize I can’t give him up without a fight. We’ve been through too much, just letting him walk away would be the worst thing to happen. Slowly, I reach up to cup his face in my hand, and lean in, pressing my lips softly against his. What seemed like hours passed between us until he kissed me back, pulling me closer to him. Tears still running down my cheeks, I wrap my arms around him, trying to channel all my love to him through my body. Suddenly the interior of the car lights up from the outside. Worried about cops, I glance out the drivers’ side window, my lips never leaving his. Coming straight for us was a huge red jeep. The seconds between when I saw it and when it actually hit turned into a minutes. Quietly, I whispered into his ear. “I love you.” The last words I heard on this Earth I’ll hold dear forever.
“I love you too.”


EXERPT FROM A LOCAL NEWSPAPER ARTICLE THE NEXT DAY
A tragic accident occurred last night at approximately 1130pm. Jefferson Fields, 36, Hunter Westchild, 18, and Rachel Hoffenberg, 17, were all found dead on scene. According to the police report, Fields was on his way home from a party, clearly driving intoxicated, when he ran into the parked car the teens were in on the side of the road.