It was so loud. My ears were ringing. I couldn't figure out if someone was hurt, yet. Kylie was standing, lowering her gun. Shock was drawn across her face. I looked into the direction she was looking at. My heart felt like it was ripped from its core. He was on his knees. His eyes locked on me. I rushed up to him. My eyes seemed to shed tears, helplessly. I caught his body between my arms, as he fell.

"No no no, hey hey, it's okay. You'll be okay." The words were fast and shaking. I tried my best to press the blood that flooded through his wound. The warm blood pushed against my hand. "Hey." He breathed as his hand landed upon my face. I cried unable to do anything else. I looked around. Kylie and the attacker stood away. "DO SOMETHING!" I sobbed. "Don't cry. Everything will be okay." He panted as his fingers pressed away my tears.

"I am sorry. I am so sorry." I cried. He smiled softly as his hands traced my face. "Please don't leave me, please." I begged. "I am just happy you're safe." He said in a soft tone. His breath was getting slow. I was getting out of time. "Please, save him. Please, I am begging you." I turned to Kylie that was being shoved away by the attacker. "Hey, it's okay. It will be alright." He breathed.

I shook my head, crying. "Listen, hey listen." He tried his best to breath. His shirt was soaked. I leaned against his hand, letting my tears fall. "I regret nothing, okay? I love you, Jane." He panted smiling at me. "I love you." I cried. He smiled widely as if relived. "You do? Good." He breathed heavily. I cried again and again. The blood wasn't stopping and his breath was getting slower by the second.

"I loved every second, okay? No regrets." He forced a chuckle. It only made me cry harder. These were the words that were said at the end, the very end. "Please, no." I cried. "You" he breathed. "You will be okay." His chest seemed to relax. His hand fell from my face. His eyes suddenly stared, not blinking once. And just like that he was very still. "No!" I wailed, trying to shake some life into him.

He was gone. I felt as if the world crumpled around me, I wouldn't even notice. I sobbed so hard. I didn't care how much my throat burned. The pain I was feeling was far more intense. It was as if I died along with him. I wished I died along with him. I held his face between my hands. Blood stained his beautiful tanned face. His blue eyes were filled with tears that never got the chance to escape. I cried even more as I slid them closed.

I held his face to my chest, wishing if I could just pour my soul into him, so he could live rather than me. "I am so sorry." I whispered as I cried. My cheek rested upon his hair. I just sat there, unaware of the world, holding his dead cold body to mine.

"Are you okay, miss?" A soft voice asked from beside me. I wasn't aware that the room, now was filled with police. "Miss? We need to get you checked upon." He said. "No. Check on him, first." I said in a weak voice as I showed him Zack. He looked rather asleep than dead. "Sure, miss." He lied as he pulled me up. I watched Zack's body as it laid there. Blood surrounded him. I was never going to forget how bad it looked.

The blood hurdled around him, soaking the rest of his clothes. Despite how bad it looked, I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. I was afraid he might disappear, even if it didn't matter anymore. His soul was already long gone.

My legs betrayed me. The officer supported me until we where out. We walked through a long hallway. The sun was setting as we got outside. It was a beautiful sunset. Zack would have loved it. "I am sure he would have, miss." He made me realize I was thinking out loud. He handed me to the medical staff by the ambulance.

They asked me questions. A lot of questions, really. I just nodded and shook my head in response. I sat in the ambulance watching, waiting for Zack to get out. I excepted him to just walk out untouched. As if the last couple of hours never truly happened. I wished that we were still in his room, back at his mother's house. It was better than thinking about him dead between my arms.

A body bag on a stretcher came out of the same door, I got out from. I still looked at the door, waiting for Zack. "No!" I heard a sob. I looked towards its direction. Rachel was the one standing there, over the open body bag. She fell over it, crying and wailing. "My son!" Her words echoed through my ears.

I noticed Mike standing beside her. He pulled her into his arms, his eyes lingering upon the body bag. My eyelids felt heavy and my head spun. "Wanna lay down, miss?" A nurse asked me. I just wanted Zack to walk out of that door. To hug his poor mother and then come back to me with his usual grin. That was all I wanted.

                         ~~~~~~

I dreaded the week I spent in the hospital. My mother decided to take sometime off her job to look after me. I wasn't really harmed, but I was kept there for any post-trauma effects. I dreaded sleep. All I saw when I closed my eyes was his face, still and dead. All I could hear was his voice, the bullet and his non-existing breathes.

"I would suggest a break from school. Sometime, somewhere to get your mind off things, miss Brown." The doctor said. His brown beard was trimmed perfectly, it annoyed me. "That would be reasonable, doctor." My mother answered. "Somewhere like?" I asked, my arms crossed. "There is a great place in New Jersey. I could make a call for you." He explained with overly white teeth. "That would be nice, right, Jane dear?" Mom asked.

"No." I said. "I don't need you to call a mad house to take me, doc." I stood up. I left the room before they could say anything else.

                             ~~~~~~

I looked into the small mirror that hung on the wall of my room. I took a deep breath as my eyes skipped down my reflection. I wore a black long sleeved blouse along with a black skirt that covered my knees. My eyes were terrible swollen. I looked incredibly tired. I applied some foundation to add some color to my pale face. I wore a pair of sunglasses, tied my hair into a low bun and headed out.

My mother got back to work, after I convinced her that I didn't need her around, which was technically true. I never needed her. I used the abandoned Toyota that was parked in our garage. I drove it up to where the funeral was held. I got the invitation sent to me in mail, just a couple of days ago.

I parked it along with the other cars. I walked slowly to the crowd. The mass of black was gathered around the coffin that laid between them. Flowers were covering it. I stood beside a familiar redhead. George looked at me. I turned my gaze away from his. My eyes couldn't focus upon the coffin, either. Silence was stretching except for Rachel's soft weeps.

His mother looked terrible. Her eyes were puffy and red. Her hair was messy, flying out of her bun. She looked somehow thinner, as if she wasn't eating. She cried silently. At her side was Mike. He was so pale, his face looked like a ghost's. His eyes were somehow red as well.

He stared at the ground, motionless. The funeral started. I stared at the ground most of it. I could hear the distorted sounds of people talking. It felt like I was back there with him all over again. That his dead body was between my arms, once again.

"Hey, Jane!" I stopped, my hands on the car's door handle. I turned slowly. Mike stood in a neat suit. I gulped. "Good to see you here." He admitted. "I had to come." I muttered. "How are you holding up, then?" He asked. I didn't answer. "I understand. Are you coming to the house?" He asked. "I don't know." I said slowly. "Well, I hope to see you there." He added before turning. "Hey, Mike?" I called.

He turned back to me. "Did they catch them? The police? Did they catch the attackers?" I asked, not wanting to say her name. "Yeah. They're both locked up in a mental prison." He nodded. It wasn't enough. They needed to die for what they did. I thought. "Who was it? The guy?" I asked. "You didn't know?" He said. I shook my head. "Alexander Franklin." He said. My mind went blank. I was yet again that stupid and naive girl.

"See you back at the house, Jane." He added before leaving me there. I sighted before getting into my car. I sat there just focusing on my breath. The passenger's door opened catching my attention. A familiar dark skinned face looked at me. "My condenses, miss Brown." He said. It was officer Alkaline. I looked away. He couldn't catch them in time. Zack was dead. There was nothing to do, now.

"I understand your feelings. I have failed to do my job and I am terribly sorry for your loss." He continued. "I don't need it, okay? Your apologies, your condenses, I don't need any of it!" I snapped. He gulped. "Well, I guess there isn't much to say, then." He added. "Take care, miss Brown." He said before finally getting out of the car. I turned on the engine and drove away. I caught the look on his face. It was pity.

I drove up to the big house. It brought back the memories of that day. Both the good and the terrible. I entered the house, now filled with people. The scent of black coffee lingered about the place. I allowed myself to escape to his room. It was still the same. The bed wasn't even made. I slowly made my way to the bed.

I held the sheets that held traces of his scent, as if he slept on them just this morning. My eyes teared up as my mind recalled many memories that both pained me and made me smile. I noticed a frame that I didn't notice the last time I was here. It was on the nightstand. It was a picture of me. Asleep. Zack loved printing pictures. I took it out of the frame. "Jane. The girl I fell in love with." Was written on its back along with a date.

I couldn't help the tears now. They fell as I took off my sunglasses. "Who are you?" The ruffled voice made me jump. I wiped my tears, quickly. I looked up at the man who entered the room. The very same sandy yellow hair but shaggier and longer was matching the beard. He stood in a bad looking suit. Zack would have looked a lot like him when he grew older, except for the eyes.

"I am his girlfriend." I said. I sneered at the words. "Oh, didn't know the kid had a girl." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "You're his father." I watched him. "Surprised he even mentioned me." He chuckled. "He did. That day." My jaw clenched. Zack died thinking his father didn't love him. It pained me a lot. "Oh, you were there then, when it happened?" He casually spoke. I nodded. "That must have been terrible." He said. "It was!" I said with fury. He stood up straight, surprised by my sudden change of mood.

"How can you even be here? You don't deserve to be here?!" I stood up and said with more fury. "He was my son." He said. "He thought you didn't love him!!" I answered back. He was taken aback by my words. "I never...I never..I could never." He was at a loss for words. "It doesn't matter now, he's dead!" I stomped off. "Did he not love me?" He grabbed my arm, stopping me. The man was so selfish.

He cared more about his son not loving him, rather than his son dying believing that his father did the same. I stared at him with disgust. "Did he?" He pleaded. "Zack couldn't. He was too good." I said sadly. He let go off my hand and I walked away. This was the last time I went to that house. It was also my first and last meeting with Zack's father.