Why Does The Dream End?

Megan's POV

At about 3 o'clock my mobile rang. I smiled as I saw it was Joe phoning. "Hey," I answered.
"Meg?" a voice not Joe's said.
"Nick?" I asked, surprised. "What's going on?" Nick sighed heavily.
"Meg...I have some...bad news," he said softly and my heart started to race.
"What? What is it?" I asked him.
"We're...we're not coming back to Plymouth tonight," he said and I felt my heart stop.
"What?" I whispered, hoping I had heard wrong.
"We're staying in London," he said and I could hear the sadness in his voice. "It's nearer to Heathrow and easier..." I tuned out to the rest of his explanation. I wasn’t going to see Joe again before he left?
"Can I speak to Joe?" I said. Nick hesitated before replying.
"Meg...I'm sorry, but he's not here," he said and I closed my eyes. "He got angry when Rachel told us and just ran off. We don’t know where he is..."
"But..." I stammered as tears ran down my cheeks. "But..."
"I'm sorry, Megan," Nick said softly. I couldn’t reply so I just closed my phone. Chris was instantly by my side and holding me tightly. I wrapped my arms around him and cried into his chest.
"He's not coming back," I whispered. Chris didn't say anything, just kissed my forehead and kept hugging me tightly.

All day I sat in my room crying. I didn't even get to see him one last time. I didn't tell him I loved him. He didn't tell me... As I curled up in the corner of my bed in my dark bedroom something hit my window. I frowned and went and looked and saw Joe standing in the side garden. My breath caught in my throat. More tears trickled down my cheeks as I smiled and opened my window. "What are you doing here?" I whispered but he heard me.
"I needed to see you," he said. "Climb down." I didn't need telling twice. I scribbled down a note to my parents, grabbed a pair of trainers and put them on and then climbed down the side of the house. As soon as my feet touched the floor Joe had spun me round and his arms were around me. He didn't kiss me, just held me and I felt like that was the best thing in the world. I don’t know how long we stood like that but it wasn’t long enough before Joe pulled away and took my hand and we started walking to the beach. We walked for hours, neither of us saying anything, neither of us knowing what to say without making things worse.

The beach was quiet, empty except for us and the sound of the waves. I turned and looked out over the horizon and Joe stood behind me, gazing out as well. He wrapped his arms around my waist and put his chin on the top of my head gently. As I looked out at the water and the stars, they became fuzzy as tears collected in my eyes. I tried to blink them away but they just kept coming back until they silently made their way down my cheeks. Joe didn't say anything but I know he knew I was crying; I felt his arms tighten slightly.

It was dark around us, but I didn't think anything about that, I focused on Joe. I turned and looked at him. I focused on memorising every last thing about him. We gazed into each other's eyes for what felt like an eternity. I then moved forward into Joe's arms and he held me tightly. I buried my face in his chest and he did the same into my shoulder. I tried my hardest not to cry, once I'd started I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop. "Megan," Joe whispered in my ear, his voice heavy with emotion. "I love you." More tears appeared in my eyes but I held them back.
"I love you, too," I whispered and his arms around me tightened. "I'm going to miss you so much." Despite telling myself not to cry, tears slowly rolled down my cheeks.
"I'll miss you more," Joe said and I knew he had tears in his eyes as well. He pulled back slightly and looked down at his hands. I looked down as well and saw him take of his purity ring and take my right hand and put it on my palm. "Don't forget," he whispered and my heart felt tight.
"Never," I whispered. He pulled me back into him and I wrapped my arms back around him, holding his ring tight in my hand. It was at least 15 minutes later that I pulled back and looked up at him through teary eyes. "I don’t want you to go," I whispered, my voice breaking.
"I don’t want to go, either, Meg," he said as he leant his forehead against mine. "But I have to. I love you. I loved you the moment I saw you in the cafe and you hid me from those girls..." He smiled and I knew he was trying to lighten the mood of the horrid moment.
"I loved you the moment I saw you hiding from those girls in my big hat," I smiled and he leant down and kissed me lovingly. We both sensed our time was coming to an end. The sun was starting to rise on the horizon.
"I'll phone you," he promised. "Every day. Nothing will stop me." I smiled shakily.
"I'll come and visit you," I said softly and he smiled and kissed me.
"I should go," he said softly, looking at the sun working its way across the sky. He didn't say why, we both knew the reason. He had a flight in several hours. He turned back to me and stroked my cheek gently. "I love you."
"I love you," I said softly. He looked at me a moment longer and then he took his hand away and slowly walked away.

I watched him until he had disappeared round the corner. I sank down to the sand and let the tears I had been holding back run down my cheeks freely. He was gone. In a few hours he wouldn’t even be in the country anymore. I looked down at the ring in my hand and wiped my tears away. It didn't fit on my fingers but it did on my thumb. I put it on my left hand thumb. I would have put it on my ring finger if it had fit. This ring was my promise to him; I would never be with anyone else. Only Joe.

When I was in control of my emotions again, I stood up. I didn't want to go home, if I went home I knew mum would ask me questions and I would end up telling her the truth about what I had been doing for the last month. Instead I went to the cafe. It was about 5 in the morning but I knew Jesse would be there setting up and preparing food for the customers that come in as soon as the shop opens. I knocked on the door and no one answered. I knocked louder and then Jesse's head poked round the corner of the kitchen. He saw me and sympathy immediately filled his face. He came and unlocked the door and I basically fell into his arms. I didn't want to cry again but I couldn’t help it. Jesse stroked my hair and held me, trying to comfort me. "He's gone," I whispered when I pulled back.
"Come in, sweetie," he said and led me into the kitchen where he placed me in front of a large mound of dough and a rolling pin. I knew he was trying to distract me and I loved him for it.