The One That Got Away

She walked in and said
She didn't want to know anymore
Before I could ask why
She was gone out the door
I didn't know
What I did wrong
But now I just can't move on

Since she left me
She told me
Don't worry
You'll be OK
You don't need me
Believe me
You'll be fine
Then I knew what she meant
And it's not what she said
Now I can't believe she's gone

I tried calling her up on your phone
No one's there
I've left messages after the tone
Really? Yeah man, loads
I didn't know
What I did wrong
But now I just can't move on
Yeah yeah yeah

Since she left me
She told me
Don't worry
You'll be okay
You don't need me
Believe me
You'll be fine
Then I knew what she meant
And it's not what she said
Now I can't believe she's gone

Well since she left me
She told me
Don't you worry
You'll be okay
You don't need me no
Believe me
You'll be fine
Then I knew what she meant
And it's not what she said
Now I can't believe, she's gone

The rain hadn't stopped for five days. Not since she'd gone. Danny couldn't cry anymore. The vicar said his traditional speech and bible reading, while others cried around him; Danny just couldn't. It hurt so much that he just couldn't.

Lauren sniffled beside him, and he looked round at her. She smiled a watery smile, dabbing her eyes on her tissue. She looked beautiful in black, Danny kept telling himself. He didn't want to think about the fact that his sister was being slowly lifted down into the ground. Lauren moved closer to him and put her head on his shoulder, so she could cry without him seeing. He never liked to see her cry.

He wrapped his arm around her, hearing her sobs. And he finally let it go. He'd not said anything in the church; it was just too painful. His face screwed up in a mild effort to hold it all together, he let out something halfway between a sigh and a sob; Lauren looked up at him, and pecked his cheek. He held her tight to him, his arm round her waist.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning round, Danny saw his Mum holding a rose. Nodding, Danny knew what to do. He took the rose and walked to the edge of the grave, before bending down and taking a handful of damp dirt.

"I'll always love and miss you, Vick. You were more than my sister. You were my best friend. You're too good to be anywhere but paradise. Sleep tight, princess," Danny whispered to the wooden box they called a coffin.

Throwing the dirt and the rose onto the top of the coffin, Danny sigh-sobbed once more and walked back to the group, allowing his mother and the rest of the personal mourners to say their piece to the girl in the ground. Lauren held her arms out for him, but he walked past her.

He walked past everyone; well, not walked so much as ran.

Lauren dabbed her eyes and sniffled. The one person she didn't expect to comfort her was Ellie; it was Ellie who wrapped an arm around her shoulder and told her everything would be okay.

"He hasn't spoken to me in five days... Not since it started raining... I miss him and he's right next to me," Lauren sniffled, leaning her head sadly on Ellie's shoulder.

"Lauren," Ellie said, slightly firmly. "His big sister just died."

"Yeah..." Lauren whispered, almost inaudibly, wiping her nose on her handkerchief.

"Exactly. He'll come around. Don't lose faith," Ellie smiled warmly, infecting Lauren to smile back as warmly.

Ellie nodded to Lauren, let her go, waved slightly, and wandered back over to Tom. Lauren smiled. Tom had made a great choice. It occurred to her then that she didn't know how long Ellie and Tom had been going out. Of course, she asked.

"Nearly eleven months, now," Tom beamed, hugging Ellie close to him. "We live together and everything. I've told you all of this," he added with a laugh.

"'Spose being in hospital wiped some memories," Lauren giggled back.

The light atmosphere was good, but it grew heavy once again as Frankie made his way over to the grave. Lauren knew that it was their turn to pay their respects. She walked over and joined her brother, her hand comfortingly and gently placed on his shoulder, despite him being five inches taller than her.

They waited a few seconds, and Davinia appeared by Lauren's side, sobbing into a tissue as she tucked her hair behind her ear repeatedly - it was something like a coping mechanism for her. She'd done it since she was only a young child; Frankie remembered it well.

"Who's going to go first?" Frankie asked, hoarsely.

"I will," Davinia replied shakily, wiping her nose, clearing her throat and blinking out more tears. "Vicky..." she whispered, stepping forward. "I still remember when you babysat us. I used to love your modernised versions of fairy tales. They always made me laugh." She chuckled lightly, before turning back to tears. "I'm going to miss you so much, Vick! We were always so close; me, you and Lauren, three amigos even though you were like eight years older than us. You were my other best friend. Rest in peace..."

She ran to Harry, crying, who took her into his arms and hugged her. They were still very close friends; he knew her better than anyone else did. Frankie's heart sank at the sight of her crying, and her being in someone else's arms, and proceeded to say his goodbye to a girl he once loved.

"I used to fancy you, ya know," he started, laughing at himself lightly through the tears. "Like, really fancy you. You were always too good and too grown up for me. It was such a privilege to even be friends with you. I loved you for everything you did for me, and for Lauren. You were there for us when we needed you most, and I love you for that. I'm really going to miss you. We never got round to that coffee, did we? Well... I hope you're still singing in paradise."

Sighing, Frankie walked off. Davinia's eyes followed him, but she didn't. They'd got even closer over the last few weeks, with Lauren being in hospital and everything, and she'd slowly fallen in love with him. It felt like a fairytale; but he never seemed interested in her in that way.

It was Lauren's turn to say goodbye.

Stepping up to the edge of the grave, she shivered. She'd always had a haunting fear of death, even though she'd never really experienced first hand. Terrified, she looked over the edge and down to the coffin. Remembering suddenly who was down there, she burst into tears once more.

"I'll always love and miss you," she whispered simply, and walked away.