Until the End of Time

I guess you could say I was shocked when I awoke the next morning to find it wasn't 11 in the morning. Considering I was a late sleeper, eight o'clock in the morning was fairly early for me. I peeked out of my window, my toes just now adjusting to the cool, wood floor; I found that one of the neighbors seemed to be our age. Eighteen or so is what he looked like. At least, from what I could see of him.

His back was to me, and I wondered if he would ever talk to us. I wasn't one for being extremely outgoing and bubbly like Carmen, so it would be a lot harder for me to make friends. He turned around, looking up to my window, and flashed me a genuine smile.

I backed away from my window as quickly as I could, only to find my heart practically beating out of my chest. There was no way it could have been him, surely. What were the odds? I closed my eyes tightly, knowing that the sun and my eyes were playing tricks on me.

I knew that they lived in California, but then, you'd have to live under a rock not to know that. I sighed, making my way into the bathroom that Carmen and I shared. It was nothing to worry about, I'm sure a lot of guys in Cali have brown eyes and curls. And were named Nicholas.

I groaned, turning the cold water on and splashing some on my face. I heard soft snores from the other room and I knew that Carmen was still very much asleep. I grabbed a towel, drying my damp face off and staring at myself for a while.

I sat on the counter, fingering the heart around my neck. What did it really mean? Why would he just give me this randomly? Wasn't there any kind of significance or am I just being stupid to even let myself think of this?

I flipped the heart over, reading the inscription.

I love you so much, Maddi-girl. Happy Birthday. Love always, your Kevibear

I flipped it back over quickly, trying to stop the tears that were building in my eyes from falling. A knock to the door had me jumping from the counter and opening it to see a very cranky Carmen.

"Can you get out?" She asked impatiently.

"Sure," I said moving past her before she caught my arm.

"Are you sure you want to wear that..?"

"Carmen, I like the necklace. Besides, I can't find anything else to match what I'm going to wear today."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Now, go do something with that hair. You look like you just had a fight with a fan, and the fan won. By a long shot."

She rolled her eyes, muttering something incoherent in Spanish before I went to my room laying out my outfit. I ran the brush through my hair quickly and let in hang wavy. I walked out of my room before shutting the door and bumping into Carmen. I let out a laugh; only she could pull an outfit like this off.

I smiled grabbing her hand and we both walked down the stairs eagerly. Though I guess we were eager because we got to go to scope out the neighborhood today or take the car if we pleased.

"Don't you girls want to get something to eat?" My Mother asked, looking at us as we neared the front door.

"Oh, right. Yes ma'am," I said, going into the kitchen and finding the cabinet which held the bowls.

"Can we just get a pop-tart or something? I really want to go explore," Carmen said, sitting on a stool at the bar.

"Yeah, I guess so."

I put the two bowls up before grabbing a box of strawberry poptarts, and sliding them in front of Carmen. She smiled, opening the box and taking out a silver wrapped package. She tore it open and handed one to me.

"Thanks for breakfast, Car."

"Anytime, love."

My Mom shook her head softly before the doorbell rang. Carmen slid out of her chair, walking to the living room.

"I've got it!"

I sat down and heard her open the door, hearing a voice that I knew I would never forget. He sounded shocked almost and I'm fairly sure Carmen said nothing because he walked in, asking for my mother and I. I chewed my pop-tart slowly, swallowing roughly as the man I had been in love with since I could remember walked into view.

"Madison," He said slowly and formally, as if we had never spent time apart.

I couldn't say anything, and I didn't know if I wanted to. I had loved him for so long and thought of seeing him again in so many different ways, but I couldn't prepare myself for the real thing. I stood up slowly, feeling a lump form in my throat as I tried to speak.

His smile spread into a frown as I stood there, saying absolutely nothing. What did he expect me to do? Say that I'd missed him and it was great to see him again? His eyes flickered to the necklace that hung around my neck, and I took it off, handing it to him.

Confusion was in his eyes as he practically begged me to explain what any of this meant. But I could never tell him the reason why. I would never get my fairy tale ending and it's about time I faced it. Kevin and I could and never would be; it was time to move on.

"Keep it. I have no use for it, and I hate looking at it. It reminded me of every promise, every laugh, every hug. To be perfectly honest with you, I don't know who you are anymore. The Kevin I knew....died a long time ago. And I really don't want to know the new one."

What I meant to say was the Kevin that I loved, but I didn't have the strength to do that. Just doing this hurt enough. He looked at me hopelessly, his face contorting into hurt. Good. He deserved to hurt after hurting me all these years. His hand closed over the necklace, and I turned away from him, already feeling the tears begin to form.

Before anyone could see me cry, I ran upstairs to my room, shutting the door quickly. The tears flowed freely now, and I didn't try to muffle my cries. I closed my eyes tightly, knowing that no matter how many tiimes I tried to convince myself or how many times he hurt me, I would always love him.

And I didn't know whether to hate myself at the moment for that or not.