Falling For A Friend

2 Weeks Later

It all happened too fast. I threw my roses over Aiden's casket as they lowered it into the ground. I said my last words. "I still love you." Everyone left too early. Nothing went the way I wanted it. Nobody cared. They just came to make me feel better but I still felt bad. My mom walked up next to me and slid her hand into mine.

"It wasn't your fault, Zane." She said quietly as the less than twenty people left. I squeezed her hand tighter and thought to myself Why? Why would someone do this to someone else? Why would someone actually want to ruin my family? Ruin a family? Does it bring pleasure to them? I thought of that day. That horrible, tragic day.

"I want to do something with you." Aiden said as he tugged at my hand, trying to get me off the couch. I finally got up.

"What do you want to do?" I asked him.

"I don't know. Anything."

"Okay, let me get Caleb." I said as Aiden put his shoes on. I got Caleb out of his crib and wrapped him in his blue blanket. I got on my shoes and he had his on so we left.

"Ice cream!" He yelled and ran to the ice cream stand in front of us. He stopped and turned around. "Come on, Zane!" He yelled and waved his hand to tell me to hurry. Why are we hurrying?

We ordered our ice creams. I remember his last one. Chocolate chip cookie dough with double fudge and rainbow sprinkles, dipped in cherry dip all in a waffle cone. It was his favorite. We sat on a bench and he was licking away at his ice cream. I giggled.

"What?" He asked. He had the red from the cherry dip on his face.

"You're so cute." He smiled.

"I love you, Zane. Don't ever forget that." He kissed me and finished his ice cream. He got up to get a napkin to clean up the mess he made on himself and I saw a light coming from the bushes. I looked over at it. A gun.

"Aiden! Run!" I yelled.

"Huh?" He turned around and I got up and ran to him, Caleb still in my arms, all I heard was someone yell "faggot!" and a gunshot. I was too late.

The bullet went straight into his chest and he died instantly. I was screaming. I didn't know what to do. Everything went black. Next, I woke up in the hospital with my mom sitting next to me holding Caleb.

"Where's Aiden?" I asked. She didn't answer. She just kept rocking Caleb. "Mom," I said. "Where's Aiden?"

"He...he didn't make it." She said quietly.

"What?" I asked, tears filling up my eyes. I looked down at my ring, the only memory I had left of him on me at the moment. "Why?" I think I was in shock. I think I still am. Everything's so dull. When I look, I stare, thinking of what we could've done instead of going out. Why did he have to go? Who did it and why?

I was snapped back into reality when my mom was gone and I was alone at Aiden's grave.

"I'm sorry." A man's voice said behind me. I turned around. It was Brian.

"About what?" I turned around and stared and my love's grave.

"I...hurt him." He forced it out.

"What?" I yelled and turned around again and swung at...nothing. What the hell? I fell to the ground and sat up against Aiden's gravestone and hugged myself. I burst into tears. "How could this happen to me? How could you do this to me?" I screamed at God. "You hate me, I know. You hate all of us gays! But you don't have to go and ruin our lives like this!" I started crying again.

Why? How? Who? What reason? The friend who I fell for and still falling for, is six feet in the ground. How am I going to recover from this? Everyday I see Caleb, I'll want to cry. I guess I'll always be falling for my friend.