Recovery.

"Norah?!" A panicked shout flew up the stairs.
"Norah?! Answer me!"
The bedroom door slammed open and Norah looked up, make-up smeared and eyes red from crying all night, at Ellen standing in the doorway.
"What the hell, Norah?! Why did you say no?"
Ellen noticed the frame still clutched in Norah's hands.
"Norah," she said softly. "I know it's hard, but you need to let go."
"I can't," she sobbed.
"You know that Greg would want you to be happy."
Ellen was right. I did want her to be happy. But who knew that it would be this hard? I was supposed to be her one and only. After all, she was mine. In life, we were both so sure of this. But I was dead now. I had told myself that she would live life waiting to see me again, that her time would fly by and that we'd be reunited in death. How could I have been so stupid? She was 26 years old. To wait as long as she had to, to live life alone, without someone to love her, for all that time would be almost impossible. And now, now that she'd met Gabe, with his perfect looks and with the perfect way he treated her, that idea was just as dead as I was.
"Come on." Ellen pulled her mobile out of her handbag. "Call him."
Ellen dialed his number and handed it to Norah. She held it shakily to her ear and listened to it ring.
"Hello?"
"Er... G-Gabe. Hi. It's me, Norah."
"Oh. Hey." There was a long pause. "Are you okay?"
"Er... yeah. I'm fine. Er... about your o-offer. I-I-Is it still there?" She had her eyes closed tightly as if she was wishing for him to say no.
"Sure!" he replied, his voice brightening. "Was last night a bad time or something?"
Receiving nothing but silence, he changed topic.
"So is Friday alright? At seven?"
"Friday at seven..." she glanced at Ellen who nodded enthusiastically, "...sounds good."
"Great! Well, I'll see you then," he replied. Norah was surprised at how genuinely happy he sounded.
"Yeah, see you then."
As soon as she hung up, she collapsed into a fresh bout of tears.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The doorbell rang.
Norah had been dreading this day all week. Ellen had been there all day for moral support but Norah knew that as soon as she walked out of the door, she was alone.
She thought she was going to be sick as Ellen opened the door and she heard Gabe's voice. What if she managed to keep herself together on the way to the restaurant but then broke down in the middle of dinner? She almost started hyperventilating at the thought.
"Norah!" called Ellen, up the stairs.
Hurrying out of her bedroom before she could stop herself or fully realise what she was getting herself into, she descended the stairs. Luckily, she only looked at Gabe when she reached the bottom, otherwise her legs, morphing suddenly into jelly, would have given out if she took a leg off the floor.
"Hi," he said, warmly, though I could see a wary look in his eyes as he wondered whether she was going to run off again.
"Hi," she whispered back.
"Well, have fun kids!" said Ellen, giving Norah a nudge out the door so that she couldn't back out.
Gabe opened the passenger door for Norah; I slid into the backseat.
And then the date was fully under way and they were laughing and joking, albeit a little forced on Norah's side.
When they pulled into a car park, Norah's eyes brightened and she smiled. "I love this place," she said, looking at the tiny Italian restaurant.
"So I've heard," he grinned.
It was a restaurant that Ellen and Norah had been to a couple of times since I'd passed. It was smart of Ellen to suggest this restaurant; it wouldn't contain any memories of me. I felt torn: I didn't know whether I wanted her to be somewhere that would remind her of me or if I wanted her to be somewhere that she wouldn't remember anything painful. I sighed. It's not like I had a choice.
He held open the door and followed her inside, placing his hand on her lower back like he did last night. They were shown to their table and the drinks were brought over, then the dinner. I watched on, memories of dates that I'd taken her on flashing across my mind so it was hard to concentrate on the scene before me.
Gabe asked for the bill and I snapped back to reality and felt my stomach jolt as I noticed the emotion on their faces. They were happy. Extremely happy.
I closed my eyes and wished that I didn't have to bear witness to this agonizing setting in front of me. I tried to bathe in the happiness I used to feel when she was happy. I told myself I was proud of her for holding it together. But it hurt.
When they left the restaurant they didn't head to the car and I knew I was in for more torture. They exited the car park, crossed the street and I knew they intended to take a stroll along the pavement parallel to the beach.
"So how long have you known Ellen for?"
"We went to high school together."
"Oh. I've never seen you out with her before."
"I've been... busy."
"Too busy to party?!" he exclaimed, pretending to be outraged.
Norah laughed.
"So really, where've you been?"
She stared ahead for a few seconds before replying slowly. She knew that there was no way he was going to drop the topic; he was going to find out about Greg. "I've been... recovering."
"Have you been ill?"
Norah stopped walking and Gabe turned to face her.
"Gabe. My... my fiance..."
Gabe stared at her and I could almost hear his brain screaming 'FIANCE?!'
"My fiance, he... he died in a car crash," she mumbled, staring at a point just above Gabe's left shoulder.
Gabe kept staring and his eyes widened even further before they flooded with pity.
"I've been cooped up in my house, pretty much refusing to leave unless it's for work. It happened nearly eleven months ago and I'm still not over him. I'm sorry, this isn't fair on you. I shouldn't be here."
Norah turned on her heel, her eyes filling with tears after her numb speech but Gabe grabbed her hand before she could run away.
"Hey." He pulled her into a hug. "I'm not letting you run away from me again."
Then she started to babble and tried to push him away. He pulled out of the hug but refused to let go of her hand.
"This is just wasting your time. I'll just depress you. I don't think I'll ever get over him."
Gabe grabbed her shoulders and shook her lightly. "Norah."
But she carried on with her thoughtless rambling, oblivious.
"There's someone out there who's better for you than me. I'll just be holding you back. It wouldn't be fair."
Gabe sighed. Then placed one hand on her neck, the other on her hip and leant in. He kissed her softly, wiping away her falling tears as he did so.
Even though the contact of their lips hurt, I was thankful to him for ceasing her pain-filled speech.
"Gabe-"
"No more excuses," he whispered, rubbing her cheek with his thumb. "I understand that you may have a lot of emotional baggage, but I don't care. You're not wasting my time and whenever I make you smile I feel whole. Your fiance will always hold a special place in your heart, I know, but as long as I can have my own special place, I'm content. No one out there is better for me than you. I've known you for about a week and in that short time you've already opened my eyes to the beauty of the world when I was so rapidly losing hope. You'll be helping me move forward if you'll just stay by my side," he finished, his thumb still caressing her cheek.
Fresh tears were now falling but not because of the pain. His words, so poetic and, if used in a less extreme situation, probably cliche, had filled her with a happiness that she thought she'd never feel again. Her lips were still tingling from his soft kiss, something else she thought would only ever be a distant memory.
She kissed him again, harder than he had kissed her, clinging to this newfound happiness so tightly, wringing out as much of the overwhelming feeling as she could.
He kissed her back, somberly, aching for this girl who had endured so much, so young. It shouldn't happen to anybody and yet he wanted to physically hurt himself when a sick, yet totally understandable thought crossed his mind. He was glad because he would be able to call her his.
The kiss seemed to end all too soon and with it dwindled the buoyant emotion.

Norah broke down once more, feeling she had betrayed Greg so heartlessly.