Sarah Beth

Two.

Two.

I twirl a little in the mirror and exhale anxiously. My royal blue dress cascades down to just past my knees. My hair is pulled into a half up half down with a jeweled barrette. My makeup is light but defining. I am wearing my favorite pair of gray converse and am sporting a small dark leather shoulder bag from Ecuador. I give my dress one final pat and fluff before walking out of my room. My heart race increases as I step toward the stairs. I make it halfway down and stop dead in my tracks. He is at the bottom of the stairs looking up at me. His grin is the best thing I've seen in the last twenty four hours.

I finally remind myself to breathe and walk down the stairs toward him. He is wearing black pants and a white shirt with a royal blue tie (ironically). His messy dark hair is combed smooth into perfection and his eyes are sparkling as he looks straight into mine.

"You look beautiful." he says offering me a hand down the last couple of steps. As soon as my feet hit the floor, I am unexpectedly pulled into a short and sweet kiss.

"So where are we going?" I ask as he leads me into the kitchen where my parents are drinking coffee.

"I told you it's a surprise." he smirks over at me.

"Y'all get on out of here already." mom teases with a grin. I give both my parents a big hug and we head out the door.

My mouth drops in shock when Scott pulls up at a little pavilion on the lake. It is small yet quaint. Scott watches my reaction with his own grin.

"Do you approve?"

"Oh my gosh this is so sweet! Thank you!" I say reaching across the car to give him a light kiss on the cheek.

The waitress sits us at a table for two set off from everyone else. The table has the perfect view of the lake and the full moon adds to the effect of it's beauty. It's like a perfect date.

We eat and laugh and talk and just have a good time. My mind is at ease and I've forgotten all my stress. After dinner I notice for the first time that the pavilion no longer is filled with tables and has cleared out into a dance floor. About as soon as I see this, a hand is outstretched to me.

"May I have this dance?"

"Why yes you may." We walk out to the dance floor where his hands softly rest into place, one at my side and the other holding my hand out in standard position. We sway back and forth for a while under the moonlight. The music playing is soft and subtle yet it still sets a very romantic mood.

The song finishes and a new more upbeat song starts playing. Before I know it we are swing dancing and I'm laughing. He leads me around the dance floor with the occasional twirl and spin. The jazzy song brings up the mood and I cant stop smiling. I just let loose and enjoy the dance. Everything about Scott is guiding and firm but still gentle and kind.

The song changes and it's back to something more soft. After a slow twirl, Scott tries to dip me. His firm grip turns out to be a little too firm on my side and I wince a little. Its amazing that is all I did because it's now throbbing a bit. He gently lifts me back up to check on me.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No no it's just my side."

"Its still hurting after what, three weeks?" he looks both skeptical and worried. Time to tell him the news. I oft my hands up and loosely rest my arms around his neck as we continue to dance.

"Yes. Actually I went in for tests last week. I was at the doctor getting results yesterday." I look down at our feet scared to look up to his face. I dont want to admit the next part. That means I've accepted it and I'm not sure I am ready to accept it. "They found more than we expected." my throat runs dry and I don't want to form the next three words. A finger lifts my chin until I am staring into the comforting eyes of my best friend in the world. He takes both my hands in his and gives them a gentle squeeze.

I struggle to get past the cotton mouth. "I-" I swallow in an attempt to try to actually make sound. "I have leukemia." my voice cracks and scratches through all three words but the come out completely audible. Fear flashes across Scott's face as he just kind of stares at me. Before I can say anything else, Scott dips down and presses his lips to mine. It lasts a few seconds and he pulls away. His hands cup my face.

"I will always be here for you no matter what." he says before he deepens the kiss. I try to hold it together but his comfort finally breaks my walls and I fall apart right there in the middle of the dance in Scott's arms. "I've got you. You're going to be okay now. Shh it's okay I've got you." he leads me back to his truck where he picks me up and sits me down on the tailgate. Then he jumps up with me and wraps an arm around my shoulder. I try to control it but I can only silence my sobs into noiseless tears.

"I'm sorry." I wipe my eyes furiously and he just holds me tighter.

"Don't apologize. If I was in your position I would probably have curled up into a ball in the hospital and basked for a bit. At least here I can hold you close and wipe away your tears." I grin up at him and the tears finally slow. We sit in a comfortable silence gazing up at the stars. Finally he interrupts the silence.

"Can I ask you one question?"

"Yeah." I prepare myself for questions about the disease or our relationship or school.

"Are you scared?" his words take me by surprise a little bit and I wait a minute before I answer.

"Yeah." Our conversation goes silent again and I lay my head over onto his shoulder.

"When's your next baseball game?" I ask after a few minutes.

"Thursday. Are you coming?"

"Hopefully. I don't think we have tennis that day." suddenly I remember I may not be playing for much longer. "I better not get out of shape because of this." I huff. "I ca not lose my form after working on it this hard."

"Sarah Beth you make me laugh so much." he chuckles. "You are still going to be beautiful, you always will be, so quit worrying." I blush bright red in embarrassment.

"I was talking about my tennis form Scott!" I defend uselessly. His only response is loud heart stopping laughter.

"When a man's given an opportunity like that it's required that he take it!" he says still laughing.

"Whatever." I say lightly punching him in the arm. Soon his laughter has infected me and I my own laughter joins his.

We get back to my house where he drops me off exactly ten minutes before curfew like always. He comes around and opens the door for me. I try to step out but instead I am lifted out and set gently on the ground. He gives me one short yet deep kiss and then leads me up to my front door.

"Thank you for everything." I say. I peck him on the lips one last time before walking into the house.