21 Days To Live

Day 17

I closed my eyes for a moment, unsure of where to began.

How could I possibly tell him that in less than a week I was going to die? How could I tell anyone?

It was against all the rules. Something the ones watching over us from up above would never allow.

"Remember when we first came here together, Rome?" I asked him with a small smile on my face. "You made me feel something I had never felt. Something I had never experienced in life. I'd never felt it with anyone else before you and still haven't. I was afraid that you might be just like the others and leave me in the end. But, you didn't. You stayed with me, just like you had promised. Yet, when Gemma came into this world and we began to fight, I was afraid Rome. I was afraid that you would leave and walk away with her. And so that was the reason why I began to push you away. I stopped attending to Gemma and your needs, because in the end I didn't want to be the one hurt like always.

But, something lately has made me realize how wrong I was. It was selfish of me. I shouldn't have done that to the two of you. And now I'm begging you to keep your promise, Rome. I want to spend whatever is left of my life with you. I want you and Gemma to be a part of my life. Please Rome, don't leave me."

"Do you- do you really mean it?" He questioned, his voice hopeful.

Hopeful that everything between us could change. Hopeful, just like I was.

I nodded, "Every word."

Nothing was stirring and the wind in the trees seemed to become silent. The only thing I could I hear was the sound of our steady breathing.

"Could anything between us ever change?" I asked him quietly.

"Maybe," he answered, not letting me in on what really was going through his mind.

I let out a sigh, barely audible.

"It's always been Gemma's dream for us to go pick her up together," he told me after a moment of silence.

I raised both my eyebrows, turning towards him in surprise.

"Really?" Why was it so hard to believe?

He nodded, "I think maybe today we could fulfill that dream of her's. What do you say?"

"I say we should head right to it," I said, then out of instinct grabbed his hand.

He looked down at our hands making me realize what I had just done. I instantly let go, and instead crossed my arms across my chest as we made our way to our different cars.

Rome didn't say a word, until we had gotten closer to our cars.

"It won't really be considered going together if we're not in the same car," he pointed out. "We could drop your car off on the way or even mine then go in your car or mine to pick her up."

"Sounds good," I agreed, feeling happier than I did before. "Let's drop mine off then."

2:36 pm

When Gemma's eyes finally caught sight of us she stopped in shock for a moment. Her eyes danced from my face to Rome's and then back.

"Why are you guys both here?" She asked slowly, holding on to the straps of her backpack on her shoulder. "Is something happening today that I'm completely missing out on?"

"We were both free so we decided to come pick you up," I told her on the both of our behaves.

"Really? Usually you guys are always out to get each other's heads. But, today here you are standing side by side like this is how it always has been," she frowned.

I glanced towards Rome, who nodded at me as if letting me know that he would let me talk to Gemma alone for a moment.

"I'll be in the car guys," he said, saluting to us before he headed towards the driver's side of the car.

I shook my head at Gemma, then did my best to ignore her glare before answering her question.

"Somethings can't be understood, Gemma. You've just got to follow along with the way they're going. I know I've never been there for you, or I've never done anything for you that would make you want to happily call me your mom, but I'm desperately pleading in front of you to give me one last chance," I whispered to her, cupping her soft cheeks in my hands.

She stepped back, a perplexed expression etched on her face.

"I really wish it was easy to forget everything that happened, ya know? But what's there to guarantee that you won't change once again in the future?" She asked, then shook her head and walked to the back seat in the car.

She was asking for a guarantee. Well that guarantee was that I wasn't going to live long enough for there to be a future where I existed.

And so the last thing I wanted Gemma to remember me by were happy memories that I was now trying to create.