Lost & Insecure

Thirty-Two - Forever

Dana and Katie had been together for a little over a year. At first, Dana visited Katie twice a month, but that wasn't enough for Katie. After six months, Katie picked up her life to move in with Dana in New York. They couldn't have been happier together.

They were living together, both were happy in their careers, and both of their lives were just getting started. Katie was even talking to Ashley and Mason, trying to get them to move closer. Dana traveled a lot for work, but made the most of the time she had with Katie.

Katie and Dana were the happiest they had ever been. Being together is the one thing that made sense to them more than anything else. They fought, just like any other couple, and drove each other crazy. But more than anything they were crazy about each other. The two never went to bed angry. They got in fights and got into moods where they felt like they couldn't stand one another. But Dana and Katie never gave up. They didn't want to spend the rest of their lives without each other. They were determined to make it work.

Eddie always asked Dana how she got so lucky so young. Eddie was still looking for the person he wanted to spend his forever with, and was jealous that his cousin had already found hers. Eddie loved Grace, and he dated her for three years, but it didn't work out. Dana thought that Eddie was going to marry her, but something happened between the two that they couldn't seem to fix.

Ashley and Mason were everything that Katie and Dana had hoped to be, and looked up to. They had been together for eight years now. Ashley and Mason were recently married and already talking about the possibility of having kids within the next few years. Katie was excited to hear that Ashley and Mason were looking at houses and begged them to look for a house not to far from were Katie and Dana were living.

Lindley and Sierra had gotten engaged recently. They had been living with Lindley's older brother, Blake, and Blake's boyfriend Kieran for the last couple of years. Kaiden and Blake had gotten married and shortly after, when Sierra and Lindley were cooking at three in the morning because neither one of them could sleep, Sierra dropped down on one knee right there in the middle of the kitchen and asked Lindley to marry her. Sierra said that whenever she thought about the future, all she thought about was spending it with Lindley.

Katie and Dana were in no rush to get married or start a family. Of course they wanted to be together and to have little ones running around, but they had time to figure that out. They wanted to spend the next few years settling down and figuring their lives out. At least that's what they had agreed on.

Katie linked her arm through Dana's as they exited the restaurant they had been at. Katie and Dana had gone out to eat, but Katie wasn't feeling well so instead of them continuing with their plans, they decided to head home. They took a taxi to the restaurant, thinking that they'd be drinking and didn't want to drive home. Dana tried to hail a cab, but was failing.

"Babe, there aren't that many cabs coming down this street," Katie grabbed Dana's hand, trying to get her attention. "Maybe we should head down another street and try there."

"Are you sure?" Dana asked. "I don't mind waiting a couple minutes. I'm sure we can grab one."

"It's already dark, and it's starting to snow. Maybe we can just walk from here." Katie tugged Dana lightly. She gestured for Dana to follow. Dana obliged and followed her. They walked down a couple of blocks, Katie pressing herself closely to Dana for warmth.

After a couple of blocks, Katie pointed out an older man across the street. There was a teenage boy harassing the man. The sight unsettled Dana. She crossed the street, pulling Katie behind her. "Hey," Dana called out to get the boy's attention, "what's going on?"

"Dana," Katie pulled on Dana's arm and looked at her with her eyebrows furrowed. She didn't want Dana to get involved. Dana tried to reassure Katie that it was okay. The older man looked more scared as they got closer. The young boy turned to face Dana and Katie. As he turned, Dana saw why the man had been so scared.

Dana gently pushed Katie behind her and took a slow step forward, raising her hand. Katie looked down and spotted the gun that Dana had spotted moments before. Katie tried grabbing onto Dana's coat, silently telling Dana to back off. The boy's hand was shaking now. He swung the gun back towards the man.

"You took everything I had!" The boy screamed at the man. Dana and Katie had no idea what they had just walked into.

Dana reached into her back pocket slowly and handed Katie her phone. She glanced back at Katie and mouthed the words "Call the police." Katie was too frozen to listen. Dana tried to take another slow step towards the boy.

"Gabriel, don't do this." The old man spoke to the boy. His voice was shaky and low. Gabriel had a noticeable twitch. Dana assumed that Gabriel was on drugs by his appearance and attitude. He was a mess. And he wasn't wearing that many layers, so he should have been freezing, but the cold didn't seem to bother the boy.

Gabriel was swinging the gun around as he began to pace in front of the old man. Dana watched the boy, studying him. He stopped pacing and took a step forward towards the older man. He extended his arm, holding the gun in direction of the man's head. Dana didn't think before she tackled the boy to the ground. There was a struggle between the two, and Dana shouted at the older man to call the police. He did as she instructed.

Dana got a hold of Gabriel's gun and wrestled it out of his hand. The gun was lying on the sidewalk as Dana tried to restrain Gabriel. The old man went to reach for the gun that was on the ground, but Dana's instinct told her not to let him. She let go of Gabriel and went after the gun. She kicked it away, but failed to notice that the Gabriel had wrestled the older man to the ground.

The older man pulled out a pocketknife that he was carrying in his front pocket. He opened the blade with the intent to stop Gabriel from attacking him. The older man managed to cut Gabriel's arm relatively deeply, but Gabriel forced the knife out of the man's hands. He grabbed the knife, but before he could strike the older man beneath him, Dana pulled the boy off of the man. She lifted Gabriel to his feet.

Katie was on the phone with the police dispatcher, informing them about everything that was going on. The police were on their way, but Katie began to panic. She wanted to help more, but she didn't know how to without violently involving herself. Additionally, she was frozen in fear.

Gabriel had turned himself around and was in another struggle with Dana. The old man had picked up the gun and pointed it at Gabriel's back. He aimed for Gabriel and pulled the trigger.

The loud gunshot turned Katie's attention towards Dana and Gabriel. Gabriel's back had been penetrated, but after the bullet hit him, it went right through him and into Dana due to their close proximity. Katie watched in slow motion as the two hit the ground, dropping her phone simultaneously.

Katie ran to Dana, pushing Gabriel off of her. Katie dropped to her knees and lifted Dana's head to rest in her lap. Katie looked at the older man with tears streaming down her face. "What did you do?" The older man dropped the gun in shock. He never meant to hurt Dana. Katie applied pressure to the wound in Dana's torso. Dana lifted her hand, attempting to pull Katie's attention to her.

Police sirens grew closer and louder. Katie ignored the officers as they pulled up. The alternating blue and red lights illuminated Dana's face.

"Katie..." Dana was struggling to breathe. Dana reached her hand in her pocket and struggled to pull out a small black felt box. Katie didn't break her stare with Dana's hazel eyes. "Katrina... Marie Torres..." Dana was forcing words out, "you're my penguin..."

Katie was shaking her head, speaking through her tears. "No... No..."

Dana pulled the box up to her chest and rested it on Katie's hand. "...And I... finally brought you your pebble..."

Katie started crying harder, still shaking her head in disbelief. "No."

Dana's body was convulsing, but she used every bit of strength she had left to hold on. "I...love...y-"

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Chapter song: "Settle Down" (Acoustic) by Gentle Bones

Until next time,