Our Beautiful Moments ✔️

20 - END

His last breath

Jake's POV

I walked into the familiar room. I tried not to mind the thousand memories flashing before my eyes when everything was still as fit as a flea. My guitar laid on the ground with her favorite artwork which she gifted to me. It was a painting of us together, sitting on the bench, watching the blue sky slowly turn into an orange shade. Gosh, I could still remember those days as if it were only yesterday that it happened.

Months came by. It's now August. I think my time is up. Those two months were my everything, a piece where they could only repeat it in their minds. I so hoped that they'd move on from my death with no more tears. But I guess, you have to shed tears before you moved on to heal your heart completely. It's going to be difficult to deal with, but I will be with them.

After confronting her with the truth, it took a while to find courage. In fact, she was the one who made the first move, again. She approached me and apologized, but she had nothing to apologize for.

I gazed at the woman standing in front of my bed. "Stacy..." my voice quivered as I was greeted with a warm hug.

"You scared me..." she trailed off, her hug getting tighter following the fast rhythm of her heart. "You're scaring me, Jake. I-I'm afraid," she whispered with a melancholy feeling.

I shushed her and told her, "I'm not going anywhere." but it was a lie. A lie that I wished I didn't commit. Did I have a choice, then?

We were really just standing in the doorway, holding each other, listening to the beat of our heart, and probably, hoping that this moment would fairly last forever in a subtle way. I began to sway her slowly. Her rapid heart started to calm as her hips followed mine. I began to hum a beautiful melody that she always remembers me humming when we were in our first year.

"When the night has come..." I started singing, swaying her unhurriedly.

"And the land is dark" she quietly sang as I did too, but I could still hear it though it was muffled.

"And the moon is the only light we'll see"

"No, I won't be afraid
Oh, I won't be afraid..." Stacy smiled painfully as her grip loosened and then tightened again. I was taking my time, singing at our convenience. But beyond question, I was holding the impulse to sob.

"Just as long as you stand, stand by me..."

"So darling, darling"

"Stand by me, oh stand by me"

"Oh stand, stand by me
Stand by me"

"If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall"

"Or the mountain should crumble to the sea"

"I won't cry, I won't cry"

"No, I w-won't shed a t-tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me" it got more difficult for me to finish the song. Felt like there was something stuck in my throat.

"And darling, darling
Stand by me, oh stand by me
Oh stand now, stand by me
Stacy, stand by me..."

"What is the best way to get what you want?" Stacy asked, face full of tears. I didn't realize nor notice that she was crying. I wiped her tears, unable to reply to her question. I looked down at the ground knowing that she wouldn't like my answer. I hesitated, knowing that the truth would only hurt. How was I going to tell her that the best way for me to get what I wanted was to leave her?