I've had this short story done for months, but I just remembered about it going through some files on my computer... you might hate me for it...

The Hat That Took Away The Pain

I walked into school wearing it. I didn't care that everyone looked at me weird because they knew that it wasn't mine, but I didn't care; I was just happy I was wearing it. I made it to my locker, opened it, and grabbed a book I needed for class. I closed my locker, and there he was, standing there with a smirk on his face. I jumped, I hated when people surprised me, but with him I didn't care.

"Hey." He said with his smirk.

"Hey yourself." I said, as I put the book in my backpack. I saw him look up; he had a look of confusion, but it was quickly replaced with a wide smile.

"You're wearing it?" He said, looking at me.

"Yeah, you always leave it so I just thought, finders keepers." I said playfully, and he played along, pretending to pout.

"But that's my beanie..."

"Well, now it's mine." I turned around and pretended to leave but he quickly grabbed me by the waist; I pretended to struggle to get away from him. What I didn't expect, was for him to suddenly kiss my neck. I shuddered a little from the sudden contact, but I then realized we were still in public.

"Not here, people are watching!" I said as I pulled away from him.

"So let them watch. I don't give a shit what they think!" The last part he screamed out to everyone who was watching, and they quickly dispersed.

"You're going to get us in trouble one day."

"Then I'll let you punish me." He said smirking at me. I blushed and looked around to make sure no one was around.

"Come, on we're going to be late to class," I said, grabbing his hand, and led him to our first period.

It was always like that, he always liked to flaunt our relationship in front of others. He didn't care if others stared, the only time he really cared when they gave a shit. If they called us fairies or something like that, he would snap. At first, it was romantic to know that he cared. I thought that after so many times he always blew up I would find it annoying but I didn't; I still loved it when he protected me.

We were walking back to his house after we watched a new movie that came out together. We made it across the street from the theater, when I remembered…

"Crap!" I said, as I grabbed the top of my head only to feel my hair.

"What is it?" He asked worriedly.

"I left your hat in the theater." He saw how sad I was, and gave me a caring smile.

"It's ok, I'll go back and get it."

I took a seat on the bench across the street waiting for him. It was moments like this that I loved; if I ever did something stupid, he wouldn't care, he'd help me fix it, even if I left his favorite hat at the movies. I saw him walk out of the theater with the hat; he looked at me, saw my huge smile and returned it right back. He started to cross the street, when I heard a car speeding down the street, heading straight for him. He didn't notice the car yet he was too busy looking at me to realize the speeding car heading straight for him. I jumped off the bench and ran towards him, he looked confused about why I was suddenly running to him, but then he heard the car and looked.

I tried my best to get him out of the way but I wasn't fast enough.

I saw him get hit.

Normally to something like that, I would freeze up, but I didn't because it was him. The onethat I gave my love to for so long; the one that I loved.

The car didn't stop; it just kept on driving down the street. I didn't care, about the car I ran to him and knelt down in front of him. He saw me and gave me his trademark smirk that would make me always smile no matter what the situation, but this time, I couldn't smile back.

"You idiot." I said moving his blond bangs out of his face. He just kept on giving me that smirk.

"Well, you know I'm the biggest idiot you ever met," He struggled to say. "Here," he said, and slowly raised his hand to show me his hat. "I got back your hat." my spirit broke, the way he said "your"made it seem as if it wouldn't be his anymore.

"No, you got back your hat." I said sternly. He didn't care he knew I was getting angry, because he was trying to lighten up the mood. He always tried to make me smile when I was in a bad mood. He gave me that smirk before he closed his eyes.

"I love you."

It's been a year since the incident; every day for me since then has been a challenge. I walked through the open field wearing his hat. And a bouquet of lilies, I knew he loved them, he called them a living contradiction. They looked sad because of the way they slightly drooped, but at the same time, looked happy because of the bright colors. I walked up to him and knelt down.

"Hey, I got you the flowers you love slash hate." I said as I put them down. I never knew what to say, so I just told him everything that happened this week. "So Carlos burst out laughing while eating a corndog and started to choke," I chuckled a bit, "so Camille gave him the heimlich in the middle of the food court. You would have loved to see the look on Camille's face when she was done giving him the heimlich, it was priceless."

I knelt down in front of him for a good two hours just talking about the week before I checked the time and saw that I had to head home. "Sorry I need to go; my mom's making lasagna and you know how she hates it when I'm late to dinner...same time next week?" I didn't wait for a response; I knew there wouldn't be one. "I love you." I said as I got up and turned around and headed for the street. The only thing that helped me from not breaking down right there was his hat. No matter how many times I wear it now, I never think of it as mine, because in my heart, if it became mine, I wouldn't have anything left of his, so it will always and forever be his. His hat was the only thing in my life that helped me keep my composure, and not break down and just end all the pain.

His hat took away the pain.

This was probably one of the hardest stories for me to write. Even though it was the quickest. I wrote it in twelve minutes, but every time I re-read it i tear up. It always gets to me.