Chapter 13

"Hey, Darry, there's a chick down there lookin' for ya'," a heavyset man said as he climbed the ladder to join Darry on the roof.

"Thanks, Andy," he said, "I'm gonna take my lunch now, alright?"

"Sure."

Darry climbed down hurriedly and wiped his dusty hands on his pants. Cole was sitting and letting her legs dangle off of tailgate of his truck. She gazed off in the opposite direction of him; her raven hair out of its usual ponytail and glinting in the sun as it fell past her shoulders. His chest lifted at the sight of her and he smiled in spite of himself.

"Hey," he said as he lifted himself up to sit beside her.

"Hey," she smiled slightly and turned towards him, leaning against the wall of the truck bed, but she did not hold his gaze.

He touched her hand and pulled it towards him, placing it in-between the two of his.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I'm leaving tomorrow," she said, softly, to get the news over with.

She removed her hand from his grasp and played with the hole in the knee of her jeans.

"Tomorrow?" He asked, his heart falling into his stomach.

"I don't know if I even want to go," her eyes met his, the most sorrowful bit of her he had ever witnessed. It shook him unexpectedly.

"I'm just so mixed up," she cried.

He touched her hair as she hid her face in her knees, shifting closer to her. Never, in the short period of time that he had known her, had he ever seen her cry like that.

"It's gonna be alright, baby," he said as he wrapped his arms around her. She melted into his embrace.

"I love you, Darrel," her words were muffled in the collar of his shirt. She pulled away from him and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"You know that right?" she continued, "You know that I'm in love with you. I don't think I've ever said it before."

"Yeah," he said, "I know."

"I have to go, now. I don't have much time," she said, "I won't be seeing you again, not for a while, anyway."

"I'll see you before you leave tomorrow," he smiled.

"No, Darrel," she sighed, "This has to be it. I don't know what I'd do if I saw you tomorrow. Please don't come."

"Cole, don't do this, please," she was moving away from him, putting up her walls of defense again.

"Take this," she said. It was a sealed envelope.

"What-," he began.

"Just don't open it until I leave, alright?"

"Please Cole, just-," he said.

"Darrel stop. Just say goodbye alright? Or else I'll leave right now. I can't take this," she said.

He kissed her, partly to get her to stop talking but mostly just to try to get her to stay. She placed her hands on his shoulders, almost as if to pull away, but she didn't; she couldn't.

"Tell Pony and Soda goodbye for me," she said when he pulled away. And she climbed off the truck, without looking back at him. She climbed in her uncle's old car and pulled away and Darrel was left speechless.

He woke up at two in the morning the next day and could not fall back to sleep. His heart twisted at the thought of her. The note she had left him remained unopened and he picked it up from the table beside him and ran his fingers over it.

With a newfound determination, he swiftly opened and pulled out the paper within.

Darrel,

I guess I'm leaving, huh? I can't believe it, everything is happening so fast, I'm so disoriented.

Listen, I've saved enough money for a return trip home. I don't know how long it will be. At least a month. I haven't even left yet and I am already homesick. But I was thinking, since I no longer have a place to stay or anything, maybe I could stay with you for a while. Maybe longer. Maybe more like forever. Ah, this is coming out all wrong! I guess what I'm really trying to say is, I love you; I need you; I don't want to live without you, so please don't make me.

Just think about it, okay? My address in Vietnam is on the back of this. I miss you already. Goodbye for now.

Love, Cossette

Darrel smiled. He smiled because he did not know that the future would hold much sadness and frustration. It would not be just a month until he saw Cole again. It would be much longer. But he did not know these things, so all he could do was smile.

Finished! I have a sequel partially written. I don't know how long it will be until I get around to posting it. Thanks to all of my reviewers! You are so awsome! Please Review!

-Avenging Angel