𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟-𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑

Star-crossed

Abby's POV

It's been two weeks since the crash.

Two weeks since my life changed forever.

Two weeks since I lost the love of my life.

Today we bury him. Today we bury the man I loved more than anything in this world.

Today we bury Rafe Cameron.

"And now, we commend his soul to the deep," the priest says, and that's when a loud sob racks my body. Pansy places her arms around me and consoles me as I cry in her chest.

He sacrificed himself to save me. He knew. He fucking knew. He made me put on the helmet because he knew that the brakes went out. And he made sure that the last thing I said to him was that I loved him.

After I told him that, the bike crashed, and everything went black. I woke up before the cops got there and I saw Rafe across the highway, his body bruised and cut. There was so much blood. I managed to crawl to him despite my numerous broken bones. I checked for a pulse but there was nothing. I held him in my arms, screaming at the top of my lungs when I realized the man that made my life worth living was dead.

I held him in my arms and refused to let go, even when the police that arrived at the scene were yelling at me, trying to get me to let go of him. I had to be pried off of him by three police officers, screaming and kicking. People who got out of their cars watched me in agony as I screamed, but I couldn't bring myself to feel anything but agony. He sacrificed his life for me and his child and now I am burying the man I loved. I am burying my child's father.

I watch as they lower the oak coffin into the ground, tears blurring my vision. I watch as they begin to pour dirt into the hole, permanently putting six feet between me and Rafe.

Between me and my soulmate.

My heart aches and bleeds and there is nothing I can do to stop the pain. Every single thing I can think of that would stop the pain would kill or harm my baby and I can't allow that to happen. This baby is the last piece of Rafe that I have. I will raise my little boy and I will do everything I can to make him feel loved.

I will be better than Ward. I will give my son the mother he deserves, and I just pray to God that it is enough.

My eyes travel from the coffin being buried to the photo of Rafe next to the large decoration of flowers. It was the photo I took of him on the beach right after we had dinner at our spot three months ago. His eyes sparkle in the photo because the sun was shining so brightly that day. Right after I took that photo, he shoved me into the water, wetting and ruining all of my clothes.

He dragged me out into the ocean and then made love to me in the water, his eyes never leaving mine for a second. He looked into my eyes the entire time as he made love to me.

Another loud sob racks my body as I look at the photo and I force myself to pull my gaze away from the photo of Rafe, knowing that looking at the photo will only cause more sobs to rack my body.

Sarah, who was on the other side of the large hole in the ground, walks over to me, and I pull away from Pansy, pulling Sarah into a hug. Even after everything, she came back here to bury her brother, and by the look of her red eyes, she forgave him for everything he put her through, even though I never got the chance to explain to her why he did it.

"I'm so sorry," I sob into her shoulder. I know she loved him. And it's my fault he's dead. If I wouldn't have taken the helmet, he would be alive. "It's not your fault," she whispers, and I can tell she is trying to hold in her tears. I want to tell her that it is but the only thing that leaves my mouth are quiet sobs.

Eventually, everyone gives their condolences to Rafe's family and I before leaving the cemetery. Once Sarah says her goodbyes to her brother, she leaves the cemetery, and I am left at the new grave in the cemetery, staring at the newly carved marble.

Rafe Cameron

9-13-2002 ~ 2-23-2022

Beloved son, brother, lover, and father.

I swallow and take out my phone. When I finally looked at my phone three days after the crash, I saw that I had a text from Rafe. That was what he was doing on the bike. He was texting me because he knew about the brakes. He knew that he didn't have long before we crashed.

I haven't had the courage to read it, but I think it's time. I have to be strong for my baby. I have to be strong for my little boy. I have to know what Rafe said.

I go into my messages and click on Rafe's contact. I see a large message and the sight makes my heart ache.

Abby.

There's so much I want to tell you in so little time. I have a few minutes before the brakes give out. By the time you read this, I will be gone and you will be here, your hand on your belly.

I've never been good with words as you know. But I just want to say that I love you.

Goodbye was a word I never used because I hated the meaning. It was a word that was used when someone had to leave. When someone simply leaves the location or when someone leaves this earth and everyone they love behind. It means an end to something two people had between them. It means that the only thing left will be memories and photos and some old clothes that will eventually lose the owner's smell.

So, I'm not going to say goodbye. I'm going to say stay strong. Stay strong for me and for our child. Get through this like I know you can for us. For what we had.

We will meet again, Absinthe and I will count the seconds until we do. We will meet again in heaven, and I will hold you in my arms like it was the first time I ever held you. And I will never let go.

I will always be with you in your heart, and I want you to know that. I will never be truly gone because the biggest part of me is growing inside of you and my only regret in life is that I did not have more time with the two of you.

I love you, Absinthe, and I always will. You were the woman who made me believe love was real. Who saved my life and showed me that life is worth living. And for that, I will always be eternally grateful.

I love you, Abby.

My heart bleeds and tears drip onto my phone and on the green grass pedals around me as I reread the message over and over again, wishing with everything that I have that this is just a dream.

But deep down, I know it isn't a dream. I know that Rafe is gone and that I will not get him back.

I had always loved the story of the two star-crossed lovers. I always thought it was so beautifully tragic but now I hate it. I hate it with all my heart because now I relate to it.

Two polar opposites that fell in love and ended up in heartbreak.

Rafe and I were star-crossed. I loved him and he died in my arms.

Ace was right.

Death is the price you pay for love.