Eternity Without You

Stars & Coffee

"I want you to be happy. You know that, right?" he asked. His friend was barely visible next to him, with only the dim light of the street lamps outside illuminating her. "You've been through enough."

Beside him, his friend laughed weakly. "Me? Happy? You're funny." The dim lights of her glow stars, painstakingly stuck up in real constellations reflected in her pale blue eyes. "But fine, I'll be happy. Only if you're happy too."

"Nah."

She turned to face his friend. "What do you mean, nah?" she asked.

"I mean nah. I think I'd kill myself first." He sat up, and met his friend's eyes. "Nothing left for me here."

His friend sat up and crossed her legs. "Then I'd follow you," she said. "'You jump I jump', remember?" She grabbed his friend's hand, and squeezed it tightly. "We're in this together, you and me. You know that, right?"

"What if I make you immortal?" he asked, cracking a small smile to ease up the tense atmosphere. "Then you'd have to live."

"Make me immortal and I'll spend the rest of eternity beside your grave."

They both lapsed back into silence, remaining hand in hand. They were friends. Best friends. And they both silently vowed to do whatever it took to keep the other one alive, no matter what it took. 

"I think I want to go to bed now," she said, laying back down. "I'm tired."

Her friend threw a pillow at her. "Lightweight," he said teasingly.

"Oh come on, it's two in the morning," she protested. "Let me have my sleep."

He laughed. "What if you make coffee instead?"

She thought about it for a moment. "Coffee, hm?" she mused. "You drive a hard bargain."

He shook his head and grabbed her hand, pulling her back up. "Come on, let's go wake you up."

Grumbling, she let him lead her out of her bedroom. "We have to be quiet," she whispered as one of the floorboards creaked under his footsteps. "My parents' room is right next to the kitchen."

He nodded, pulling out his phone for a flashlight. They descended the stairs silently as possible, and tip-toed to the kitchen.

"Here, you know where the mugs are," she said as she measured out some coffee. "I'll start up the Keurig." He nodded as she turned the coffee maker on. 

He opened the cabinet, and shined his flashlight on the array of mugs. "Which one?" he whispered over to her.

"The black one," she whispered back. She checked the water in the machine, and (thankfully), there was enough for her to make coffee without needing any extra.

"With the stars?"

"That's the one."

He grabbed it, and quietly shut the cabinet. She took it from his hand, and put it in its place. She set it to 10 ounces, and pressed start. The machine groaned, but coffee started dripping down into the cup. "Do you want anything?" she asked. "I know you don't drink coffee, but do you want water or soda?"

"Yeah, can you get me a Coke?" he asked. She nodded, and opened the fridge. She pulled out a can of Coke, and handed it to him. "Thanks."

"No problem." The coffee maker started beeping behind her. Both sets of eyes widened, as they turned to look at it. She winced, and he ran to unplug it. The beeping stopped, and they both looked at each other, flashlights lighting up the horror on their faces. She grabbed her coffee mug, he grabbed his can, and they both quietly ran upstairs as fast as they could.