This Life is a Beautiful War

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Jake

“Where does she usually go when she’s upset?” Dylan asked as he drove out of the parking lot of the bowling alley. 

“I don’t know!” I said, running my fingers through my hair.  “She usually comes over to my place.  I don’t know of any other place she’d go.  Just drive, okay?”

We were both looking around as he drove through town.  But when he passed the gates to the cemetery where Gabby’s dad had been buried, I saw that it was open.

“That’s it!” I yelled.  “Stop the car!”

Dylan immediately slammed on his breaks, making the car screech to a stop. 

“Wait here, just in case she’s not here,” I said, jumping out of the car.

I ran toward the gate and toward where Gabby’s dad’s grave was.  But when I got there, she was nowhere in sight.

“Dammit!” I yelled.  I spun around, looking for her anywhere, and clutched my hands in my hair. 

And then I saw her. 

Standing on the railing of the bridge that went across the river. 

My heart started to pound as I ran toward her.  I could hear her crying softly as I got closer and closer.  And when I got behind her, I could barely speak.

“Gabby,” I said quietly. 

“I don’t want you here with me, Jake,” she said. 

“Gabby,” I said.  My voice was choked as tears started burning my eyes as I looked up at her, standing on the ledge ready to jump.  “Please don’t do this.  I-I want to help you.  You can get through this.  I’ll be by your side through everything…”

“That’s just it, Jake,” she said, turning her head to the side to look down at me.  “I can’t do this anymore.”

“Yes, you can,” I said, stepping toward her.  “Please, just don’t do it.  I want you to be with me.  I don’t want to lose you.”

I saw tears start to stream heavier down her face.  “You’ll still have Dylan as your best friend,” she said.  “And you’ll find a girl that you’ll…”

She didn’t continue her sentence.  She just looked back over the river. 

“You were going to say I was going to find a girl that I loved, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with,” I said.  “Weren’t you?”

She took a deep, shaky breath.  “Yes,” she whispered. 

My heart continued to pound as I walked until I was standing on the bridge beside her.

“But I’ve already found her,” I said, looking up at her. 

“Who is she?” Gabby cried.  “I hope she’s good enough for you.  Scratch that.  No one can be ever good enough for you…”

“Yes,” I said.  “You are.  You’re more than good enough for me.”

She looked down at me with tears still streaming down her face.  “What?” she asked.

“You’re more than good enough for me,” I said, looking straight into her eyes.  “I’ve always loved you as my best friend, Gabby.  But over the past year or so, I’ve loved you way more than just a best friend.”

“W-what are you saying?”

I closed my eyes, smiling slightly, and shook my head.  “I’m in love with you, Gabby,” I said.  “I love you more than anything.”

“You do?” she sobbed. 

I nodded quickly, looking up at her. 

“I do,” I said, and then smiled.  “And that’s not the only time I plan on saying that to you.  You’d better be expecting me to say that again in a few years.”

She choked out a laugh as she looked back down at me. 

“Looks like my dad got his wish,” she said, smiling. 

“What do you mean?”

She shook her head and looked back toward the river.  “Nothing,” she said quietly. 

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