The Simplicity of Happiness

•Prologue•

Prologue
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The gun is cocked, the shot is fired.

I have witnessed this sequence of events a million times in the movies. I have always understood that it must be a very painful experience. However, seeing someone get shot on my TV screen did nothing whatsoever to prepare me for what it actually felt like.

The sound of the gun shot still pierces my eardrums long after the gun has already been fired. My world becomes mute, and my ability to hear is overwhelmed by the source of my pain. The excruciating sting of my wound begins to spread from my stomach throughout my entire body.

"Eve," I hear him call from the doorway. My heart leaps when I recognized his sweet voice. My pain significantly lessens at the thought of him coming to my rescue. Just they way I have always seen him; as a valiant hero. He is an incredibly flawed and unusual hero, I'll admit. But still, my hero. No matter how many times he hurts me, he is always there for me- like clockwork. My hero is always there to swoop in and save me from the big bad world.

I desperately try to keep my eyes open, just to see his face one more time. Through hazy vision, I see him running towards me.
"EVE!" he yells in horror as he falls on his knees in front of me.

I wheeze, "You came back."

"Oh, god," he cries.

As jubilant as I am to learn that I'm not going to die alone, I can't help but worry about his safety. I wish he would've escaped in blissful ignorance the way Olly did. Disregarding all of this, knowing fully well that he'll just ignore my pleading for him to run, I focus all of my ability on reaching out to touch him. Anywhere will do: His hands, his face, his arms, his legs. Anything to reassure him that I am okay. Even if I know that I'm not.

Tears escape his sea green eyes as he tries to stop the bleeding with his hands, "Of course I came back for you. Don't we always come back to each other? I-I'm here now. Eve, please stay with me, okay? Do you hear me? Just hold on!" Sirens rage in the background, "Keep fighting, Evie. We're gonna make it through this. I won't leave you again."

I take security in his words. Even though my body is knocking on death's door, my heart has never felt more safe than in that moment. For the first time, I trust him when he tells me he won't leave. The sincerity of his words strikes my core.

"Promise?"

"Yes, baby. I promise you're stuck with me now. I love you so much." He sobs. Words can't even begin to describe how much I've missed this boy, but sadly I can't hold on any longer. I can feel my consciousness slowly drifting into limbo. The movies are fairly accurate when it comes to this part of death. The numbness that takes over your body once the end is near. I can't feel anything except for Derek's hands, uselessly trying to shake me awake.

As my world begins to slip away, three words I thought I'd never hear again blissfully echo in the darkness.
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