Since You Been Gone

Since You Been Gone: Chapter 7

*Second, as promised! Again, comments are greatly appreciated!*

*DREAM SEQUENCE: *

"You still owe me a kiss," Que tried to say with a straight face.

Dawn couldn't help but laugh. "How you gonna ask?" she said.

Que had to think up something quick... "Uhh, you were supposed to make the shot, and then we woulda kissed, but you didn't make the shot, so... but you still get a kiss." Que had the look on his face of someone who didn't quite buy his own words. He couldn't help but laugh at himself this time.

"I think you just want my kiss..." Dawn said, as she looked up into Que's beautiful, playful brown eyes.

"I know..." Que couldn't help but admit. Dawn laughed, delighted at his honesty. "Can I have a kiss?" He finally asked.

Que had the sweetest, most unexpected mixture of manly seriousness , about his family, about his craft, about his future, combined with the playfulness and innocence of a child. He always seemed to know just how to make Dawn feel as warm and serene as the Florida waters that now flowed beneath the pier where they now lounged together, and with Dawn sprawled across his lap, as he tried his hardest to lean back and remain cool and collected.

Dawn looked up at Que, still playful, but this time with a note of seriousness. "You can have whatever you want, Que."

"Really?" he answered, genuinely surprised.

"Yeah, really," Dawn said, now with shyness in her voice, as she looked away. "You're making me blush Que." He laughed at the idea that he could have this effect on the beautiful Dawn.

"Hey..." Que said softly as he looked down at this angel who was now so close to him.

"Hmmm?" Dawn answered. She looked up at him again, but this time, he was barely smiling, just quietly staring at her like he couldn't believe she was here with him.

"Thank you." Que said to Dawn simply.

He seemed so much more quiet in this moment than Dawn had ever seen him before. Dawn was almost caught off guard by his gentleness, and lack of playfulness now. He looked so much more like a determined man to her, at this particular moment, than the somewhat mischievous, excitable teenager she had come to know so well over the past few weeks.

"Thank you, for what?" Dawn said, almost concerned at the change in Que that seemed to grow more apparent with each passing second. There was something about his ability to switch gears this way at any given moment that drove Dawn so crazy; it just made Que so irresistible to her.

"For letting me be your best friend...for being here with me." Irresistible.

"Awww..." Responded Dawn, and then she stretched her neck so that her lips could meet his. He didn't pull back in any way. First kiss...

Dawn couldn't believe how soft and moist Que's lips were, or how very adept he seemed to be at this. She thought she must've shuddered a little, but Que didn't seem to notice. He was lost in kissing her, and she couldn't think of anything else but kissing him again and again after this day. Unbeknownst to each other, they both began planning in their own minds where and when they'd again have chances to steal away from prying eyes and intrusions to make contact like this...

They sat there on the edge of the pier watching the sun set for what seemed like forever.

"I love you..."

"Baby, I love you too..."

Words spoken months later when Que first made love to Dawn. He wasn't inexperienced, but he had never felt anything like this before. Dawn couldn't believe how well and how quickly he knew her body. It seemed to her that he knew her very thoughts. The questions he asked her during the act were so in depth and on point. Almost as if Que wanted to keep detailed notes on how to please her. His age hardly spoke of his talent and fearlessness. His confidence made her feel beautiful.

"I can't imagine ever wanting anyone else this much..."

"I know... I feel exactly the same way."

"Ma!" Que shouted from the living room. He and Dawn had just come into the house from the still icy spring air.

"I'm here! Dawn's with me, hurry up!" Que was so excited.

He had wanted the love of his life, his mom, to meet his new and greatest love for what seemed like such a long time now. He had the biggest, cheesiest grin on his face, as he stood behind and towered over Dawn with both arms around her as if he was still protecting her from the cold outside. Que had himself and Dawn positioned right in front of and facing the stairs, as if to make ready a present for his family when they finally descended them.

A child's voice answered, "We're coming Que!"

Dawn looked up into the narrow hallway at the top of the stairs, and nervously, but excitedly, anticipated meeting her man's family for the first time...

Beep.... beep... beep... Dawn's eyes opened slowly. Someone had come into the room as she slept with her head on Que's chest and with her hand in his and turned down the dimmer on the overhead light. She had also been covered with a soft hospital blanket. She had been dreaming about those first unbelievably happy months that began the last three years of her life in love with Que.

Dawn shifted her attention to Que who was sleeping deeply. Probably having the same dream she had. She hoped he was having only peaceful, beautiful thoughts. It seemed so. He looked positively cherubic lying there surrounded by white linens, his long eyelashes fluttering against his smooth, butterscotch coloured cheeks. His expression, the lack of any furrow in his brow or pain in his face, was deceiving given his current predicament.

Dawn slowly rose up out of her chair, initially feeling numbness in her feet and legs for sitting in the same position for what was certainly an eternity. She leaned over Que as he slept, kissed him tenderly on his full lips, and traced her fingertips along his hairline. Que stirred ever so slightly, perhaps from her touch, perhaps from whatever he was dreaming about. She felt the warmth of love wash over her in that moment as she looked over him.

Dawn felt herself smile a little, as an unexpected teardrop escaped from her eye and fell onto Que's cheek. Somehow, she felt everything would have to be alright.

She gently manoeuvred her hand from Que's so as not to wake him, and tiptoed towards the door. Before getting all the way there, she looked back over her shoulder at him, just to be sure he was still sleeping peacefully, and then slipped out of the room...

Dawn was surprised to see Robert and Drea still sitting in the small waiting area across from Que's room, but they appeared to have also given in to their exhaustion long ago.

Robert was sitting in a comfortable looking chair in the corner which had just enough room to accommodate the tiny Aundrea right next to him. Aundrea appeared comfortably squeezed into the chair right up against Robert's side, with his head back propped up against the wall behind the chair, and with his arm around Drea's shoulder as if protecting her from the chilly air of the hospital corridor. Her head rested on Robert's chest, as she seemed to fit perfectly under his arm, and some of her shiny, black locks were covering her angelic face. Dawn couldn't help but to chuckle to herself at the scene which appeared in front of her.

"Hmmm...," she thought." If only the others could see them now." The humour of this display was much needed for Dawn, even if short-lived.

Seemingly at that very moment, Dawn heard a myriad of familiar voices and footsteps coming down the corridor towards her, and she turned to see her friends, mostly, headed in her direction...