Categories > Original > Romance

Too Late

by Rae_Snape 2 reviews

I made a mistake. I chose the wrong girl... I hope I'm not too late... (A/N Warning suicidal themes)

Category: Romance - Rating: PG-13 - Genres: Angst,Drama,Romance - Published: 2011-07-11 - Updated: 2011-07-12 - 1819 words - Complete

-1TrainWreck
A/N This is a little short story I wrote a couple years ago.

Too Late

“I'm sorry...” I said into the receiver. “I love her... and I'm almost positive that she'll take me back.”
“I... I understand,” came her shaky, heartbroken reply. Her tone filled me with guilt.
“Lyn, it's not that I don't like you. I-” I stopped as the line went dead.
I dialed her number again. Her voicemail answered. “Please, Lyn... answer the phone. I do like you.... I just want Emma so bad.... Oh I'm just making things worse, aren't I...? I...I'm sorry.”
I pushed the end call button and looked over at my computer. It's screen was the only light in my darkened bedroom and its eerie glow cast creepy shadows on the white walls around me. I sighed, getting up and taking a seat in front of my old desktop. I opened MySpace. Lyn was online and had just changed her status. It said:
“So taunt me and hurt me
Deceive me, desert me.
I'm yours 'til I die
So in love
So in love
So in love with you
My love
Am I.¹”
I stared at the screen for the longest time, my vision beginning to blur. The reason for which became clear as my eyes began to burn and warm tears slipped down my cheeks.
I turned away, switching off the old monitor and returning to my soft bed. For a while, I just sat there, staring blankly at the walls. I finally picked up the phone and dialed Emma's number. I waited anxiously for her answer as the phone rang once... twice... thrice... four times... five times... six... seven.... There was finally an answer on the eighth ring.
“What?” came the annoyed voice through the phone.
I smiled at finally hearing her voice again, though I didn't understand why she seemed so annoyed. I wonder what's wrong... I thought.
“Well are you going to say something or just breath into the phone all night?” she said, the annoyed tone getting clearer.
“Emma?” I said softly.
“Eric? What do you want?” she asked impatiently.
“I just wanted to talk,” I replied.
“Talk? About what?”
“Us,” I replied hopefully.
She let out an agitated sigh.
“Hey babe, something wrong?” asked a deep voice on her end of the phone.
“Nothing's wrong, Bryan,” she said with a tenderness she once used with me. “It's just a... friend.”
“Your ex again?” this Bryan fellow asked.
“Yeah. I'll take care of it, honey.... So, Eric, what about 'us' did you want to talk about?” she asked, the annoyance returning to her tone.
I now understood her agitation and impatience.
“I... I wanted you back, Emma,” I said nervously. “I was hoping you would give me a second chance.”
She let out an audible sigh. “Eric, I've given you God knows how many second chances.... You blew it.... I'm done with you....”
Every word was like a punch to the gut.
“But... but I love you,” I whispered.
She scoffed. “How long has it been since you last called me?” she asked, no doubt trying to make me look like the bad guy.
“Yesterday,” I replied, understanding her motive. “If you don't want me, just say it. I don't need you to make me look like a bad guy. I know I screwed up, but I still love you Emma. I want to know if I have your love in return.”
“Someone else has it now,” she said. “So you have to just live with it and move on.”
“But, Emma, I-” She hung up.
In that moment, I felt as if my heart had broken into a thousand tiny shards. I dropped the phone and fell back against the bed. I winced as my head hit something hard. I had miscalculated my distance from the headboard and had hit the back of my head against the built in shelf. Recovering from my moment of clumsiness, I lay down on the soft pillows, thinking... thinking. I found myself falling into a light sleep.

*******
Eric sat alone in a darkened room, tears streaking down his cheeks. Emma's words continue to echo around him. “... just live with it and move on.”
“B-but I love you,” he whimpered desperately.
Darkness began to close in around him as he cried. He watched the darkness begin to overtake him. As all hope faded from his heart, a dark voice whispered in the darkness.
“Just accept it.... You're doomed to be alone,” it hissed. “You'll be all alone until the day you die....”
“Hold your tongue, vile serpent!” exclaimed a voice that seemed to penetrate the darkness.
A warm, white light enveloped him and a gentle kiss was planted on his lips. Warm arms wrapped around him and his lips were graced by another loving kiss.
“Emma,” he murmured.
“No, Love,” said the familiar, gentle voice.
He looked up in confusion and saw that it had not been Emma that saved him from the pit of his depression....


********
I sat up in a cold sweat, my eyes wide in realization. I had made a big mistake, though how big I had not yet begun to comprehend.

I immediately ran to my computer. The screen was black. I had turned it off.
“Damn,” I muttered, booting up the old piece of junk that was one of my only connections to the world outside that small town in Texas.
The screen finally lit up. I hurriedly typed in my password and logged onto the internet. MySpace took forever to load. Lyn had gone offline. Before she left she had changed her status to:
“I hope you're happy with your precious angel...”
I went to her profile. She had written a new blog. The subject was theatre. I clicked it curiously. It was a long description of what had been going on in her school's theatre department. It talked in length about how she loved her new job in the theatre- stage managing. She also noted how stressful it could be and how glad she was that she had friends during the process to make it easier on her, but how much worse the performances of the play those next three days would be.
I sighed and once more got off my computer. I thought I would be able to talk to her tomorrow. I once again fell into a nightmare filled sleep....
When morning came I rushed to my computer. No one was online. Oh how I wished I hadn't rejected her. How I wished to undo everything I had said to her the previous evening. I sat there all day and all night, still she did not get online. I tried to call her that night, but her phone was off.
Once more sleep was near impossible. I was constantly tormented by her voice, her face. I sat up in the middle of the night and made my decision. If she wouldn't get on and talk to me, I would go and talk to her. I went once more to my old desktop and opened google maps. I selected favorite locations and got directions to 138 East Sauk Trail, Battle Creek, Michigan. Once they finally printed, I wrote out a note explaining to my parents where I had gone and, at 11pm, I headed out to my old broken down Pontiac.
The drive was long, consisting of endless amounts of farmland and forests. Around 4am, I had to stop. I pulled into a rest stop and set my phone to wake me at 9am. I was so tired, I slept like a rock. After what felt like only minutes, I was awoken by my most obnoxious ring tone. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, this was going to be a long day.
I once again began driving. Corn.... corn... wheat... corn... a small town... more corn... finally a rest stop came into sight. I stopped, my stomach begging for sustenance. I grabbed a few bottles of Dr. Pepper and a bag of Doritos, then left. And so the long drive went on and on until I realized I had passed into Indiana.
“Almost there,” I said to myself.
I let my speed slow a bit. Why was I rushing? Friday had been my last day of school before spring break. I thought that I had ten days to get there and back.
As the sun set, I pulled into a motel, hoping to get a decent amount of sleep before I got to Lyn's. I slept soundly, dreaming dreams I hadn't dreamt since the best days of my relationship with Emma. I dreamed of holding Lyn close and telling her everything I felt.

For the first time in a long time, I hit the snooze, yearning for my dreams to return. I finally got up after getting another hour of sleep and ate a quick breakfast at a nearby diner. And then, I was off, speeding toward the Indiana/Michigan border.
When I crossed that border, at 12 noon that day, the last day of her play, I cheered. Three hours more of driving, just three and I'd have her in my arms.

I reached Battle Creek at 3pm and stopped for directions to the high school. I took off immediately and pulled into the theatre parking lot. The play would be ending soon. I found the open door to the technical booth and ran up.
“Is Lyn Irons here?” I asked the bigger man in front of the board covered in dials and lit up buttons.
“Just ran backstage to check up on something,” he said. He was clearly tired. He looked over at a script, and then pushed a button. “Through that door.” He pointed to a door on the left. “Follow the hallway.”
I ran faster than I ever thought my legs could carry me. I stopped at movement on a set of stairs to my right and followed. My heart stopped at the sight before me. I looked up and gasped at what I saw. Lyn stood on the edge of a catwalk, a rope tied like a noose around her neck.
“Lyn!” I called out to her.
She looked over at me. “Eric?” She looked and sounded shocked. Tears slipped down her cheeks and her little nose was red from crying.
“Lyn what are you doing?” I asked softly, coming forward carefully.
She didn't answer me. I moved closer and slipped the rope over her head. I tossed it away.
She looked at me with a quivering lip. “What are you doing?” she asked shakily.
“Something I should have done a long time ago,” I said gently, pulling her into my arms and pressing my lips to hers. A blissful look replaced the startled expression and she returned the kiss. Finally I was truly happy.


1. “So In Love” From Kiss Me Kate a musical by Cole Porter
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