Don't Forget Me

I step out of the shower and I shivered as I reach for my towel. I dry my hair with another towel, revealing a tangled mess upon my head. I dress myself, brush my hair, and eventually made my way downstairs to the kitchen. I see Zack as I turn the corner coming down the stairs and into the kitchen, already making his own breakfast. I can start to smell the heavy scent of coffee brewing. Delaney always loved coffee, I never liked it that much until she coaxed me into drinking it and now I don't mind it. I add a lot of sugar and cream though to disguise the nasty taste of its original bitter flavor.

"Mornin' dude," I said, as I reach for a mug in the cabinet.
"Hey, Lex. How'd you sleep?" Zack asked, looking over his shoulder while frying some eggs.
"I slept fine, I managed to get a decent amount of sleep." I poured myself some coffee, added some sugar and cream, and made my way to the table.
"Are you gonna eat? I'm making some eggs, I can whip some up for you if you'd like," offered Zack.
"Um, no, I'm okay. I'm gonna head into town in a bit to run some errands and stop by Jack's to pick up some guitar strings. Care to join?"
"I'm actually heading into Baltimore today to help my friend pick out a new bass, his old bass ran its course and he needs a new one. Thanks for the offer though."
I honestly don't know what I'd do without Zack. He left his own apartment just to live with me to make sure I was okay, like who does that?
We sat and talked for about ten minutes and talked about sports and music, the usual crap. I finished my third cup of coffee when I decided to head out for the day.

"Alright, I'm gonna head on out. Have a good day, dude," I said as I finished my coffee and got up to head for the door.
"Cool, man. See you later!"

I grab my keys and walked out the door. As I walk towards the car, and this has been happening to me since Delaney's disappearance, I always get a weird vibe throughout my body. Like I can't enter a car now without feeling uneasy and nervous. I don't know if it's because of how this accident has affected me psychologically or what, but the feeling I get is pretty intense. I get into the car and before I even start it, I have to calm myself down before I can even think about driving.

Five minutes had passed before I could fully calm down and start the car. I backed out of the driveway and I take off down the road. I drive through the neighborhood, thinking about Delaney. I grew up in this neighborhood and I love it. After graduation, my parents moved to Florida, but I declined their offer to move with so I stayed in the Baltimore area. They planned on coming back for our wedding, but that will obviously not be happening. Laney and I rented a house after we both moved out on our own. I pass by my old house, I think about the memories that were made with her and I together. We'd lie on the trampoline in my backyard during the summer and just look at the stars, talk about our desires, lay in each other's arms, sing to each other, and eventually fall asleep on the trampoline, not giving a shit about anything because we had it made. We knew where we were heading in our relationship, we wanted more because we had more love to give to each other. So I pass by her house and I caught glimpse of the tree in her front yard. I proposed to her under that tree. I remember her father standing by, watching us with a smile on his face. I was so glad I got his approval before he died, I proposed a week before graduation, and subsequently, his death. Seeing her break down in tears and through them, in her sweet, beautiful voice, say 'yes', I thought nothing in this world can stop us now. I have her to myself, she had me to herself, we didn't need anyone else. We never even planned on going to college, we made money doing music. Giving lessons, playing small gigs, doing what we were destined to do. We lived a life that didn't involve so much pressure, we lived a life under own our terms. And we were happy.

Now....I'm not sure what the hell happiness is anymore.

Notes