18 Chapter 18 : Drake

Everything was going fine; We were dancing and having fun.

I had finally gotten to dance with Antonio, who has been hounded all night. It was his fourteenth birthday, after all!

I was cracking lame jokes and he was laughing as if they were the funniest jokes in the world; and I finally told him I like him.

No— that I love him.

So he kissed me.

It was a wonderful kiss.

He lips were dry, but not chapped, and his tongue barely brushed against my lips, but

I was gone.

I love him.

When I felt the blast, right before the windows exploded, I knew, that he was the most important thing to me. I would do anything to protect him; even die.

So I grabbed him and pressed him under

Me onto the floor and held him like it was the last time I would.

And as the building exploded around us, I simply kissed his hair and murmured assurances to him.

Even when I felt something trickle down my face; even when I felt blinding pain in my back, even when I couldn't breathe.

I love him.

And so I told him that.

...

The look on his face was...something I never want to see again. And something I won't see again.

I knew my fate; I knew the moment blood started to drip out my lips; I was dying, and no one could save me, not even the goddess herself.

But it's fine...I protected him. I loved him. I saved him. That was enough. Even though I know he will love another as time goes on, even if he has a family without me; it's enough.

In my last moments the goddess showed me what his future will be; his heartache, his pain, his happiness, and the person who would make him even happier than I did one day.

It was enough; because I love him...and now he'll never forget me, selfish as it is. I know he will blame himself; that's just what he does. He will wallow and probably try to join me, but the goddess won't let him.

I love...d him, and I have to believe he loved me back.

Ahhh, I'm fading.

At least the last thing I'll see is his beautiful crying face before I go.

Antonio cradled my head in his lap; he was mouthing something... "No", I think was one of the many words he was saying over and over. I can't hear.

He's leaning towards me, ah, he's kissing me.

It's a real kiss, full of tongue, and blood, and tears. And he's shaking, sobbing. I lift my weak hand a grip his from where it's resting on my cheek.

"I...lo...ve... you," I breathed, before taking my last breath.

***

IRENE POV

The party was good. Respectable. It was exactly what my baby boy wanted.

Sure, he didn't want it to be at the palace, but a little hiccup never hurt any plan.

Then the bombing happened.

Sheri and I were conversing with Drake's parents, watching the boys dance.

And then rejoicing when they kissed. Sheri was vibrating with excitement, having been the boys' number one fan since she found out they both liked each other, but we're clueless.

We were worried in the beginning, what with Drake being a few years older than Antonio. Not by many to be sure, but enough to cause a rift for most. Hell, it was a surprise when Antonio befriending the older boy, Anti-Social being his middle name.

Everything was going so well. We were just about to cut the cake!

But then the world imploded. The ceiling fell, the glass shattered, and fire reigned everywhere. We got the royal family out first, but once we turned back, what we saw broke our hearts.

People hiding under tables, cowering. Others, protecting their injured friends, or simply lying on the ground, eerily silent. Blood was everywhere, and the crying. Oh, the crying.

And there, in the middle was Antonio, and Drake, who was in his arms.

I approached, slowly, to ascertain the situation, and stopped abruptly before Antonio could spot me. Drake...the only thing I could say was his body was broken. They were soaked in blood, his blood, and his head was in Antonio's lap.

Antonio...His face... His suddenly frail and small back was trembling, and droplets were steadily streamed down onto Drake. Drake, who was smiling through his pain, and comforting Antonio.

I could tell, by the way, Antonio was pleading, that it was bad. And then they kissed. Or, rather, Antonio kissed Drake. A real kiss. A heartbreaking one.

Drake's unsteady hand lifted and caressed my child's cheek before it fell limp.

Antonio let out a heartwrenching wail, and panicked even more, as we all watched Drake's body dissolve, carried by a sudden wind into the setting sun.

"No, no, no, nonononono noooooo," Wails came out of Antonio's mouth as he grasped at the air, blindly searching for Drake.

I walked over to him and held him in my arms as he broke, silently.

I held him, two weeks later, when he woke up from his coma and screamed.

I held him as he raged.

I held him.

Because that's what he needed from me, his mother.