Awakening by Ashley Suzanne Page A

my whiney bullshit and threatened to punch me in the junk.  This is the perfect kind of friend to have.
    “Christ, Mel.  You’re gonna give me a heart attack.  What the fuck was that?”
    “I know, right?  I was going to say something much tamer and lady like, but then this came to me and I thought ‘fuck it’ and I spit it out.  Did it work?”  I don’t know who’s laughing harder, me or Melissa, and I don’t care.  I haven’t smiled or laughed since Mira left.  Even though Melissa can’t fix my problems, she made the worry and sorrow stop.  Even if it’s just for a few minutes, it feels great.
    “Don’t worry about it if you don’t have to.  If you guys are meant to be, you’ll end up together.  Nobody ever said that life is easy or the path to your happily ever after won’t be filled with pain and sorrow.  My mama told me that everything happens for a reason.  I tend to believe her.”  I kind of liked her trash talk a little better.  Now she just sounds like a drunken Hallmark card.  Adorable, but cliché, nonetheless.
    After another round of shots and some bullshit ways to make Mira come back, I can’t feel my face.  That’s how you know you have an excellent buzz going on.  When you suddenly can’t feel your nose or your lips, you’ve hit the jackpot.  Knowing I’m much larger than Mel, I’m pretty positive she has to be really drunk by now.
    “Okay, shit.  I’m drunk.  Can I crash on the couch?”  It’s confirmed, Melissa is more than drunk; she’s trashed.  I barely made out her sentence with all of her words slurring together.
    “Yeah, that’s cool.  We have a third bedroom.  Mira has some clothes in there, if you wanna borrow something to sleep in, or I can get you something of mine.”
    “Ehhhh, I don’t know about wearing your fiancé’s clothes,” Melissa laughs, stumbling down the hall toward the bathroom, “Something of yours is fine.”
    “Alright, I’ll put something on the bed for you.  Do you need any help?”  Melissa comes over to help me through my problems and the girl can’t even stand up straight. 
    She makes her way to the bathroom and I grab a tee shirt and a pair of sweatpants from my room.  As I’m walking to the extra bedroom, Melissa is stumbling out of the bathroom.  I take her by the arm, giving her support, and walk her into the bedroom.  She accepts the clothes I brought for her and I go back to my room.
    Not more than a few minutes have passed when I hear something at the front door.  Thinking Melissa is trying to leave drunk, I look out my bedroom door to find a different brunette staring into my eyes.
    “Mira?”
     

 
    CHAPTER TEN
    Skylar
    I’ve got to be one dumb fuck to let her walk away from me, but it’s the right thing to do.  Danny has seen better days.  Watching him being miserable reminds me of when Mira was in the hospital.  I know Danny was preparing for her to never wake up, but the look in his eyes when he walked in that room and saw her awake will never leave my memory.
    Those precious few moments I had with Mira were something out of this world.  If this would have been three years ago, I would have taken her up on it.  Now?  I can’t hurt Danny like that.  She’s his world; his little piece of Heaven.
    The ride to the apartment is difficult.  I can feel Mira pulling inside herself just by the way she’s holding onto me.  Instead of having her arms wrapped around my body like earlier, she’s got her hands resting on the gas tank, trying not to make contact.  There used to be a time when we were so close.  I know this is going to ruin everything, but I can’t let that impact my decision.
    No matter how much I love this girl and want her to be mine, I can’t do that to Danny.  He’s my best friend and he deserves better; he deserves Mira. 
    The parking lot for the apartment complex is dark and quiet.  Before I can kill the engine on the bike, Mira’s walking toward the front