I Will Always Love You

Kevin sat there in front of the head stone, with his head resting softly in his hands. The funeral was now over and everyone had left. Brian was reluctant to leave Kevin alone, but Kevin was insistent. He just wanted to be alone and say good-bye. It all came back to him as he was sitting there.

Laura came to Kevin in the middle of the night, exactly one week ago. "Laura, what are you doing here. It's 3 o'clock in the morning? " Kevin asked as he sat up in bed.

Laura threw her arms around Kevin and just started to cry. He held her in his arms for several minutes until she said, "He's come back to get me."

"What are you talking about?" Kevin asked.

"Chris, he showed up at my place about an hour ago. He said he just wanted to talk, so I let him in. But then he grabbed me and put a knife to my neck. I struggled and ran to my car and took off." Laura said while shaking uncontrollably in Kevin's arms.

"Let's get some sleep, we'll do something about it first thing in the morning." Kevin said as he tried to calm Laura down. Laura rested her head on his chest and let herself fall asleep. She felt safe in his arms.

The next morning, Kevin just lay there for a few minutes watching Laura sleep. He was concerned about her, but he really wondered if she was in as much danger as she let on. But he was going to let her stay at his place for a few days anyways.

Laura walked into the kitchen an hour later while Kevin was making breakfast. "Hey beautiful. You finally decided to get up." Kevin said as he kissed Laura on the forehead. "So how are you feeling this morning?" Kevin asked.

"I'm not sure." Laura said as she sat down at the table and started eating a piece of buttered toast.

"Don't worry Laura. You can stay here until he leaves." Kevin said as he placed some bacon and eggs on the table. "Dig in sweetie." Kevin said as he sat down and filled his plate.

"Kevin what are you doing today? I think we really need to talk." Laura asked.

"Well, I have a practice with the guys this afternoon. But that is a few hours away. Would you like to talk now?" Kevin asked.

Laura looked down at the floor as she started to speak. "Kevin, I know I told you that I had a bad experience with a guy before, but I was not honest about what had happened. You see, I dated Chris for a few months when I lived in Toronto. He was two years older than me at the time and he put a lot of demands on me. So finally, I decided it was over between the two of us. I had had enough. When I told him, we were on the phone, so I thought I was safe. But a few hours later, he showed up at my door threatening to kill me if I broke up with him. So I called the police and we got a restraining order against him. That did not help much at all, so that is when I decided to move here to Orlando. I wanted to get far away from him, and I did not think he would ever find me here." Laura said as tears ran down her face.

Kevin just sat there in shock for several minutes. Then he got up and took Laura in his arms and just let her cry while he held her. "I'll keep you safe." Kevin whispered in her ear.

Kevin held Laura for quite some time until he had to get ready for the practice. "I want you to come with me this afternoon. I am sure once I explain the guys will understand." Kevin said as he watched Laura getting dressed.

"I would feel a lot better if I could come with you." Laura said as she put her hair up in a pony tail.

Laura spent the rest of the afternoon watching the guys practice for their new video. At 4 pm, they all decided to pack it in and call it a day. Kevin came over to Laura and helped her up off the floor. "What do you say we go pick some things up at your place before we go back to my place tonight." Kevin asked.

Twenty minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot at Laura's apartment building. Kevin took Laura's hand and they both headed up to her apartment. Kevin surveyed the place before he let go of Laura's hand. Everything looked normal.

Laura spent the next half hour packing some clothes and personal belongings. Kevin went downstairs to the car to put one of Laura's suit cases in the trunk, when all of a sudden he heard a loud noise and Laura's scream. He dropped the suit case and ran up to her apartment. When he opened the door, he saw a tall skinny man standing over Laura with a gun in his hand. Kevin lunged forward as he yelled Laura's name, but before he was able to reach her, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach and everything went black.

The next thing Kevin remembered was waking up to see all of the guys looking down at him. "Hey Kevin, how ya feeling?" Brian asked.

Kevin tried to talk, but his stomach hurt too much, so he just looked at all the guys. Finally he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

A few hours later, Kevin was startled in his sleep and woke up suddenly. He looked around and saw Brian sleeping in a chair. "Brian" was all that Kevin was able to get out. Brian stirred a little and then looked at Kevin. "Hey buddy, calm down. You have to take it easy for a few days."

Tears formed in Kevin's eyes as he managed to say "How is Laura?"

Brian looked away cause he could not take the pain he saw in Kevin's eyes. "I'm sorry man, she did not make it." Brian said quietly.

Kevin closed his eyes and screamed. Doctors and nurses came running from everywhere. His doctor looked him over quickly and decided that he needed more sleep, so he gave him a sedative to help calm him down and let him rest comfortably.

The next morning, Kevin woke up and felt a little bit better until he remembered what Brian had told him the night before. He brought his hands up to his face and just started crying. A few minutes later, the guys walked into his room and just gave him a group hug. They knew how much Kevin loved Laura, and he needed their support right now.

5 days later, Kevin was well enough to be released from the hospital. The wake and the funeral had been planned for when Kevin got out of the hospital. The next day was hell on him. The day of the wake he arrived at the funeral home a little early. He wanted to say his good-bye's before anyone else was there. It took him several minutes to gather up enough courage to enter the room, but when he did, he was frozen. There she was laying in the casket looking so peaceful. He slowly made his way up to the casket and took her hand in his. "I am so sorry I did not keep you safe." Kevin said as he collapsed in front of the casket and just cried. A few minutes later, Brian and Nick entered the room and ran to Kevin's side. Kevin just sat back and looked at Brian and said, "I failed, I did not keep her safe." Kevin collapsed in his arms and Brian said, "This is not your fault. You are not the one that pulled that trigger. You even took a bullet trying to save her, so don't you ever think this is your fault." Brian said. Tears were now running down his cheeks. Brian was the first to meet Laura in Orlando and introduced Kevin and Laura. They had become really close friends.

The rest of the day was not any better. Kevin tried to remain strong while he received condolences from friends and family, but it was very difficult.

Now, here Kevin was sitting in front of Laura's resting place. He ran his hands over the writing on the head stone, which read, "May you now be safe in another life." and just let the tears fall while he whispered, "I will always love you."

Back to Fan Fiction