Hey everyone! This is my first one-shot, and I hope you all enjoy it. I heard this song earlier, and the creative juices just started flowing. I pounded this thing out in less than two hours, so I'm sorry if it's not perfect. I just got the idea and decided to roll with it. Sorry it's so long. I didn't want to break it up into two parts.
Let me know what you think!!
Based on the song
"YOU NEVER STOP LOVING SOMEBODY"
BY BIG & RICH
It's complicated when love has faded
And you can't hold on anymore.
“I can’t do this anymore, Jake. It’s over.”
I pulled away as Jake reached for my arm. Tears spilled down my cheeks as I stared down at my feet. I couldn’t even bring myself look at him.
“Please, Carly,” he pleaded. “I’m so sorry.”
Sadness turned to anger, and I whipped my body around to face him. “You’re sorry?” I spat in disbelief. “Sorry is just a word to you. It has absolutely no meaning. You throw it around so casually. You can’t cheat on someone – TWICE---“
“Carly,” he interrupted. “Let me explain.”
“God, shut up!” I yelled. “There’s nothing to explain. Trust me, I got the hint when you jumped into bed with Tara. Or whatever that skank's name is."
“Dara,” Jake muttered.
“Thank you so much for the clarification,” I said sarcastically. I got out of his car, turned around and slammed the door – both literally and metaphorically.
You've gotta let go even though you know
Your heart's gonna hate it.
And it just might break it.
I sat on top of the picnic table in the park near my house, staring at the
setting sun. My eyes hurt from crying, and I knew they were puffy and swollen. But I didn’t really care. Someone could have come up and kicked me in the shin and it probably wouldn’t have phased me.
It was the day after I broke things off with Jake. Even though I knew I’d done the right thing, I still felt like a piece of me had died when I had gotten out of that car. Jake had been my first love. My only love. I thought we’d be together forever. For the three years we’d been together, everything had seemed like it was perfect. We rarely ever fought, and when we did, it was always over something minor – what movie to watch or what restaurant to go to.
Then I found out that he’d cheated on me. The first time, I fell for his apology act and forgave him. I believed him, and I pretended that everything was okay. Six months later, yesterday to be exact, I found out he had done it again. This time, I had snapped. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
I’d never been hurt so badly by another person. In the past twenty-four hours, a million thoughts had flown through my head, and I’d been in just about every mood imaginable – sad, depressed, angry, frustrated. Even relief. No longer did I have to live with the worry that he would betray me again. But happiness quickly gave way to other dark emotions.
I sat in that park for hours, asking myself over and over again why Jake had done what he did. Four hours and thirty-six minutes after I sat down on top of that picnic table, I finally realized that I was better off without him. Now if only my heart would believe it and quit aching for him.
You never stop loving somebody.
No matter what you tell yourself.
You never stop loving somebody.
You just start loving somebody else.
I ran my hand along the shelf as I slowly walked down the drama DVD aisle at Blockbuster. I was searching for the new Sean Faris movie, but hadn’t stumbled upon it yet. As I glanced at the titles, one DVD stuck out like a sore thumb. Closer. It had been mine and Jake’s favorite movie, and we watched it often while we were still together. Tears sprang to my eyes as I lightly touched the movie’s cover with my fingers.
It had been seven months since Jake and I split. I had gotten through my initial anger and depression periods rather quickly. For a couple of weeks after I broke things off with Jake, he called or texted several times a day, left me voicemail after voicemail. I never answered a single one. Never replied to a voicemail or Myspace comment. The messages soon died down, as did the number of phone calls. Within a month, I stopped hearing from him. I threw away all the pictures of us, deleted his number from my phone, and removed him from my friends list on Myspace. It soon began to feel as though he never even existed.
But every now and then, I would hear a song we liked or run into a friend of ours, and all the memories of Jake would come flooding back. I knew part of me still loved him. Seeing Closer at Blockbuster caused that rare flood of memories to come crashing back. I jerked my hand back from the DVD and felt a trail of hot tears trickle down my face. Desperate to get out of the store before I completely lost it, I dashed down the drama aisle – so appropriately labeled – towards the exit.
As I rounded a display of new releases, I crashed into a hard torso clad in a black shirt. The man I’d run into dropped the DVDs he was carrying. Under any other circumstances, I would have helped pick the fallen movies up, and turned a deep crimson from embarrassment. Tonight, all I wanted was to find the exit, an escape. I mumbled an apology and ran the rest of the way to the door.
It was raining, but I didn’t care. I darted out into the nearly-empty parking lot and collapsed on the wet pavement. My shoulders heaved as I broke down. The rain came down and splashed on my cheeks, mixing with my salty tears. I heard footsteps pounding on the pavement behind me.
“Hey, are you okay?” a deep voice asked someone trotted up and knelt beside me. The stranger wrapped an arm around my shoulders and helped me stand. “Shhh, it’s okay. Let me help you.”
The only solution is making the conclusion
That it's just another lesson in life.
Even though it's over,
It's never really over at goodbye.
No matter how hard you try.
“It’s okay, it’s gonna be okay,” the gentle voice assured me as he led me to a bench off the side of the building. I sat down, and he sat beside me, putting his coat over my shoulders. I suddenly felt so vulnerable and exposed, and prayed to God that this guy wasn’t a serial killer. My sobbing slowly ceased, morphing into hiccups, and I managed to thank him.
“You’re very welcome," he replied.
I finally looked up at the nice man, and realized that it was the same guy that I had crashed into inside the video store. Before I could apologize again for my clumsiness and rudeness, he stuck out his hand.
“I’m Kevin,” he said.
“Carly,” I said quietly, shaking his hand. He stood up suddenly.
“I’ll be right back, Carly. Please don’t leave. I promise I’ll be right back.”
Ha, I thought. Doubt it. I probably freaked him out. But to my surprise, Kevin returned a few minutes later with two Starbucks cups in hand.
“You looked cold, so I brought you coffee.” He nailed that one. I was freezing to death, and I graciously accepted the warm cup.
We sat on that bench for several hours, talking about anything and everything. He told me that music was his passion and talked about his band, one that I’d never heard of. I reluctantly told him why I had been so upset, and ended up going into full detail of the Jake experience.
“The way I see it,” Kevin said when I’d finished my unlucky-in-love tale, “is that things happen for a reason. Every experience you go through is just one of life’s lessons. You have to learn from it and apply what it teaches you to something else in life.”
Out of all the advice that my friends and family had given me after the breakup, the best had come from a stranger on a bench outside of Blockbuster.
You never stop loving somebody,
No matter what you tell yourself.
You never stop loving somebody.
You just start loving somebody else.
I stared at the Starbucks napkin in my lap. Kevin had given it to me on that bench outside Blockbuster two weeks ago. It had his name and phone number on it, and he had told me to call him if I ever needed anything.
I hadn’t done anything with it since he handed it to me, other than put it in my coat pocket, and then toss it carelessly onto my desk when I got home. As much as I wanted to forget that humiliating evening, I couldn’t stop thinking about Kevin and how incredibly nice he had been. Every day I had thought about his dark, soft curls and hazel eyes. And his smile. Something inside of me told me that I had to see him again. My hands trembled as I dialed the phone number scrawled on the napkin.
“Hello?”
I nearly hung up the phone at the sound of his voice. No, I thought to myself. I need to do this.
“Uhh – um, hi, it’s Carly,” I stammered.
“Carly, hey!” he exclaimed. His voice softened. “How have you been? I’ve been hoping you’d call.”
“I’ve been good,” I replied. “I was actually wondering if you wanted to go do something. Grab dinner maybe?”
“Yeah, that would be great.”
We quickly made plans to meet up at a local café, and then hung up.
I clutched my phone to my chest, wondering if I’d made a mistake. No, I need to do this, I thought again. I needed to experience what life has to offer post-Jake.
No matter what you say or what you do.
Even when you find somebody new.
“So have you thought of a movie yet?” Kevin asked.
“Nope,” I replied with a smile. “I still think you should pick.”
Kevin squeezed my hand as he pulled into the parking lot of the local
movie theater. We were on our fourth date, and things were wonderful so far. We had completely clicked, and I had found in him a friend as well as maybe something more. We got each other. We understood each other. Though I had only known him for less than a month, it felt like I had met him a lifetime ago.
He pulled into a parking space, and we got out of his Jeep. He met me behind his car, grabbed my hand, and we started to walk toward the theater.
“Wait,” he said suddenly, stopping. “Carly, will you be my girlfriend?”
I turned around and looked up at him. There was such intensity in his eyes. Everytime I looked at him, my knees got weak and my heart started racing. I knew that deep down, a part of me was still in love with Jake, but I also knew that I needed to open my heart and give Kevin a chance.
“Absolutely,” I said, throwing my arms around him.
You never stop loving somebody,
No matter what you tell yourself.
You never stop loving somebody.
You just start loving somebody else .
“No!” I shrieked half-heartedly. “Dang it, Kevin, put me down!”
“Never!”
I laughed as he continued to run with me slung over his shoulder. I playfully pounded my fists on his back. Finally, he gently swung me off his shoulder, and we both collapsed to the ground, laughing. We laid side-by-side in the grass and stared up at the clouds.
We were at the park by my house, a spot that we had frequented in the year that we had been together. We’d gone through a lot in the past twelve months. He’d left twice to go on tour with his brothers, but we’d made it work. We’d talked on the phone everyday, and he flew home every chance he got. It had been difficult, but it was absolutely worth it. I looked over at the man lying next to me. He was so beautiful, inside and out. Everything about him was perfect. He was my rock, my confidant, and my best friend. And I wouldn’t change it for the world.
I still thought about Jake every now and then. I hadn’t seen him since the day I blew up at him and left him sitting in his car. I wondered how he was, and if he’d been lucky enough to love again, as I had.
Kevin rolled over, and propped himself up so that he leaned over me. He cupped my face with his hand and kissed me lightly. My heart pounded against my ribcage, and my lips tingled where they touched his. It had been an entire year, and every time we touched, my body still tingled. Every time we kissed, I still saw fireworks. And each light show was more brilliant than the last.
He pulled back slightly, gazing into my eyes. “I love you, Carly.”
“I love you, too, Kevin.” And I did. I really, truly did.
I would always love Jake. He was my first love. But I also loved Kevin. He was now. Each day with him was better than the last. Life with him was an adventure.
Kevin leaned down and kissed me again, with the same intense passion that he always kissed me with, and the same way he would kiss me for a long time to come.
It was simply perfect.
Start loving somebody else.
Let me know what you all think!