A/N: A lot of us have heard the story about a random girl and guy on a motorcycle... him asking her to say that she loves him, has her hug him and put on her helmet so that she might live in the unavoidable crash to come... but my twisted mind couldn't leave well enough alone and decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to turn up the angst and tragedy

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He gave a loud laugh as he pulled on the throttle some more, speeding up down the empty road, pouring on the speed, loving the feel of adrenaline pouring through him and the girl clinging around his middle from behind. She was scared from the speed and he knew it...
"Slow down! We're going too fast, it's scary!" she cried out over the howling wind, to which he grinned, looking ove rhis shoulder at her best he could with the motorcycle helmet.
"No way, this is so much fun!" he replied with a laugh before turning back to the road, dipping his head somewhat.
"No it's not! Please just slow down!" she called out to him over the howling wind around them.
He paused for a moment as they continued blazing down the street, halfway down the road now, they could see a T-intersection coming up in the distance.
"Alright!" He said finally, "Tell me you love me first!"
"Fine!" she grew suspicious... he had told her that he never wanted to hear her say that she loved him, not after what had happened... she huffed, "I love you! Now will you please just slow down?!"
He leaned back somewhat into her, "Now give me a BIG hug!" he requested.
She was beginning to get creeped out by his strange requests... something wasn't right, but she was too scared to put her finger on it with the wind rushing by so hard, so she squeezed him around his middle, pressing herself against him, enjoying the feel of him against her.
"Alright, can you take off my helmet and put it on? It's bugging me!" he complained suddenly, "Then I'll slow down I promise!"
She reached up... the intersection was coming up pretty fast and she didn't want to risk him taking one of those crazy drift turns again. She undid his helmet and strapped it onto herself as best as she could.
"Alright, it's on, now slow down! Please! We're going to crash into that building!" she pleaded.
"I love you!" he called over the whistling wind, his hair dancing wildly in the air now, and she thought she saw the glisten of tears sparkling through the air as they passed under a street lamp... he wasn't slowing down, "You're everything to me.." he said, barely audible enough for her to hear... and her eyes widened as she realized what was going on at the very last second. She felt a sudden jerk as she was thrown forward. She heard a sickening crunch before a sharp impact made her phase into blackness...
The very next thing she saw was the white light of the long flourescent bulb that lit a hospital wound... she felt the bandages that adorned her body... the majority of them around her skull... she let out a soft groan as she slowly awoke, shaking her head to try and bring herself to her senses...
"She's awake!" called a familiar voice, one that she recognized as her boyfriend's, "Hey, are you okay?"
Her mother rushed into the room as well as several of her friends.
"Oh thank goodness you're alright!" said her mother.
She felt the warmth of her lover's arms around her, followed shortly by her mother's and immediately felt safe and warm... she nuzzled into their warm embrace for a moment... relaxing... before reality hit her like a ton of bricks. Her eyes snapped open and she broke free of their embrace.
"Wh-what happened to- is he alrigh- where is he?!" she asked, stumbling over her words as she remembered what had happened... silence hung over the room now... her mother lowered her head and her boyfriend bit his lip as his look turned to a troubled one. She looked back and forth between them... reading their looks perfectly...
"No... no it can't be... he can't... he isn't, right? I mean he's just fine and hiding behind one of these curtains right...?"
"Sweetie... he died in the crash..." her boyfriend finally informed her, "The doctors said that if he hadn't cushi-"
She had stopped listening... her eyes widening as she stared into blankness. She could see her boyfriend's lips moving but couldn't comprehend the words coming out, only one thought dominating her entire being...
"He's... he's dead..."
Tears began to mist over her eyes as she realized everything... that he was trying to get one last 'I love you' out of her... one last hug... he knew that they couldn't stop, and then had her wear his helmet so that she would survive. She began to cry fully... tears streaming down her cheeks... and she could feel her boyfriend's arms around her again... something that just made her cry even harder as she recalled the events of earlier that night...
"Hey... can I... you know, kiss you? Just once... I want to feel what it's like."
"Come on, you know I can't do that... I'm in a relationship you know..."
"Yeah I know but, I mean one kiss wouldn't hurt right? Just... a single one... please...? Think of it as a late birthday present!"
"... no... I think it's time I head home anyway..."
"...alright, let's go."
It was the day of the funeral... not many people were there. A lot of his family and friends couldn't afford to make it out to her hometown... and more realizations hit her hard as she looked at the few people that had managed to show up. He had really abandoned everything to be in the same city as her. He had sincerely given up everything to make sure that she was happy, no matter the cost to himself... and now... he had payed the ultimate price... never having experienced the kiss that he had wanted... never experiencing the thrill of making love because he had saved himself so long... for her It made her feel horrible... made her feel pathetic.
He wasn't to be buried... but rather burned on a pyre as per the instructions on his will. A will... she had never known that he kept an updated will. It made her wonder just how often he thought about ending his own life... about just carelessly getting into an accident after she had rejected him... she wondered just how long it took for him to form that happy smile of his. As she watched him burn... she couldn't help but wish she could turn back the hands of time. She could see that he loved her purely, more than anyone ever had... she had never doubted it but had never truly understood the depth of his feelings... until just now...and now it was too late to do anything about it. She clung hard to the jacket she had inherited from him... her heart throbbing with pain.
"I... love you too..." she whispered through her tears...
The news the night of the crash
What is true love? A motorcycle crash occured today around 11:30 PM. The driver, a young man attending a local college, died in the crash due to a lack of a helmet while the passenger, a young woman going to the same college got away with some minor bruises and cuts thanks to the helmet she was wearing. According to the girl, the boy had instructed her to take his helmet prior to the crash... later investigation led to the conclusion that the brakes had failed and he had instructed the girl to take his helmet so that her life might be saved. Such selfless love is unheard of in today's day and age and makes us wonder... just what would you do for that special someone...? ... Coming up we have...

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A/N: Well There you have it... something out of my twisted little mind... a tragedy of failed love...