Rosemary

0.9

"Edwin! Oh my god! Edwin!" I sob, sitting down next to him in the water.

"Rosie," he chokes out.

"Your ok, your ok," I weep, brushing the hair that was stuck to his forehead by blood and sweat.

"Tell- tell Katherine- tell her I love her," he gasps.

"No Edwin, you tell her that. You're going home," I cry.

"Rosie- your the best- best friend anyone- anyone could ever- ever have," Edwin breathes, closing his eyes.

I hold my friend close to my chest, singing into his ear.

Let the birds sing, dilly, dilly

And the lambs play

We shall be safe, dilly, dilly

Out of harm's way

Edwin opened his eyes slightly looking up at the sun rising in the sky.

"Look- look at- at that," he whispers, motioning to the pink and orange sky.

"Edwin I love you," I smiled sorrowfully, tears pouring down my face.

"I- I love- love you too-too," he utters.

The cannon sounded and Edwin was gone.

"NO!" I bawled, "Come back to me Eddie, come back to me!"

Finnick grabbed me from under my armpits dragging me to the sand.

"No, no!"

Edwin sailed out to the middle of the lake where the hovercraft picked him up. My best friend was gone. I would never see his pearly white smile or the way he ran through the cornfields singing the lyrics to 'Stand By Me' again. I sobbed into Finnick's shoulder.

"He's gone Finnick! He's gone and I couldn't save him!" I wailed.

"You couldn't have saved him either way Butterfly. He chose to jump and save us, and you didn't make that decision for him," Finnick cooed into my ear.

After crying for hours, I stopped realizing it was no use. He was gone. My best friend was gone. I readjusted my position in Finnick's lap so I could see the sparkling lake.

"I used to watch the same movie with him every Sunday," I sniffled, wiping my tear stained cheeks.

"What's that?" Finnick murmured.

"After he and Ella mentored me, we became very close. Every Sunday, he would invite me over and set up his old projector that he saved from his old house before his games. There was only one tape it played and it was a movie called 'Stand By Me'," I whispered, trying to regulate my breathing.

"What's it about?" he asked, pressing kisses onto my jaw.

"Well, it starts out with four boys on a quest for a dead body, but it turns out more than that," I mutter, "They learn more about themselves and each other. Like true friends."

I start to tear up with those words.

"Show it to me sometime," he whispers.

I think he was trying to end the conversation but I just kept going.

"The title was named after the song 'Stand By Me'. The four boys were from a place called Oregon. Their names were Vern, Teddy, Chris and Gordie, and- and-" I begin to gasp for air, "Oh god Finnick, I miss him! I can't imagine life without him, and now I'm living that horrid reality."

Finnick stroked my hair, then tilted my chin up.

"Of course you miss him Butterfly," Finnick says, tears in his eyes, "But just know, he loves you very much. And wherever he went, he still does."