It Can't Rain All The Time

Remember It All, Duckling

The nightmare happened like it always does. A perfect retelling of the night it happened.
Cassie lay on the bed in the apartment. The crimson duvet under her was one of the softest things she'd ever felt.
It was the three of them that day: Eric, Shelly, and Cassie. Shelly was in the tiny bathroom of the apartment taking a shower. Eric was strumming his guitar on the bed next to Cassie while she read her latest horror novel. Eric began to sing something Cassie hadn't heard before. She set her book on her lap and listened intently to the velvety sound of his voice.
"I really like that one. When did you write that?" Cassie inquired as she turned on her side to face him.
"I've had it written for a while." Eric smiled, setting down the guitar.
"Its beautiful." She maneuvered herself to an upright position. "What made you write about unrequited love? Shelly's right in the bathroom." Cassie let out a lighthearted laugh. Eric smiled in return and shrugged.
"I guess it just came to me one day." He lifted himself off the bed and slowly made his way to the large circular window behind the couch. With the dim lighting of the apartment and the purple setting sun peaking through the cloud cover, Eric was a black silhouette. He leaned his left shoulder on the framework and stared at the street below.
Cassie was confused. She followed him and stood on the opposite side of the window. "You going to tell me what's wrong? You only look this goth when something's going on up here." Cassie rustled his long dark hair. He batted her hand away with a smirk.
"You've known me for way too long, Duckling."
"I hate it when you call me that." She rolled her eyes to feign annoyance. Eric chuckled, then went to back to his longing look out the window. Always with the dramatics, Cassie thought.
"Can I ask you something important?" When Eric finally broke the silence, Cassie was caught off guard. Usually he would slump in front of the window with his guitar and ignore her badgering for answers. Even when Shelly would get frustrated with his silence and run to the grocery store to cool off, Cassie would refuse to leave. On occasion, he would stop his strumming to look at her with a smirk and say, thanks for staying.
"You know you can ask me anything, Eric."
"Do you believe two souls are destined for each other?" He didn't make eye contact, just continued to stare out the window.
"Like soulmates?" Cassie thought for a moment. "In a way, I guess."
"Do you think that someone could have more than one soulmate?" Eric turned to Cas, who was visibly confused. She had only had a handful of relationships in her life, and none of them would qualify as a 'soulmate'.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
Eric looked at her for a moment. Words were hidden behind his eyes. She could see that. She just didn't know what they could be. Just as he was about to speak, Shelly, wrapped in a towel revealing her impeccable shape, opened the door to the bathroom.
"Forgot my nightie!" Shelly sang as she floated to the chest of drawers on the other side of the apartment. She grabbed the red fabric and made her way back to the bathroom, blowing a kiss at the two by the window. As the door shut, Eric shuffled his way back to the bed and his guitar.
Cassie took a moment to sit on the floor by the window. She reached out her hand to gently touch the metal framework.
This wasn't like him, she thought. And how could he be thinking of someone else? He and Shelly are getting married tomorrow. Cassie walked to stand in front of Eric. The strumming stopped in an instant. "Who?" She asked in a hushed tone.The response was a whisper, but she heard it all the same.
"You know who." The strumming began again. Cassie was dumbfounded. All of this time, and he chose then to say something. He was getting married in 24 hours. The tension in the room was high, and it felt neverending. She wasn't even thinking.
He put down the guitar and stood.
Their lips touched before either of them could think to say no. There were no worries in that brief moment of contact. The world floated away. Eric entangled his fingers in her fiery hair, and Cassie gripped the sides of his face.
In a flash, the moment was gone. Just as fast as it began.
Cassie broke away first, practically running to the other side of the room. She faced away from the man, shame hitting her like a brick.
Shelly, in all her beauty, came out of the bathroom with her red babydoll nightgown and black slippers. Her hair was falling in waves around her heart shaped face. The shame Cassie felt only worsened when she saw her. She looked at the clock on the night stand by the bed.
"I've got to go get Sarah." Cassie blurted. Shelly rushed to her with a growing smile.
"Will you two stay the night? It's just such a special day, and I want my special girls with me tonight." She turned to Eric. "You don't mind do you?" He only smiled and shrugged in response. Shelly let out a squeal. "Okay, great, I'll see you tonight right? Eight o'clock!" She paused and looked at her nightgown. "Eric, can you get snacks for tonight?"
Cassie gathered her purse and made her way for the door. Eric grabbed his keys and wallet and followed suit. He blew a kiss to Shelly and closed the door behind him.
The two walked in silence down the stairs of the building. When they got to the sidewalk, Cassie turned to Eric.
"That never happened." She said.
"It did! Don't tell me you didn't feel that."
"I dont know what I felt, but it never happened. It would break Shelly's heart."
"What if it wouldn't? What if all three of us could be happy? Together."
"I'm not having this conversation right now. You're getting married, and I'm late to pick up Sarah. I promised her hot dogs from the stand across from my building."
Before she could turn, Eric grabbed Cassie's arm. He spun her to look at him.
"I'm not leaving it like this." Cassie stared up into his eyes. The sincerity behind them; the almost puppy dog innocence, it was too much.
"We can talk later." Eric let go of her arm and they embraced. Cassie held on tight, a fear rising in the pit of her stomach. She felt like it was the last time she would be able to do this: feel him, embrace him, love him. She didn't know how right she was. The tear fell from her right eye, and it scared her. She wasn't sure why she started to cry. Eric squeezed tighter, suffocating Cassie with love. He kissed her cheek, and they went their separate ways. Before she reached the turn on the way to Darla's apartment, she turned back. Eric turned as well. They waved at each other before they disappeared from view.

---

Cassidy jogged to keep up with Sarah's skateboard. The look of excitement on the young girl's face made her lack of breath worth it.
"And maybe we can play with some ideas for Shelly's hair tomorrow!" Sarah spewed potential ideas for their girls night.
As the girls got closer, they began to hear them. The sirens blasted from around the corner.
"Maybe Mr. Johnson hit his wife again?" Cassie suggested, the pit returning to her stomach like earlier. As they turned the corner, they realized they were correct about the situation being at the apartment building.
The blue and red lights began to blend together in an ugly purple hue, like a bruise. As they approached the yellow tape, the stretcher came out of the doors. Shelly lay on the mobile bed, a mask covering her mouth.
In a second, the girls were rushing past the tape to Shelly's side.
"Tell Eric and Cassie to take care of Sarah." The words came out a scraggly mess. Her vocal cord had been crushed, and anyone could tell her pain was immense. An officer approached the girls, pointing to the younger. "I assume you're Sarah? Your sister will be okay."
"She's not my sister. Shelly just takes care of me." The rest of the conversation faded into the background as Cassie turned. Time seemed to stop when she saw him lying there on the ground.
In a flash she was beside him, grasping at the leather of his jacket, shaking him.
"Eric? Eric! It's me, its Cassidy. You're okay, you're going to be okay. You have to be okay." She leveled herself on the ground, eye to eye with him. She grasped and pulled, begging for him to be all right. Her words turned to an incoherent mess.
"...Duck...ling..." The nickname came out in a slow breath, nearly inaudible. Eric's eyes moved to Cassie's, then he ceased altogether. Her tears flowed and her screaming continued. She could faintly hear Sarah screaming for Eric between the blood rushing through her ears.
When the two police officers lifted her off the ground, her screams continued but her body went limp. Albrecht helped to drag her from Eric's body and set her down beside Sarah. The young girl practically fell into Cassie's arms. Albrecht stayed with the two girls before bringing them to the hospital where Shelly was. The three of them were in the hospital until Albrecht came out from the Intensive Care Unit, hanging his head.

Shelly was gone.

---

The cold sweat stuck Cassie's ruby hair to her face. Her eyes shot open, staring blankly at the ceiling. Although the frequency of the reocurring nightmare had lessened, the pain that followed it had not. The familiar twist in her heart began and her eyes were swelling with tears awaiting their descent to her pillows. She twisted herself to the side, pulling her legs into a ball, and shutting her eyes tight. Her wails were faint.
Cassie could almost hear Eric calling to her. She could feel his arms wrapping around her shoulders, like he would do when he was alive.
Cassie's eyes opened again, slowly looking down.
There was an arm around her shoulder.