He sat alone on the last Tuesday night he would be in Cleveland, in his second home-the choir loft of St. Patrick's church. With his dress uniform on, he sat down behind the piano and began playing, allowing the music he adored to over come him one last time.
She knew where he was at, and as she walked into the church, she heard the music and knew that she was right. Her school uniform was still on, though she had changed into jeans and tennis shoes, and she quickly and quietly climbed the stairs to the loft and let herself in, hiding among the shadows of the pipes for the organ, she waited for him to finish. As he finished the song, she stepped into the light and began to clap.
"Play it again Sam." she spoke as he turned and smiled. As she went over to the piano and leaned against it, he leaned back and snagged his book off the organ and flipped to a page he had marked.
"We'll sing it together, okay?" she smiled and nodded her head. As he began to play, she listened closely to the melody as they sang, but as the music continued to play, she realized that she was crying and turned to hide the tears, but she wasn't fast enough. Stopping, he looked at her, opened his arms, and welcomed her into them. Walking into his arms, she placed her head on his shoulder and cried. He soothed her, quietly telling her and reassuring her that she was going to be okay, but more importantly to her, that he was going to be okay. Slowly, she looked up into her best friend's eyes and smiled weakly. Gently, he wiped the tears away and then they left, closing the door behind them. As the stepped outside and he watched her go off on her own, he grinned and wiped a tear away from his eyes.
"Eve?" he called, as she turned around and looked at him.
"Yeah."
"Semper Fi!"
"Semper Fi." and with that, she smiled, turned and walked away from the one person whom she cared about the most.
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