Memorial

Matt Kean.

I looked outside my bedroom window, it was Christmas day and the snow was falling heavily. I always hoped it would be a white Christmas in order to make Stephanies dreams come true. My gaze slid over to the sleeping beauty beside me. She was so beautiful, and I always really fancied her when we were in school. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled up at me. "Merry Christmas" She said rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Get dressed now" I told her. She raised an eyebrow at me but done as she was told. "Wrap up because it's snowing outside" I explained.

"Why am I getting dressed? We aren't going to your parents til 1?" She asked while slipping on a pair of jeans.

"We are going to have fun, we're gonna build snowmen and snow angels. And I'm going to initiate a snowfight and you're going to beg me not to do it anymore. It's going to be cute" I told her. She rolled her eyes and climbed over to me.

"You're a huge dork, you know that?" She giggled and kissed me on the lips. I pushed the hair off her face and looked at her lovingly. She has no idea what is gonna happen today.

"I love you Steph, you're the love of my life" I kissed her softly. She pulled back and climbed off my bed.

"Come on" She said, holding her hand out for me. I looked at it and smiled. I rose to my feet and took her hand in mine, looking at her wedding finger and imagining how beautiful it will look with the ring I picked out for her. Well, Oli helped me pick it out actually.

We walked outside into the snow, hand in hand. It fell beautifully all around us. I looked down at my beautiful girlfriend and grinned. She looked so happy today. "Let's build a snowman" I suggested. She agreed and we began making one.

With a small ball of snow I began rolling it around the ground. "How'd you think Oli and Casey's Christmas is going to be?" Stephanie asked. I looked at her and noticed she had snow on her face, obviously she smeared some while adjusting her hat or something.

"Oli got her a puppy, she called him Oskar" I told her.

Her eyes lit up. "Really?" She asked.

"Yeah, he's adorable actually. Kinda makes me want a dog" I smiled at her. I could tell what she was thinking. I know she wants a commitment like that but I think after I propose she'll calm down on the dog thing for awhile.

"Well dogs are cute but they're a lot of work also. You're touring a lot and I have work so it's just not the time" She told me, looking away and continuing to build up the snow.

Silence fell between us and we finally got the body of the snowman together. "Mum is gonna be freaking out today. So many of us will be over for Christmas dinner. First time her daughter has brought home anyone too, cause for celebration" I laughed. Stephanie nodded in agreement.

"It's cute that your mum loves Oli" Stephanie looked up at me.

"Why's that?" I raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Your mum always sorta knew they'd end up together didn't she? I mean the stories from when you guys were younger just sorta, prove it I guess" She smiled. Steph always knew it was inevitable that Oli and Case would finally make it work, after all these years it had to happen.

"And what about us?" I asked innocently smoothing off some of the snow on the body of our snowman.

"What about us?" I watched Stephanies lips curve into a small smile.

"I always had a huge crush on you in high school" I said, blushing so hard I'm almost certain my head was going to explode.

"Yeah, like that wasn't hard to work out" She giggled. "It was so fucking obvious Matt. You used to stutter so bad if I spoke to you" She laughed even harder.

"That's mean, I'm an extremely shy person" I pouted. Stephanie glided over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"I always knew one day you'd get the courage to ask me out. I just thought it'd be before we left school" She kissed me on the lips. "Better late than never though".

I kissed her quickly then we got back to doing our snowman. We finished his head and Stephanie looked at me. "Oh yeah, his face" I pretended to suddenly remember.

I pulled out a bag from my jacket pocket and handed it to her. It was small and she looked confused. She put her hand in and pulled out the carrot, placing it where his nose should be and smiling with satisfaction when she was done. She put her hand back in and pulled out a button and placed it where his eye should be. Confusion covered her face and her hand dived into the bag again. "There's only one button in here Matt, I can only find..." She pulled out the ring and looked at it in amazement. "This" She gulped.

I watched her eyes scan the ring then look up at me. I got down on one knee and took her hand in mine. "Steph, you're right we are gonna end up together but for now, I wanna make you my wife. I love you so much and I wanna prove it to you. Will you marry me?" I asked, hope in my eyes and praying for that yes.

I could see the tears build up in her eyes. She looked down at me with happiness and nodded. "Yes, of course I will" She sobbed. I took the ring from her hand, pulled her glove off and slid the ring on her finger. Her eyes lit up and she threw herself into my arms. "I love you" She whispered onto my lips.

"I love you too" I mumbled. Taking in the scenery and the feeling, capturing it delicately in my mind forever. Nothing could bring me down from this high.

My phone began to ring from my pocket. "Don't tell anyone until we get there" Steph warned. I nodded and pulled my phone out of my pocket.

I seen the name Oli flash on the screen. "Hey man, Merry Christmas. What do I owe you the pleasure of?" I asked, the grin covering my face. A few seconds past and there was no answer. I pulled the phone back from my ear to see if the call was still in motion, and it was. I placed it back at my ear and sighed. "Oli? Did you butt dial me?" I asked, smiling slightly. I looked at Steph who laughed at my remark.

"Matt" Oli said roughly. He sounded like he'd been crying.

"Oli, what's wrong?" I panicked, my voice was trembling from the coldness. I heard Oli choke a little, then a small sob came out.

"Casey's dead" He said quietly. What a shit joke on Christmas, he's getting bad at this.

"C'mon mate it's December not April" I laughed.

"I'm not bullshitting. Matt I woke up and she was dead" The words played in my ears, over and over. I dropped my phone which caught Stephanies attention.

"What's wrong?" She asked, picking up my phone. "Oli what's wrong with Matt?" She asked. I watched her expression change from confussed to heartbroken. I just felt my heart shatter into pieces.

Notes