Chapter 1

Summary: Amy gets the chance to meet her online pen-pal, but is in shock when it turns out he is her brother's best friend. Soon after they develop a friendship all their own, but when tragedy strikes, they soon depend more on their families than each other. This becomes the true test of friendship and it puts their blossoming relationship to the test as well.

It was late on a Friday night and Amy Hammersmith was up in her bedroom sitting at her desk on the chair. She was in front of her desktop computer chatting with an online friend. She smiled to herself and then typed on the keyboard, 'when can we meet in person?'


The answer she was given forced a chuckle to escape from her then. The answer was the next afternoon around noon. She smiled and then signed off for the night. 


She then got up from her desk and hurried to her bed just as someone knocked on her bedroom door. "Come in." She said.


In walked her older brother, Steve. He shot her a grin and asked, "Hey Sis. You talk to your secret pal tonight?"


"Yup." She said and smiled at him happily. "We are meeting tomorrow at the playground around noon."


"Want me to come with you?" He asked her. He usually played the overprotective big brother card at times like this. 


No thanks, Steve." Amy said.  "I'll be fine. I doubt very much he is a pervert or anything."


He nodded and said, "Let me know if you change your mind."


"I will." She said. She then watched as he turned and left the room. He returned to his own and both siblings went to bed for the night.



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Amy got up early the next morning. She quickly took a shower and washed her hair twice. She then dried off and dressed in a gorgeous pink and white flowered sun dress and then blow-dried her pale blonde hair. She left it down so it trailed down her back, but used a couple of hair clips on each side. She then added a gold bracelet her mother had given her before she died and also the ring Steve had given her when they turned thirteen.  


Amy stepped into a pair of white flats and then left her bedroom. She hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen. She got herself some breakfast of cereal and milk. After she finished, she washed her dishes and stacked them to dry before leaving the house.  She knew her brother had to work that morning so she was relieved he wasn't around just then.  She walked the two blocks to the playground and then waited for him at the swings.


He wound up arriving nearly ten minutes later. He was a hunky brunette with green eyes and a deep tan. He was wearing a blue t-shirt and dark denim colored jeans. He also was wearing blue and white tennis shoes and Amy noticed right away he looked familiar.  "Hi Amy." He said as he approached her. He was grinning warmly at her.


"Jace? You're the penpal from online?" Amy asked him. She was clearly in shock.


He nodded which made her sigh. "Steve didn't have a clue I've been e-mailing you. He didn't put me up to it....before you jump to conclusions."


"I was wondering, despite the fact he wanted to come with me today to meet you." She admitted.


"Steve always was over-protective of you." Jacen said.  "I would like to be your friend, Amy. I think you're awesome."


She smiled at him warmly and relaxed as he took her hand in his own.  It was a perfect moment just then.




The two talked as they walked through the park.  It was obvious they were attracted to each other. They shared a deep connection and both of them could feel it. Around four, they decided to go get something to eat for dinner. They went through drive through getting burgers  and then they drove to Amy's house in Jacen's black colored truck. They looked worried seeing both her father and her brother's vehicles parked outside in the driveway. They parked outside and hurried inside to find Amy's father and brother in the livingroom looking worried.

Both men looked up when the couple came hurrying in. Amy was quick to ask, "What's going on? You both usually work late on weekends."

"I received a message from Steve's doctor asking me to call him as soon as possible. I did the minute I got home which was two hours ago." Her father went on to explain then. "Amy, your brother has a irreversible heart condition. They said he only has a few months left to live."


All  of the color seemed to leave her face just then and she fell back on the couch. Her eyes immediately closed as her world went dark. 

Chapter 2

When Amy finally woke up, she noticed right away she was now lying on her bed up the stairs in her bedroom and Jacen was nowhere to be found. She could hear hushed voices coming from down in the livingroom. She sighed as she climbed out of bed and left her bedroom. She hurried down the stairs and into the livingroom. The first thing she noticed was Jacen wasn't in the room. She shot an accusing look at her brother. "Where is Jacen?!" She demanded to know.

"He went home." Steve said. "This is family time right now. I need you focused on me instead of your boyfriend, Little Sister." His face shared the same accusing look. 

"Spare me the accusing crap, Steve." Amy said. "And you aren't that much older than me! We are twins!"

"Four minutes is longer than even you think, Amy." Steve said. "I told him to leave."

"Why? You know he will be worried about both of us, Steve." Amy said. Her eyes were still focused on him.

"I am mad you two are together, Amy!" Steve yelled at her, angrily. "He is my friend! He has been since we were kids!"

"He helped me through a lot ever since Mom died, Steve!" Amy yelled back at him. "He was the one person who was there for me after Mom died!"


Steve shot his sister a angry glare before he stomped out of the room. He had heard enough from her. He also had no intention of letting the two of them be together. He left the house, slamming the door behind him. He got into his car and drove off angrily.



Amy could see her father wasn't real happy with her either. "WHAT?! Now I'm not allowed to be happy?!" She exclaimed, clearly still upset.

"Of course you are, Honey." Her father said. "I just wish you had gotten together with someone other than your brother's best friend."

She let out a frustrated growl and said, "I found out this morning he was the same guy who I have been emailing regularly ever since Mom died. It's not like we could help we fell for each other." She was now starting to calm down. "Dad, please. Let me be happy. Its the first time I have been since before Mom died."

He sighed and then finally nodded in agreement. "All right. You still have to talk to your brother about this, but I won't stand in your way."

"Thank you, Daddy." Amy said and then hugged him. 

He hugged her back and then said, "Go give him a call."

She grinned and then hurried off to her room.  She called him from her bedroom and they chatted over the next hour. She left her room after hearing the doorbell ring. She hurried down the stairs and stopped behind her father, who had answered the door. 



At the door was a policeman. He looked sad, but kept his tone official. "Mr. Hammersmith? I am Officer Branson. I'm afraid I have bad news for you." He said.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked. Her tone was sad and she was on the verge of tears. 

Branson glanced to her before turning his eyes back toward her father.  "Steven Hammersmith was seriously injured in a car accident tonight. He is in the hospital." He said.

Amy burst into tears as she grabbed her car keys off of the table by the door and hurried out the back door without anyone noticing. She drove directly to the hospital.



Meanwhile, Jacen had received a phone call from Mr. Hammersmith and he asks Jacen to meet him at the hospital.  He then left for the hospital as well.



Amy arrived at the hospital and hurried to the ICU. She walks into her brother's room and is shocked to see he isn't in his bed. She hurried to the desk in that hospital wing and demanded to know where her brother is.

The nurse sadly said, "I am so sorry. Your brother died a few minutes after he was brought here." She then picked up an envelope off of her desk and handed it to Amy. "I was asked to give this to you by your brother. I knew him so I knew about you."

Amy sobbed as she took the envelope. She then sat down in a chair outside the ICU. She folded up the envelope and stuck it in her back pocket.

Chapter 3

Amy opened her eyes several hours later just in time to hear Jacen's voice softly telling her that her brother was now awake. She sighed as she yawned and stood up. She walked into Steve's room. He was still on a breathing machine, but had a pad and pen available so he could write if he had anything to say. "Hey Steve." She said.

Steve blinked his eyes in greeting and then wrote on the pad, "Did you read my letter?"

Amy shook her head and then pulled out the envelope. She opened it and read it. After she finished, she blinked back tears which were now forming in her pale green eyes. She looked at her brother and asked, "Why are you making me choose?"

Steve wrote on the pad, "Because he was my friend before all of this happened. I would rather remember him as my best friend than my sister's boyfriend."

"It's not fair!" She exclaimed, not caring when a nurse glanced into the room. "I will not do it!" She then turned and left the hospital room angrily. She walked toward the elevator, passing by Jacen who was in the waiting room.  She didn't even glance into the room as she passed by.

Jacen was thumbing through a magazine and didn't notice her walk by.



She took the elevator down to the first floor and headed for the cafeteria. She needed coffee just then. She also needed time to think. She got her coffee and then found a seat by herself their in the cafeteria. She sighed as she sat there. Her mind was completely flooded with conflict over her brother's ultimatum. She was angry he made such a demand of her. It also entered her mind that this could be her brother's last few days, so she ultimately decided to focus on him for now. 

She finished her coffee and then headed for the elevator. She headed back to her brother's hospital room. She just reached his room when she heard the alarm go off in his room. 



She hurried into the room but was pushed back out to the hallway along with her father and Jacen. Several nurses and two doctors worked to resuscitate her brother's heart.  "Steven!" She called out as she felt her father loop an arm around her. 

A nurse came out of the room and instructed them to go wait in the waiting room while they continued to work on Steve. 

They did as she said and all took seats in their.



Several minutes later, the doctor came walking into the room. His expression was grim, so they knew it wasn't good news. He looked at them and said, "I'm so sorry. He's gone."

Amy dissolved into tears as her father also began to sob. 

Jacen reached over to hug Amy but she pushed him away. She got up and hurried out of the waiting room. She had to get out of there. This was all too much.

She raced out of the hospital and down toward the park. She stopped at the first bench she came across and sat down on it. She hid her face in her hands and began to sob hard. 

She didn't even notice when someone softly asked, "Are you all right?"

Amy was quick to shake her head as she continued to sob. "My brother died."

"I'm sorry for your loss." The voice responded. 

Amy looked up and was surprised to see that it was Jacen's sister, Kayleigh. "I really liked Steve." She said. "Jay called me after you left. He thought you might need a female friend to talk to."

"Then you know Steve didn't approve of me dating your brother?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, well the difference is I do." She said. "You two have been good for each other." Kayleigh sat down next to Amy and sighed. "Steve felt you were taking his friend away from him which is why he was upset. I overheard him and Jay arguing."

"I would have never let that happen." Amy said and sniffled as she started to calm down some.

"I know." She said. "I was asked to give you this by my brother. Its from Steve. He wrote it before he died."

Amy sighed as she took the paper. This wasn't in an envelope. She sighed as she opened it. 


Amy, 

I'm sorry for upsetting you. I was angry. I thought you were stealing my friend away. You know how much I love you. I would never try and take away your chance for love. I do want you to be happy.

I know I am not going to get any better so I want you to know I am okay with you two being together. Just protect your heart and don't let him force you to do anything you aren't ready for.

I love you so much, sis. Please never forget that. I will see you up in heaven when its your time to join Mom and I. 

Stay safe!


- Steve


Amy sighed as she folded the paper, as a few stray tears fell down her cheeks. She smiled to herself. "Steve gave us his blessing to be together." 

Kayleigh grinned at her friend and nodded. "I thought he would." She said. 

Both girls got up from the bench and walked back toward the hospital. It was time to go talk to the others....especially Jacen.

Chapter 4