BACK		Lonely Ride On A Midnight Train

By Sofie

As Kian lay his head upon the window of the midnight-train, he heard the calming sounds of the engine. The wagon was almost empty, there were only him and another young lad on his way home. Kian sighed and memorised Crystal from the last time he’d seen her. She’d been on the urge of breaking down in tears, but had held her head up straight. Kian smiled by the thought of her face, as she’d forced a smile upon her face trying to look okay. The wind had taken over her long dirty-blond hair and was hiding some of her face. When the train had started leaving the station, she’d turned around and hidden her face in her hands. The last thing Kian saw was Kerry and Georgina wrapping their arms around her. Within the last tree months of touring, Crystal had been the only thing on his mind. And now, he was going home and couldn’t wait any longer. Not having seen Crystals face for tree months, had made him fall even more in love with her, his best friend.

FLASHBACK
The sun stood high in the sky, as Kian dragged his feet across the road till he came to Crystal and her dad’s garage. The first thing he saw, was Crystal bending over an old car, swearing at it. Kian ran over to her and held his hands around her waist, until she turned around. She wore baggy overalls, and a dirty white T-shirt. There were dirt all over her face, arms and hands, that covered her dark tan. Her hair was put up in a phoney-tale that was on the edge of breaking.
“Kian, you scared me…” she whined after having jumped five feet into the air. Kian embraced her and felt his shirt getting dirty as hers.
“When will you be finished with that?” he asked and nodded against the car, that barely looked like a car anymore. Crystal laughed and whipped her hands in a just-as-dirty old piece of fabric.
“In about three-thousand years…” she sighed and threw the piece of fabric into the arms of her dad, who’d just entered the garage, “Dad, can I go with Kian?” The enormous man smiled widely, revealing a pair of yellow teeth, and glanced at the car,
“I guess you can. Have a safe trip…” he said, giving Kian the look. Kian smiled,
“I’ll, as always, take good care of her, Mr. Jackson.” He grabbed her hand and ran with her across the road. Kian jumped into the wreck, he called a car and Crystal on the backseat (Since there was only one frontseat).
It was amazingly hot, and Kian could see in the rear mirror that Crystal was just as warm as he. She was playing with her hair, that was now hanging on her shoulders, and was waving with her hand to get air. Kian turned on the radio, and a sad lovesong with Jessica Simpson came on. Kian saw how Crystal sighed and looked out the window.
Suddenly, they heard a loud sound of a truck, and Kian directed his sight against a huge truck that was heading straight against them. He made a sharp turn, and the car drove down a small hill. They landed in the middle of a field, where someone grew unions. Crystal had been screaming, but Kian had only been holding his breath. He expected Crystal to be mad at him, but by looking in the rear mirror he saw she wasn’t. He turned around to face her shocked eyes, “Are you okay?” he asked, finding out that his voice was trembling. He realised that he’d automatically turned the car to the opposite side of the road, because he’d been gazing at Crystal. She was breathing heavily, and looked a bit more normal. The radio started again, and the pounding sounds from “You don’t know what love is” by Jessica Simpson streamed into the heated wagon. Kian realised that Crystal was only a few inches from him. She cupped her hands around his face and gently caressed it. She slowly kissed him. He closed his eyes and kissed her back. They landed at the backseat, Crystal beneath Kian, who was kissing her passionately. Her hands crawled up and down of his back, and pressed him closer. Sweat was dripping from Kian’s forehead, as it became hotter in the car. Kian felt his pulse increasing, as their kisses became more and more needing. They both surrendered to the touch, and everything around them disappeared. Crystal strolled her fingers through Kian’s hair, and made them both shiver. A sound of an elguitar filled the car, as Bryan Adams’ “Everything I do, I do it for you” came on the radio. It became too much for both Kian and Crystal, and Kian slowly opened the top of Crystal’s overalls. FLASHBACK END

Kian shuddered just by the thought of the best night of his life. They were both only seventeen years old, but more in love than ever. But no matter how nice it felt for both of them, it didn’t turn into anything, no matter how much Kian wanted it. The next day Crystal had approached Kian and told him that they were better of as friends. Why, Kian couldn’t really figure out, but he understood her and pretended like that was his thought too. But after that day, he wanted to be with her more than anything in the world. Kian sighed.
“Cigarette?” Kian woke up by the voice of the young lad sitting a few seats away from himself.
“No thanks, I don’t smoke.” Kian replied and smiled at him. The lad shrugged and put the box of cigarettes back into his pocket,
“I don’t either, it just looks cool to have them.” He chuckled and sat down in front of Kian, “Is it okay, if I sit?” he asked. Kian nodded,
“Of course, you’re welcome.” He smiled. The lad reached his hand to Kian,
“I’m Steve.” He introduced himself. Kian took his hand and shook it,
“I’m Kian. Are you going home, or just visiting?” he asked. He could mind as well get his mind of Crystal for a while.
“I’m visiting, but I hope to stay. I’m going to propose to the love of my life!” Steve sounded pretty excited and shivered in his seat. Kian smiled widely and waved away the thought of proposing to Crystal,
“Wow, that’s fantastic! Congratulations!” Kian said and laughed on the behalf of Steve. Steve, who had red fluffy hair, and big green eyes, giggled,
“Thanks. Are you also visiting someone you love?” Kian wondered by that question. He knew he was in love with Crystal, and had been ever since she stepped into his class for the first time as 15-year old. He nodded and swallowed a bulge. Was it possible to love a person as much as he loved Crystal?

FLASHBACK
Kian turned around against that annoying little brat Derrick, after having a pencil thrown after him once more. He groaned angrily at him and threw the pencil back. First day of school, and Derrick was already starting to kill him. “Egan, Harrison, quiet!!” miss Berg hissed and slammed her ruler down the desk. She smiled at the rest of the class and began,
“As you know, a new student is starting today. I have, on purpose, made her wait outside, so I could tell you about her first. Her mum recently died in a car-crash, so please be gentle. She moved here with her dad, from Northern Ireland, and doesn’t know the place very well. Please be nice to her, as you’re nice to each other.”
Kian felt the pencil hit his neck again and turned against Derrick again,
“Stop it, you little deautz, or you’re toast!!” he whined and threw his pencil-case against him.
“Egan, leave the class right now.” Miss Berg whined and pointed with her ruler at the door. Kian slowly rose to his feet and dragged his feet towards the door. He opened it and slammed it behind him. He angrily kicked the door so hard that his foot hurt, and let himself slide down the door. That was when he noticed someone standing in front of him, looked remarkably surprised. Kian gazed at her. She had long dirty-blond hair, shiny brown eyes and a beautiful smile. She sat down in front of him and smiled,
“I’m Crystal… The new girl?” she introduced herself to Kian, who swallowed a bulge. He fixed his hair in a awkward way and tried to smile,
“Hi… I’m Kian… The class clown.” She giggled at him and wrapped her arms around her knees,
“Are they nice in there?” she asked, rather nervous and looked at the door.
“Yeah, they’re not too bad. But there’s a high risk, that you’ll get your eye popped out by all the pencil-throwing they got going on at the moment.” He said, and immediately regretted his use of words, “Anyway, miss Berg is telling people about you, so you don’t have to explain.”
Crystal blushed,
“I thought so. They did at the other school too, and just about everyone looked at me like I was a freak.”
“What do you mean? Other school?” all of a sudden he was interested in hearing loads more about her – that beautiful girl sitting in front of him.
“I was kicked out of the other school. They didn’t think I was ‘appropriate’ for a school like theirs. I mean, c’mon, just because you break a few windows, it doesn’t mean that you always do that…” Kian laughed loudly,
“You broke their windows?” he could hardly believe what he’d just heard and was dying to hear more. Crystal laughed too at the thought,
“Yeah, but not quite on purpose. This guy kept winding me up, and I didn’t know they had extremely fragile windows, so I, erm… threw him out the window.” Kian laughed so much that the tears flew from his eyes,
“Y-you threw him through the window?” he cried out loud. She smiled and blushed,
“Yeah, but don’t laugh, it was really scary – it looked so Arnold Swarzenegger-alike!” her comment made Kian laugh even more and at last he could barely breathe.
“You’ll fit in just fine…” he mumbled and whipped his eyes, when he was done laughing. Crystal had been laughing a lot too, and was whipping her eyes just as Kian.
The door to the class opened and a hysterical miss Berg stood in the doorway,
“Miss Burne, come on in.” she said smiling and led Crystal with her inside. Kian stood in the doorway and watched Crystal talk to the class. All of a sudden, Kian felt something inside. He just couldn’t get his eyes of her. He had to flash his eyes, because of what he was feeling for that girl. She was multi-perfect, and her smile warmed Kian deep inside. But she was so out of his league. She was a rich-man’s little girl, and he lived in a house with three sisters and three brothers.
“Kian, get in, will you??” Miss Berg hissed and woke Kian up from his gazing. He closed the door behind him and headed against his seat. He heard a teasing whistle from Derrick and grabbed the nearest pencil…
FLASHBACK END

“Your wife?” Steve asked and pulled up a bag of chips from his jacket.
“No, not at all. My best friend.” Kian sighed. Steve opened the bag and handed it to Kian, who shook his head.
“As in boy- or girlfriend?” he asked while chewing on a chip. Kian widened his eyes,
“Girl.” He answered to shut out all other conclusions. Steve laughed,
“Okay!”
Kian shrugged,
“Why are you proposing?” he asked, “If you don’t mind me asking…”
Steve smiled,
“Cause I love him so much. And yes, it is a guy, and I am gay,” he added after seeing the expression on Kian’s face, “It’s like this. When I look him in the eyes, I simply know, that I’ll be looking in those eyes forever. So why not do it as a married couple? I also know, that if he as much as looks at another guy, I get all jealous and feel like killing whoever he’s looking at. Even though my brain tells me it’s too soon, my heart tells me there’s never been a better time.”
Kian sighed at his explanation. He felt the same about Crystal,
“How long have you been together?” he asked and gazed out the window. Steve smiled,
“For five months, 16 days and one hour.” He almost whispered and blushed, “But I knew already after a month that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. How long have you known your best friend?”
Kian shrugged,
“For seven years. But I knew I loved her before I met her.” He wasn’t lying. Not at all. The thought of proposing to Crystal didn’t seem so surreal as before, even though he knew it would never happen.
“Wow… And you really love her?” Steve asked sounding concerned. Kian chuckled, “I really do. But she doesn’t feel the same.” He faced the horrifying truth. “You can’t know that for sure!”
“Giving her a ‘I love you’ valentines-card, and receiving a ‘thanks for being a good friend’-card pretty much prove it all.” He sighed. Steve emptied his bag of chips,
“It only proves that she’s careful and in denial of her feelings towards you.” He sounded so serious that Kian could only laugh. But he still thought back at the possibilities…

FLASHBACK
Kian knocked the door to the little house beside the huge garage. The cold was going through his jacket, and when Crystals dad opened the door, he flew in. “Crystal is on her way, she’s in the shower. You’re welcome to wait…” her dad said smiling. Kian thanked him and clapped his hands to get warm.
“Look, Kian, I want to talk to you.” He sighed and invited Kian into the livingroom. Kian sat down in the chair in front of the fireplace and waited for her dad to speak.
“I know you care a lot about my daughter. I can see it on the way you look at her. Now, that doesn’t bother me, it’s just that,” he went down on one knee, “I want you to take care of her, Kian. I love her more than anything, and if she ever gets hurt, I wouldn’t know what to do. She’s all I have left, after her mother died, she was very sad all the time, but since she met you, she’s changed in the good way. So please take good care of her.” Mr. Burne’s eyes were filled with tears. Kian swallowed a bulge,
“Mr. Burne, even if I can’t be with Crystal, I’ll still take better care of her than any man can. I love your daughter to bits, and I wont let anyone hurt her – and I could never dream of doing it myself.”
He was satisfied with his words, and the tears disappeared from Mr. Burne’s eyes. He smiled and patted Kian on the back,
“I know she cares an awful lot for you too. But be careful.” He was on his way into the kitchen, when he stopped and turned around, “And please don’t do as Crystal’s mother and I did. Our parents were against our marriage, so we ran away. I haven’t spoken to my mother or father in law ever since. You have my blessing.”
Kian laughed,
“Believe me, Mr. Burne, marriage is an unknown word right now. And if it ever happens, you’ll be the first to know.”
Mr. Burne laughed and continued his walk into the kitchen. Kian rose to his feet and saw that Crystal was standing in the door,
“How long have you been standing there?” Kian asked shocked. She laughed, “From my dad’s lesson about marriage. C’mon, let’s go.” They met in a hug and went outside.
The snow had started falling again, and made the landscape look beautiful. Kian smiled as they wandered down the road. He was about to say something, but stopped when he felt a snowball hit him in the back of his head. He turned around and saw Crystal run away. He ran against her, but when she fell he landed on top of her. He smashed snow into her face and laughed evilly. She screamed and laughed at the same time, while trying to lie Kian down. They rolled around for hours, until it became darker. Then they had to head back home to Crystal’s home. When they came to the front door, Crystal stopped, “Want to sleep here? We can pull out an extra madras…?” he smiled and nodded.

In Crystal’s room, Kian stripped down to his boxers. He slipped down in Crystal’s old sleeping bag, while Crystal tugged herself in, in her bed. The light got turned off, and Kian closed his eyes, getting ready for sleep. All of a sudden, he felt a hand going down the sleeping bag. He looked up and could see the shadow of a person crawling down. He turned against Crystal, who was pressed tightly against him inside the sleeping bag.
“I don’t it’s a sleeping bag for two…” Kian whispered, but was cut of by Crystal’s lips against his.
“I want you.” Were the only words she said before heading down in the sleeping bag.
FLASHBACK END

That was when they were nineteen. Second time they did it. Again, Crystal had said that it was best to be friends. Kian took a deep breath and turned towards Steve,
“What am I supposed to do?” he asked, and Steve lightened up in a smile. He clapped his hands,
“I think I have an idea…”

The doors opened widely, and Steve and Kian stepped out the train. Steve running against a dark person, and Kian into the arms of his mother, who wouldn’t stop kissing him. He laughed and greeted the rest of his family. He got a glimpse of Crystal somewhere in the back, and a shock went through his body. It didn’t last long before his brothers, sisters and parents were heading against the car with all his luggage. Kian made sure that he was walking in the back with Crystal. They hadn’t said a word to each other yet.
“We’ll be there in a moment!!” Kian yelled after his family and took a tight grip around Crystal’s wrist. He pulled her with him behind some add for steak and grabbed her shoulders.
“I’ve missed you, K…” Crystal started, but Kian cut her of,
“Crystal, I’m going to kiss you again now. If you still want to be friends after that, then I’ll never kiss you again. But if you want to take the next step, I promise to love you forever and ever.” Kian saw how her eyes examined his, and he took a deep breath before brushing his lips against hers. He felt her kissing back, and let it last longer. He led her up against the window to the postoffice, and kissed her harder and more requiring. When he at last forced himself away from her, he tried to find an answer in her eyes. She smiled,
“I thought you’d never ask…” she whispered and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him some more. Kian almost started to cry of happiness, but was interrupted by a male voice.
“Excuse me, miss, can I borrow him for a second?” Kian recognised Steve’s voice and turned against him. Crystal blushed when she saw two guys holding hands. One of then was Steve, the red-head with those huge green eyes, and the other was tall, dark and blushing.
“Kian, this is Michael, my fiancée.” Steve nearly whined and smiled widely. Kian laughed,
“Hi, I’m Kian. Congratulations!” he shook Michael’s hand. He thanked Kian, and Steve turned against Crystal.
“Did you do as I told you too?” Michael whispered to Crystal. She giggled,
“I didn’t get the chance to.” She answered. They all burst into laughter and could hardly stop.

FLASH-FORWARD
“Crystal, get your bony ass inhere!” Kian yelled from downstairs, and Crystal rushed down the stairs.
“What ar… Oh my god, Kian!” she gasped when she saw the scenery on her balcony. A little table was sat up, with two candles and champagne. Kian stood in the opening with a bucket of red roses, dressed in new jeans and a white shirt. Crystal walked, as in trance, towards Kian and received the flowers with open mouth. She said a soundless thank you, and went past Kian towards the table. She saw a little note on the table and picked it up to read it. ‘Dearest Crystal, turn around, love.’ She read out loud and turned around. First she couldn’t see Kian, but then she looked down. Kian lay in front of her on one knee with a little box in his hands. Crystal dropped the flowers on the floor and gasped for air, when she saw the little ring in the box.
“I’m going to ask you one more time, Crystal. If you don’t say yes this time, I’m going to jump over the railing of this balcony. Will you marry me?” Kian whispered, and a few tears appeared in his eyes. Crystal closed and opened her eyes a couple of times, and was about to answer when Kian spoke again,
“And I’m taking the ring with me.”
Tears rolled down Crystal’s cheeks as she giggling stuttered,
“Yes, I will be your wife.” She went down on her knees too, and Kian led the ring onto her finger. They embraced, both crying of happiness. Sniffling and whipping her eyes Crystal asked,
“Kian, how come haven’t you given me up? I know I’ve been a burden all these years…”
Kian put a finger on her lips,
“It’s because of you. You’ve taught me how to love, how to live, how to breathe… But you never taught me how to say goodbye. And never think you’ve been a burden. You haven’t even been close.” He whispered and kissed her.
“Congratulations…” a hoarse voice came from the doorway. Kian and Crystal rose to their feet and saw Mr. Burne stand in front of them.
“Dad, what are you doing here?” Crystal asked and whipped her eyes.
“Kian promised to let me be the first to know. Remember?” he asked and greeted Crystal in a huge hug, “Congratulations, my girl. You couldn’t get a better husband, than Kian. I always believed in him.”
Kian laughed, “Apart from the first couple of years, where you tried to shoot me.”
Mr. Burne laughed and approached Kian, “That was just a joke!” he wrapped his arms around Kian, “But if you ever hurt her, I have my rifle under the bed!”
FLASH-FORWARD END

The End.