‘Bill? Billy?’
He looked up. ‘Hi Dom.’ He resumed staring at the ocean, tears rolling down his face.
Dom sat down by his best friend, being careful not to jostle his injured arm. ‘How are doing mate?’ When his friend didnt answer, Dom put his arm around him and pulled him into a hug.

We were out on a date in my buddy's car
We hadn't driven very far

‘Where are we going baby?’ Shella asked.
‘You’ll see, love,’ Billy answered. He was bursting with joy that he had managed to pull off the surprise for their anniversary. A year ago he met this beautiful vivacious girl. In no time he fell for her. Tonight he was going to propose.

There in the road, up straight ahead
A car was stalled, the engine was dead

‘Look out for that car Billy,’ Shella warned.
‘I see it,’ he answered, hitting the brakes. ‘Shite!’ he swore.

I couldn't stop, so I swerved to the right
I'll never forget the sound that night
The screamin' tires, the bustin' glass
The painful scream that I heard last.

‘Hang on love! The road’s too wet to stop!’ Billy jerked the wheel to the right, aiming for a ditch in the road. When he hit the shoulder, the soggy ground caused the car to spin, directing it toward a tree.
‘Biiillllyy!’
When the car came to a stop, Shella moaned. Billy was unconscious, his head resting against the steering wheel.

Oh, where oh where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me
She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world.

Billy rested his head against Dom’s shoulder, his body racked with sobs. Viggo came up behind them, dropping to his knees behind them.
‘Bill? The service is starting,’ Viggo said gently. He was answered by a choking sob.
‘Come on mate,’ Dom murmured quietly, standing and pulling him to his feet.
Billy stumbled to his feet, wincing in pain. He leant up against Dom, letting his friend support his weight. Viggo came round to his other side, taking care not to touch his friend’s ribs. The cut above his friend’s eye was still swollen too, his eye blackened from the accident.

When I woke up, the rain was pourin' down
There were people standing all around
Something warm rollin' through my eyes
But somehow I found my baby that night

Billy lifted his hand, wiping his eyes. When he looked down, he saw his hand was bloodied. There were red and blue lights breaking the darkness, and making his head hurt even worse. He saw firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and police, some standing around, others rushing about.
‘Shella?’ he choked out. ‘Shell?’ He was answered by a whimper; he crawled toward the noise.

I lifted her head, she looked at me and said
Hold me darling just a little while.
I held her close, I kissed her our last kiss

Billy draped his uninjured arm across Shella’s still body. ‘Baby?’
Her eyes opened, almost imperceptibly, and she whispered, ‘Hold me Billy. Don’t let go.’
‘I love you Shella. I always will, love.’ Gently he kissed her lips, before his strength gave out, and his head dropped to her shoulder.
He lapsed into unconsciousness, blessedly missing the medics’ panicked voices as they attempted, fruitlessly, to save his girlfriend’s life.

I found the love that I knew I would miss
But now she's gone, even though I hold her tight
I lost my love, my life that night.

‘How can I live without her Dommeh?’ he asked, from his bed at home.
His friend shook his head wordlessly, tears filling his blue eyes. ‘I don’t know mate. But you know we’re all here for you. It isn’t the same as having her. But we are here, and love you.’
That night he clutched his pillow, wishing it was her. He wished he had died, instead; he was older than she, she had so much going for her. A sob broke free, and within moments, his door opened, admitting a sleepy Orlando.
His friend said nothing, just gathering him in his arms and holding him to his chest, rocking gently. Orlando held him while he cried; Billy moaned when the mental pain caused the physical pain to flare up.
‘I may as well be dead too mate,’ Billy whispered to Orlando shortly before dropping back off to sleep.
‘I know mate,’ Orlando whispered back. ‘I know’.

Oh, where oh where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me
She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world.

Uncharacteristically, the paparazzi maintained a respectful distance from Billy and all of the people, many of whom were celebrities, who had gathered to say goodbye to Shella. Billy wore dark sunglasses, despite the thick cloud cover, to hide his blackened eye and the redness in them from crying.
Dom stood to one side of him, Viggo to the other, supporting him. When the casket was lowered into her plot, Billy’s knees gave out, and his friends caught him, lowering him, and themselves, to the earth.
As Shella’s best friend, Monica, sang Holes in the Floor of Heaven, Billy lost the fight with tears again.
Suddenly, the sky opened up, and rain started. Billy didn’t move, and Viggo and Dom stayed with him, holding him. They knelt on the damp earth by her grave, unmoving, for more than an hour, while Billy mourned his loss.