There's a void.

Sure, we bickered like a married couple, but we appreciated each other.
Sure, we shouted, but we appreciated... each other.
Sure, we cursed each other under our breaths, but we fucking appreciated each other.

He is my best friend. He is my other half. He is my gypsy.
So Dave is on a "vacation to Iowa" of sorts, for defending himself when nobody else would. When called me Saturday morning to let me know, I was upset at first until he told me key parts of the story, and yes, I probably would've done the same thing if I was about to be jumped by a bunch of douchebags.

The initial shock of it all wore off quickly when Amber called and asked if I was handling it okay. She followed up with a statement along the lines of, "I figured you'd be hysterical by now".
I was saving face for the sake of him.

Throughout the night after my radio show last night, it was a lot of reminiscence in my head going on. We got to the point to "prepare" him by watching a picture slideshow of his childhood. This was most likely the first time, besides his ugly breakup with his long-term girlfriend, that I visually saw his heart break.
Which, in turn, made mine.

We also watched the Far From Finished show that we all put together a few weeks back, which got us laughing again. He then pounced on me while I was sitting on the couch and began to cry.

So much crying.

I asked him if he was scared. He said, "I'll be fine. It's you I'm worrying about. All I know is that you better take care of Brad or I swear to God I will kill you."

GOD!
This is unfair!

I keep replaying, over and over in my head, every conversation that I can recall with him. And it just keeps hurting.
The worst is reminiscing from only a mere few weeks ago, when he woke me up at six in the morning to give me a flower and to tell me he appreciated me.
The flower may be dried and withered, but I still have it.

THIS IS UNFAIR!