Having someone who thought you were dead grab onto you and not let go. Story-time, of course:
When I was in jr. college in a small town, I had a pretty decent group of close friends. A group of about 6 people my ex boyfriend and I hung out with most days of the week, and they became like family to us. This included my best-girlfriend at the time, Jenni.
Jenni and I had gotten into this dumb argument one day, and it lasted for like a month. I tried apologizing, I tried talking to her, but she was just being so stubborn and immature about it.
It was a dumb misunderstanding, it was over within a day, but she held onto it and gave me the cold-shoulder/silent-treatment for about a month and it was very hurtful, and it was very unlike her. Our other friends tried talking to her and tried reminding her that it was almost the end of the semester, and I'd be transferring to another college and did she REALLY want to spend our last semester together not speaking to me after we'd been best friends for about 3 years? I saw her response with my own eyes (text message, watching over mutual-friend's shoulder) and she said that she didn't care and she said that she guessed she didn't care about me as much as she thought she did and that she wouldn't really miss me when I transferred... Broke my fucking heart and I burst into tears right there and felt very depressed for that entire month after reading that. I regarded her like a sister and loved her very much. We'd shared a lot together, and she made me feel like I meant nothing to her after all we'd been through together. But, there was nothing I could do, the ball was in her court and I tried to just let it go and hang out with the rest of my friends in our circle.
Well, here's where the weird, I-can't-believe-that-actually-happened type of thing occurred. One night, my boyfriend and I were in a car accident. We were on the highway and were broad-sided by a huge truck who was coming off of a side-road (dude had been drinking). We were miraculously okay, but we had been pretty banged up as you can imagine-- I was knocked unconscious and had a mild concussion and bloody nose and my boyfriend's seatbelt came unbuckled and he was thrown around the car and shredded his stomach and back muscles, somehow. We were rushed to the hospital by ambulance and once our parents were called, my boyfriends parents called one our friends and told him, and that friend called the rest of our friends and they all rushed to the hospital, scared, because they didn't know how hurt we were.
Jenni even showed up and everyone said she looked kind of freaked out and was very quiet.
Well, there had also been another bad car accident on the free-way that intersects the highway my boyfriend and I had our crash on that night, and the driver ( a college-aged girl) died from her injuries an hour after getting to the ER.
When the doctor sent the nurse or whoever to tell the people waiting outside the room that their( friend?daughter? don't know who was there for that girl, I'm confused on that part and so was everyone else), one of our friends thought it was the nurse who had been working on me and my boyfriend and walked up to her as she came out and asked about us. The nurse goes "The girl from the car accident, age 21?" (also my age at the time) and my friend, thinking the nurse meant me, said "Yeah, that's her, is she okay?" The nurse, thinking he was friends with the other girl from the other accident, gave him a solemn look and said to him and the rest of my friends standing around "I'm so sorry to tell you this, but she didn't make it. We did everything we could." My friends didn't know that I was alive and okay (and so was my boyfriend) and in another room with my parents.
From the way everyone tells it, there was immediate hysterics and all of my friends just sat down in the waiting room, and screamed and cried. They said Jenni just sunk to her knees, then lay face down on the floor right in front of everybody and sobbed.
Well, they all get ahold of themselves enough to go back to our friend Taylor's house to just try and comfort each-other and let it sink in, all this time not knowing I'm alive and well, and only a little bruised up. So, my boyfriend calls them when the emergency room released us, because all he and I knew was that they'd come to the emergency room when they'd heard about the accident, and he was surprised they weren't still there. Of course, during that phone call my very confused boyfriend wound up telling them that no, I had absolutely NOT died in the accident, that I was right there with him, there was some mistake and I was alive and hadn't, in fact, been the girl that died. They were elated and there was happy crying, I could hear them screaming over the phone, and my shocked boyfriend and I drove over to our friend's house where everyone was.
The hugs I got when we got there, were amazing. I wish I could have hugs like that every day...There was so much hugging and crying and kissing. I've never been hugged like that and doubt I ever will be again. Being hugged and getting affection from people who love you and thought they lost you forever, feels fantastic. But nothing compares to how Jenni reacted-- after everyone else was done hugging me and crying, Jennie walked up to me and stood in front of me about an arms length away with this shocked look on her face and her eyes were all puffy from crying and she looked like she didn't really know what to do... I didn't know what to say or do either because I assumed the tears were for me, but the way she'd treated me the past month, I wasn't sure if I was going to get hugged or if she was happy I was alive...and suddenly she stepped forward and just grabbed me. Just held me so tight I could barely breathe and she didn't move for a second. Then she whispered "I can feel your heart beating..." and then started crying and kind of rocking me a bit in her arms, like back and forth like you do when you're being really affectionate. Cue all of our friends and boyfriend crying as they watch this mushy make-up scene between us...
It felt amazing to have someone I thought ceased to give a damn about me to suddenly realize I meant the world to her and show me with as much affection as she could muster, verbally and physically, right in front of like 7 other people without caring who's watching. I remember feeling her tears sliding down my neck, and how she kept saying "I'm never fighting with you again, I'm so sorry. Do you forgive me?" and "I love you." Over and over again. When she was done showering me with affection, we all decided to spend the night together in Taylor's living room to just be together and Jenni wouldn't let go of me the whole night as we watched tv. She kept holding my hand and rubbing it with her thumb and basically cuddling with me, and several times asked if she could lay her head on my chest so she could listen to my heartbeat. (I still blush when I think about that). She stroked my hair for a long time and every time I looked at her, she was staring at me really lovingly and smiling. She kept starting to cry at random times all night and saying "I didn't think I'd ever see you again, Dru" ...We fell asleep in each-other's arms.
Sorry such a long story, but when I think about it, I get all warm inside. Having that kind of affection showered on me is the most amazing feeling I've ever had. I wish I could have that kind of love and affection every day, like right now. I'm a little sad that it took people thinking I'd died to get it, but I still am grateful I got it. It made me feel so loved and irreplaceable. I start to tear up when I think about it. The most amazing feeling ever.