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At one point, Jeff and Nick were strangers. It was hard for them to remember the times before they'd met; it was like they'd know each other since birth. All of both of their best memories included the other. All their memories from high school, college, and even most of their twenties had each other in them.
Jeff's favorite memory was the day that him and Nick went ice skating. He was great at it, since he'd been skating every winter since him and his sister were kids. Nick, though, wasn't that great, at first. He nearly slipped the first time his skate touched the ice; He would have slipped if Jeff hadn't caught him. They had just started dating the week before, and it was Jeff's turn to plan the date. He couldn't remember every detail, but the thing that stood out the most was Nick's laughter. Once he got the hang of it, Nick was doing just as well, if not better, than Jeff was. At one point, Jeff tripped over Nick's skate, and they both ended up laying on the ice. They were both laughing the entire time, even after they got back up.
Jeff's least favorite memory was more recent. They were going to get some things for their new apartment. They had just moved in, everything still in boxes. Since neither of them felt like unpacking, they decided to go look at furniture for their new living room. Nick was so excited, like a little kid on Christmas. He couldn't wait for them to move in to their new place together.
Every time Jeff thought about Nick, he subconsciously touched the engagement ring on his finger. He would never take that off. He refused to take off the one thing that reminded him of how much Nick loved him, even if he was gone. Whenever he thought of his least favorite memory, he'd leave out the part that made his heart ache and eyes tear up. He'd leave out the car accident. He'd leave out the drunk bastard that took Nick from him.
All of Jeff's memories had Nick in them. All of his best, and worst, memories were filled with his best friend, and the love of his life. Most of the good memories were purely because of Nick. Because of that, it was so much harder for him to make his new memories without Nick. All of his best memories were just that- memories. Nick would only continue to live in his memories.