Name: Without Each Other

Summary: AU TO ACCOMPANY BEAUTIFUL CRIME. What if the roles were reversed and Adelaide was the one to die at Green Park? This is what would have happened if DogNut survived the attack of Green Park but his survival came at the cost of the girl he loved.

Pairing: DogNut/OC

Rating: T – for mild blood and gore, character death and some depictions of mental illnesses such as depression and PTSD.

Genre: Romance/Tragedy

Disclaimer: I own nothing used, except for the idea for this story and my OCs. This story is purely for entertainment purposes only.

Story song: The Other Side by Ruelle.

Author's note: Don't ask where this came from but I just wanted to do an AU in which Adelaide died instead of DogNut and I guess this came out of that idea so sorry for any feels that may come your way now. I was going to post this after posting DogNut's death but too much pain, man. This hurt me to write – you guys have no idea, Addie and DogNut are my OTP and I love my precious children to the ends of the earth so having to kill both of them at some point was painful to do.

If you don't understand what's going on, you'll need to read Beautiful Crime to fully understand who Adelaide is and her story with DogNut. Trust me, all will become clear as soon as you do that.

Hailee Steinfeld as Adelaide "Addie" Milton.

But without babbling on too long, on with the story.

"Did we ever see it coming?

Will we ever let it go?

We are buried in broken dreams

We are knee-deep without a plea

I don't want to know what it's like to live without you

Don't want to know the other side of a world without you

Can't live without you."

After the short fight against the gym bunnies, DogNut and Adelaide looked at each other; smiles on both of their faces. Just as they were about to run over to each other and give each other a loving embrace, a lone gym bunny with a sharp piece of glass firmly clenched in her decaying hand sprinted towards Adelaide and stabbed her in the chest, screeching with almost manic laughter once the glass embedded itself deep inside Adelaide's chest before she removed it and ran off into the night, never to be seen again.

No.

No, god please no.

Don't do this to me, please don't.

Not now, not ever.

Adelaide's smile dropped almost instantly as she let out an audible gasp, falling to her knees as she clutched her chest, her hand staining red with blood as her shirt began to become soaked in it. DogNut barely had time to react as he sprinted over towards Adelaide, bringing her into his arms as she fell.

He was panicking – unsure of what he should do in this situation. All those video games he'd played where he would use a med pack to save his teammates lives told him nothing if it happened in real life. He had to believe that Jackson and Robbie had made it back to the museum and were coming back with others to help – then he could make sure Adelaide would be okay.

Adelaide's breath came out in short pants as she tried to get enough oxygen to her lungs but she knew that her injuries were bad – fatal, even. But she wanted to believe that she would be okay, she had to be; she was too young to die. "Is Brooke okay? Is she safe?"

DogNut nodded his head, trying not to allow his tears to fall. "She's okay, you saved her, Addie."

Adelaide smiled slightly, blood slowly beginning to fill her mouth. A tear fell down her cheek as she knew what was happening. The wound was fatal, she was dying and there was nothing anyone could do to save her, she accepted it now. No more trying to convince herself that it wasn't happening. From what she remembered from the movies and video games she'd seen; a wound like hers was fatal and even with a highly skilled doctor, she wouldn't be able to survive it.

DogNut brushed away Adelaide's tear with the back of his hand before pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. "You're going to be okay, Addie. Just hold on a little bit longer, the team will come back for us with help."

Adelaide shook her head slowly, struggling to breathe as she forced back her tears. "It's too late… there's nothing you can do now."

"No! I'm not letting you die, not like this. You can't die, please don't die. Don't do this to me, princess, I can't do this without you."

"It's okay, it's perfect. I'm in the arms of my first love. The first person I ever loved. The person I'll always love. I love you, Jacob… You have to tell Esme… that I'm sorry… mama's not coming home. You have to protect her now, it's your job, promise me. Promise me you'll protect her."

"I promise, I'll look after her," DogNut's voice shook as he tried (and failed) to keep it level.

Adelaide gave DogNut a soft smile, nodding her head before forcing air into her lungs to speak up again. "You'll be okay, Jacob, you'll find another girl-"

"I don't want another girl, I want you." He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, treating her as if she was made of glass and would break into a million tiny pieces at a moment's notice.

After breaking their kiss, Adelaide quietly spoke up again, her voice barely a whisper. "Tell Jordan… tell him that…"

She died in DogNut's arms before she could finish her sentence, her blood covered hand dropping from her chest and landing on the grass beside her body as her eyes closed, a final tear falling down her cheek as she went limp in DogNut's arms.

DogNut pressed a kiss to Adelaide's forehead, gently rocking her body back and forth, tears streaming down his face. The whole world around him no longer mattered, he didn't care that there could've been an entire army of gym bunnies around them and ready to attack – he was done fighting, anyway. He didn't care, not anymore.

He looked at Adelaide's face, hoping she would open her eyes and everything was just a joke or a dream. But not this time. Adelaide was gone and she wasn't coming back, no matter how many times he'd cry over her or pray for her to come back. That was his new reality.

DogNut carried Adelaide's limp body back to the museum, not wanting her to be left for the grown-ups to have and devour. He wanted to bring her home, and allow Esme to say a proper goodbye to her.

The gates to the museum opened and a small group of museum kids came out, confused as to what was going on. Jackson and Hayley were behind the kids, just as confused as the younger kids were but once Hayley saw Adelaide's body, she fell to her knees, screaming and crying. Jackson tried to hold back her tears but couldn't, she held onto Hayley and cried silently at the loss of one of her friends.

DogNut forced back his tears as he slowly made his way inside, keeping a tight grip on Adelaide's body. He carried her through the museum, until he collapsed by a wall, completely exhausted from carrying her and from fighting the gym bunnies.

He felt numb. He'd lost his friends and his girlfriend all within what felt like seconds apart from each other, and now he was left with nothing but the reminders that he had lived and they had died.

News of Adelaide's death spread quickly throughout the museum – even reaching Einstein and the other scientists despite only meeting Adelaide a few times and barely knowing her. Everyone stopped what they were doing and began preparing for her funeral. She was going to be cremated, like every funeral before hers.

The bonfire was created and DogNut forced himself to bring Adelaide's body to rest over the small structure of wood and pieces of paper.

DogNut allowed Esme to say her final goodbye which broke his heart to watch the girl say goodbye to the girl who'd become her mother figure after saving her. Esme hugged Adelaide's body tightly, begging for her to come back and fight off her nightmares. After a few words from Justin, a torch was lit and given to DogNut to cremate Adelaide.

Taking the torch, DogNut slowly stepped forward and gave one last look towards Adelaide. She didn't seem dead to him, she was sleeping… just sleeping. Shaking his head, he leaned down to press a gentle kiss to her forehead. "May we meet again," he whispered before igniting her body and leaving the torch in the bonfire.

He took a step back and felt Esme crash into his side, gripping his middle as she sobbed into his shirt. Wrapping an arm around her, he moved her head away from the bonfire so she wouldn't have to look at it anymore, knowing that it was already hard for her.

DogNut didn't sleep much after that night – every time he closed his eyes, he was reminded of what had happened to Adelaide. The blood, her screams, the light leaving her eyes as she died in his arms… everything came back to him and he woke up in a cold sweat.

Three days had gone by before he finally decided to do something. Forcing himself out of bed, he quickly packed his belongings – along with some of Adelaide's things such as her book of Romeo and Juliet, some pictures of her and the pair of them together and various other small things of hers to keep her memory alive – and dressed before leaving the room. He kept one of her necklaces with two wedding rings and an engagement ring around the chain, which he guessed belonged to her parents. Pressing a kiss to the engagement ring, he placed it around his neck. He decided that now would be the best time to return to the Tower with Esme. It seemed like the best thing to do.

DogNut returned to the tower with Esme a broken shell of his former self. At first, Esme struggled to fit in but after some encouraging words from DogNut, she fit in well and began to make friends. But over the few days after their arrival, DogNut barely ate or spoke to anyone apart from Esme, causing Jordan to step in and have a talk with him later that evening.

After being silent to almost everyone and keeping his emotions to himself for so long, DogNut eventually broke down into tears in Jordan's office, clinging onto Adelaide's necklace. Jordan sat down beside DogNut, trying to tell him that it was okay but at the same time, trying not to cry himself.

"It's not okay! Adelaide is dead, Jordan. She's gone. She's not coming back! She's never coming back here!" DogNut almost shouted, the grip on Adelaide's necklace growing tighter, making Jordan wonder if he would end up breaking it.

Jordan didn't say anything as he let DogNut cry out his feelings, deciding that whatever he said probably wouldn't help. He placed his hand on DogNut's shoulder, gently patting it.

DogNut's sobbing turned to quiet crying. "I watched the glass go through her chest, I saw her fall… she died in my arms and I could've saved her. If I was just a little bit faster… I could've saved her," his voice was quiet as tears continued to fall down his cheeks.

Jordan nodded, bringing DogNut to his feet and brought him to his room to rest. Somewhere inside, Jordan knew DogNut wouldn't really rest. He knew how much his friend cared about Adelaide – one of their last conversations was that if anyone tried to hurt her, he would've stopped at nothing to beat them so hard it looked like they'd been hit by a car.

Once Jordan left, DogNut dreamt about Adelaide that night and it felt so real, almost as if she was really there with him. He felt her fingers running through his hair, her lips against his skin, her hot breath brushing against his ear; he could clearly hear her voice calling his name over and over, like it was some kind of sacred prayer. But it was just that – a dream, one that would fade away as soon as his eyes opened.

The sunlight beaming down on his face woke him up from a restless slumber, causing a loud sigh to leave his lips as his eyes slowly opened and stared up at the ceiling. Today would mark an entire week without Adelaide and it only seemed to get harder and harder to deal with as the days went on.

Knowing that he'd never see her smile again or hear her laugh was the hardest thing to deal with. He thought he'd lost her once before and that hurt, but actually losing her? Ripping his heart out of his chest with a blunt knife while he was still conscious would hurt less.

He knew he needed to get on with his life – people needed him – but he didn't want to, he didn't even know if he could get on with his life now that Adelaide wasn't in it. He didn't see a point in fighting when the only thing he was fighting for was dead and gone; but Adelaide would've wanted him to keep going so it seemed that he had to.

He spent the next few weeks trying to pick up the pieces of his life, going back into his role as Captain of the Pathfinders and looking after Esme as if she was his daughter, just like Adelaide had done.

But it wasn't easy; he still had to deal with the flashbacks of Adelaide's death almost every time he had to fight a sicko. He'd started to have panic attacks sometimes and the only way he'd be able to calm down was to imagine Adelaide's voice in his ear, telling him that he was okay.

After a long day of fighting, he'd returned to bed and fell into a deep slumber. At first, his dreams were filled with sickos surrounding him and tearing into his flesh, him screaming with agony until he heard someone shushing him and whisper into his ear.

"Jacob, baby, you're dreaming. You're here with me, you're safe," the voice whispered softly to him.

Adelaide.

DogNut's eyes opened to see not only sunlight beaming into his room, but Adelaide draped across his chest, a hand gently running through his hair.

Adelaide's hair cascaded down her back, far longer than it had been while she was alive. The sunlight seeping through the window shone down on her face, illuminating her perfectly to him and appeared to look more like an angel than anything else. She was clean, no longer caked in dirt or blood or had any injuries anywhere on her body, like he had grown used to. She wore the dress she wore the night of the party and in the sunlight, it looked even more beautiful on her.

Almost instantly, DogNut grabbed Adelaide's face and pressed his lips to hers, causing her to smile against his lips. Once their lips parted, Adelaide rested her chin on DogNut's chest, her smile never leaving her lips.

If he could, DogNut would never want to leave this place. He had everything he ever wanted right there with him; why bother going back? In the real world, it was dark and full of heartbreak and pain but here, he was free from that. He had his princess back and that's all he cared about.

Bringing Adelaide's head back up to his, he pressed another gentle kiss to her lips before he rested his forehead against hers, his eyes closing. "I miss you. God knows I miss you."

"I know, I miss you too. I will be waiting for you, right here, no matter how long it will take," she whispered, a hand cupping his cheek. "I will always be here, Jacob. No matter where you are or how lost you appear to be, just look inside your heart and you'll find me."

In the real world, DogNut would've told her that was one of the cheesiest things he's ever heard but he didn't want to ruin the moment by being himself. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked into her eyes sadly. "I'm dreaming, aren't I?"

Adelaide nodded, her eyes almost filling with tears. "Yes, my love. I wish that I was with you in your world, but this moment in mine will have to be enough," she pressed her lips to his one last time just as everything faded to blackness around them.

When DogNut opened his eyes, and was back in reality, he could still feel Adelaide's lips on his. He had to remind himself that it was a dream, but his heart didn't want to listen. Adelaide was gone, and she wasn't coming back. He repeated those eight words over and over inside his head, reminding himself that he was now left to carry on without her and that he would surely do.