REST IN PEACE

ALLISON ARGENT

1997-2014

DAUGHTER.

FRIEND.

SISTER.

WARRIOR.

HERO.

"Nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger eux-mêmes."

"We protect those who cannot protect themselves." Olivia Argent translated as she ran the pad of her thumb over the newly engraved tombstone. The marble was entirely black with gold lettering that shone beautifully in the summer light, and if you looked closely enough, three small symbols engraved just beneath the French inscription.

An arrow. The moon. And half of a heart.

"Isaac sure did well with your headstone huh, Al?" The oldest Argent twin muttered as she grasped the large stone, unable to help herself flinch slightly at how cold it was. She didn't know what she was expecting, but feeling the cold of Allison's headstone made her stomach twist unpleasantly.

Of course, it's cold. Liv reminded herself with a grimace. It's a headstone. The dull ache in her chest began to throb once again, and Liv sucked in a deep breath through her clenched teeth. Images of her sister flashed in her mind then, taunting her in the most painful of ways as she stood beneath what was left of her twin sister.

It had been two weeks since Allison had died, and about a week since she was finally buried. The funeral was small, of course. Just the way Allison would have wanted it. No long speeches declaring that she had been unfairly taken long before her time and definitely no water-works from any of the people who attended. No, there was none of that.

Instead, the ceremony had gone on in complete and utter silence. With Allison being buried on the far corner of the Beacon Hills Cemetery, right next to their mother beneath the shade of a large sycamore tree. Liv let out a long sigh as she stared down at Allison's freshly dug grave, chest throbbing even more as her eyes and nose began to burn.

"You know, you shouldn't be out here by yourself." Startled, Liv spun around quickly- reaching for the dagger that was tucked in the back of her jeans before she halted.

It was Ethan.

The former alpha looked tired. In fact, Liv noticed he looked almost as bad as her as he joined her side, a weak smile spread across his lips. A white v-neck clung to his chest in all his unearthly glory while he wore a pair of dark blue jeans and his usual leather jacket. His left hand was dug into his back pocket, while the other held his motorbike helmet along with his keys.

"Ethan? What are you doing here-" Liv paused as her eyes met his red ones. He had been crying. And almost as though something inside her clicked, she remembered.

Aiden.

"Oh." Her words came out in a guilty whisper.

She stared at the now lonely boy blankly, her mind whirring with a thousand things all at once. How ironic. She finally thought. That the one person who had once been her enemy was now in the exact same predicament as her. Both of them once part of a whole and side by side their own reflections only to be there.

Standing in a large graveyard, alone.

"You okay?" The words slipped out of her mouth unexpectedly, and Liv felt her cheeks warm up as Ethan's shoulders slouched in defeat. "Honestly?" The omega replied quietly, so quiet in fact that if Liv had stood just another inch away from him she wouldn't have heard him. "No, I'm not."

Aside from the clear awkwardness radiating between them, Liv could practically hear the devastation in his voice. Past enemy or not, Liv felt her insides twist with both sympathy and understanding as her eyes remained glued to the patch of dirt in front of her, contemplating her next words.

"If it's anything, I know how you feel." She began, voice hoarse.

"But it's okay to not be okay, you know that right?" She glanced at the former Alpha, a wordless agreement being made between the two as he stared back into her own eyes. "Yeah." He replied quietly. "That doesn't bring him back though." Staring into his eyes sent Liv's heart hammering, because the more she stared into the hollow darkness that seemed permanently embedded into his irises the more she realized her eyes looked exactly the same.

Empty.

Hollow.

Broken.

"I heard from Danny you were leaving." At the mention of Danny's name, Ethan perked up somewhat with emotion before he deflated just as quick. Ouch. Liv thought with a grimace. She had clearly struck a nerve.

Ethan pressed his lips shut, contemplating what to say before finally, he settled on a small shrug. "There's nothing for me here anymore. So I figured I might as well go somewhere where there aren't hunters or anything supernatural in sight."

Liv nodded understandingly. After Allison, her father decided he wanted to take his last living member of their family to France and stay there for a while, Isaac tagging along with. Liv didn't mind Isaac joining them, of course, because he was just as equally as heartbroken as her. But it was the fact whenever he looked her, though she was sure he did not mean to show it, he couldn't help but look as though he was a puppy that had been shot almost a thousand times.

It was heart-wrenching seeing him look so heartbroken, but Liv couldn't deny that he wasn't the only one like that. After Allison's death, if people weren't looking at her with pity they were either looking at her with pain seeing as she looked exactly like her dead twin.

Like Dad. Liv couldn't help but think.

Liv couldn't remember the last time her father looked her in the eye since Allison died. She understood that he was grieving and that avoiding looking at her was the only way for him to ignore the physical reminder that his daughter was dead.

But Liv was hurting too. And him not looking at her properly made her feel like she was a ghost too.

Allison may have been Chris Argents' daughter but she was Livs' twin, literally her other half. In any normal situation, Liv should've been able to confide in her father but the truth was that in Allisons' death a metaphorical wedge had been shoved between the two. Her father seemed to comfort Isaac more than his own daughter the past few days, and Liv was no fool to know that her appearance was a factor to their crumbling relationship.

"Any places you got in mind?" Liv asked, watching as a ghost of a smile appeared on Ethan's lips. "There's this place in Washington Danny told me about. Completely off the radar. I think it's called Forks or something like that." The teen exclaimed as a light bubble of laughter tumbled out of Liv's lips.

"A town named after a kitchen utensil that's completely off the radar huh?" She breathed. "That sounds way too good to be true."

"I guess it is, but I think I need to be off the radar. At least for a little bit." Ethan managed a small smirk, although it eventually disappeared as his voice trailed off softly. "First time going somewhere alone."

At his tone, a small part of Liv felt as though a spark had gone off. Something she hadn't felt since Allison had died and like a switch, Liv remembered what she was feeling.

Biting her lip, Liv did something she hadn't done in a while. Tentatively, she reached forward and grasped Ethan's hand in hers before she squeezed softly. Something she had always done to Allison whenever her sister grew sad.

And just like she would've done for Allison had she still been alive, Olivia Argent offered Ethan Steiner a reassuring smile that spoke of both comfort and promises.

"Well," She began, watching as Ethan's brows furrowed. "What if you weren't alone?"