A/N~ This one is really depressing. It made me cry while I was writing it, and I don't cry often.

SONG: Forever and Always by Parachute. I DON'T OWN IT!

P.S. I'm still taking song suggestions. Any song. Don't hold back. Just comment.

She's sitting at the table, the hours getting later
He was supposed to be here
She's sure he would have called

Stacie checked her phone for the tenth time in as many minutes. Nothing. She should be here by now. Bree's never late. At least, not without letting me know.

She waits a little longer, there's no one in the driveway
No one's said they've seen him
Why, is something wrong?

She paces the room before going over to the landline and putting it face up on the table. Then she calls number 2 on her speed dial. They answer after five long rings.

"Beca, have you heard from Aubrey recently?"

"Not since this morning. Sorry, Stace."

"Dammit." She says, hanging up. Then she dials number three. They pick up after two rings.

"Chloe, have you spoken to Bree at all?"

"Not since lunch. Why?"

"It's nothing. I'm probably being stupid. She's probably just running late but I haven't heard a word from Aubrey for the last few hours. She usually texts me if she's going to be late and she late and... she hasn't. I called her a bunch of times and it went straight to voicemail. Her phone probably died or something. She always forgets to charge it."

"Yeah, maybe that's it. Look, call me when she gets it, okay?"

"Okay." Stacie hangs up, quickly dialling number four. She doesn't even ear the phone ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jesse, have you seen Aubrey today?"

"No. Sorry."

"Fuck." She says, hanging up.

She looks back to the window
Suddenly the phone rings

She stops pacing and sits back down, placing her mobile next to the landline on the table. Her head falls into her hands. The phone rings. She immediately picks up. "Aubrey?" She asks.

"Miss Conrad?" The voice asks.

"Yes. That's me. Who are you?"

A voice says something's happened
That she should come right now

"I'm calling from Barden Teaching Hospital. We have a miss Posen in the ICU. You're listed as her in case of emergency contact. Can you please give the status of your relationship with miss Posen?"

"She's my fiancée. Why is she in the ICU?"

"From what we can tell she was in a car accident on her way home from work. We'd advise you to come in right now. She... might not survive the night."

"Okay. I'll be right there." She manages to say.

She put down the hone, not sure how to react. When she put it down she caught a glimpse of her engagement ring and smiles at the memories it brings to the surface. What Aubrey had said. How nervous she was. She had never seen the woman more shaky in all the time she had known her.

Her mind goes to December
She thinks of when he asked her
He bent down on his knees first
And he said

I want you forever, forever and always
Through the good and the bad and the ugly
We'll grow old together
Forever and always

She'd got down on one knee and said, "Stacie Anne Conrad. I love you so much. You know how I was brought up. I used to think I was so fucked up I wasn't even capable of feeling love. And then you showed up. You brightened the room just by being there. You make me happy. Happier then I ever thought possible. And I never want to have to live without you. I love you and I want to be with you forever and always. For the good, the bad, the ugly, better or worse, richer or poorer and all that. I can't imagine spending a day without you and I never want to. We'll grow old together and we'll be okay no matter what so long as we have each other. I promise that as long as I'm alive you'll never feel unwanted or unloved. I swear to you that I'll never break your heart. I need you in my life. Which is why I need to ask you... Will you marry me?"

"Yes!"

She pulls up to the entrance
She walks right to the front desk
They lead her down a million halls, a maze that's never ending
They talk about what happened but she can barely hear them

She saw the glow of the caduceus on the side of the hospital and quickly pulled up in the first space she saw. Then she ran into the lobby and straight to the front desk.

"I'm looking for Aubrey Posen. I'm her fiancée." Stacie said. She realised she must look mad. Wearing a winter coat over her short and flimsy pyjamas. Her previously elaborately styled hair had been haphazardly thrown into a messy bun. The dark, smoky eyeliner and mascara she had been wearing would have run from the crying.

"Miss Posen is just down here miss... Conrad? Is that correct?" The nurse asked. Stacie nodded. "Miss Posen was in a car accident. We still haven't received a full police report but from what we've been told she was driving home from work when a drunk driver going the wrong direction on the motorway skidded and slammed into her. She has a fractured skull, severely bruised chest, a few broken ribs. The steering wheel ruptured a cist that was in her liver, probably a result of too much stress at has a broken arm and leg on her left side as well as several cuts and scrapes. She's also lost a few teeth. We've put her on a full course of pain meds so she might be a bit out of it."

The nurse carried on talking but Stacie wasn't able to listen all she could think of was the sight that awaited her when she saw the love of her life again for what might be the last time.

She tries to keep a straight face as she walks into the room
She sits by his bedside, holds his hand too tight
They talk about the kids they're gonna have and the good life
The house on the hillside, where they would stay

"Hey." Stacie says as she walks into the room.

"Hey." The woman in the bed replies. Stacie sits on the plastic chair next to the bed and grabs hold of the hand not hooked up to machinery.

"This is the part where I ask how you are, but I have a feeling that I know the answer already, and I'm not sure it's appropriate to say 'like shit' in a hospital." Stacie says. Aubrey laughs, then winces.

"Let's not talk about that. Let's talk about something else."

"Like What?"

"Like what we're going to do when I get out of here."

"Well, we're gonna have it all, babe. We're going to get married. The ceremony will be beautiful, stylish, elegant, just perfect cos we'll organise it together. We've pretty mush done everything already. We'll live in a beautiful house on a luscious green hillside with nice neighbours, a white picket fence and 2.5 kids."

"What will their names be?" Aubrey asks absentmindedly.

"I like Lauren." Stacie said thoughtfully.

"I like Lauren, too. What about the other two?"

"Alexis."

"Alexis is a pretty name. Lauren, Alexis, and... Mackenzie. Kenzie for short." Aubrey half smiled, then winced.

"But call her Mac and she'll rip your heart out." Stacie joked.

"Just like her mama." Aubrey smiled.

Stay there forever, forever and always
Through the good and the bad and the ugly
We'll grow old together, and always remember
Whether rich or for poor or for better
We'll still love each other, forever and always

It was all too much. They both broke down.

"We were gonna have all that." Aubrey sobbed. "We were going to get married. And not we can't. All because I was stupid enough to end up here."

"No. Aubrey, it isn't your fault." Stacie corrected. "It was that stupid drunk driver's fault."

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry." Aubrey cried. "You could have had all that. We could have had all that. And you can't now. Not with me, anyway."

Then she gets an idea and calls in the nurses
Brings up the chaplain and he says a couple verses
She borrows some rings from the couple next door
Everybody's laughing as the tears fall on the floor

Stacie just sat there, trying not to cry as the strongest woman she had ever met broke down in front of her. Then she had an idea.

"Excuse me." She called. The nurse who had walked her over there appeared in the threshold of the door.

"Yes, miss Conrad?"

Stacie walked over and whispered in the woman's ear. "Yes, that would be very possible." The nurse smiled. "I'll be right back."

Stacie looked through the glass walls and saw a young couple sitting in their room, the woman feeding a baby with the man looking on lovingly. She saw Aubrey was now sleeping and crossed the hall to the couple's room.

"Hi." Stacie said when she entered. "I'm sorry to bother you, and I know you don't know me, but I was wondering if I could borrow your rings. Just for a few minutes. I know it's an odd request, and not one you would normally consent to but my fiancée is... she's in the room opposite. The doctors say she probably won't make it through the night." She took a deep breath and continued. "She always wanted to get married and it's a matter of now or never. I've asked the nurse to get the chaplain and to be a witness, but to make it official we need rings. Our wedding's not meant to be for about six months so we don't actually have them, yet. I'll return them straight after, but can we please just borrow your rings for like, ten minutes?" Stacie asked, voice shaking.

"Of course." They replied.

"Thank you." Stacie said gratefully. They quickly removed their rings and handed them to her. She dashed back across the hall and back to Aubrey. She could see the nurse and the chaplain approaching.

She reached out and gently shook the woman awake. "Aubrey, sweetie, you have to wake up." She did.

"What is it?"

"We're getting married. Here. Now."

"Really?" Aubrey asked. Stacie nodded. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

Just then the chaplain entered. He stood in front of the couple and the nurse stood in the corner of the room, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. The chaplain said some verses, and then invited the couple, Stacie first, to say their vows.

She looks into his eyes, and she says

I want you forever, forever and always
Through the good and the bad and the ugly
We'll grow old together, and always remember
Whether happy or sad or whatever
We'll still love each other, forever and always
Forever and always, forever and always

"Aubrey, I love you and I want you now and forever and always. Good and bad, happy or sad, richer or poorer, and everything else that could possibly go wrong. We'll grow old together, just like we planned. And no matter what I will always love you." She says. The beeps on the heart rate monitor are getting slower and slower.

She finishes the vows but the beeps are getting too slow
His voice is almost too low
As he says, I love you forever, forever and always
Please just remember even if I'm not there
I'll always love you, forever and always

"Stacie." Aubrey begins. "I love you forever and always. Please just remember, even if I'm not there. I'll always love you. Forever and always." Then the steady beeps coming from the heart rate monitor turned into one long, loud continuous beep and Stacie was being ushered out of the room as a team of doctors came in to help. She watched in despair as they tried over and over to restart her wife's heart but soon the only thing she could see or hear was the doctor calling time of death.