Here we go. This is when it all goes down. You ready? I hope so. And I hope even more that you're not disappointed.

Also, I have a little announcement for you guys in the ending author's note. So make sure you read that after the story.

I exit the mall and approach my car to see Monika sitting inside. I enter the car and start it.

Monika is silent.

I begin talking. "Look I don't know what she already told you but…"

I trail off, trying to find the right words.

"Okay." I continue. "Let's just get home and I'll explain everything there."

The long drive that followed was completely silent. Neither of us said a word to the other. I spent the entire ride thinking about what to say, how to say it, when to say it.

The drive lasted for what felt like an eternity. Once we got home I was still completely clueless on what to say. We entered the house and went straight to my room.

I hated the fact that Monika was mad at me. I hated the fact that she wouldn't talk to me. I hated all of this. I just wanted to hug her and not have to talk about any of this.

Suddenly I felt Monika's arms wrap around me from behind.

"I love you." She said with a shaky voice. "I can't stand the thought that I'm not good enough for you-"

I had no idea how to tell her anything. But after hearing that everything I did next came completely natural.

I turned around to face Monika and pulled her into the tightest, most heartfelt hug I could muster.

"Don't ever say something like that again," I said. "You are perfect for me. There is no one in this world that is better for me." I felt my voice also start to shake as water started to creep into my eyes. "I love you. I love you so much. You mean everything to me and the thought of losing you makes me want to die."

I slowly released her from the hug and looked into her eyes which wore a shocked expression.

"Don't ever think that you're anything but perfect for me," I said as my eyes filled with tears.

After a while, we both started to calm down.

"So." I continue. "What did she tell you."

Monika wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and told me. "She just said something about… stalking."

I sighed to myself.

"Dean, what happened?" Monika asked.

Without a word I took out my phone and turned on its flashlight. I then brought it over my left arm and showed it to Monika.

"Look closely," I said.

Confused, Monika inspected my arm.

She squinted her eyes before gasping and looking at me, worried.

"Dean are those… scars." She asked.

"They've mostly healed but you can still see them if you look close enough," I replied.

"What are they from?" Monika asked, already knowing the answer.

I took a deep breath before answering. "Cutting."

Monika didn't say anything. She simply looked at me with confusion and worry.

"I don't do it anymore," I explain. "I stopped about a year ago."

Monika speaks up. "S-so why did you do it? Were you depressed?"

"No," I answer. "Not really at least. I did it because I liked the feeling. That burning sensation with the occasional sting. I loved it. And I loved just looking at it. Seeing all of the cuts I made just…"

Monika went back to being silent.

I sigh as I continue. "I was a very different person a few years ago. I thought I was insane. Or more like I wanted to be. And I was willing to do anything to prove to myself and others that I was. I know how weird that sounds. I wanted to be insane. It's just stupid looking back on it now."

Monika was still silent. I can tell she was hanging on to every word but she just didn't know what to say.

So I continued. "So 'what does this have to do with Melony' I know. Well, I used to stalk her. I would be late to class just so I could watch her enter her's. Once I got my car I would follow her home and… You get the idea."

"Why her?" Monika asked.

I thought for a second before answering. "Melony was also very different back then. She was quiet and didn't really spend time with anyone. She just had this weird vibe to her. I thought she was like me. I thought she was insane. Turns out, she was just depressed. Her mom died a week prior to starting high school and she was going through a really rough time. God, I'm such an asshole."

I stop talking after the last sentence as I mentally punch myself for being so stupid.

"Hey," Monika says to get my attention as she grabs my hand. "You're not an asshole. We've all done stupid things in the past."

"Some more than others," I reply. "That's not all of it. Once Melony met Derek she started becoming happier. That's probably around the time when she noticed I was stalking her. I thought he was just manipulating her. Changing her. That sounds so fucking stupid now. Anyway, they started dating soon after they met. When I saw them holding hands in that hallway… It felt like something broke inside me. Like I just let go of whatever grip I still had on my sanity."

I took another deep breath before continuing in a serious voice. "I planned to kill Derek."

Monika looked at me with eyes that made me feel like a monster.

"Yeah… that's the part that no one knows about." I continued. "It wasn't just a thought either. I was really gonna go through with it. I studied his day to day routine, I got any information I can on his family. I even decided on a murder weapon. Eventually, I figured out when and how I was gonna do it. I played it out a million times in my head and I was completely ready to do it. So one night I broke into his house and stood over him while he sleeping, ready to do it. But then I had this... epiphany. Like I realized what I was doing and how fucked up it was. I'd just broken into a guys house and I was now going to stab him to death because he was dating a girl I liked. I just realized how fucked that was."

I looked at Monika who was still keeping silent.

I continued on. "After that… Something changed. I stopped stalking Melony. I stopped cutting. I stopped everything. I was just… dead. I felt like I lost a part of myself. Like I forgot who I was. I didn't want to get out of bed in the morning, I didn't want to talk to people, I didn't even want to eat. I felt so broken.

Monika brought me into a hug in an attempt to comfort me.

"Then I met you." I continued. "Talking to you every day through my computer made me happy. Seeing you every day gave me hope. You saved my fucking life."

At this point, I dissolved into a mess of tears. I hugged Monika back as tightly as I could. Tears were streaming down my face. I desperately tried to stay quiet so Monika wouldn't hear me cry.

We stayed in each other's arms for what felt like forever until I started to calm down. We both released from the hug and looked into each other's tear-stained eyes.

"You're better than me," Monika said.

"What?" I said, confused.

Monika continued. "At least you didn't murder anyone. I killed three people."

Suddenly I realized what she was talking about. "Monika you didn't-"

"No. I know what I did." She told me. "I guess in a way, we're not too different. We were both alone and sought comfort in someone who seemed to be like us. Then we both did horrible things so that we could be with them. I even tried cutting too."

I cringed at the thought of that note from the game. The words 'Today I cut my skin open for the first time." echoed through my mind along with the blood smear on the same paper. It pained me to know that someone else would do that to themselves. Especially someone I cared about.

"But you were better than me." Monika continued. "There was enough good inside of you to not go through with it. But I was completely broken. I killed them. I killed them and then joked about it. I'm the real insane one here."

"Monika. What you did was very complicated." I said trying to reassure her. "You went through so many horrible things. Much more than I've ever gone through. It would be insane if you didn't do what you did. Anyone put into that situation would've done the same. You're not a bad person."

"Neither are you." She said back.

I brought her into one last hug.

"I love you my special rose."

"I love you too ḿ̶̘̪͇͔̂y̷̰̖̌́ͅͅ ̴͎̏̀k̷͙͖̑͗͘n̴͇̱͉̤͐̾͘͘i̵͖̯͌f̷̥̫͉͆̔̿ë̶͓̜́͜ ̷͚̯͗q̷̘̽̐̕ṷ̵͚͐͜ĕ̷͚̪̚͜è̷̯̔̒́n̷̡̉

Well, that's it. The moment you've all been waiting for. Did you like it? Where you surprised? Did you predict it already? Leave a review telling me what you thought.

So you're probably wondering what the fuck happened at the end there. Well, that has to do with my announcement.

I'm writing another story. You're probably wondering what that has to do with this story. Well, this new story I'm writing takes place in an alternate universe where instead of Monika coming into Dean's reality, Yuri does. The story is titled 'The Knife & The Rose' and it will share a lot of the same elements as this one. If you're interested, check it out.

Now, this doesn't mean that I'm going to stop writing this story. Monika is still my favorite doki and I still have a lot of ideas for this story. I just wanted to have something else on the side.

So I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and are going to check out my new story. Thank you for your continued support and I'll see you next time.