A/N: Man, I bawled like a little baby writing this chapter. But you guys asked so I decided to be generous. This is a mostly Alex-centric chapter told mostly through flashbacks which are italicized. Enjoy!

Alex frowns deeply as she enters the darkness of her apartment. Through the darkness she can see a lone shadowed figured huddled towards the end of the couch seemingly shaking every moment or so. Her frown deepens when she flips on the light only to see her girlfriend huddled into the corner of the couch with a wool blanket wrapped firmly around her shoulders.

"Lila?" Alex questions worriedly as she drops all of her things in a split second and runs over to the sofa. "Lila, honey, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"N-no…" The smaller woman whispers as she shakes her head and rubs her eyes. Despite responding with 'no' she pulls the blanket tighter around her body and proceeds to look elsewhere in the room other than at the concerned eyes staring at her.

Alex feels her heart break as she pulls the woman she loves into her arms despite the hint of resistance. In truth, it hurts her a little bit that Lila refuses to even look her in the eye, let alone tell her why she's been crying. "Honey, please tell me what's wrong." She pleads, wiping the tears from her lover's cheek. "If you can't tell me, I can't fix it. Please."

Lila shakes her head again as she feels more tears spring to her eyes and she finds herself having to look away once more. "I can't understand why you still want me." She whispers quietly, her voice coming out as hoarse and even a little forced.

"What? What do you mean? Why wouldn't I want you?"

"Because I'm ugly…"

Alex's eyes widen in pure shock as she wipes the tears from Lila's face once more. "Lila, no…" she whispers, pulling her lover tightly into her arms. "Sweetheart, you aren't ugly."

Lila's eyes flare in anger as she rips herself away from Alex's grasp. "I'm not ugly?! Look at me Alex!" she screeches, motioning towards herself. "I used to be beautiful. At least I used to like to think I was beautiful. Now all of my hair is gone and I look like I've been starved for months. How can you even stand to look at me?!"

"Because I love you." the heiress responds in a whisper, running a hand down to Lila's chin to get her to look at her. "And it's because I love you that I still think you're the most beautiful woman in the world."

"I feel so disgusting." Lila whispers, running shaky fingers over her head that used to house her beautiful blonde locks that easily traveled down her back. "I-I don't feel beautiful anymore. I feel ugly and sick and disgusting. I-I don't know how long I can do this Alex."

Alex sighs quietly and pulls Lila back into her arms, lightly resting her chin on her shoulder. "How are you feeling?" she asks reluctantly. "Health wise?"

"The radiation makes me sick and I'm very tired all the time. All of my food is starting to taste like metal or acid and I really don't want to eat anything anymore." Lila explains sadly, dropping her head to where she is nervously wringing her shaky hands. "I-I'm so scared Alex. I'm only getting worse."

Tears fill Alex's eyes almost immediately as she shakes her head rapidly as if she can just shake the truth away. "N-no, don't say that." she stammers, frantically wiping at her eyes to erase her tears. She has to be strong; she has to be strong for Lila. "Please, don't say that."

Lila laughs shakily as she shakes her head and her own tears begin to fall down her face once more. "I don't want to say it, I really don't, but it's happening. I-I'm dying Alex and there isn't anything anyone can do about it. The doctors have tried everything, but the cancer…it keeps fighting back. Pretty soon I'm going to have to stay in the hospital…"

"No! No, don't talk like that. Don't say those things. There has to be something someone can do. I'll pay to have them bring in new doctors. I'll bring in different ones; ones that know what they're doing. We'll get you a specialist and they'll—they'll take care of you and they'll make the cancer go away and—"

"Alex…"

"We'll go away from here. We'll move to where every you want; to wherever makes you happy. Then we'll buy a house and we'll get married and—"

"Alex."

"We'll start a family and we can have however many kids you want. I don't care, as long as you're happy and we can—"

"Alex!"

"Yeah?"

Lila shakes her head again with a sad smile on her face as she places a weak, shaky kiss to her girlfriend's lips. "You talk too much." She whispers as her thumbs wipe away tears. "Alexandra, you know that we have to face the future. We can't hide from this anymore. I need you to understand what's going to happen."

Alex removes her glasses and digs her palms deeply into her eye sockets. "I don't want to face this." She whimpers quietly before her body involuntarily breaks down into heavy sobs. "I can't face this because I don't want to lose you. I can't lose you. I need you here with me all the time because we love each other and—and we're supposed to be together forever. That's what we said. We promised each other forever and then this stupid thing happened and now everything's ruined. You can't leave me…you can't."

"I'll stay for as long as I can…"

Alex scowls deeply at the memory as she continues to stare harshly at the papers spread out across her desk. For the past hour or so she has been trying in vain to bury herself in her work to take her mind off of the painfully resurfacing memories, but as of right now, nothing seems to be doing the trick. She is moments away from tearing her home office apart when she hears a rather tentative knock at the door.

"Come in." she calls gruffly, resting her now aching head in her hands as she door carefully swings open.

Casey raises her eyebrows in genuine concern as she takes note of the blonde's posture and mood that seems to be radiating about the atmosphere. "Hey, um, I came to check on you." she begins nervously as she nods towards the tray of food in her hands. "I even brought you some breakfast since I thought you might be a little hungry."

Alex motions for Casey to place to food on the coffee table over in the seating area of her office. "I thought surely you would be gone about your day by now." She responds blandly, still not looking up from her desk.

"I told the driver that I wasn't feeling well and I decided to stay." The redhead responds with a smalls shrug. "I was worried about you after our conversation this morning and I thought I'd stay to make sure you were alright."

"Well that's very nice of you but I'm fine."

"Now who's the one telling lies?"

Alex's eyes shoot up to find Casey staring back at her with a challenging look. She holds the gaze for a brief moment before she turns away and shakes her head vibrantly. "It's not anything of your concern." She says firmly before her voice drops down to a low childlike whisper. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me." Casey responds firmly as she takes a seat on the sofa in the seating area, patting the cushion next to her in silent command.

Sighing heavily, Alex stands up from her desk and makes her way over to the sofa where she takes a seat next to the waiting artist. She folds her hands together and rests her forearms on her knees as she tries to figure out where to begin. She wouldn't do this on a regular basis, but something tells her she should open up.

"Her name was Lila…" the heiress begins, her heart clenching tightly at the use of the name after so long. "I met her when I was accompanying my grandmother on an impromptu trip to where she needed to find a certain book. Lila owned the little bookstore we stopped at and there was an instant attraction between us. She wasn't like any woman I had come across before. She didn't care about my status in society or my money. In fact, I think that's what impressed her the least. We soon began dating and I found myself falling for her; hard and fast.

We were together for almost two years when she developed a tumor in her spine. I paid for her to have the surgery to remove it but it returned full force and more only a few months later. The cancer cells began to spread throughout her body until there was very little anyone could do to save her. I called in specialists from other countries, I had her in a private room at the hospital, I did everything I could to try and save her…"

"Remember that time we fed the ducks in the park?" Alex recalls with a chuckle as she gently rubs the back of Lila's hand with her thumb as their intertwined hands rest on the blankets of the hospital bed.

"And you got scared when one of them started chasing you." Lila whispers weakly, unable to laugh for too long before her smile fades. She takes a much needed deep breath, though despite the need, it seems to take a lot out of her.

Alex notices this and tilts her head to the side in worry. "Maybe I should let you get some rest. I'll come back tomorrow."

Lila smiles weakly once more before she reopens her glossy green eyes. "Alex I-" she begins put pauses when she has to take another much needed breath to continue. "I don't think there's going to be a tomorrow for me."

"Don't say that. You're going to get better. You have to."

"Just stay talking to me, okay? Don't leave just yet."

Alex nods her head, swallowing the thick lump in her throat before she pulls the velvet ring box from her pocket. "You know, I wanted to wait to do this, but I-I think you deserve it." She begins before opening the box to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. "I remember when we first met. I tried to charm you with my money and good looks but you saw past that. You saw right through me and saw who I really am. I'll never forget all of the times we spend together; holding hands as we walked in the park, the two of us going ice skating, snuggling on the sofa while we watched romantic comedies, the memories are endless. I can't exactly say that I have a favorite one because all of them are just so amazing and priceless to me. I love you with everything that I am and everything that you expect me to be. Lila Hanson, will you make me the happiest woman in the world, by becoming my wife?"

By now Lila has a waterfall of tears flowing down her cheeks. Because of her exhaustion and emotional wear, all she can do is nod faintly at the request. She swallows thickly and finally manages to utter a shallow 'yes'.

Alex lifts her lover's shaky hand and slides the ring onto her ring finger. She smiles brightly as the diamonds reflect perfectly off of the ray of sunlight streaming in through the window. "It looks beautiful on you." she whispers, her own tears beginning to fall as her chest begins to become tight. "Now we can talk about the wedding you've always wanted."

"I-I want purple flowers." Lila whispers as her breathing becomes heavily labored. "The theme can be purple and crème. I can wear a crème colored dress with purple accent and a long train. I've always wanted a train on my wedding dress."

"What about the music? What should be our song?"

"Oh Alex, I don't know. There's so many songs we could choose from I can't pick just…just one."

Alex nods her head before she gently brings Lila's frail hand to her lips, kissing it softly. "You'll make a beautiful bride." She whispers, noting how the other woman's eyes have drifted shut and her breathing seems to have evened out to nothing. Panic soon begins to rise in her throat as her heart slams to a halt. "Lila? Honey don't—don't close your eyes." She whimpers, giving her lover's hand a small shake only to receive no type of response. "Lila don't…don't go. You have to wake up. Open your eyes. Please. Not yet. You can't leave me here. Lila, please. I can't lose you. Not here, not like this. Please just open your eyes. Please."

"Even after the doctor pronounced her dead, I sat there for hours and begged her to wake up." Alex concludes with a shake of her head and a mirthless chuckle. "God, I must have looked like such a fool."

"You loved her." Casey responds gently, wiping her own tears away at the story. "Being in love with someone doesn't make you a fool."

"Yes it does." The heiress snaps quickly as she abruptly stands up from the sofa. "Because nothing in the world lasts forever, including love. And when that doesn't last, it leaves you looking foolish and pathetic amongst everything you've ever worked for in your life."

Casey stands up as well and lightly places her hand on the blonde's arm, flinching when Alex snatches away. "That's not true. Some things are worth fighting for. You've just got to set your heart to it."

"Yeah, well I don't think I have much of a heart left." And with that, Alex storms out of her office, slamming the door behind her leaving the room in a tense and heavy silence in her wake.

Like I said, I cried during this. Leave your thoughts?