Author's note: I am so incredibly sorry for taking so long to update. I've just been incredibly busy because my family and I are moving again and I was helping my brother move into his new apartment, among several other things.

P.s. I also want to clear the air on a few things. Alex is largely based on me in terms of my personality as well as my religious/political beliefs. The arcs regarding his background are largely original. The stuff with his mom is actually based on my grandmother. She suffered from the same condition as Alex's mom, but died much faster.

"Yes I understand
That every life must end
As we sit alone
I know someday we must go

Yeah I'm a lucky man
To count on both hands
The ones I love
Some folks just have one
Yeah others they got none

Stay with me Let's just breathe

Practised on our sins
Never gonna let me win
Under everything
Just another human being

I don't want to hurt
There's so much in this world
To make me believe

Stay with me All I see

Did I say that I need you?
Did I say that I want you?
What if I did and I'm a fool you see
No one knows this more than me
'Cause I come clean

I wonder everyday
As I look upon your face
Everything you gave
And nothing you would take
Nothing you would take
Everything you gave

Did I say that I need you?
Did I say that I want you?
What if I did and I'm a fool you see
No one knows this more than me
I come clean

Nothing you would take
Everything you gave
Hold me 'till I die
Meet you on the other side" Pearl Jam

(Alex's pov)

Everything became a total blur after I got that phone call. I remember feeling completely frozen, not in that I couldn't move, but that I just couldn't find a way to react. I just did everything I usually do every morning. Take a shower, get dressed, feed Kevin, etc. Carrie came up behind me and put her arms around my waist after I finished putting Kevin's wet food into his bowl. "You okay?" She asked

"Yeah...I guess." I said as I turned around and wrapped my arms around her.

"You sure?" She asked

"Yeah, honestly, I'm okay." I replied as we pulled apart.

"Okay..." She said as she walked into the bathroom to take a shower.

Carrie and I eventually drove over to my house about an hour or two later, where Mary was nearly in hysterics. The sight of her tears didn't inspire me to do the same, no matter what I did, I couldn't bring myself to cry. Part of me didn't want to though. I'd told my mom before she died that I'd be strong for her, but I didn't think I'd bring myself to where I had no emotion at all.

Mary and I had planned on doing a slideshow video of my mom to play during her funeral, but since she wasn't exactly ready to start thinking about the funeral, it was up to me and Carrie.

The next day, the two of us headed over to my mother's house. We needed to look through photo albums stored in boxes in her garage to use in the video while Mary and Jamie took her out to lunch, and to pick out a casket. This was to keep her distracted because the video was meant to be a surprise.

The garage was a total disaster. It was beyond evident that no one had set foot in it in months. It was covered in everything from boxes to an old refrigerator that I hadn't seen since I was five. After about half an hour, I found the box containing the photo albums. Unfortunately, the box was buried under a seven foot high stack of random junk.

Carrie ended up having to hold up the other stuff while I moved the box. You'd think I'd find it creepy that my girlfriend was able to move objects with her mind, but I surprisingly never did. I actually thought it was pretty awesome.

After a few minutes of looking through pictures, I found one that really got to me. I was five years old, and my mom was teaching me how to ride a bike for the first time. Although, I was never actually able to fully learn how to ride one afterwards, and I had to fight for the chance to ride one due to being blind in my right eye (more on that later.)

To this day, I can't explain why that photo triggered the following reaction: "It's kinda funny." I said "Parents promise so many things to their kids, it's almost tragic how many of them get broken."

"What do you mean?" Carrie asked, looking up at be while she looked through the pictures in a box across from me.

"My mom..." I replied as my eyes started to sting, and I felt my lips quiver as well as my fists shaking. I squeezed my eyes shut, in an attempt to force the tears back into my skull. But I was failing, big time. "She promised that she wouldn't leave me. She promised me. She promised me and then broke it. She fucking promised me! SHE FUCKING LIED TO ME!" I shouted, kicking my box a few feet away as tears began to pour out of my eyes. I then collapsed onto my knees, covering my face with my hands.

Carrie quickly ran to my side, burying my face into her chest as she wrapped her arms around me. The grief hit me like a title wave, over and over again. Each one being more painful than the last. Neither one of us said anything for the next few minutes. I felt like I was losing control of the air in my lungs, I couldn't breathe, and I think I even lost consciousness.

It didn't matter though, there was no way Carrie was going to let me go. And I didn't want her to. Neither of us needed to say anything. In these types of situations, there really isn't anything that can be said, just having someone there to pick up the peaces when you fall apart is enough.

About an hour later, we took the box of photos and went back to her apartment to work on the video. It started out with my mom from her childhood to her teen years with some Beetles song in the background that I can't remember, followed by photos of the early years of my moms' relationship to the toon of "Against All Odds," (Their wedding song), and then I finished it of with "there goes my hero" during the photos of her with me and Mary.

I thought making the video, or even the announcement of her death would be the worst, but the funeral was absolute hell. One of the first things I'd noticed when the four of us got to the church was that my mother's casket was open. She'd said several times that she didn't want her family's last image of her to be her corpse, she'd rather us only remember her when she was healthy.

On top of that, ALL of the jewelry we had put on her was missing. By that, I mean it was stolen...by her parents. Long story short, my mom's parents (mainly her mother) were jealous of the fact that my moms were financially well off, whereas they were living paycheck to paycheck because my nana was a major shopaholic. Every time we redecorated any part of our house, my nana had to do the same. I'm sure there's a reason behind why she was like this, but I honestly never gave a fuck.

Naturally, we called the cops and they were arrested, I haven't heard from them since. Once my grandparents were taken away (while screaming at us until the cops shoved them in the car. Once everything settled down and before the funeral began, I pulled myself together. "I love you mom." I said, before planting a kiss on her forehead.

Author's note: I know this chapter kinda ended abruptly, but I didn't feel the funeral had much more of a story. And because this chapter was mainly about Alex getting closure with his mom. I'm hoping to have another chapter done before Christmas (said chapter will fast forward to this month).

Also, another character will be killed off soon. It won't be a major character, but I feel that the coming arc will work out better with it. Although, this won't be happening until around May.