Alternate Ending

Jasper grabbed Charlotte by her wrist and pulled her towards him, placing her in a headlock cutting off her airway. Henry's eyes widened in fear and so did hers.

"No!" Henry protested, Jasper grabbed the gun that was in his back pocket and placed it against her temple. She whimpered in fear as she felt him press the butt of the gun harder on her skull, she knew she was going to get a headache soon.

"Charlotte, you have two choices: either come with me or he dies," Jasper said through gritted teeth, Charlotte saw stars develop in her vision she looked at Henry with pleading eyes. Henry was uncertain, He wasn't sure what was going to happen, he didn't want her to make the wrong choice. Jasper finally loosened the grip on her throat she took in deep breaths trying to speak.

"Henry … Just go, please…. Just leave…" She said through her labored breathing, trying to keep her voice firm and steady. Jasper glared at Henry.

"Yeah what she said. Leave." He said darkly, still pressing the gun to her head.

"NO! I won't. Charlotte I'm not leaving you." Henry said firmly looking in her eyes scared out of his mind. Jasper pushed the gun harder to her head breaking the barrier of her skin, her blood seeping slowly down her cheek.

"If you don't fucking leave. I'll kill her." Jasper said deadly seriously, his finger curling around the trigger. Charlotte knew from the feeling in her stomach that she wasn't going to make it out of here alive.

"Henry, look at me," Charlotte said calmly, feeling the steady flow of blood going down her cheek. Henry made eye contact with her.

"I'll be fine, I promise. Alright?" Henry opened his mouth to protest.

"No, let me tell you something... I'm sorry… for everything." Charlotte said through her tears, rapidly blinking her eyes to keep a clear picture of his face before she met her demise.

"3…..2….1" She faintly heard Jasper countdown, all she could do was smile sadly.

'I love you.' She mouthed with her bottom lip quivering. Henry heard a loud bang! Shocks filled his body when he saw Charlotte's eyes become dull. Then a thud as her body hit the concrete, it took a second for Henry to realize that Jasper killed Charlotte. Henry lunged at Jasper with a roar pushing him to the ground, making the gun fall to the floor.

"You fucking monster!" Henry grabbed Jasper's shirt and began punching him in the face banging his head against the floor. Henry wrapped both hands around Jasper's neck squeezing tightly, Jasper tried to fight back as Henry choked him.

Henry moved his face out the way so Jasper didn't try to fight him off, Henry added pressure until he didn't feel Jasper's heartbeat anymore0 Henry's broken arm was hurting bad but he didn't care. He looked at his dead body and quickly got away from him, moving to Charlotte's body he gently placed her head in his lap.

"Charlotte please wake up." He placed his fingers on her neck looking for a pulse, he felt a few beats getting slower and slower. He called the detective's number and told her what had happened.

"Baby he's gone, I killed him, it's over I promise. Please hold on alright? The police are almost here." Henry said tears forming in his eyes, he quickly inspected her wound her blood was everywhere her brains splattered against the wall. Henry wanted to throw up at the sight.

"C'mon open our eyes. Please don't do this to me. You can't leave me here alone, not like this." He pleaded, losing his breath as he sobbed, pressing his forehead against her bloody one.

"I need to show you that you are worth loving, that you are worth being here. That bastard didn't show you but I will." He whispered looking at Charlotte through his blurry eyes, he then saw her open her eyes slowly Henry thought he was seeing things but she was looking at him.

"Charlotte!" He whispered slowly, she tried to get up but he placed his hand on her chest stopping her movements.

"Don't move. They are on their way." He said in a low voice, looking around for the police. They should be here by now.

"Okay… what happened?" She asked looking around the darkroom, Henry put his hand over her wound.

"Nothing sweetie." He said through tears not wanting her to see the blood before she died.

"Tell me a story," Charlotte said with an innocent smile, she had no idea what had happened to her which made Henry cry more.

"What about?" He asked sadly.

"Anything Hen… I just want to hear your voice." She said slowly in a raspy tone, a smile hinting at her lips.

"Okay, do you remember when we met on the sandbox?" He paused not waiting for an answer until he heard her take a shaky breath, "And when I knew your name I knew we were going to be the best of friends and you promised- promised me that you would never leave me. And you need to keep that promise okay?"

Charlotte coughed and took a shallow breath before speaking,

"I'm sorry Henry if I knew this would happen I would have never promised you something like that." She took another short breath before speaking again.

"I'm so sorry, please forgive me." She said over and over until she took her last breath.

Henry sat in the empty jail cell, blood stained on his clothes and skin. His hands shook uncontrollably he held them together to stop the movement but it wouldn't go away, His bloodshot eyes and tear-stained cheeks he was drained and tired.

He didn't mean to kill him Henry never in his life thought he was a killer, he was afraid of himself. When he saw Jasper kill Charlotte Henry knew that he broke the last straw, he had to be stopped.

His left knee was bouncing on the concrete floor, he was on edge. He's been sitting in a jail cell for about 3 hours. He already gave his statement to the police that he didn't understand why he was still here. All he wanted to do was sleep. He didn't care about the pain in his arm, he was numb.

It was almost 3 am when he was finally released from the police station, he ignored Ray's insistence on taking him home. Henry wanted to drive himself home, he told the police not to call his parents because he didn't want to tell them anything. Not right now. He drove home and looked at Charlotte's phone that she left in the car.

He was so heartbroken he was tempted to drive off a cliff and end his life. He pulled in the driveway of his home to see that all the lights were on downstairs, he knew he had to face his parents eventually. He got out of the car and walked to the front door carefully unlocking it, walking in carefully he found his mom and dad asleep on the couch he carefully shut the door behind him, hoping they wouldn't wake up.

When he reached his room he felt the coldness sink in, he turned on his light and looked around his room it felt empty. He noticed the things in his room he didn't notice before like the ponytail holders on her dresser, or her clothes neatly folded on his dresser. He noticed her phone charger rolled up on his nightstand knowing that she was never going to use it again or her favorite shoes in his closet.

Tears filled his eyes when he saw the jewelry box under his bed, he reached down and grabbed it, opening the box slowly. A sob caught in his throat as he looked at the beautiful piece of jewelry he was going to give to Charlotte on her birthday.

It was a purple diamond on a thin string of a silver chain. He closed the box and placed it on his bed. He slowly took off his blood-stained clothes and went to the bathroom. He didn't bother looking in the mirror; he didn't want to see himself.

When he stepped into the shower the hot water hitting his skin, he didn't react as he watched her blood flow down his body and into the shower drain. Her last words were repeating over and over in his mind, he didn't understand why she was sorry she didn't do anything it was all Jasper should be the one apologizing. He clenched his fists in frustration then dissolved into deep silent sobs.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He pulled at his hair in desperation not caring how much it hurt.

"Dammit!" He yelled, banging his fist against the wall. He was hurting, and the pain in his chest wouldn't go away. He cried silently. That's all he could do.

2 months later

It's been 2 months since her death and Henry can't say goodbye to her, if he did something different this wouldn't have happened. Every day he visited her grave and sat there for hours talking to her each day was a struggle but today was Charlotte's birthday. She would have turned 17.

Henry gripped his pillow in his grasp as he cried, his throat sore from the crying. The pain he held in his chest full of regret, he sobbed in a pillow full of despair Henry wished that she was here with him to celebrate with him.

He wished he saw the signs sooner or noticed that something wasn't right with Charlotte. God he'd rather die than her, he would do anything to have her back. Then someone knocked on his door he sniffled,

"Mom, leave me alone. I'm sad alright." His muffled voice in the pillow, his head and throat hurt, he wanted to see her but he was at his wit's end.

"Bro I'm not your mom. It's Bruce. Can I come in?" Henry slowly sat up in his bed trying to fix his hair the best he could in the darkroom. He cleared his throat and rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah come on in." He said in a raspy voice. Bruce opened the door to a dark room, he walked in further kicking a few beer bottles in the process. Bruce reached over to turn on the light and Henry's room was a mess, broken glass, empty tissue boxes, empty beer cans, a half-full bottle of whiskey.

"Henry, what the hell? It's like a pigsty here. And why are you drinking alcohol? Uhh no, no, no you are not becoming my cousin. I'm not letting you drink yourself to death Henry!" Burce exclaimed, grabbing the battle of the brown liquor and pouring in the toilet across the hallway of Henry's room.

"Bruce, chill, I'm fine. I'm not going to kill myself well not yet, but that's not the point. I don't want to feel anything you know? I have to live with this pain that won't go away with painkillers." Henry said, rubbing his tired eyes.

"Happy birthday Bruce. You to Charlotte." He said to Bruce as he sat down on the edge of his bed.

"Thank you, Henry. I'm concerned with your health. You're not eating or sleeping, and then on top of that, you feel guilty for something you couldn't prevent. You couldn't change what would have happened to Charlotte, stop feeling guilty Henry. When was the last time you talked to her?" Henry blinked a few times trying to think of the day.

"Yesterday I think. It was Thursday." Henry said, rubbing his throbbing head to try and relieve the pressure.

"Oh god, I just really miss her." Bruce reached over and patted his knee that was covered with a thick comforter.

"I do too. I didn't realize she was my twin until after she was gone. C'mon, you need a shower and get dressed." Bruce said standing up.

"Why?" Henry asked a confused look at Bruce as he picked up the trash bin.

"We're going to pay Charlotte a visit." He said with a small smile. Henry smiled with red eyes but inside his heart was breaking.

"Alright." He said finally getting up from his bed.

"You need to clean this mess up before your mom finds this shit," Bruce said while picking up the empty beer cans off the floor, throwing them in the trash bin.

"I will." Henry sniffled as he picked up the broken frame of the picture he took with Charlotte he ripped the picture where he was he didn't want to see himself. Every day he wishes that he took the bullet and things would be better that way.

Henry and Bruce made their way to her gravesite, their boots crushing against the thick layer of snow. He almost broke down for the second time today when they reached her gravestone, Henry couldn't believe that she was 6 feet under. He sat on the snow not caring if his butt was cold, he look at the falling snowflake hit the stone,

"Winter was her favorite season." Henry said sadly as he looked at the engraved name 'Charlotte Bolton.' Charlotte's adoptive parents didn't have anything to say at her funeral which pissed Henry off. He wanted to slap her mother and father across the face for not caring about Charlotte, not paying attention to her well-being.

'Pain will leave you When you let go.' - Jerry Aldana

Her gravestone read, it was one of her favorite quotes she told Henry once upon a time. It was ironic to Henry because he was doing the opposite, he was sure people were wondering why he was still sad about her death.

But they don't know the situation behind the news reports and the false information, he felt like if he moved on she would be let down and he didn't want that.

"I know I wish I could see her again; to see her smile and be here to celebrate her birthday." Henry smile fondly at one of the memories of Charlotte laughing at one of his stupid jokes.

"Yeah me too," Bruce said, sighing. He stood next to Henry as they looked at her gravestone. After a minute of silence, Henry spoke,

"I-Uh. Bruce, I think I'm seeing things." Henry said hesitantly when he saw Charlotte walk down the sidewalk she stopped, smiled, and waved at him then she walked off dispersing. Bruce glanced at Henry,

"Like what?"

"I keep seeing Charlotte for the past couple of months," Henry said, staring off into the distance from where he saw Charlotte.

"Did you just see her? Where do you see her?`` Bruce asked, looking in the direction that Henry was looking in, Henry nodded.

"Yeah just across that street over there." He said pointing in the direction, "When I'm walking to work I see her and she looks at me and smiles, I don't know. I think I'm going crazy, I swear." Henry said, rubbing his eyes.

"You're not crazy Henry. Your mind is not realizing that she is gone, and I think it's a protective barrier for you because I think you would tip over the edge. And no one wants that. I mistake other girls for Charlotte sometimes because I think I see her." Bruce explained trying not to shiver against the sudden gust of cold wind. Henry sat on the wet ground not feeling the cold blast of cold air because he was numb.

"Bruce. I saw her die and the last words she told me was that she was sorry and she wanted me to forgive her. I didn't understand what she was sorry for, the words she said echoed in my mind every time I close my eyes. I couldn't eat or sleep with her final words haunting me." Henry vented as his tears rolled down his face the cold wind burning his face red and puffy.

"Damn brother I didn't know if she said that. I couldn't imagine hearing that as her last words, I'm sorry Henry." Bruce said putting a supportive hand on his shoulder, Henry shook his head.

"It's alright I guess," Henry muttered tracing her name with his finger.

"Henry, you should come over for dinner and celebrate our birthday. Mom would like the company, it's around 3 o'clock today." Henry looked up at him.

"Okay, I need to bring some food? Or something?"

"Bring your boss. I think my mom likes him, maybe he could get her mind off of being sad." Bruce said with a cracked smile, Henry chuckled.

"I will let him know. See you later." Henry said standing up, giving her gravestone one last look for the day until he sees her tomorrow.

It's been 6 months since her death and Henry is getting a little bit better. He still sees her but it becomes less and less each day he was sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. He hasn't made any friends since her death, his parents tried to get him to go to grieving meetings but they did work.

Sometimes he wanted his heart to stop beating, so one night he was so done with the life he took 10 extra strength headache pills. He sat in the tub waiting for them to kick in, he didn't want his parents to clean up the mess when he was finally gone. Henry felt his body give out; he slowly closed his eyes waiting for his pain to go away. Then a distant knock on the door made him open his eyes.

"Henry! Open the door! Please don't do this! I can't lose you too, please open the door!" He heard his younger sister yell, Henry sighed.

"It's too late Piper. I'm sorry, please forgive me." He whispered a short time before his heart stopped.

The End...