I love reviews, almost as much as I love chocolate, the key word is almost because I really, really love chocolate lol. And just a quick note, the chapters are getting a bit shorter because I don't want to pack too much into one chapter because it kind of takes away from what I'm trying to get across in that chapter, so sorry in advance for people who love long chapters:) Okay, well here's the next one, its fast forwarded one month from the last chapter.

Chapter 13

They lay in their favorite spot, the secret garden, Spencer resting her head on Ashley's chest, arm draped across her waist. Ashley closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun on her face and smiled. Things had been going really well for them, in all honesty Spencer didn't need her help getting around anymore, but Ashley liked to pretend that she did. It gave her more opportunities to hold her hand without having to answer any questions, Spencer's mom still didn't know they had been dating and Ashley was just waiting for Spencer to get comfortable enough to tell her. Anabelle knew of course, and besides acting a bit strange for the first couple of weeks, she seemed to be taking it in her stride.

She'd turned down the record deal. She smiled to herself when she remembered the look on the guys face when she told him she didn't want it. He must of thought that she was crazy, but she didn't care, she had everything she needed right here. She hadn't told Spencer, and she honestly wasn't planning to. She didn't want Spencer feeling guilty that she'd given it all up for her.

"Ashley..."

"Mmm." Ashley kept her eyes closed, lazily running her hand through Spencer's hair.

"It's been a month."

Ashley's hand momentarily halted before she started stroking again. She wasn't sure why she didn't want to have this conversation, she knew that nothing could ever change the way she felt about Spencer, nothing. But her gut was telling her that whatever Spencer wanted to tell her, she wasn't going to like it, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to hear it.

"Ashley, I..."

"Oh, there's something you're gonna love, come on."

Ashley got up abruptly, effectively interrupting Spencer. She grabbed Spencer's hand and pulled her up, leading her away from the garden and into a clearing. They had been there before, but this time Ashley took her right to the edge of the lake.

"I don't know why, but you can only hear this when the sun is out." Ashley stood behind Spencer, placing her arms around her waist and resting her chin on her shoulder.

"Do you hear it?" Ashley nuzzled her nose against Spencer's cheek.

"Yeah...it sounds like someone singing. It's beautiful."

"There's this story. My dad used to tell it to me when I was little. It was about this angel of death, and God sends her down to earth to take someone's life. This woman whose life she's supposed to take, her name hasn't been put in the book of life, and so she's be forced to spend one year in hell before she can come up to heaven. But see when the angel gets there, she ends up falling in love with the person that she's supposed to kill, and the woman she's supposed to kill falls in love with her too. "

"What happens?"

"Well, God gives her a choice. Either she kills the woman she loves and comes back up to heaven to live in peace. Or she is banished from heaven, never to come back, and is forced to live a human life, allowing the woman she loves to live and not die, but erasing all traces of their complete love for each other out of their minds."

"What does she choose?"

"She chooses to suffer a life of human existence without the love of her life. She loved her so much that she couldn't bear the thought of her having to suffer through the horrors of hell, even if it was only for one year."

Spencer's hands tighten on Ashley's as she leans her head back.

"That's so sad." Spencer whispers.

Ashley held her tighter, her heart never feeling so full, so ready to be open. She felt like that angel of death, willing to do anything to protect the one she loved.

"Spencer, I love you."

Ashley felt Spencer's chest heave under her fingers, stepping in front of her, hands on Spencer's arms, she saw that Spencer was crying. Ashley started wiping her tears away with her thumb.

"Why are you crying?"

Spencer placed her hand on Ashley's cheek, gently stroking the soft skin there.

"I love you, Ashley. I love you so much."

Ashley kissed her then, softly. Her tears mingling with the taste of her mouth, as Spencer clung desperately to her.

They made it back to Spencer's room, the air thick with anticipation. Ashley knew what was coming, she was going to hear what Spencer had waited a month to tell her. She knew nothing could keep her from being with Spencer, but she still couldn't help that twinge of fear that she felt in her heart that was telling her that what Spencer had to say was going to change things. She was nervous now, fiddling with the curtain on the window while Spencer stood by the door.

Ashley turned around and looked at Spencer, taking in her tear filled eyes...her heart hammered in her chest.

"Ashley...I'm dying."

Her heart stopped beating. She couldn't speak. She didn't know how long she'd been standing there just looking at Spencer before she managed to say something.

"No...no, you're lying."

"Ashley listen to me. I have this disease, I've always had it. I shouldn't have even lived this long, the doctors..."

"Shut up!"

"...the doctors say I have at the most two months left to live."

"No! No, you're wrong."

Ashley was filled with an anger she didn't even know she possessed. Grabbing the nearest thing to her, which just happened to be a chair, she threw it against the wall smashing it to pieces. It didn't satisfy the pain and anger that was overwhelming her, making it harder for her to breathe. How could she be dying? She suddenly felt like throwing up. How could she finally find something worth living for only to have it taken from her so quickly. The frustration was building up inside her again and she started violently kicking the table.

"Ashley, stop." Spencer's plea came out strangled, her heart breaking at the sight of Ashley so torn.

Ashley strode over to Spencer, cupping her face gently in her hands.

"Why are you lying to me?"

"Ashley..."

Ashley placed her hands on Spencer's waist, backing her up roughly against the wall she started kissing her passionately, fueling all of her pain into the kiss. Spencer's arms immediately went up around Ashley's neck, holding her to her body tightly. Ashley's lips moved down to her neck, kissing the skin there softly and slowly moving down.

"Stop lying to me."

"I would never lie to you Ashley."

Ashley roughly tore open Spencer's shirt, and Spencer let out a sharp gasp. She started kissing her way down Spencer's chest feeling it heave under her lips.

"Lie to me, just this once...please, lie to me." Ashley begged, softly kissing Spencer's stomach.

And there, on her knees, he head resting tightly against Spencer's stomach, with Spencer's fingers gently running through her hair...she finally cried.