And this is it...

It's finally over.

The final chapter for this story.

I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT I FINALLY FINISHED A STORY! WHO KNEW? WHO KNEW THAT THERE WOULD FINALLY BE AN END TO SOMETHING IN MIKKI'S WORLD?

Anyways, thank you guys so much for supporting me all the way through this and for not killing me with all the cliffhangers and hiatus reports

I hope you love this one as much as I loved it and since the story is now over, PM me or review everything you're curious about. If I get enough questions, I might just post a chapter that is exclusively for Q&A's.

I have more to say but I'm going to leave that at the end when you guys finish this chapter.

HOPE YOU LOVE IT AND SO, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, HERE'S THE CHAPTER 3 LOVE YA'LL

-Chapter twenty one: The end of the beginning and the beginning of the lives-

She quietly stood up and started walking away from the worn out stone.

She said what she had to.

She was free now.

She could go now.

But she wasn't moving any further.

She knew she couldn't look back or else she knew that she would never leave.

But she looked.

And her knees collapsed in front of her. Her once dried tears were replaced by new ones, rehydrating the old ones. Her hands were covering her face as she hastily tried to wipe them away. She kept whispering her sincere apologies that sounded more like whines to her.

She didn't deserve her voice to sound like that. This was her fault, after all. If she hadn't lied to her friends in the first place, she would have never disobeyed her mother. If she hadn't gone to school in the first place, this wouldn't have happened.

That day, she lost something so utterly precious it stabbed her so deeply in the heart every time she thought about it.

Her knees started to move forward and ended up in front of the flowers she laid down. The name that was engraved barely looked visible anymore. She took a mental note that she would get the stone replaced to a new one. It would stab her even more knowing that reality had done this cruel thing but it was the least she could do.

"If I wasn't so ignorant, you would still be standing. If I wasn't so careless, you would still be breathing. If I wasn't so – so selfish, you would still be walking beside me, laughing with me, as if nothing had happened! You would still be alive, goddamn it! You would still be alive!" She wailed as she hugged the stone ardently.

She suddenly felt something warm against her back. It felt like a hand and it was patting her warmly. She tensed instantly. She didn't know that somebody would have come to this place. She didn't know that she would not be the only to pay their respects.

"You're here. You're finally here." She recognized that voice. It was the voice that was always with her at times of need. If this voice was here, that would only mean…

"Just hurry up and get it over with. I need to go back." The patting hesitated.

"What do you mean?"

"Scream at me. Blame me. Tell me off. Just hurry. I don't think my eyes can take any more tears."

"You think I came here to yell at you?"

"Why else would you be here?"

"Maybe to pay my respects? To talk about what happened the last year since I came? I didn't even know you were coming."

"But that doesn't matter anyways. Whether you knew I was coming or not, you should yell at me – no, you need to yell at me. Tell me I was a coward, still a coward. How selfish I am and how weak I am. Tell me that! Tell me!" She begged as she cradled the stone.

"You know I could never say those things to you." That made her cry even harder.

"Why? Why do you torture me so badly? Why can't you do it? Why can't you do this for me? I know what I did wrong. I know that this is my entire fault. I know that I'm to blame. So hurry up and blame me! Blame me!" She was embraced into a hug.

"I missed you so much. We searched everywhere for you after the funeral. You couldn't be found anywhere. Most of us gave up. Angel decided to keep her grades up instead of finding you so she could go to Harvard. Gazzy and Iggy quit school early to enter the military. They got in easily because of their ability to make bombs. They also decided to give up on finding you."

"What about Nudge? What about her?"

"She also left to some unknown place. Right after the funeral. Told me that she couldn't take the pain of losing one of her closest friends. That she couldn't stay in that area anymore."

"No… I – I –"

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault."

"But it is! Can't you see that? If I didn't hesitate when Jeb pulled out that gun… If I had run faster, I could have protected –"

"Don't dwell on the past, Max! Can't you grasp that around your head?" She jumped at the tone. "You think we never thought of that? That if you hadn't barged into our lives, a life would have been saved?" She guiltily looked down.

"But then, we all realized that it was because of you that we had the experience of having an unforgettable friend. You may think that it's your fault, and maybe it partially is, but don't take the past as a burden. And if you are, give me some of that burden. Besides, if we hadn't intruded, the jailbird would have been a bit calmer." She couldn't take it anymore. She took her hands and finally hugged back.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…" She kept saying until her voice was hoarse. They finally let go and silence pursued. Then, she broke it.

"I didn't know I would see you today but I'm glad I did."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I needed to give you something but I couldn't at that time." She took out a folded paper from her pocket. "Here. You should keep it." Eyes widened significantly as the paper was unfolded.

"You kept this for this long?"

"I could never throw it away. It's our memory together, isn't it, Fang?" She whispered and before she knew, she was trapped into an embrace. The photo of their goofy prom photo beautifully fell to the ground.

"I missed you so much, Max. I love you, I love you, I love you." He repeated and though she was shocked to hear those words again, she returned the embrace.

"I love you, too." She replied and after a few more minutes in the graveyard, they decided to go to his house.

"I'll come back next year, ok?" She called out to the stone.

"You mean we'll come back next year, right?" Fang corrected and she smiled.

"Right. We'll come back next year and hopefully, we'll be more than just a couple."

"You mean…?"

"Yes, you dumbass. I just proposed to you indirectly." She laughed as his expression changed from shock to utter happiness.

She shook her head in jest and turned back to the stone that strangely looked a lot more ethereal.

"Rest in peace, Ella. I love you." And left with Fang's hand held firmly in hers.

- fin -

While I was reading the reviews, I was mostly just like, "But I didn't state who died!" and "Please don't kill me!" Now that this finally chapter is done, are you guys happy or sad or confused or...

I'll just wait until the reviews come in to answer my question

Just so you guys know, if you request for bonus chapters, I am all for it. Just ask me and if many agree, then I will post them. I might start with what exactly had happened when Jeb pulled the trigger but it's your choice so REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!

I am going to start uploading Disappointment and maybe start uploading my other stories as well but we may never know...

I did start a new story and unlike the others, I'm working on a one-shot this time, which is really new to me, so once it's out, please read it and tell me what you think!

I'm thinking about calling it 'Oblivious Coffee' but if you guys have better suggestions, go ahead and give me them!

I love you all for supporting me in this, for not giving up on me when I was about to give up, and most of all, I appreciate the fact that you guys stuck out for me when I was in most need for help

This time, you guys give me a song that I should listen to and I will listen to all of them

So,

R&R! and Peace!

Mikki is (finally) out!