Troy sat on the stairs, holding Gabriella in his arms as he held onto the fact that she wouldn't be there forever.

She looked out the window and sighed, waiting for the moment her body would be whisked back into Apex.

She slid her hand up the back of his shirt and rubbed his back a little. He smiled at her and kissed the top of her head. "I love you, Gabi."

"I love you too." She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. "I'm scared… I don't want to leave without you."

He felt the outer edge of his front jean pocket, touching the silky-smooth coating that covered the thing that could allow him to be with Gabriella.

Forever.

In their own heaven, all together…

He pulled it out of his pocket and held it in front of him. He flicked it open, showing the blade that grinned at him as he turned it a couple times.

Gabriella grabbed his wrist and held it firmly. "Troy, don't do it… "

A sob fled his mouth. "I don't know if I can live without you… "

"But Troy, for over a year, you have lived without me. Our son depends on you, and without you there, my parents might try to take him and raise him themselves. I don't want that to happen. I don't want my son to be raised around druggies."

Troy pushed the blade back in with the palm of his hand and sighed.

"You have the courage and strength to make it through this. I know you do." Gabriella kissed the side of his face. "In my book, you're my hero. You saved me from having to deal with my mom and dad, you gave me the love every girl deserves, and I'm happy with that- "

"But you don't understand!" He stood up and moved in front of her. "You get to live in Apex, and I have to live on Earth, where nothing makes sense! I have to live without you, and I have to raise in which every time I look at him, he reminds me so much of you. He is the only thing that I can cherish of your memory, Gabs! I love him, but I love you so, so much more in a different way!"

She stood up. "I can't come back, Troy… " She wiped a couple tears away. "But you have to know that every second of every god damn day, I'm thinking about you and Talon. You two are the only things I have to love in this fucked up world! Look at me, I'm a ghost who miraculously turned into a human for a day, but I don't know when I'll become invisible again."

"Then let me kill myself… " He flicked his knife open. "Just let me kill myself so we can be together forever… "

"Talon needs you, Troy." Gabriella touched Troy's face as tears streamed down both of their faces. "He needs his daddy."

"And he needs his mommy, but she isn't here… " He sobbed and pulled the knife out again. "Gabs, please… "

"But Talon- "

"I'll kill him too! So we can all be together- "

"We won't be in the same Apex! Our son and I would, but you wouldn't!"

"What do you mean? There's only one Apex."

"Yeah, but there are different sections. People are grouped by the way they die. Talon and I would have something in common." (A/N: Remember that sentence I told you to remember? Well, pay attention to the next part.)

"The way you die? I would kill him, and then kill myself. A murder and a suicide. You and I would be together. In the suicide place- "

"No, Talon and I would be in the same place… "

"But you committed suicide. You slit your throat- " He cut himself off.

Tears began pouring down both of their cheeks. Troy's eyes got huge.

"You… " He couldn't get the words out.

She said them for him.

"I was murdered."

A large gust hit Troy in the gut and winded him. He suddenly lost all his breath. He lost all will for life.

"Gabriella… " He sobbed.

"I'm so sorry Troy… I thought you knew… " She cried.

He couldn't control himself. His body started quivering, and as tears fell down his cheeks, his voice became teary. "Who would want to do that do you? You were innocent! You didn't do anything wrong!"

She sobbed. "I don't even know who it was… It was too quick for me to see."

Troy quickly lunged forward and grabbed her body in his arms. He held on tightly, not being able to control his emotions. He cried into her shoulder and she cried into his neck. They cried like they had never cried before.

"You're so innocent… " He sobbed. "And so fragile… "

She curled into him and sobbed. "I love you… "

"I love you too… " He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head. "What mother fucker would want to hurt you?"

She shook her head.

"I'll find someone to kill me after I kill Talon. That won't be hard in this neighborhood. We can all three be together."

"No! Troy, I'm telling you, don't you dare even try it!" She grabbed his arm "Please… Just live your life and take care of Talon… For me?"

"Gabriella- "

"Don't do it!"

"It only hurts for a second."

Gabriella let go of Troy's arm. "It hurts for an eternity."

Troy stared into Gabriella's eyes and she stared back, hoping glimmering in her eyes along with salty tears. She withdrew.

"I want you to be able to live your life and not have to worry about me. I'm a memory, Troy. You're not. I'm gone forever, you still have years to live. You can meet another girl, get married, have more babies and love them like I know you love Talon. You can have a big house and play football, retire at 35 and live the good life until you die. Your kids are going to be beautiful; they're going to look just like you. They'll have your beautiful blue eyes, your cute nose, and your straight ass hair. You'll go to their school and drop them off, you'll kiss them goodbye and tell them that you love them more than anything in the world. Then, you'll drop your wife off at work and tell her that you love her, and kiss her like you kiss me. You'll live your life. You won't kill yourself. You won't be mad at life for taking me away. Troy, you need to understand that in Apex, you can't get hurt. You can't get scratched or ran over by a car or sliced up. You can't walk down the sidewalk and look up at the blue sky and be able to grow up. It is a miserable place. Really, it is. You don't want to live the rest of eternity that way. You need to have a life, and when your time comes to die, I'll be up in Apex waiting for you at the front gate. I swear on it.

Troy had his head buried into her shoulder, listening to every word she said, crying his heart out. He knew she was right. She was always right.

But he didn't want to move on…

"I don't want to live without you… "

"But you can do it. I'll always be watching you. I'll let you know if you're doing something wrong, or if you're being watched."

"No, Gabriella, please… "

She kissed the side of his head and rubbed his back. "You have to live your life before you die."

She was right again.

You have to live your life before you die.