Cheryl POV

I stayed alert the whole day, waiting for the news to go viral on television, but there was nothing new apart from the death of the former mayor or perhaps the former corrupted mayor.

I was nervous, worried about what I'd revealed. I was supposed not to talk. Why did I have to speak? I was mad at them that I just exposed who Finn really was.

On my bed, I was shaking as tears spilled out from my eyes. All I wished was to take everything back. I've never wanted anything so bad the way I wanted to refresh my parents memory.

Finn was me, and I was him, and at that moment, we both had something to share in my stomach, but I just destroyed the plan of a promising future.

A soft creaky sound of the window startled me, and I promptly shot my eyes in the direction.

And there he was. Just like that, he was standing by my homework desk. He was his usual self, with all-black outfits and roughly tousled hair. He had that smile that could easily wipe away the pain of torture in my chest.

But at that moment, instead of running into him for solace, I angrily stood up.

"What are you doing here?" My voice was shaky, yet it was boiling with anger.

The smile he had suddenly faded, and frown took over his feature. "I was missing you."

He had no idea how much I was missing him, so his words only weakened me further that some tears escaped my eyes. "Finn, you can't just come here. You're the most wanted person in this town. Why would you do that?" I faintly asked.

Why would he take such a risk?

"They don't know who I am. They have nothing against me." He immediately said, and my eyes looked away from him-I was afraid he could be able to see through me.

Although my reaction was too obvious, he was quiet for a while before he asked. "Do they?"

I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't.
The sobs came; I couldn't control the aching feeling in my heart.
Sharon was right. I was a grenade.

"I-I I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." I was shivering as I struggled with the whimpers.

It took a while before I felt his arms wrap me up and his head on top of mine. "Shhh, it's okay." He whispered.

What?

I pulled away sharply, almost violently. "You think it's okay? Everything went out of plan. Can't you see? Can't you see it's all falling apart?"

"Ninety-nine days for the criminal, one day for the police, Cheryl."

How can't he see how much I wanted him? I needed him more than I needed anyone.

"No! No! No Finn, you don't get to decide that, you don't..." he interrupted me

"Cheryl..."

"I'm pregnant." I blurted and paused to see his reaction.

His eyes stopped blinking, his lips parted, and I believed breathing was the only activity going on in his system.

Finn POV

I was going to be a father.

"Please tell me the truth. You're not kidding." I muttered.

"Yes, Finn." She replied timidly.

My eyes began to water, and I suddenly realized I was weeping like an idiot in front of Cheryl, and I didn't know how to stop it.

"I'm going to be a father?"

"Yes." She whispered this time with a smile.

"Thank you." I didn't know how much I could thank her.

She didn't reply. Instead, she opened her arms, and I walked in as her comforting scent invaded me.

I felt relaxed. Cheryl was home. She was my everything.

***

"We would call her Rose," I said.

"We don't even know if the baby is a she." Cheryl playfully rolled her eyes at me.

Coming to see Cheryl was something I couldn't stop myself from. The house was so empty without her; I was empty without her, and coming to her, I became complete and even extra to find out I was about to have a child of my own.

"The baby gotta be she, or else if it happens to be a he, I would dress him like she," I told Cheryl, and her eyes popped out.

"What? You're not going to do that to my child." She defended.

We were sitting on her bed facing each other. We had decided to escape that night and leave for Bolingbrook. We would start over, with no school or anything 'time consuming' we would only focus on our child and ourselves, that was all.
That was the happiest day of my life. I tasted the smell of a good future after all those years of pain; I could finally see forward.

"I have as equal right as you," I argued.

"Well, let's leave the baby to decide for himself." She suggested, and my eyes narrowed.

"Herself." I corrected.

"Why are you so obsessed with a girl anyway?" She raked her fingers through my hair and shook her head, smiling at me.

"I want her to look exactly like you. Just imagine a mini platinum blonde with green eyes and glowing skin." I was imagining.

God! I can't wait to see her already.

"A boy can also look like me." She said.

I scrunched up my face. "A girl would look exactly like you. Besides, she's a girl; at least I can manage not to be too jealous of you two bonding together."

"What? Finn? You're insane." She giggled and stroked my face with her thumb. "That's our child you're talking about."

"Yes, I know, but I don't want you to love her more than me. You're going to love her more than me." I know I sounded pathetic, but I have to stand my ground.

Cheryl was all mine.

She smiled and scooted closer until her lips were on mine. "I love you more than anything, more than anyone, but you should know we still haven't seen the gender, right?" Her smile widened, and I rolled my eyes.

"We gotta get going. Is there anything you need?" I asked her.

"Nothing. I will just put on a sweater, and I'm all ready." She stood up and headed to the closet.

"So, who did you tell about me?" I asked on my feet when she successfully wore on a grey sweater.

She halted opposite me and wrapped her arms around my waist. "My parents, they were so mad about Dean Richards.... why did you have to kill him anyway? You promise to stop Finn. Why? I thought you don't break promises."

My heart sunk at the disappointment in her eyes that I had to look away. "He was the last on the list. He was the main subject." I mumbled.

"Finn.." I knew what she was about to ask, so I interrupted.

"I've stroke out the names. I give you my word-I'm not going to hurt your family, Cheryl."

"I love you. You know that, right?" I added, and she nodded once.

Just when I was about to bring my mouth to hers, the door flew open, and it came along with a bang the same time I turned to find Nate Mason pointing a gun at me. Beside him was his ex-wife, Helen.
Deja vu.

My body hurts. Why does it hurt?

Glancing down, I realized I had a bullet in my chest, and my legs suddenly gave up. I felt Cheryl holding me until we lowered to the floor.

But all that was roaming in my head was Nate Mason ends me. Nate Mason ended my parents. Nate Mason-Nate Mason.

At that moment, I knew I wouldn't see how alike my daughter and Cheryl would look.

And fuck if that doesn't hurt like hell.

Cheryl POV

"Can you look at me... I-I... I don't want your dad to be the last thing I see before I die." In a low voice, he asked, and my eyes dropped liquids on his black shirt.

I hated myself, for I was the one who told him that months ago when I was trying to escape his house.

I held him closer to me and cupped his cheek. Breathing was hard; I couldn't see through my filled-up eyes. "Does it hurt?" I sniveled.

"I would tell you something." He asked, wearing the warmest of smiles.

"Okay." With a swallow, I tenderly stroked his cheekbone.

I closed my eyes and lay my head on his right pec. "I knew it's sounded childish, but-but when Drew was dying, he spoke to me somehow... he said it wasn't painful. But my death is."

The word 'death' stabbed me in the heart, and I knew I wanted more. I wanted more time with him. I didn't care to look over to my parents, for if I were strong enough, I'd strangle them to death. I'm sorry, but they deserve it.

"Cheryl..." He breathed before he continued, "I lied when I told you I wouldn't ask your forgiveness. I've always regretted what I did to you. Please forgive me." His voice was shaking. He was shaking and struggling to swallow.

He had no idea how much grateful of him I was. He was life. He was happiness. He was light.

I forced the words out from my closing throat. "You did nothing to me. You gave me the meaning of life, a taste of happiness, and you brought me out of the darkness when I didn't know I was doomed in it. So thank you." I shook my head, wishing I could blink and find out this was a nightmare.

The blood pooling out from his chest was unreal; it was too much.

Please let it be a nightmare. I want to be delusional. Please, God, don't take away the only reason to breathe from me.

"Don't cry; it's going to be okay." He whispered in his painfully-hard breathing as his chest rises and falls, and he winced to every inhale of air. He was suffering. He was hurting. He was dying.
And there was nothing I could do to stop it.

"I'm scared. I can't do it. I'm so so sorry, Finn." I couldn't do it. I don't know how to do it. I was afraid of tomorrow. I feared for each second that was coming. I was afraid for the clock to move. I can't do it on my own.

"Do you remember the second time you saw me?" Finn asked, and I nodded in my cries.

"I kicked you in the balls," I muttered as a bitter laugh escaped me, and he flashed me the warmest and most assuring smile. He was handsome; he was good. I loved him with every fiber of my being.

"Exactly! That's how strong you are... you never gave up. You are a fighter and the most stubborn... human being I know... you can do... this, you have a lot to accomplish, you're too... pure and innocent, please look after our daughter." His voice was cracking and trailing. He heaved a sigh and closed his eyes.

I wished I could take away his pain.
After all the good things he had done, why did he have to go through this? Why?

He always knew it; innocency doesn't give you a pass to fair judgment, and not every good soul shall be rewarded on earth.

"This isn't fair... it's so wrong." I was a mess. I was weeping a flood of tears. I wouldn't be surprised if I started crying blood.

"The world isn't a wish-granting factory, Cheryl Mason."

My heart hurt. I was in the final stage of pain. It was critical that I hated everything in the world. I was the reason why I was sitting on my knees and holding wounded Finn in my arms. If he hadn't fallen in love with me, if I never fell for him, he'd killed me and punished my parents the way they deserved.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. It's going to be okay." I knew it wasn't only me he was convincing. "Can you hold my hand? It's-it's cold, w-why is it cold?" His breathing was gradually changing.

"It's the night chill." I lied.

"Cheryl?" He called in the quiet room with only the sound of my whimpers and sniffing.

"Yes." I stroked his jaw and ran my fingers through his soft hair.

"Do you-believe..... in myths and-and sacred matters? W-what... what do you think is my punish-ment after here?" He was shuddering. He was scared.

I sniffed and chewed my inner cheeks for strength. "I only have a little knowledge, but I am sure God is forgiving. You were a traumatized little boy who missed his parents." I kissed his forehead, and he sighed softly.

Instead, he smirked, just like he used to. "I'm scared." He murmured.

"You will be okay. It's going to be okay." I convinced both of us when there was no pain that could pass the way I was feeling. I was dying right there, for my cure had ended, and I was left stranded on my own.

I tenderly dropped my head on his right shoulder.
"I wished things were different, Cheryl!" He whispered.

I wished things were different, Finn... I wished I had stayed in the lake house. I wished I had listened to you when you told me to stay. I wished I could die if the pain would go away-if it meant seeing you again.

I heard him suddenly hyperventilating. I felt him becoming rigid. I felt his hold to my hand tighten before it loosened. I was only afraid to lift up from his scent, from his warmth, from the place I felt safe.

But I had to because he called. "Cheryl Mason." And His eyes slowly closed. I believed that was when he took his last breath with his lips slightly parted and a tear sliding down his cheek.

Yet again, my dad won. He took the last piece of the Hayes. He took the last piece of me.

How cruel can the world get?