The next couple of weeks were hell on earth for Scarlett — each day she woke up early with barely enough sleep and go to Mark's Hospital room with more tears to shed.

The Ghost Rider still refused to face her — he could see the way she was broken and he didn't want to fight her while she was at her weakest — that was the only redeemable quality about him.

Sometimes when she would demand a match from him and he would say no and add some sort of life lesson, she found herself thinking that if things were different he could've been considered a possible friend.

But as the nights turned into days which turned into endless cycles of grief Scar fell into a dark void with no light to guide her way.

Bit by bit she broke.

There was a certain ache in her heart that made Scarlett lay awake at night staring at where he used to be — she treasured every small moment she had with him.

Scar wasn't a fool — she heard the doctors talk about how Mark needed to be taken off of life support and that at this point there was no hope for him.

She tried not to think about him not coming back to her — those thoughts only made her cry harder and Scarlett knew if she cried any more than she already was, her eyes would permanently be red with sadness.

It wasn't until she sat in front of him did she finally realise why it hurt so much — she finally knew why he meant so much to her and knowing the reason hurt even more.

It took her so long to become aware of her own emotions...and now that she knew, it was too late.

"I wish you were awake..." Scarlett whispered to him as her voice broke.

Mark still didn't move a muscle — the only possible improvement he had in the last week or two was that the injuries he had obtained during the fight were all relatively healed, yet, he didn't wake up from his comma "I wish you could hear me..."

"I'm sorry, Mark." Her voice quivered as her hands found his.

Scar gazed at him one final time before collecting her thoughts and wiping her tears away "I'm sorry it's taken me so long to do this...but,"

"Since the first day in that small town Diner somehow you managed to weasel your way through my walls and capture my heart without me knowing..."

A small blissful smile made it's way onto her face "When you left me the first time, I never forgot you - I never even tried to forget. I just told myself that one day I'd find you and we'd go back to that Diner and talk like we'd never left each other."

"But now things are different." She stated strongly "I planned this day since I first stepped out of the Valley - the day I'd win the title and...never come back."

Scarlett let go of his hand and got out of the chair she sat in "I never thought you'd find me. I never would have imagined you'd stay by my side through everything and I would've never seen myself crying this much over anyone..."

"I think what I'm trying to say is..." her voice wavered with a tinge of uncertainty "Out of everyone I'm leaving behind - I'm going to miss you the most."

Scarlett pushed away all the doubt that seeped into her mind at that moment and leaned down while looking at his peaceful expression before placing a small soft kiss on his warm chaste lips.

The heart monitor beside her beeped in her ears and echoed into her mind as time seemed to slow its pace for this one single moment.

She kissed him long and soft, and when she finally pulled herself away, she traced his cheek with her fingers as tears gathered in her eyes...but Scar didn't say goodbye, instead she whispered a soft and tender "I love you, Mark Coulting."

"I love you so much - I'm sorry it's taken me so long to realise." She stated once more before removing her hand from his cheek "And I'm sorry I'm going to break our promise."

She turned away from him and walked away from the Hospital bed.

If Scarlett had stayed a little while longer, if she had just remained in her spot for more than what she had, like she usually did, she would've seen the lone tear that escaped Mark's eye.

If she had listened to the heart monitor beside her a little more carefully as she leaned in to claim his lips she would've heard the way the beeping began to increase for a mere second — if Scarlett had just kept her hand in his, she would've felt the way his grip clenched into fists at their sudden loss of contact.

If she had just seen the way he was fighting against the cold lonesome darkness, only to come back to her, instead of focusing on the fact his eyes weren't open.

If she had just payed more attention to the way the tips of his mouth would twitch upwards every morning she'd visit.

Maybe, she would've changed her mind about what she was going to do.

Maybe, she would've hung onto him a little while longer.

Maybe, just maybe, she would've fought harder for her own life.