AN: I apologize if anything in here is incorrect. I'm talking about in terms of how something works. Just let it be, please. Thank you.

Cover made by DannyPF1314

Also, I'd like to thank lukeslyrics once again for helping me with this chapter. You're amazing like always. I hope this was good enough.

*Third Person's POV*

Every day for the past week, Michael and Calum came to visit Ashton. The hospital patient was left with Luke's phone and he would read the letter over and over again, despite how much it was hurting him inside.

He wasn't okay, not after finding out that Luke was dead. Ashton didn't know what he'd do after getting out of the hospital. He couldn't just simply go back to the life he had prior to meeting the eighteen-year-old.

That boy held a special place in his life, the one that Luke gave up his own for.

Luke was right about one thing: His act was selfish. He left the painful emotional feeling with Ashton, and now the the poor guy had to deal with this for the rest of his life.

Calum was still upset with Luke being gone forever, but he was no longer mad at Ashton. It wasn't entirely his fault anyway. He didn't force Luke to do anything; the blond giving his heart to Ashton was his decision.

For some reason, Luke's phone was blasting with phone calls from three people named Ben, Jack, and Mom. Were they not aware that Luke didn't have his phone anymore? Ashton thought. He thought they'd give up calling, but the calls kept coming every day.

It came to the point where Ashton was fed up and turned off the cellular device, never wanting to turn it on again. (Also meaning he's going to be unable to read the last words Luke wrote to Ashton.)

After a week of staying at the hospital, Ashton was finally being released. He changed out of the hospital clothes and into new ones that Michael had brought him. He was given a plastic bag to put in his clothes he wore last week. The shirt had a bullet hole through the left side and it was bloody, but Ashton didn't mind. It wasn't like it was his favorite shirt anyway.

His friend was signing him out and Ashton was now used to Luke's heart inside of him. The only time he'd feel pain now was when he'd remembered that it was Luke's heart.

Ashton was sitting in the backseat of Michael's car, the green-haired boy and Calum sitting in the driver and passenger seats. His forehead was pressed against the window and it was pouring outside. In the middle of August, it was raining.

Even the sky was crying with Ashton.

"Ash, do you want anything?" Michael asked.

Ashton whispered, "I want Luke back."

"We all want him back," Calum said with a heavy sigh, "but he's not coming back. You'll just have to accept things as they are."

But Ashton didn't want to. He wanted to believe that Luke was really alive and that he was living some kind of horrible dream.

That thought wasn't going to bring Luke back though.

Since it was around three in the afternoon, Michael had to drop Calum off at 7-Eleven. Ashton didn't even look at the convenience store, because it reminded him too much of Luke, and he felt like he was only going to cry harder.

He brought a hand up to his chest, placing it over the heart that Luke gave him. It was beating, and it was only beating for Ashton.

Ashton curled up into a ball on the seat he was sitting on, burying his face in his knees as he felt his heart break. He felt as if he was better off dead, but he couldn't do anything to end his life. Luke wanted him to live life, but Ashton was impatiently waiting for something to suddenly happen that would kill him already.

His green-haired friend drove in front of a Walmart, stating that he needed to buy something.

"Do you want to go with me?" Michael asked, glancing back at his best friend.

Ashton shook his head. "I don't want anyone to see me like this," he responded.

Michael sighed, but nodded. "Okay. I'll open the windows. I won't be long." After rolling down the windows the smallest bit so Ashton could get fresh air, Michael left the car and walked in the large store.

While Michael was getting whatever he was getting, Ashton was trying to find ways to forget Luke, but everything he thought of only made him miss the blond even more.

He couldn't stop thinking about him. There was no way he could just magically forget about Luke. He doesn't deserve to be forgotten about, but it's only breaking Ashton even more.

Ashton wasn't going to try to end his life and force his way back to Luke. The eighteen-year-old wouldn't want that at all, and Ashton knew that. It would hurt Luke if Ashton tried to kill himself. But Ashton didn't know what else to do with his life.

... But there was a way he could spend it.

Remembering the time when the FBI came over to his apartment, Ashton dug through the bag that held his other clothes. He reached into the back pocket of one of the jeans, pulling out a picture that had him on it. With that, he left Luke's phone on the seat, unlocked the car while not caring that the alarm went off, and walked in the direction of the police station since they can take him to the FBI.

The twenty-year-old could always serve his time in prison. He wasn't going to die, but he'd be wasting his life away in prison. It was pretty much the same thing.

And Ashton was one-hundred-percent okay with that.

It took him approximately twenty minutes to go down to the station, and by the time he got there he saw a police officer sitting at one of the desks, eating a doughnut and drinking hot coffee.

Ashton approached the desk and at first the officer gave him a questioning look, but then the twenty-year-old practically slammed down the picture of him and slid it over to the officer.

The officer was comparing Ashton with the picture of him from a few years ago.

"I'm Ashton Irwin," Ashton began. "I'm the one that the FBI have been looking for for the past two years, and now I'm turning myself in." He then stuck his hands out. "Arrest me."

Ashton was taken downtown and escorted to his own jail cell. The police officer called and informed the FBI about how Ashton turned himself in. Even though he was already considered guilty, he still had the option to go through a speedy trial. Unless he could get someone to bail him out of jail, he was to sit in the cell for two months until he was to attend court and have the judge decide what he should do.

Neither Michael nor Calum knew that Ashton was a thief, and Ashton wanted it to stay that way. The only people that ever knew were Devin and Luke. Only God knows what happened to the psychopath, but there was no way Luke could somehow magically come back to life and get him out of jail. Besides, no one even knew that Ashton turned himself in to the police.

So there was nothing else Ashton could do other than sit on the hard bed and wait for the court date to finally come up.

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Ashton had two days left until he was to go to court. The warden at the place Ashton was being held at was rather rude, often slamming down Ashton's tray of crap they had the audacity to call food and throwing snarky comments at the twenty-year-old.

But it wasn't like Ashton cared. He was completely done with life.

After he pushed the so-called food out of his cell, he lay down on the bed and curled into a ball. 

He had been in the cell for nearly two months, and during his stay there he thought of nothing but Luke. He absolutely missed the blond and he felt lost without him. He didn't care what would happen to him next. He only wished that his life would randomly end already.

He was prepared for whatever was to happen to him next when he heard the sound of his jail cell door being opened. He expected to see the rude warden guy when he turned around, but instead saw a lady standing at the door.

"You're being bailed out," she said, and Ashton furrowed his eyebrows.

He sat up from his bed and gave the woman a confused look.

"A-Are you sure it's me?" he asked, and she raised an eyebrow.

"You're Ashton Irwin, am I correct? Just get out."

Ashton was hesitant to leave, but he slowly stood up and did so. He didn't know who would want to bail him out of jail. He didn't even know anyone who knew he was in jail.

Neither Michael nor Calum knew of his location, so they were out of the question. He doubted it would be Cynthia or her dad.

So who could be the one bailing him out?

So, as Ashton cautiously walked to the front office of the dingy building, his eyes widened when he saw who was standing a few feet away.

His heart started pounding hard and fast in his chest, and he could even feel his pulse in his fingertips.

At first, he rubbed at his eyes and then blinked them open, but the person was still standing before him. Then he shook his head and slapepd himself across the cheek, but the person didn't disappear and was now smiling at him.

Ashton was sure he had gone crazy, so he turned back to the lady and asked, "Um, wh-who's bailing me out?"

The lady looked around the room before she said, "There's only one person here for you."

"Hey, Ashton."

The tan boy turned to look at the person who spoke, and the twenty-year-old was on the verge of hyperventilating.

He grasped onto the edge of the desk that the lady was behind, and black spots danced aross his vision.

Because... I-I couldn't be... H-He was...

"D-Dead," Ashton whimpered, his voice broken as the person stepped closer to him. However, Ashton started backing away, sliding past the desk and finding himself being pressed against the wall. The lady was giving two a weird look, rolling her eyes before returning to whatever work she was doing before.

Ashton tensed when the person brought their hand closer to him and then caressed his cheek. He felt his entire body shiver from the feeling.

Feeling... he felt it. He genuinely felt it.

That meant that...

"I'm alive, Ashton," Luke said.

Yes. Luke said it. The blond's voice that Ashton missed so much, he was hearing it again, and he wasn't insane.

Luke was here. He was really alive.

His vision blurred and Ashton hung his head, wiping his eyes from the tears. He was sobbing so hard that he felt his knees giving out on him.

A pair of strong arms were suddenly wrapped around Ashton, one under his knees and another behind his back. He was lifted into the air and pressed to Luke's chest.

"It's okay," Luke spoke softly, carrying the crying Ashton out of the building. "It's okay. I'm here."

Ashton said nothing. He let the tears continue to fall from his eyes as he wrapped his arms around the blond's neck and laid his head on his broad shoulders.

After a few minutes, Ashton could feel Luke's arms start to shake, and, before either of them could process what was happening, the twenty-year-old was dropped onto his bum.

"Shit!" Luke exclaimed, immediately helping Ashton up. "Are you okay?!"

The older of the two couldn't help the laughter that escaped his lips, and he had to admit that it felt incredibly good to laugh when he hasn't been doing that for two months.

"It's so good to hear your laugh," Luke said, making Ashton look up at him. The blond used the pad of his thumb to wipe away the stray tear from the shorter boy's cheek and gave him a fond smile.

"I thought you gave me your heart?" Ashton asked, the older boy's voice hoarse from crying.

Luke slipped his hand into the back pocket of Ashton's jeans and Ashton yelped in surprise.

"I did," he answered as they started walking, "and you still have it."

Ashton snaked an arm around Luke's waist and let his hand go under Luke's shirt, pulling the younger boy closer to him and giving his hip a light squeeze. He still found it unbelievable that Luke was actually here, and he was really right next to him. Alive and breathing.

"Then how are you here?"

"After making the decision of giving my heart to you," Luke began to explain, "I wrote a letter for you on my phone, and I gave it to our friends so they could give it to you. They were trying to change my mind, but I was set on keeping you alive. So after I managed to convince them to let me do this, Michael agreed to pay for the whole surgery. Calum was mad at me, but he knew that he had no chance of getting me out of this.

"So then they left and I was left with the doctor. He went through a few examinations to make sure my heart was healthy and functioning properly..." The blond nibbled on his bottom lip and Ashton glanced up at him. "... Then he laid me down on a stretcher and took me to the surgery room where you were lying with a heart monitor by your side, an oxygen mask over your face, and... Y-You looked completely lifeless, and I was prepared to give my life up for you. So when I was given some medications that would put me to sleep, I was sure that I wouldn't ever open my eyes again.

"I was shocked to wake up in a hospital room. I was sure that I would be dead, but then the doctor that I talked to the other night told me how... Someone donated their heart to me. And they gave me their heart the same reason why I gave you mine."

"Wh-Who did it?" Ashton asked.

Luke smiled, a small tear slipping from his eye. He had stopped walking and glanced skyward. Ashton watched him curiously, wondering what Luke was doing exactly.

Then he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper, but loud enough for Ashton catch what he said.

"Thank you, Pamela."

The twenty-year-old's eyes widened, and his mouth was slightly agape.

"B-But, how did she..." he began to question.

"She also came to the hospital that night," Luke said, "but she was there for Devin. They were cousins--very close cousins, too. She saw me talking to the doctor about giving my heart to you, and she too was trying to tell me to not go through it, but even she couldn't change my choice"

He chuckled. "I didn't even know she was going to give her heart to me. I didn't realize until the doctor told me the day I woke up in that hospital bed. But she left a message for me, like how I left one for you.

"The doctor said that her words to me were, 'I couldn't let two people who were in love with each other get torn apart, so I'm giving up my life so you two can be together. I still love you, but you love him. Your happiness means more to me than my own life. This is for you and him, Luke.'"

Ashton's heart started to hurt, but he looked up at the sky, most likely where Pamela was now. He felt bad that she was now gone, but she did it for their sake, and he couldn't have been any more grateful for her.

"My family were the only ones that knew I was alive," Luke continued and they were starting to walk again. "I knew that since you had my phone, I could reach you and talk to you from there. I tried to call you so many times through my brothers or my mom's phone, but each one led me straight to voicemail. I couldn't call Calum, since I didn't remember his number, and I never even got Michael's.

"The day I got out of the hospital, I made sure to visit Calum. He was super mad at me and he punched me for making him believe that I was dead. Then he just had our little friendship moment and I asked him if he knew where you were, because I had to let you know that I was alive. But he told me that you disappeared the day you were checked out of the hospital. Even Michael didn't even know where you were, and even he was crying when he found out that I was still alive.

"I went to the apartment you stayed at, but the owner there told me that you no longer lived there since he pretty much kicked you out and threw all your stuff out. I was running low on options and I thought of two things: You either turned yourself in to the police or killed yourself. I was hoping that you didn't do the latter choice, so I went down to the station and asked for you, but they told me that you were taken downtown. So that's where I went.

"There was a bail amount to get you out and they wouldn't let me talk to you, because you were supposedly too dangerous, which I highly doubt, because you're anything but that. To get you out of jail was about fifteen hundred dollars. I worked my ass off trying to get the money before your court date, and I finally got it today.

"So, that's it," Luke finished, pulling his hand out of Ashton's pocket and glancing down at the twenty-year-old whose eyes were still glossy from tears. "That's what happened."

"B-But P-Pamela's--" Ashton stuttered as his arm fell from Luke's waist.

Luke stopped Ashton from continuing by stepping in front of him and pressing their lips together.

Ashton wasn't going to let his train of thought slip from his mind, but the feeling of the pair of lips that he missed so much against his was making his mind unable to think properly. He began kissing back, and it lasted for a bit before they both parted from the kiss.

"She also wanted to tell me one other thing," the blond said. "She told me that as long as we're happy together, we need not to worry about her, because she'll watch over the both of us and make sure we stay together forever."

Ashton was starting to cry again and he threw his arms around Luke, feeling the taller boy's arms go around him as well and they remained in the embrace for a while, not caring about anyone else around them.

"I love you so much, Lukey," Ashton whispered.

Luke let out a light laugh from that. "I love you, too, baby," he said as he drew away to lift Ashton's chin up so they were making eye contact. "And I'm never going to let anyone or anything take you away from me again."

Ashton nodded and Luke began kissing away his fallen tears. Then for the rest of the way to wherever they were headed, they were in comfortable silence as their hands were entwined together.

The hold that their hands had on each other represented their love: strong. They weren't going to let anything come in between them.

Fate was cruel at first, pulling the two lovers apart to the point that made them believe they were never meant to be together. But Fate works in mysterious ways, and its little tactic only brought the two closer together than ever and created an even stronger bond that could never be broken.

Who would've thought an unbreakable love could form between one who was a thief and one who worked at 7-Eleven?

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AN: This is the end of 7-Eleven.

If you don't know me, then you should at least know this: I could never kill any of the 5SOS boys. I'm not evil enough to kill them.

I made you guys think that I killed Luke, but really I didn't. Plot twist much? c:

Probably the worst I'll ever do is fool you guys. Yep. Either that or cliffhangers.

Thank you so much for sticking around and bearing with me through a very difficult time. I will see you all in the epilogue! I love you all (: Until next time! x