I had taken Allison to the hospital for safety measures, but she was fine in the end. They had said that she had been borderline dead, but she pushed through somehow. The word miracle came up, and that perfectly described it. I don't know what I would have done if she would have died, especially since it was for me.

It's been a couple of days now, which were very interesting. I had spent most of them trying to get used to being alive again; such as eating and sleeping. It felt so good to be able to do those things again, it was hard to describe. There were a few obstacles that came up of course, but we managed to get around them.

After Chris had found out his daughter was in the hospital, he came running as fast as he could. When he got there he of course had no idea who I was or how I even found his daughter. The only explanation Allison and I could come up with was that I had been there when she..."slipped and hit her head while getting into the bathtub".

"How in the hell did you know she had done that?" Chris says, it almost feeling like an interrogation.

My eyes are wide. "I had heard her fall."

Chris raises his eyebrows. "You're telling me that you're one of Allison's friends, one I've never heard about, and you were just over at our house while she was taking a bath?"

I gulp, not knowing how to answer to that. Allison slams her palm to her forehead as she lies in the hospital bed, knowing that this was going downhill. "Dad, he came in after I started to get in the bath. I had forgotten he had asked me if he could come over to talk."

"Talk about what?" Chris pushes farther.

I exchange a glance with Allison before she's speaking quickly. "His parents. They kicked him out and he has no where else to go."

Chris looks sympathetic then. "I'm so sorry...I would invite you to stay with us but we're going to France in a couple of days."

My eyebrows furrow as Allison's eyes widen. "France? You didn't tell me about this!"

"We need to get away from all of this," Chris says, and I knew that he had a good point. "Too much has happened and we need a break. I didn't tell you because I knew you'd be upset."

"I can't go to France," Allison pouts, sitting up farther in the hospital bed. "How long?"

"Couple of months."

My stomach knots. I couldn't imagine not seeing Allison for a couple of months. "What if he came with us?"

Chris' eyes widen. "I'm sorry, but unless he has the money to pay for it himself, he's out of luck."

I look over at Allison, giving her a look so she would just drop it and give up. She was going to France whether she liked it or not, and I wasn't going to get in the way of that. "What if I payed for him?"

"What? No," I say as Allison nods her head, looking so sure of herself.

"Yeah, I can totally pay for you. I've got a lot of money left over from birthday's and other holidays, not to mention from when I used to work at the diner before we moved here."

"I'm not going to France with you, I'm sorry Allison," I say, but I really did want to. I didn't want to imagine not being able to see her for that long, but this is the time she needs to find herself again. After all, she lost herself for awhile, and she needed to recover. Plus, no way in hell was I going to let her pay for me.

Allison gives me the puppy eyes. "Please, Corey?"

"For someone who almost died you sure are optimistic," Chris laughs silently as he crosses his arms, but I could tell by the look on his face that he knew something more was going on between Allison and I. He was her father; of course he knew.

So that's where I was now, standing at the airport with a bag of luggage in my hand. It wasn't mine however, it was Allison's. A small smile forms on my face as I hand Allison her stuff, saying my quick goodbye before she had to leave.

"I still can't believe you're not coming with us," Allison sighs as she stares at me, her bottom lip stuck out slightly in a pouty type of way.

I shake my head as I laugh at her. "No way was I going to let you pay for me. That's just ridiculous."

"Corey, when someone offers you money and a vacation, you sure as hell take it. Not turn it down," she scoffs before I wrap my arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug.

She buries her face in my neck. "I'm going to miss you like hell."

"Maybe I should have put off bringing you back to life a little bit longer," she laughs in my neck. "Then you actually could come with us for free."

I raise my eyebrows. "That one's on you. You're the one who didn't listen to me."

Allison pulls away then, playfully punching me in the shoulder. I laugh as I brush her hand away, but that was before her other hand extended, holding something out to me. "Here's the key to the house."

"Why are you giving me this?" I say, furrowing my eyebrows as I took the golden key.

She winks at me. "You gotta stay someplace, don't you?"

"I was thinking I'd just go home," I say as I stare at the key in my hand. As much as I wanted to go home however, I knew that if I did, I'd be leaving everything here behind. There would be no more Corey in Beacon Hills, and I knew that I couldn't give that up. Not Allison, and not all of the action. I was meant to be here, and I was more than thankful that Allison had given me this key. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure," she smiles before leaning closer and whispering. "Just don't tell my dad."

I nod my head as I shove the key in my pocket, tucking it in deep so it wouldn't fall out. "Well, I guess this is goodbye."

"Don't say goodbye," she frowns. "Goodbye means we'll never see each other again. So this is farewell."

"Bon jour," I smile as Allison laughs, having the desperate urge to kiss her right now, but when I glanced over at her father, who was finishing up getting their tickets, he was staring at me intensely.

Allison stares at me for a moment before raising her eyebrows. "I think this is the part where you kiss me."

I flick my eyes to her father. "Chris is watching."

Allison rolls her eyes before leaning closer. "Good."

Her soft lips press against my own, time feeling as if it had stopped. Suddenly it was just me and her, not standing in the middle of public, and her father not watching. It was a soft kiss, but it sent sparks flying through me, and with ever millisecond that passed, I couldn't help but think of how lucky I was.

I actually got the girl.

My lips stretch into a smile as Allison pulls away, her dark eyes lost in my own. I see Chris walk over then out of the corner of my eye, seeing that he sure didn't like what he just saw. "Alright, it's time to go now."

Allison nods her head before she starts to walk away, wheeling her luggage behind her. "Don't forget to FaceTime me!"

"I won't," I smile as I wave at her, seeing her father lean closer to her, but I somehow managed to catch what he said.

"He's not a werewolf, is he?"

"No, Dad."

"Thank God," he groans before turning and walking off, disappearing around the corner. I take in Allison's figure before she's gone as well, and I couldn't help but feel utterly alone again. I had completely consumed myself in Allison all of this time, and not a day went by that I regretted it.

--------

I pull the coat on my shoulders closer to me, feeling a shiver run down my spine. It sure was cold for a spring night, along with this being California. I pull my hands out of my pockets, along with the golden key, standing on Allison's doorstep. It felt weird that I actually had to unlock something to get inside, when in he past all I had to do was walk right on through the wall. But it felt good to be able to do this again.

A feeling of pride and joy entered my chest as the door swings open, stepping inside and looking at the house that I had now all to myself. I couldn't believe that Allison had given me a key to stay here for 2 months while she was away, but I was grateful. It was almost insane.

My eyes skim around the house once more before I see something sitting in the kitchen, looking like some type of envelope with other items around it. My coat slips off before I'm walking in there, seeing that the envelope had my name on it. Around it was boxes with bright green bows on top...must be gifts, but I wasn't sure what for.

I reach for the envelope first, tearing open the seal to see a bright white letter inside. A small smile forms on my face as I unfold it, seeing that it was Allison's handwriting for sure. It wasn't a super long letter, but I could tell there was something big behind it.

Corey,

I guess if you're reading this it means I'm on a plane, which is really lame because you're not here with me. Even though you're not here, I thought I'd shower you with gifts with the money I would have spent if you would have came with us. And don't even think about calling me and telling me that you're not going to take them, because if you don't then they'll go to waste because I threw away all of the receipts. So accept the damn gifts.

I hope you like them; I wasn't all that sure what you liked, but I picked out stuff that looked like you. I left a couple of bucks in a few of the boxes as well, mostly for things like food and everything else you want or need. Hell, use it to go out and go bowling or something, I don't care. Just spend it and have fun.

Don't forget to FaceTime me.

-Allie

I laugh slightly at her signature, but soon I was setting the envelope down and skimming over the multiple boxes that were lying around on the counter top. There were at least 5, all of them being pretty decent size. Made me wonder what she could have possibly gotten me.

My heart thumps a little faster as I pull the top off of one of the boxes, having to pull away some tissue paper before I got to the gift itself. Lying inside was a nice American Eagle button up shirt, one that would have surely costed around sixty bucks. If that wasn't enough, lying underneath it was a hundred dollar bill.

My jaw dropped as I moved onto the next box, hoping that surely Allison didn't give me any more expensive gifts like that. My hands shake as I rip open the next box, pulling the tissue paper away to find a nice pair of Nike tennis shoes. I couldn't help but feel guilty as I looked underneath the shoes, sighing a breath of relief when I saw that there wasn't anymore money underneath them. But I spoke too soon.

As I had raised the shoes up to look I had tipped them slightly, causing money to fall out from inside the shoes. A bright smile forms on my face when I see three more hundred dollar bills lying on the ground, but I wasn't smiling because of the gift itself. I was smiling because Allison had went out of her way to get this stuff for me; stuff I didn't need or deserve. And I didn't get her anything.

I stop to take in these first gifts before I go to grab another box, dreading to see what was going to be inside of this one. I had a gut feeling it was going to be something nice along with more money, but I never got to find out. Before I have the chance to tear open the box, a voice is speaking from behind me.

"Well I'll be damned. You actually are alive."

I look up from the box, taking in the sound of the voice. I knew that voice...of course I would never forget it. My heart thumps before I turn around abruptly, my eyes wide when I had just confirmed my thoughts.

"Jade?"

She looked different...colder. I couldn't really describe it, but she almost looked better. "The one and only."

"But you're d-dead," I choke out, a small smile forming on my face. She was actually alive. I didn't kill my best friend.

She raises her eyebrows. "I could say the same thing about you."

I scoff slightly, but it sounds more like a hysterical laugh. I was more than happy that she was alive and was back. "H-How?"

"Let's save the details for later," she says, something in her voice making me unsteady. "I'm sorry, but you can't finish opening those presents."

My eyebrows furrow, more than confused about what she was talking about. "What?"

"Corey, just remember that you're my best friend, okay?" she says as she takes a step forwards, making me feel uneasy. Something wasn't right; this wasn't her. "I don't want to do this, but they're making me. I have to, and for that I'm sorry."

I'm more than confused about what she was talking about, but before I even have time to mutter out a question, she lowers her head, a dark look washing across her face. My hand grasps the edge of the counter as her eyes turn a dark red, indicating that she was a werewolf...an alpha.

Her hand grabs my head and slams it against the counter, knocking me out cold.

-----------

And that, ladies and gents, concludes Afterlife.

There will be a sequel, I assure you. I'm not sure about the second book title and all of that other jazz, but I hope to have it up sooner than later. I'll make sure to post a chapter telling you all of the details, but until then, I guess this is goodbye. Excuse me--farewell.

But let me ask you this...Are you excited for book #2?