"I choose to exist." I state firmly, whilst looking Cyrus straight in the eyes.

With a slight smile, he nods. "Very well."

I look away from him, towards Alo. He has a wide smile gracing his face, and he too gives me a nod, whilst Cyrus approaches me.

"Good choice." Cyrus says, with the slight smile still plastered on his face, before he places his hand on my shoulder.

Then a bright light invades my vision, blinding me.

Once the temporary blindness dissipates, I begin to recognise where I am.

The monstrous grey concrete buildings that line the abandoned street I stood in, before this whole experience fill my vision. However, the clouds which were a solid block of grey before, are now soft wisps of white which litter the bright blue sky.

Glancing down, the white dress is gone, now replaced with the black leggings and the baggy grey jumper I was wearing before everything happened. I notice, as I look down, that the cracked concrete I stand on is dry - there's no sign that it rained at all.

I hear my name being shouted in the distance, and I turn to see Isaac sprinting my way, with Addison dawdling a short distance behind him.

As he gets closer to me, I notice the relieved expression consuming his features. I stand there, observing him, anticipating what'll happen when he reaches me.

What I don't expect was for him to pull me into a tight hug. "Oakley, where the hell have you been?" he asks in a concerned voice.

"What do you mean?" I ask, slightly befuddled.

"What do I mean?" He repeats aghast, pulling away from me. "You've been missing for two weeks!"

Two weeks?

That's what Alo meant when he said we've taken too long.

"Where have you been?" he repeats again as Addison approaches us, with a matching expression of relief and worry - something I never thought I'd see on her.

I pause. I can't exactly tell them, can I?

"Places." I vaguely say after a few moments, with a smile slowly stretching across my face, "I've been places."

It's the truth on a certain level - I've travelled around with Alo, seeing a different life. But I'm not exactly going to tell them that - it's not like they'd actually believe me anyway.

"Well, you might not want to do that again - disappearing like you did." Addison says, a weak smile playing with her lips. "Dad went crazy. He even sobered up. I guess his youngest daughter finally having enough of our crap was what he needed to snap his out of his drunken stupor." She looks down, her expression morphing into one of shame. "I'm sorry Oakley. We pushed you too far and-"

"No." I cut her off. "You didn't. I understand everything that you've done was because you miss our mother. It's all because of me, and I'm sorry." I assure her, whilst looking down at the cracked pavement. "But we have to move past it. It's in the past, nothing can change that, and everything happens for a reason. We just have to accept that."

"We were so worried that you'd left us for good." Addison whispers after a while, whilst looking directly into my eyes, her voice wavering a bit.

"I didn't." I say in the same firm, confident voice that I'd used when I'd made my decision.

The right decision.

"We'd better head home." Isaac mutters, running a hand through his scruffy brown hair, before offering me a smile. "Dad was worried." he says, before turning and walking in the direction of our house.

"Come on Oakley." Addison says gently, a smile gracing her features before she turns to follow Isaac.

Unhappiness is a factor in everyone's life, yet it can easily be fixed by the right people. Death, however, is irreversible. Nothing can fix death.

My other self was wise. Extremely wise. She guided me to the right decision, and she was actually me. A small part of me feels like she knew of the situation happening back in real life, this life, the life where I exist, and I can't even begin to describe how thankful I am for her guidance.

I stay behind for a second. I know Alo's here, watching me - I can feel his familiar presence, even though I can't see him.

"Thank you." I whisper, knowing full well he can hear me before I turn and trail after my siblings, a content smile spreading across my face.

You're welcome.

T h e E n d .

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Edited: 11th August 2015

So this is the end of 'If I Didn't Exist." I just wanted to say, Thank you to everyone who actually wanted / took the time to read this story, you all are absolutely amazing, and I love you all :) <3

I chose for Oakley to actually exist after going back and forth throughout the whole time I wrote this. I might post an alternate ending, but that's quite unlikely, since I'm happy with how I ended it :)

Anyways!

See ya around!

- Jess <3