The car zoomed towards the Plaza Hotel. The black-suited person jumped back slightly in shock, turning their head as they did so. No face was visible but the tiny wisps of curled chocolate hair came into view. And both Kylie and Leon only had one word on their lips as his body was flung over the car hood.

Elijah. Elijah. Elijah.

Seconds seemed to blur into hours as Leon and Kylie remained seated in the car, the body no longer in view as the car had driven uncontrollably fast, leaving the body located somewhere behind the car's rear.

Kylie could feel the tiny spits of perspiration forming on her skin leaving her hands clammy to the touch. She refused to turn to face Leon but also she refused to get out of the car too, for she didn't wish to confirm what she already thought to be true.

Only a few people had witnessed the dreadful accident, and those who were there had rushed to the crime scene whereas those who were dancing the night away in the hall remained completely oblivious to the fatal events that had occurred.

Kylie could've sworn that someone else was in the car with them – their breathing erratic and unnatural. But it only took her mere seconds to realise this was her, hyperventilating.

Her heart hammered away in her chest as though it were ready to implode within her, finally giving her the release she craved. Her surroundings began spinning around her and she felt the urge to rid herself of the dinner she'd eaten only an hour or so ago.

An invisible force wrapped itself around her neck, strangling her and denying her right to oxygen.

It's my fault, it's all my fault, she screamed to herself internally.

Kylie was no stranger to panic attacks but it'd been years since she'd last experienced one – back when she'd been seventeen. The only person who'd ever been able to soothe her was Jax as he stroked her back, and helped her control her laboured breathing. If only he was with her now.

"Leon." She exhaled sharply, finally coming back to her senses. She glanced over to the drivers' seat to where he was.

No reaction, no response as he stared into the distance almost as though he weren't even there anymore.

"Leon...if something happens to him..." She trailed off, still gazing over at him, awaiting a response, something to soothe her like Jax would've all those years ago. Internally, she wanted to scream and kick and beg Leon to tell her that Elijah would be fine, that yes he'd have some bruises and scratches but overall he'd be completely okay.

But the reassurance never came.

"It was an accident, I never meant to..." He whimpered. A desperate child-like sound emerging from the lips of a fully grown man was unusual to Kylie, especially someone who claimed to be as manly as Leon.

She unlatched her seatbelt slowly and opened the car door. The silent tears fell as she already knew the truth that would await her once she was outside the car.

She braced herself as she turned to look over her shoulder.

A body lay face-down on the floor with two people surrounding him. It was dark and so she could barely recognise whom they were, but she could hear the urgency in a young woman's voice as he spoke to the ambulance, giving them the address and instructing them to arrive as soon as possible.

"Elijah!" She screamed as she made her way towards the body, "Elijah!" It was the cry of a lover, not the cry of the friend of the injured man's bride; there was nothing platonic about her reaction but she didn't care.

"Kylie? What's happened?"

She halted dead in her tracks. For the voice belonged him. To the man who she'd played truth and dare with when they'd been drunk, the man who she'd risked her friendship for, the man who had turned her into the monster she was today.

Elijah.

But how could it be? She'd seen him, Leon had seen him as they'd drove towards the Plaza Hotel. His body violently colliding with the hood of the car and tumbling up and over the car as they'd struggled to stop it.

But there was no denying as she turned to meet the sound. He was there, in all his flesh, appearing puzzled.

"What's happened? Has there been an accident?" He continued in a hushed tone as he peered over Kylie's shoulder at the scene.

Kylie could've erupted in happiness right there. He was okay, nothing had happened to him. She leaned forward, her hand slightly grazing against the stubble of his chin, and she choked out tears, but this time they were made of nothing but joy.

"You're okay. You're really okay, Elijah." She cried, still using her fingers to trace around his jaw.

"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" He responded, his hands grasping hers gently, "but someone else isn't, we should call for help." He continued, gesturing behind her.

"But...if it wasn't you, then who...?" She asked him as though he knew all the answers.

She turned cautiously around and raced towards the body as well as the few people crowding around him.

"Is he okay?" She asked, standing behind those who were trying to gauge a reaction from the man injured. She could feel Elijah closely pressed behind her, his breath fanning against the nape of her neck.

"I don't think so, he's not responding and the ambulance said to avoid turning him around in case of a spinal injury." The young girl answered Kylie's question, she was actively pressing down against the inner part of his wrist, probably in search of a pulse, Kylie and Elijah guessed.

"Do you know who he is?" Elijah asked. The body was spread face-down with the face turned around to face the opposite direction to where the two stood.

"No idea, why don't you look? You might know who he is." She shrugged her shoulders slightly, as Kylie made her way around the body, kneeling down slightly.

She gently tilted the face towards her, but what she met with shocked her to the core.

He had light brown hair; the colour of whiskey-on-ice which was fitting since even your first encounter with him was enough to find yourself intoxicated. The colour of fallen leaves, browning with the last rains of Autumns, reminding you that this was the end of a season. His eyes were unseeing but remained slightly ajar revealing tiny flecks of hazel intermingled within his grey eyes.

The kind of grey that resembled the lead of a pencil, which was fitting because he had that ability to empower you, to help you with your sense of direction and to decipher right from wrong.

"No. No." She stood up and backed away, shaking her hands in front of her as though that would change the face that'd she'd just seen; nearly an exact male replica of her own.

"Kylie?" Elijah called out towards her, startled by her strange reaction. But she continued shaking her head vigorously, refusing to believe what she now knew to be true.

"No. It's not. It can't be! I won't let it be!" She screamed as Elijah himself leaned down to discover that it was indeed Jax's body that laid lifelessly on the floor.

She fell to the ground again, and crawled back towards the body, "Jax, it's me. It's your baby sister. Speak to me, please? Tell me how stupid I am, shout at me, anything but please don't be silent. Please."

Behind her, she could hear Jess calling out for Elijah.

"What happened?" She could hear Jess asking and Elijah providing her with an explanation of the events that had just unfolded.

"Thank god, you're okay! When I heard the screaming, I thought you'd been hurt, but I'm so glad it's not you." She said almost carelessly, and Kylie felt sick to the core to hear her friend speak so nonchalantly.

"Jax?" She whispered, "it's going to be okay, I promise. Everything's going to be okay, I swear. I'm going to look after you this time. I won't do anything bad again, I promise I'll listen to you from now on." She rambled, she could hear voices behind her and she knew the remainder of the guests from the hall had made their way outside to view the commotion.

The voices grew louder but other than the young girl who remained by Kylie's side, no one offered condolence. They merely stood and watched as the scene developed in front of them.

At one point Elijah leaned forward to the crying Kylie but he felt a sharp set of nails dig into his muscular upper arm and discovered it was Pattie – it was a silent threat, but a threat nonetheless. He moved back, instead deciding to continue to cradle Jess's body, pretending that beside her was where he wanted to be when in actuality, he would've given anything to be beside Kylie, holding her.

"Jax?" Seb who had been silently sitting behind Kylie on the cold ground finally spoke. She could hear his body heaving behind her, and she knew he was trying with all his might to maintain his emotions but his eyes were clearly stained red.

"He's going to be okay. You know what Jax is like, don't you, he likes to be dramatic and he loves all the attention on him, so he's just playing silly games with us." Kylie laughed, but it was hollow in every sense. "He's okay Seb, I promised."

"Kylie, he- "Seb spoke gently, pressing one arm against hers.

"You and him haven't even got married yet. And I haven't even become an aunt yet so it's not time. Not yet Jax." She begged Jax, leaning down to plant a kiss on the exposed part of his forehead, leaving a trail of wet on his forehead.

"Kylie, he's gone," Seb said, the tears still slipping down as he nodded towards the young girl. "He's gone."

"No. He hasn't Seb! Are you just going to give up on him? Is that how little his love meant to you? You. Can't. Just. Give. Up." With each word, she slammed her hand against his chest, her anger growing.

"Kylie, please." Seb pleaded gently.

She bit her lip gently as it quivered and glanced back down at him. His face paler than she'd ever seen it before accompanied with the discolouration of his lips which now had a slightly blue tinge to them answered her questions.

A loud animalistic sob emerged from deep within her throat. A sound so primal that all those around ached just from the grief-stricken sound. We always expect to lose someone in our lives; our grandparents or our parents maybe but Kylie had never ever even considered her existence without her older brother.

Her screaming hysteria was enough for anyone to realise that.

"I was supposed to die in your arms, Jax. Not the other way around." She half-cried, half-screamed as Seb pointlessly attempted to calm her, but she was beyond all rational methods of calming. It was no longer crying but a barren sound; a sound that is the epitome of someone that is well and truly broken.

In the distance, the sirens of the ambulance nearing weren't enough to conceal the sounds of Kylie's blood-curdling screams.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Authors' Note: And that concludes the engagement party chapters, I realise a lot happened in these 4 chapters so I'll post a little summary below just in case anyone is confused.

Summary: Elijah seems distracted during the party and sees Kylie with his friend Abdul, and becomes jealous prompting him to call her outside. The two continue their affair and are oblivious to the fact that Seb has seen the two together. Seb brings the affair up to Jax, who admits he already knew but has now decided to tell Jess the truth. Jess is in denial when Jax tells her truth, although he omits the truth about his sister wanting to protect her. Meanwhile, Pattie confronts (abuses) Kylie about her and Elijah's affair and lets slip that she accidentally pushed Jess, causing her miscarriage. Leon who works within the Plaza Hotel reveals to Kylie that he saw her with Elijah and has photo evidence, essentially blackmailing her. He forces her to get into his car, where he attempts to get back together with her. However, he reels from her rejection and attributes it back to her affair with Elijah. He loses control of the car in his anger and knocks someone over, whom they both initially believe to be Elijah. When Kylie gets out of the car, she realises Elijah is perfectly fine and it's actually Jax.

Jax dies instantly from the trauma of the car accident.

That was a bit long lol but I hope it clears any confusions up that anyone may have. I would also like to take this time to say, I have no tolerance for slut shaming so please do not slut-shame in the comment section. Whether you like certain characters or not, I'd rather not read the words whore/slut etc in the comment section. If anyone continues to do so, you will be blocked. Thank you.

Also, please be respectful in the comments. If someone has a different perspective to yours, that's fine and you should respect it. Some of you are moving mad starting fights in the comment section. It's not that deep.

And finally, I'm back in Uni this week and so I'll be back on a semi-hiatus for around 6 weeks. I will come back and complete the story and I have the next few chapters half-written so if I have time, I will update every other Friday but I can't make any promises as my first priority is, of course, my university work.

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed and please do vote! I had a hard time writing this chapter and almost considered not having it end the way it did but I decided to stick with it!

So please vote and comment! Best wishes to you all!