"So let's ignore each other, try to pretend the other person doesn't exist. But deep down, we both know it wasn't supposed to end like this."
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Your entire body ached. You heard the sounds of police sirens and panicked voices all around you. Your vision was also blurry. You could hardly see your surroundings. But you sure could feel the cold hard ground that was beneath you.
"Am I dead?" You ask yourself.
"Almost." A mysterious voice that you swear that you've never heard before says.
"W-who are you?" You ask. It's very hard for you to speak but you manage to choke out those few words.
"Oh, we've never met before." The stranger said. Your vision cleared just to see the man's features. He had square-framed glasses and black hair. He was also wearing a black shirt with a pink 'M' on it. First impression told you that he was probably a nerd. "My name's Mark. And I know that this is a really stupid question to ask while you're laying on the ground in a pool of your own blood but what's your name?"

"That Mark guy was so weird." You think to yourself. "Who the hell goes up to a person who's in the situation that I was in back there and just starts talking to them like it's just a normal conversation with a friend. What he did was so fucking stupid. I can't believe that I listened to his bullshit in the first place."

Your visitor was Mark.
"Hi there (Y/N)." He said as he walked up to the edge of your bed. "You're looking lovely today."
You didn't understand why Mark was saying that. You were in a hospital gown and hooked up to a bunch of machines. You also remembered that you couldn't keep food down very well and had thrown up last night. Or maybe you thrown up because the food that they served was so bad. It certainly didn't smell too good.
"What the hell are you doing here?" You asked. "You act all creepy yesterday and now you're here visiting me? Do you know how weird that it?"
"I understand that it's really weird." He said. "I just wanted you to make sure that you had someone to talk to you besides the nurses and doctors."
"While I appreciate that you care about me like that, you just met me yesterday." You said. "You barely know anything about me. The only thing that you know about me is my first name."
"I know your last name too." Mark said like he had just found the cure to cancer (Wouldn't that be the day?).
"And how exactly do you know my last name?" You asked.
"The lady at the front desk." Mark said. "She asked me if I was looking for a (Y/N) (L/N) and I decided to take a chance and figured that there aren't too many (Y/N) (L/N)'s out in the world."
"Uh, there are plenty of (Y'N) (L/N)'s in the world." You said. "But I suppose that your risk paid off."
Mark looked at his watch and said, "Well, I best be going. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Wait, tomorrow?" You ask. "What do you mean?"
"I'm going to pay you a visit at least once a day." Mark said. "I can't let you get lonely. That would make me feel terrible."
Before you could protest, Mark left the room.

"But you don't also hear of a however-old-you-are man visiting this girl that he met on her death bed. Speaking of which, why were you at the accident when you were?"
For once, you silenced him. He didn't speak for a few moments but when he did, he looked behind him to make sure that no one else was listening. But when he spoke, you couldn't believe what you heard.
"I-I was at the accident because I was the one who caused the accident."

"Can you tell me the truth?" You whisper, trying to keep your voice down. You weren't sure if you were going to tell anyone yet but you at least wanted to hear Mark's side of the story.
"Okay." He said. "I was driving in my car with my brother Tom and my mother. We were just coming back from one of our family outings that we have once a month. I was driving them back to their places and this car suddenly stopped because of a stoplight and I didn't have much time to react so I slammed on the brakes as fast as I could. But I ended up slamming straight into the car. That's when the six other cars came. My mother and brother both died upon impact but somehow I managed to make it out alive with only a slap on the wrist."

This memory was much different from the last two. You didn't see the upset little girl this time.
You saw yourself as you are now.
Your body was lying near a bunch of needles. You cringed.
"Why the hell am I surrounded by all of those needles?" You asked yourself.
You examined one of them. Inside was the tiniest bit of heroin.
"Oh my God!" You said, dropping the needle back on the floor.

"You tell me (Y/N)." Grandpa said. "You're the one who ran away, not me."
You wish that you knew. But you had to wait until more memories came along until you started to piece together your past.
Suddenly, your grandpa let go of your hand and put both hands on his chest. He struggled to breathe and he feel to the ground.
"Oh my God!" You screamed loud enough to know that everyone in the hospital heard you. "Help! Someone help!"
"What's going on here?" A doctor who looked to be in his thirties asked.
"My grandpa just collapsed on the ground!" You said. "He's having a heart attack! Please, help him!"
The doctor called in more doctors and they all together lifted your grandpa's body out of the room.

Three painful hours later, the doctor who first came in to see what was going on came into your room. He looked like he was about to deliver bad news.
"Miss (L/N), I'm sorry to inform you but we did everything that we can and your grandpa passed away." He said.
"What?!" You said in complete and utter shock. "No! That's impossible."
"We did everything that we can." The doctor said. "I'm sorry."
You decided at that moment that enough was enough. You got up from your bed, shocked from the feeling that you got when you stood up. You were bedridden for six days after all.
"Uh, what are you doing Miss (L/N)?" The doctor asked with a confused look on his face. "You shouldn't be up and out of bed right now. You should be resting."
"That's complete and utter bullshit!" You screamed. "I've been stuck in this God damn hospital and bedridden for six days and you have the nerve to tell me that I should be resting?!"
"(Y/N)." The doctor said sternly. "Get back into bed right now."
"No!" You said, hopping on your good foot. You decided that you were going to get the hell out of here. "I don't need this place! I've been here long enough!"
Before the doctor could protest any further, you began the journey to the front desk so that you could check yourself out of the hospital.

You weren't sure how long you were crying but at some point, rain stopped pouring on you. You looked up and through tears blurring your vision, you made out the figure who was shielding you from the rain.
Mark.
"W-what are you doing here?" You asked. "You didn't show up today."
"Is that why you're out here?" He asked.
"No." You say. "I'm out here because of something else."
"Care to enlighten me?" He asked. "But first tell me how the hell you managed to get out here."
"I checked myself out." You said. "All I had to do was say that you were going to take care of me. Which was a complete lie."
"Who said that it was a lie?" Mark asked.
You were confused for a moment but then you realized what we meant.
"No." You breathed. "Mark, no."
"Why not?" He asked.
"Because I would owe you forever." You said. "Besides, you got better things to do than take care of a twenty-one year old girl."
"I don't mind." He said. "Besides, I'm not much older than you. I'm twenty-five."
"Are you sure?" You ask.
"I'm sure." He said.

You were on Mark's computer, researching the University of Cincinnati. That's a college that you've wanted to go to. At least, you think that you wanted to go there. You weren't really sure but you knew for sure that you wanted to go to college. You also knew for sure that you wanted (C/M) as your major and (c/m) as your minor.
"What're lookin' at?" Mark asked, peeking in to see what you were up to.
"Nothing much." You said. "Just the University of Cincinnati."
"A very fine choice." He said, entering the room and looking at the computer screen. "I like your taste."
"Thanks." You say. "But it's not like I can just go there. I have to pay money and it's not money that I've just got lying around."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Mark said. "You see, I looked up some of your family on Facebook and your Aunt and Uncle from your mom's side said that your grandpa, you know, the one that died, left you money in the will so that you can go to college and get your Master's degree."
"Why were you looking my family up on Facebook?" You asked.
"To find out who you truly are." He said. "And because I was really bored."
You laughed. Typical Mark.
"Only you would break the moment by saying something like that." You said.
"I know." He said. "So, what do you think? Is college in your future?"
You didn't even have to think twice about it. The money was meant for you to go to college and not for you to blow it off on whatever the hell you felt like using it for.
"Absolutely." You said.

"...Thanks." You said. "For everything that you've done for me. I don't know how I can ever repay you."
"All I need is this..." he said. You were about to ask what he meant when he put his lips on yours, kissing you intensely. Your heartbeat quickened as he continued to kiss you and you kissed him back.
"I feel like I've known you a lot longer than I think I have." You breathed when he had stopped kissing you. Your heart still felt like it was going to come out of your chest.
"That's because you have." He said, poking your nose. "I've known you since high school. We made videos together. You were a YouTube sensation. You were (YT/UN)."

"I've been wanting you." You whispered to the needle. You found a spot on your right arm that wasn't scarred and put the needle in it. You slowly squeezed the top and watched as the heroin entered your bloodstream. As it did so, you felt the high that you've been wanting to feel since last night.
"Bet you wish that you found all of my heroin, don't you Mark?" You called to him. He was now trying to pick the lock. "Guess I'm just too clever for you, aren't I?"
No response came but you didn't honestly care. All you cared about is the high that you got. It felt amazing and you felt like you could do anything.
You moved towards the middle of the bathroom and just curled up into a ball. You smiled as you looked at the needle that you were holding in your hand. You were just about to close your eyes when you heard the sound of the door violently opening. You didn't even look because you knew it was Mark.
"(Y/N) (M/N) (L/N)!" He said like you were a child. Except you weren't. You were twenty-two years old, not six. "How could you do this?"
"It was worth it." You said. You were being honest when you said this because it honestly was. "It felt amazing. Mark, whenever I inject myself, it feels like I can do anything."
"There's things that are good for you that can make you feel that way as well." He said. "Now, I really hope that it was worth it because now I'm going to be keeping a closer eye on you."
"Fuck." You groaned as he scooped you up in his arms. "Can't I just inject myself? Just one more time for today? Please?"
"No." He said. "School starts in six days and then you're with your roommate."
"She's not always going to be around." You said as he set you down on the bed. "She might at her classes at different times."
He chuckled and said, "Oh (Y/N). I have my ways of keeping my eye on people?"
"What?" You said. "Do those ways involve stalking me?"
"No." He said. "That's just creepy. But I'm going to make sure that the school knows about your addiction."
You groaned again and asked, "Why the hell are you doing this to me?"
"Because I can't lose you." He said.
"Sure you could." You said. "You still go Bob and Wade."
"But they're my friends." He said. "You're different."
"How am I different?" You asked. "I'm just a person that's in your life."
"Maybe that's how you see yourself." He said. "But I see you as someone that I would die trying to keep alive."

You opened your eyes to find that Mark had one arm around you and his other arm was dangling over the side of the bed. It looked as if he was holding something. You broke out of his arm that was around you and looked at the arm that was dangling over the side of the bed. To your absolute horror, there was an empty glass bottle in his hand.
You got up from the bed, completely pissed off. Mark was trying to get you out of your addiction when he had his own all along.
"Mark, how could you?" You yelled at the top of your lungs. That caused him to jump and drop the bottle from his hand, causing shards of glass to fly everywhere.
"Ah!" You screamed as one of the pieces of glass went into your left arm.
"Oh my God!" Mark said when he realized what he had done. He shot out of bed, careful to not step on the glass shards that were on the floor. "(Y/N), are you okay?"
"I was okay until I found out that you had an addiction this entire time!" You snapped. "How could you not tell me?"
"You didn't tell me about yours!" He said. "Why should I have told you if you were going to keep yours a secret from me?"
"I don't know." You said. "But, thanks to your stupid addiction, there's fucking glass in my arm."
"Let me get it out." He said. "Come with me into the kitchen."
You breathed a heavy sigh as you followed him out into the kitchen.

"How long have you had your addiction?" You asked as he treated your wounds.
"Ever since Mom and my brother died." He said. "I was out with Bob and Wade and we were having such a good time and I had just a little too much to drink. I woke up with a raging hangover the next day but then I realized how much it made me feel better. And every day it's gotten worse. I-I want to stop. I really do."
"Then go to rehab." You said.
"It's not as easy as it sounds." He said. "I only got enough for one of us to go. And I want to spend the money on you."
"No Mark." You said. He had finished taking care of your wound and you could feel tears forming in your eyes as you placed your hand on his shoulders. "You go."
"No." He said, grabbing your right wrist. "You need it much more than I do."
"You're going." You said. You wanted him to get better. Not going to rehab in exchange for him to go was the least you could do for giving you a home and helping you through your darkest time. "Please. Letting you go instead of me is the least I can do for all the stuff that you've done for me."
He was silent for a few moments, looking deep in thought.
"Okay." He said. "I'll go when I move to L.A. In the meantime, let's help each other through our addictions."

You went to your dorm room to find that your roommate had set up their stuff on their side of the room. And she was also sitting on the bed, texting.
"Oh!" She said, looking up from her phone and turned it off. "You're my roommate? Oh my gosh! You're (YT/UN)!"
"Yep. That's me." You said, sitting down on your bed. "Just call me (Y/N) though."
"Oh. Okay." The girl said. "I'm (R/N), by the way."
"Nice to meet you (R/N)." You said.
"I hope you don't mind me asking." She said. "But are you and Mark dating?"
Your heart hurt at the mention of Mark's name. You didn't want to think about him but you managed to answer (R/N)'s question.
"No." You said.
"Oh." She said, looking sad. "Your guys' fans really want you to date."
"I really want us to date too." You thought.
"So I've heard." You said aloud. "Hey, what's your first class?" You wanted to get the subject off of Mark.
"Literature." (R/N) said. "Why?"
"That's my first class too." You said. "What are you majoring and minoring in?"
"Fashion major with a minor in creative writing." (R/N) replied.
"Cool." You said.
"I like your necklace." She said.
You looked down at the necklace Mark gave you. You clutched it in your hand and sighed before replying, "Thanks. A very special someone gave it to me."
"How sweet." (R/N) said. She glanced at the alarm clock on her bedside table and said, "Well, we better get to class."
You got up from bed and asked, "What are we supposed to bring?"
"Probably just normal first day stuff." (R/N) replied. "You know, pencils, binders, papers, and such."

"Sheesh." (R/N) said to you as the textbooks were being passed around. "This guy is really strict."
"You can say that again." A voice behind us said. "That's the third time that I've listened to that guy's bullshit."
Both you and (R/N) jumped at the sound of the voice. You turned around to see a boy wearing a plaid shirt and jeans sitting behind you.
"It's not bullshit." (R/N) said. "And you've been held back two times?"
"You got that right." He said. "I just can't seem to get that research paper that we have towards the end of the semester right. Plus, I also fuck up that exam which is worth twenty percent of your semester grade to make matters worst."
"Is that because you're one of those worthless bastards that doesn't do their homework and just fucks around in school?" (R/N) asked.
"I'm only here because Pops said that I had to go." He said. "Gotta live the dream that Mom never did, he said."
"That's nice." You said, joining in on the conversation. "Your dad cares."
"He didn't give two shits about me when Mom was alive!" He said.
"Your mom died?" (R/N) asked. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"Don't sweat it cutie." He said. "She didn't matter to me anyway."

As you ate lunch with (R/N) and Jet (you tried to make him go away but (R/N) insisted that he sit with you two.), you couldn't get your mind off of Mark. You haven't even been through a full day of college and you already missed him like crazy.
"You know, you're pretty cute, (R/N)." Jet said.
(R/N) giggled and said, "Stop it Jet. You're gonna make me blush."
You just rolled your eyes. Jet seemed like the type of guy who played with a girl's heart. He would lead them on to think that he was madly in love with them and then he would go on and cheat on them or something. Even though you just met (R/N) today, you didn't want her to go through a broken heart because broken hearts suck and no one should have to go through the pain of one. Well, that's what you thought, at least.
"Well, we'll just be on our way now." You said, picking up your tray and standing up.
"Where are you going (Y/N)?" Jet asked. "We've still got a long time until lunch ends."
"Well, I've already got a shit ton of homework to do and I have two more classes after this so who knows if I'm going to get more homework in those classes?" You asked.
"Whatever." Jet said, shrugging. "(R/N) and I will just hang out until the end of the lunch break."
"You go ahead and do that." You said. "I don't honestly care."

"(Y/N), open the door." You could hear (R/N) knocking on the door.
You went to the door, unlocked it, and opened it to find a happy (R/N) with a smile on her face.
"(Y/N)! Guess what?" She asked, coming into the room and shutting the door behind her.
"What?" You asked.
"Jet asked me out!" (R/N) said, waving a tiny piece of paper in your face. "He has me his number and we're going to hang out this weekend."
"Are you sure that that's a good idea?" You asked. "I mean, you just met him today. He could be a rapist."
"Don't say things like that (Y/N)." (R/N) said. "Jet seems like a sweet guy."
"Yeah. Okay." You said, still unconvinced. "Do you even know what his last name is?"
"Why can't you be happy for me (Y/N)?" (R/N) asked.
"Because this is probably going to turn into some cliché bullshit love story!" You said. "Guy meets girl, love at first sight, go on first date, they realize that they were made for each other, guy proposes to girl with the random ring that he had in his pocket the whole time, girl freaks out and says yes, then they go on and have a magical wedding and they live happily ever after with absolutely no problems in the marriage whatsoever."
"(Y/N), I think that you're taking this just a bit too far." (R/N) said.
"Whatever." You said, picking up the stuff that you needed for your next two classes. "I'm going to class now. See you around."

Jet and I are going to this party that one of his senior friends is hosting. You should go with us."
"I've got plans." You said.
"What? To lock yourself in the library and study?" (R/N) asked.
"Nope." You said. "I'm going out with a friend."
"Oooo." (R/N) gushed. "Who is this friend?"
"Just a friend that I've known for years now." You said. "No one special."
"You sure about that?" (R/N) asked.
"Positive." You said. You glanced over at your alarm clock and saw that it was time for you to go to bed. "Anyway, I'm going to be now. Good night."
"Okay. Good night (Y/N)." (R/N) said, turning her lamp that sat on her bedside table off. "See you in the morning."
"Good night (R/N)." You said, turning off your lamp as well. You fell asleep almost as soon as your head hit the pillow.

You turned around to see the same guy that talked with you when you were letting people into the party.
"Um," You said, not really knowing what to say. What would Mark think if he found out about this? He would probably be jealous and pissed at the same time even though the two of you weren't dating.
"Oh, what the hell?" You thought. "Mark, I still love you, okay?"
"You may." You said aloud.
He took your hand and pulled you close to him. You wrapped his arms around him and he wrapped his arms around your waist.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"(Y/N)." You said.
"(Y/N)." He echoed. "What a pretty name."
"Thanks." You said, smiling. "What's your name?"
"Jacob." He said.
"Oh." You said. "That's a nice name too."
"Thanks." He said. "So, you single?"
"No." You lied. "I've got a boyfriend."
"Liar!" He replied. "If you had a boyfriend, then you wouldn't have said yes to dancing with me."
"Okay. You have a fair point." You said. "And yes. It's true. I was lying about having a boyfriend. I'm single."
"Me too." He said, smiling at you. "You know, you're really beautiful."
"Thanks." You said. "I guess."
"Don't tell me you're one of those girls who doesn't realize that they're beautiful even though they are." Jacob said.
"No." You said. "I'm not."
"Good." He said. "Because you are beautiful. No matter what anyone says."
"Glad to know that you think that." You said.

"Not so fast!" A voice said. You felt a hand rest on your shoulder again. You turned around to see Jacob standing behind you.
"Ugh, go away Jacob." (R/N) said. "We don't want you here."
"Shut it (R/N)." He said. "I'm here for (Y/N), not you."
"(Y/N) doesn't want you here either." (R/N) said. "Now, go on and leave us alone."
"I don't think that I'll do that!" He said, grabbing your wrist and yanking you close to him.
"Stop it!" You said, breaking out of his grip. "Get the hell out of here, you creep."
"Come on, (Y/N)." He said, putting one of his hands on your face. "You love me. I can get any girl I want. And I want you."
Before you could do anything, he put his lips on yours and kissed you. You didn't get any of the sparks that you got whenever you kissed Mark. In fact, you felt absolutely nothing.
"How dare you?" You said after you broke out of the kiss.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" (R/N) asked. "Don't be kissing my roommate."
"(R/N), I got this." You said. Then, you kicked him in the nuts. He screamed in pain and laid down on the floor.
"Nice job!" (R/N) said, holding her hand up. You gave her a high-five.
"Thanks." You said. "Now, shall we party?"
"Hell yeah!" She said.

"Hello?" You said into the phone.
You heard sobbing coming from the other end.
"(R/N)?" You asked, concerned. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
"(Y/N), c-can y-you p-please c-come?" She asked in between sobs. "I-I n-need y-you."
"Okay. I'm coming." You said, standing and shoving the rest of the donut down your mouth. After gulping it down, you added, "Where are you?"
"I-I'm i-in t-the w-woods o-off c-campus." She said, still sobbing. "P-please c-come q-quickly."
"I will." You said, taking your car keys out of your purse and heading outside. "Just calm down, okay? Everything's going to be okay."
"I-I c-can't (Y/N)." She said as you started the car and began to drive back to campus.
"Never say never."
"A-are y-you a-almost h-here?"
"I'm just pulling out of Dunkin Donuts. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Dark has completely taken over." You thought to yourself. "The murder of Jet still hasn't been solved. They have more clues but it's not enough to lead us in the right direction. I've been going to rehab and it sucks. So much has changed in a year."
"Would you say that you aren't really dating Mark anymore?" (R/N) asked you while you were in your first class of the day. Professor Anderson was replaced by Professor Lee and she was replaced by some foreign person that you didn't really know.
"I guess." You said, shrugging. "I mean, Dark's completely taken over him so I guess that I'm technically dating Dark now."
"That's terrifying." (R/N) said. "And what's even more terrifying is that they haven't solved the murder of Jet yet."
"And today is the one year anniversary of his death." You said sadly.

"Tell me."
"Fine." She said. She lowered her voice before saying, "Professor Anderson killed Jet."

"I've had my ups and downs during my time here. One of those ups was rooming with (Y/N). And I have a confession. We didn't actually get into a fight. We were just mad at each other because she thought that I was the one who killed Natalie and Renee. Well, I have something to say."
You leaned forward, waiting to hear more.
"I-I killed them." She said. "And there's a murder that you haven't found out about yet. I killed Lisa. She's dead. They're all dead. I killed them all. It was me this entire time."
She fell to the floor and started crying. You just sat there in stunned silence.

He closed his eyes and sighed before telling you, "Let's just say, I'm going down the road that my dad went down. I have cancer."

"Listen to me when I say this." He said. "I'll always be there watching you. Call out to me when you need me and I'll be there. You may not be able to see me, but I'll make sure that you know I'm your guardian angel."
You just kept crying and didn't even say a word.
"You're gonna be a great mother." He said. "And remember, Molly for a girl and Ashton for a boy. Take care (Y/N). I'll always love you."
The last thing you heard was the long beeping of the machine and a little clink as the very last diamond hit the ground.