Alec heard the lock open and then someone fall. Hurrying, he got up on his feet, wiped his face and prepared himself to get inside.

The door didn't open completely. He pushed it and as the door slowly swung, Alec's apprehensions and worries increas what he was going to witness. He was worried if he could pick up the broken pieces together and save her.

As the door swung inside, he began getting a glimpse of the damage that had been done. He understood why Beth had fainted in the OT, why she had disappeared.

As the door swung open, he saw how much he has pushed her, how hurt she was, how broken she had been all this while.

As the door swung open, he saw the apartment. Broken glass pieces were covering the floor, the curtains that hung were torn and the sofas were upturned. The legs of the centre table were lying carelessly, waiting for someone to trip over them, while the table was lying on the rug with shattered glass.

And then he saw her.

He saw her, lying as broken as everything else in the house. Her legs laid twisted on the floor, lifeless. Her back drooped for support against the wall. She sat, clutching a sharp glass piece in her hand. She kept looking at him, her eyes, begging for him.

"Beth!" he rushed to her side. Quickly he threw away the glass piece from her hand. There were still small cuts from holding it. Droplets of blood were begining to ooze out. He opened a few buttons of his shirt and tore a piece of clothing to tie on her hand.

"Beth, what were you doing with that?" She kept looking at him with the same dazed expression that he had greeted. He quickly dressed her wound. She still laid like a broken doll on the floor.

"Beth!" He shook her. He looked at her tear stained face for a response. "Beth? Are you okay?"

A whisper escaped her lips, before she fell into his arms, "help me."

•

Alec held Beth close to him as she slept. She screamed Noah's name again as she saw another nightmare. She clutched his t shirt and sweat beads formed around her hairline.

It had been over four hours since she had fainted. After she had regained her consciousness, she just drank a glass of water before going to sleep.

The first time he heard her screaming was when he was cleaning the house. Since then, she must have screamed three more times. He tried waking her up but she was in stuck far away in her nightmares for him to bring her out. So, he decided to hold her and stay by her side until she wakes up.

She shivered and wrapped himself closer to her. Her breathing eased and she relaxed a little. She looked like a little child and he remembered the first time he had held her like this. He remembered that night, when he had first realised he loved her.  And now here he was again, holding her trying to protect her from her nightmares only difference was her nightmares had gone worse, their relationship, if they were still in any, was a mess. His only hope was his love for her. It had only grown stronger and made him stronger and now all he hoped that with this night's end, he could end her troubles too. He hoped that by tommorow morning when the new year starts, he could start over again....... with her.

He checked his watch, it was almost 9:30 at night. Few more hours, he thought. Will they be able to survive?
But before he could think about the answer Beth called for Noah in a blood chilling scream.
"Beth! Beth!" He grabbed her. "Are you okay? Beth?"

"Noah, he died! He died Alec and I couldn't save him. My Noah died!" She spoke hysterically. Shivering uncontrollably, she spoke in a trance, "And then I was holding my dead baby in arms and he was covered in blood and suddenly he was gone and there is blood everywhere-" Her hands tried hold the baby she was imagining.

"Beth!" He screamed her, hoping she would hear his voice in this state.

'There is so much blood Alec! There's-"

"No, Beth there isn't. You are here with me. Safe and sound." He pulled her into his arms.

"But Noah isn't! Alec, Noah is gone and my baby is gone. I want them back. I want them back Alec, I want my family back." She clutched his shirt. He could feel her tears falling as she sobbed. He hugged her tightly and let her calm down.

She kept sobbing and he let her.

"I miss him, I miss Noah. When he was around I always felt like everything will okay. Like he is there and I know he will take care of everything. And after he went away, I don't know ...... I really just want him back. I don't want anything else. Just him."

"Hush." Alec slowly weaved his hand through her hair. "You will be fine. He is still with you. And he is still going to take care of everything. Don't worry."

She shifted a little towards him and let him hold her. "I am sorry I had gone missing for a few days. All these memories were coming back and I didn't know what to do. I just wanted them to disappear."

"Hey," Alec looked down at her face. He wiped her tears away. "It's alright. You don't have to apologise. It's me who should apologise. I am sorry Beth. I am sorry for everything. For all the troubles I have put you through. But if I may, where did you go?"

"I had planned to go to Georgia. See Noah is there. He is buried in Georgia. So I had decided to take a bus. Hoping it would be long enough to escape. So I left but........but then I came back. I didn't reach Georgia." She hiccupped.

"I know you didn't. Lucy's had asked for you there. But she couldn't find you in the apartment and that was when we all got worried."

"I wanted to go there but I couldn't. So I came back here. And this place. This used to be Noah's apartment before our marriage. He shifted to Georgia because of me." She wrapped her fingers around his palm, like small child. "We used to be in a long distance relationship. I used come here so often and I have so many memories of this place. Being here after all that happened, I just couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand being here without him. Being in his house without him. So I..."

"That is why there was such a mess." He said sympathetically.

"I just wanted those memories to disappear. But they wouldn't. No matter what I did. So, " she gulped. "So I decided there was just one way. To make them stop, to send them away. I took a piece of glass and sat on the floor." Alec wasn't sure if he wanted to hear this bit. There was an uneasy feeling that was growing in the pit of his stomach. "I sat on the floor and I knew what I had to do. But.....but again I couldn't. I just couldn't. And just like that, that feeling, it just went away." She started crying again.

"What do you mean?" Alec gently wiped her face.

"I.... I saw .... I saw your face."

Alec wasn't sure if he heard right. "You saw my face?"

"Yes." She gulped again. "Everytime I tried to run away or do something stupid, I kept seeing your face. And it drove me crazy. I couldn't go to Georgia because your face kept flashing in front of my eyes. And same thing happened when I tried to.. to.. I don't know why it kept happening but I just kept seeing you and everything would just stop and those feelings would just go away and suddenly a sense of reason would come back to me. And I didn't know what was happening and then you came back. You were here and you said all those things to me through that door. And-," she took in a deep breath and after a small pause said, "You can save me Alec. I know you can."

"That is why you opened the door." He smiled through his tears. She nodded. Her tears fell on his shirt again and he looked at her, realizing how similar they both were. Traumatized by their past, they both were trying to build their present. Broken and shattered, they were just lonely. They needed each other. They completed each other.

Looking at her face he could see how similar her tear stained was to his. Nightmares didn't let both of them sleep. The memories of the past were going to haunt them forever but today, he felt a hopefulof a time when they both will be able to sleep again, when they both will be able to live in the present again. 

He realized something that very momen. At the end of the day, it was really just about a chance. A chance that someone will give to other person to let them know you, a chance they will  give themselves to let the other person in, for them to love, for them to just try and hold on until they finally find a reason to not let go. Until they finally realize that no matter what happens, that person will be there and love them the same. Until they finally find that that person will love them as long as they can, as much as they can even if they won't get anything in return. They will still stay in hope that one day you will see the small flicker of light that burns inside them, that has been waiting for you, waiting for their 'meant to be' stuff to come real with you. Until you might just find this one person and you know that no matter hard it is, you are willing to try and love them as much as you can. And then probably you will see that even when you thought your heart was empty and soul was dry, you would still try and only to realise that it was never empty, it was never dry, it was only waiting for you to discover love again.

Alec knew it, he just knew that they both had a future together. He had hope that one day Beth will fall in love with him but until then, he would love her with all of his heart. 

"Beth," he cupped her face. "I know I haven't been the best of the person to you, but I promise to never let you break again." He looked in her eyes. The ones that always cried for help, today were filled with hope for a better future for them. "I love you Beth Richards. I love you."

He kissed her as the clock struck twelve and the fireworks light up the sky. It was the beginning of a new year and new start of their relationship. And it started with a promise to keep each other safe.

So, when the clock struck twelve, Cinderella didn't run away, instead she let her charming kiss her pain away and decided to stay.

****
Okay I am crying now! This is officially the end of this book.

I know it has been delayed by a lot of days. I am sorry. I haven't been well mentally. But kudos to you all  for staying this long with me. Honestly, it wouldn't have meant anything if you all wouldn't have been so kind to read it. I hope I have been able to do justice to this story.
Let me know what you all think about this book. Was it good or bad or where can I do better. Editing will be starting shortly for the book so do put those typos and mistakes down in comments if you find any. Any change or anything, just flood the comment section.

I love you all so much for being so kind to me and to this book. But one person who has been a real support in writing this is SPARKLIKESTAR, this chapter is dedicated to her. Thank you so much again.

Keep reading for the epilogue.

Cheerio.

Love,
Alice.

****