Alice's POV

"As you know, I was adopted at the age of two months with Stella.", he said, sounding grim.

I nodded, extremely curious.

"Well, apparently, our birth parents wanted to get in touch with us. Two years ago. At first, we agreed, wanting to know more about our past and heritage. But it turned out that they were-"

Luke was cut off by the door slamming open. Both of us stood up in alarm, staring at the living room's entrance. Noah walked in, looking exhausted. His eyes were red, his hair disheveled. I forgot that he was coming home. He looked up at the two of us and gave us a tired smile.

Walking up to Luke, he asked, "How are you? You're feeling fine, right?"

Luke nodded at him, accepting the hug that he gave him. Noah had always been protective over me, because I was his baby sister and all. But he liked to treat Luke like his little brother when I wasn't around. I guess it wasn't really the time for Noah to be acting protective, so he wasn't glaring at him.

"Yeah, I'm okay.", Luke sighed, looking at me. "Just tired. Can we do something? Anything, as long as it gets my mind off things?"

Noah nodded at him, taking him to his room.

Looking back at me, he called out, "Get in your swim wear. We're going to the beach."

I smiled at myself. He was so thoughtful. He knew exactly what would cheer Luke up, even though he usually pretended to hate him.

Smiling, I ran upstairs, getting into my black one-piece, and putting my hair up in a ponytail. I tried to call Reyna to ask her to join us, but her phone was off. She was probably with Alex. I sighed, going downstairs after throwing on a cover-up.

I saw Luke in his beach shorts, his toned chest and abdomen on display. But that wasn't what caught my attention. It was the pot in his hands. More specifically, the pot that contained Stella's ashes. My eyes widened as I realized what he was going to do.

I walked closer to him, saying, "Luke... you can't! Serena and Ajax didn't agree to this, and you're definitely not ready."

He looked at me, his face completely calm, and said, "I've thought this through, and Mom and Dad say that it's the best thing to do. It'll help us all move on."

Tears filled my eyes, desperation taking over me. He couldn't! None of us were ready! The last time that the two had "died", it took me two weeks to put their supposed ashes in the sea. It had barely been a few days, and here he was, as determined as ever.

"But... you can't! Please!", I begged, not wanting him to do it.

He looked straight at me, his eyes set, determination painted across his face, and said, "We need to let her go. For her own sake. She wouldn't like to know that we're sad. You know that."

It felt like a switch had been flipped inside me. I realized just how right he was. Stella would be up there, amongst the stars, looking over us at night. If she saw us crying, she wouldn't be happy. The complete opposite, in fact.

I sighed, wiping away my tears, and whispering, "You're right. But are you sure Ajax and Serena are okay with this?"

He nodded.

"They'll be there. They're waiting for us right now. Everyone is."

I nodded, wiping away the last of my tears. He held out his hand, and taking a deep breath, preparing myself, I put my hand in his outstretched one, walking out the door with him. We had soon gone through the fence door, and were on the beach.

I could see everyone assembled there, all in their black swim-wear with flowers in their hands. It was a sight that seemed beautiful, but as I got closer, I could see the tears running down everyones faces, frowns painted on them.

Luke turned towards me, smiling at me softly, and left my hand, walking forwards. He had the ashes, and he was the one who was going to spread them. I watched as he took Serena and Ajax's hands, walking towards the sea with them, and felt warmth overtake me as Dad and Noah wrapped their arms around me, Mom soon joining in.

I could feel a tear dropping down my cheek, and I bit my quivering lip. I could hear the clink of the pot which contained Stella's ashes as he opened it. His back muscles tensed as he took a deep breath in. Then, he put the ashes in. Serena and Ajax were rubbing his back as he did, probably pushing back their own tears to support their now only child.

As soon as all the ashes were in the water, he dropped down, his shoulders slumping as he looked down at the sea. Serena and Ajax spread the flowers that they had in their hands over the sea, and I watched as the garlands floated away, creating a pretty scene.  Too bad that the such a tragic event was hiding behind it.

I realized that we had done it. The one thing that was extremely hard for anyone to do. The one thing that was extremely hard for me to do two years ago. I admired Luke's courage. He was strong. Extremely strong, actually. I knew that he was a very strong person, but seeing him being so composed during such a tragic thing was surprising.

I just hoped that he didn't regret being this strong, and that all of us would accept the fact that she was gone soon. I knew that it was going to be hard, but I also knew that we could do it. For her. For Stella. And she would be watching us, cheering us on from amongst the stars.

As a hidden star that was only there when we needed it.

There you go, besties! I updated! XD Hope you enjoyed this chappie! Make sure to comment, vote and share! Love you guys! Peace out!