_Stranger, _

_Who knows all my secrets. _

_Can pull me apart and break my heart, _

_A soulmate, _

_Who wasn’t meant to be_

__

__

"Hey." Asher's voice rings through to my ears, barely a whisper, still cracking, like he's choking back tears. "Hey, love." I answer, cringing immediately afterward, my pale face scrunching up from the pain shooting through my lower stomach. "I don’t deserve that." The sorrow in his dark eyes drowns me. I feel like they might kill me faster than the wound causing me to bleed out on my kitchen floor at 2 a.m.

The funny thing about pain is the distraction your brain tries to give you. It's as if it's extending your life, stretching like a rubber band until it snaps. I feel my band dangerously close to the inevitable tear, coming apart at the seams, but the only thing I can think of is how my blood will stain the white tiles, and just how beautiful the man who caused my death is.

I clear my throat softly: "It’s not your fault, honey. It’s Cayden’s. He was the one holding the gun. You got the order, but he pulled the trigger. My blood is on his hands. I don’t blame you. I love you to death, Asher, quite literally." He manages a tiny smile. "Is that a proposal I’m hearing?" I smirk. "You want it to be?"

He looks down at me, my head in his lap. I feel a pang of sadness, knowing this is the last time I'll see him. Yet, I'm grateful he'll be my last sight on earth. It’s seeing beauty through pain, and that’s all life is, isn’t it? "Yeah." He mumbles into my hair, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

"Asher Sinclair, hitman ordered to kill, man who fell in love, sweetest person I’ve ever met, better than his good-for-nothing family, will you do me the honor of making me the happiest woman alive, even if only for a moment, and marry me, so I can love you and be true to you till the second I die?" He smiles lovingly. "Yes, Katerina Rosenstock, I will."

I can feel the life draining out of me, but I still joke through a rattling breath: "I’ll be your corpse bride, baby!" He chuckles, tears brimming his eyes as I cough. I feel my own start to burn as they well up. "Will you sing for me?" I ask, my voice fading. He clears his throat and starts singing quietly. _"Everywhere, everything, I wanna love you till we’re food for the worms to eat, till our fingers decompose, keep my hand in yours…"_ Ash’s voice starts fading out, and I close my eyes for the last time, listening to it, wanting this moment to last forever.

I see everyone doing these, so

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