Begin Again 2: RESET || Nate Maloley

{ eleven }

N A T E

Liv left kisses in a row up my chest until she reached my lips.

"Missed you," I told her.

"It's okay," she said. "Everything is okay now. We can finally do whatever we want."

"Sorry I sold the ring...I promise I'll buy you another one. A bigger one."

"You still wanna marry me baby?" She kissed me on the cheek and gently ran her fingers along my neck after she climbed on top of me. Her natural scent made me feel at home, made me rest easier.

"Of course."

"Even though I don't have a dress or any makeup?"

"Nah, damn that."

"Even though I'm dead," she chuckled.

My smile faded. "What did you say?"

"...Even though I'm dead..."

Just then, lightning flashed bright through the window and thunder roared, making me turn my head quickly and back. But when I looked at her again, she was no longer on my lap. She was lying next to me - idle, lifeless, eyes closed and lips pale. She now wore a white lace dress and her hands were folded over her stomach.

"You should've known you were no good for her, bro." A familiar voice said in the opposite corner of my room. I turned to see it was Alex. I hadn't talked to him since I found out he was conscious again. "You dragged her into this and now look what you've done...she was somebody's sister, somebody's daughter..."

"And she was my everything," I gulped, looking back at Liv. "I'm sorry."

"If only you met her after it was all said and done."

"But she wanted to be by my side, Alex." I started to cry. "She wanted-- She said we--"

I felt his hand on my shoulder. "You won't have to go too far to be by her side."

I wiped my eyes and she was no longer in the bed. I caught her just as she walked out of my room and quickly hopped out of the bed to follow her. When I opened my bedroom door, I was immediately on a quiet beach. She sat still on the shore, letting the waves hit her.

"Liv," I called out as I walked to her. "...Liv?"

Once I made it to her, I saw the blood dripping out of her mouth. Her gunshot wound bleeding again. Tears filled her eyes as she trembled with damp clothes and sand all over her legs.

"Nate?" She said it the exact same way she did after Foosh had shot her. "Come find me. Please come find me. I'm scared."

"I'm right here baby," I kneeled down to her, pushing the wet hair off her forehead. "Tell me how I can help you."

"Come with me," she said with sad eyes. "We'd be happier here."

"Where is here," I asked.

She didn't answer, she only stared out at the ocean as if she didn't hear me. Suddenly my feet started to sink into the sand and I was slowly being pulled down by gravity. Liv stood up and started walking into the ocean as I cried out for her. But she never turned around, she kept going until her head was under.

I shook out of my sleep, grabbing my chest and gasping for air. It was dark in her hospital room but the TV was still on. I got up from the hospital recliner, slowly reaching the bathroom. My side still ached from the stitches as I bent over a bit to rinse my face. I paused looking in the mirror. Something was off...literally. I didn't hear the heart monitor and went back into the room. The machine wasn't even on, nor was the life support. Her chest wasn't moving and there was a pillow on the floor beside her bed. I suddenly couldn't breathe and I saw a shadow move in the corner of the room.