Falling Down // M.C.

Always Be Together

"Your heartbeat is disguised as my lullaby."

Mason's POV

I slowly walked up to the podium and took a deep breath, willing the tears in my eyes to go away. Funerals were never the place for me. I always missed the memory of the dead more than I was happy they were out of pain. I cleared my throat before speaking into the microphone. "When Lilly first asked me to speak at her funeral, I refused. Not because I didn't want to, but because I thought we wouldn't be having on for a really long time. Lilly was my Peter Pan but she ran out of pixie dust and had to go home to Neverland. Lilly was my best friend. She was beautiful, inside and out and I would do it all over again if I can the chance. I wish I had the chance. I miss her. I miss her with every fiber of my being and there's no beautiful way to describe how hollow my chest feels because she took my heart with her when she died. Lilly was a mess. She spoke her mind without thinking of the consequence, pushed the limits of everything, drove everyone just a little bit crazy, and refused to act like she was dying. She would wake up every single day and treat it like it was an adventure, and some of it was. Some days we met Peter Pan and some days she fell in love. Now, the thing about Lilly was that she loved with her entire being and she loved Michael the most. Don't get me wrong, she loved me too but not like this. Not like I hung the moon and the stars and could give her everything in the world. So, Michael, I want to thank you for giving my best friend the only thing I ever wanted for her: someone to love her through it better than I could. Her smile was brighter and her eyes were happier because of him and that was beautiful. He made her wish on stars and fight over silly things and that was beautiful. He made her live again and that's the most beautiful thing about their relationship. When we were younger, Lilly was my rock. She got me through my dad leaving and always had icecream when I cried, and she never treated any of my problems like they didn't matter. When she got diagnosed, she was still my rock. Instead of crying because she was dying she held me in her arms and told me it would all be okay. She was gonna fight cancer and kick it's ass and then we'd go back to spending our Friday nights watching Netflix. She fought hard and long and with everything she had, but in the end she lost. Lilly was like waking up and realizing everything in the world was okay. That peaceful feeling you get when you can say I love you and mean it. When we were little, she would always take me to her special place and tell me all of her secrets there, like they were too big to be just thrown out in the open without something made of hope to catch it when it fell. She told me she was pansexual there. She told me she wanted to change the world there. She told me her parents didn't love her anymore there. And she told me she wasn't going to make it much longer there. Lilly exceeded what the doctors gave her by exactly seven months. She was given a hope that maybe she would be able to get better, to have a family and marry Michael like they both wanted. She even asked me to be the Maid of Honor because she thought there was a chance and if that doesn't show you how much faith she had in the world then I don't know what will. I can't tell you anything more about Lilly, words don't do her justice. Just know that she will forever be my best friend and nothing will change that. I'll save a spot for her at my table for every holiday and tell my children what it felt like to really be in love, because sometimes the person who loves you the most isn't the person you marry. It's the person you make secrets with and the person who chooses to love you even when you mess everything up. My children will know how she changed my life and that she will always be looking over them, no matter where they are in the world. I love you Lilly Ann, to the moon and back. Wherever you are, I hope you know that."

I stepped down from the podium and took my seat, clenching my fist and leaning into Luke when he put his arm around me. I wouldn't cry. Not in front of people who wouldn't understand my tears. Not in front of people who only came because they wanted to be polite. They didn't love her and they didn't deserve to see how much she meant to me or how broken I was because I lost her. No, I would cry tonight in the arms of Michael, Luke, Calum, and Ashton because they knew how much it hurt. We would pile up in someone's bed and cling to each other and a picture of Lilly, whispering that time heals everything but not believing that it was true. We'd cry because I lost my other half and Michael lost the only girl he's ever loved and Luke lost his best friend and Calum lost the comforting arms that held him when he hated himself and Ashton lost the laugh that made him want to change the world. We'd cry because we lost the one thing that kept us going, the one person who loved each and every one of us more than she loved herself. We'd cry because that's the only way we could feel anything and we'd cry because we wanted to remember her. We'd cry because Lilly died and there was no way we were getting her back.

A/N: I'm sorry to say that this book is over but I'm happy to say that there's going to be a Calum Hood story where he's a werewolf and I promise that no one important is going to die ♥ It's called Wrong Way so keep an eye open for it and PLEASE contact me if you want to be a part of any future fanfics because I love when I'm in them so I would really like to have you guys in it! Also, I'll take request for any stories in the future and my kik is emmaleahnicole if you want to contact me on there. I love you so much and thank you to everyone who read this book!

Nic