Jerome's POV
It's was two days since they've been missing, and I still hadn't been able to stop crying. Ryan hadn't come out of the hotel room, which we were still staying in in hopes that the investigation would be successful and we could finally find Mitch and Ashley. When Louise heard about what happened, she bought the soonest possible plane and flew up to comfort me. The police kept us updated on the investigation with the permission of Mitch and Ashley's parents, but they hadn't had any leads until then.
The phone rang, and Louise picked it up for me.
"Hello?" she answered. There was silence on the other end, but then her eyes widened.
"Really?" she said as she sat up. I sat up too. It had to be about Mitch and Ashley. There was more silence, and I resisted the urge to snatch the phone away from her.
"Yes, I understand." she said after a minute. "We can only hope." She then hung up and turned to me, mixed emotions on her face.
"Jerome...they found where Mitch and Ashley are, but they can't act yet. They found out the people who took them are wanted criminals, and are highly dangerous. They could kill Mitch and Ashley. They..." she trailed off, concern in her eyes.
"They what?" I urged her on as tears sprang to my eyes. She touched my cheek softly.
"They...they might already be dead." she said softly. I shook my head. They couldn't be dead. Mitch, who I grew up with my whole life, couldn't just leave me like that. And Ashley, who I once had strong feelings for, couldn't be gone too. The tears started flowing again, and I let Louise hold me while I sobbed even harder than when I found out they were missing.
All I could do was pray that two of the people I loved were still alive.
Mitch's POV
When I awoke, I could've sworn I was in Heaven or Hell or whatever. Yet as I became more aware of my surroundings, I realized I was in a tightly packed box, and next to me was...Ashley. I turned my head and she stirred beside me before her eyes fluttered open.
"M-Mitch." she stuttered, her eyes clouded with fear as she realized where we were. She started hyperventilating, but I managed to turn towards her and hold her.
"Ashley, it's going to be ok." I said, but my voice cracked. I knew it wasn't going to be ok.
"Ashley..." I started as I felt the tears fall down my cheeks. "I am so sorry. For everything. It's my fault you're here right now, it's my fault they did those things to you." I took a shaky breath before I continued.
"I love you Ashley. More than anything in the world. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, and now it's too late. I'm so sorry Ashley, because now we're never going to have a chance to be together, ad it's all my fault." I sobbed. Ashley looked up at me, tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Mitch..." she whispered. "But its not too late, and it's not your fault. I could never blame any of this on you. And even...even if these are our last moments, I...want to spend them with you.
"I love you, Mitch Donald-Ralph Hughes."
Ashley's POV
Mitch just stared at me in amazement. Then, he took my face in his hands, and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around him, and his around me, and our wet cheeks connected as our lips did. In that moment, I forgot about the pain in my arm where I was tortured, or the panicky feeling I had before from my claustrophobia. Everything was so far from perfect right then and there, yet I was happy. So I kissed him with all my life, because I knew I wouldn't have one after I pulled away.
But I couldn't help but know that it was really too late after all.
