Alex approached and reached out to squeeze Zeke’s shoulder. "Don’t worry, there are many of us here who will watch over her. Abi and the others will also be there for her all the way, so don’t worry. All you need to do is come back to us as soon as possible. Don’t make her wait too long, do you understand me? Huh, Zeke?" Alex then tightened his grip and gave Zeke a slight shake, as though savoring the last time in a long while to disturb this friend of his.

He nodded at Alex, gratitude brimming in his dark eyes. "I know I can rely on you and everyone, Alex."

"Well... I don’t mind helping out babysitting your child along with mine, since you claim you’ve babysat me for a long time."

They both laughed weakly at Alex’s attempt at a joke.

"We will take care of Alicia, brother." Kyle said as he too, approached and held his brother’s hand, followed by Kai and Zeres and Lucas.

Then his gaze fell to Sebastian who was still unconscious. "I’m going to leave him to you guys as well. He would cause trouble once he wakes up and finds out that I’m gone." A small fleeting smile crossed his lips for a second.

Alex flashed him a reassuring smile. "Of course. I guess, he could make the life of these single guys right here livelier. But rest assured I’ll butt in and kick his ass if he ever tries crossing the line." "Don’t be too hard on him Alex... he’s had suffered a lot and for far too long already." Ezekiel’s voice was kind as he thought of how much his brother had endured.

"I know. Se..." Alex trailed off when the shadows behind Zeke suddenly tugged at him. He was pulled a few steps back towards the gate along with Alicia who still could not bear to let go of his hands.

Zeke nodded at them, and everyone stayed where they were.

"Alicia..." Zeke tightened his arms around her, burying his face against her hair as he inhaled her own unique scent. He could breathe it in forever and still would not be tired of smelling it.

"Ezekiel..." she uttered his name in response as she fisted her hands in his clothes. "I love you... I love you so much... I will be waiting for you." Her eyes shone with unshed tears, held back only purely by willpower.

He kissed her mouth and she immediately returned the kiss. They shared the most emotional kiss they had ever had. "When I come back... I will tell you how much I..." he paused, "I will say those words to you every chance I get. And as many times as you want to hear it." His husky voice was filled with emotion he never thought he was capable of showing until now. The reason he had never told her how much he loved her was because to him, ’I love you’ means goodbye. That was his mother’s parting words too, before she left them. He had felt that he did not want to say it to Alicia. He had never wanted to say goodbye to her. He was scared that if he said those words, he might never come back to her, just like his mother. So, he had decided he would not.

He could not help but smile within himself at the fact that he was afraid to say those words when he had never felt fear since the day he had lost everything. He had never feared anything, not even death, until Alicia came into his life. Now here he was, fearing even to say the words ’I love you’ to the woman he loves so much.

Love was just incredible that he had no words left to express it.

"I can’t say it because I want to say it only when I return to you, Alicia." He continued and Alicia could only smile. He was confident that he would return to her. To tell her how much he loves her.

"You, silly man." She pinched his cheek. "Fine... come back to me and tell me how much you love me."

"I will. I –"

This time, another hard tug had separated them except for their hands that were desperately clutching onto each other’s. Zeke’s body was already halfway inside the gate.

Alicia held her tears back with everything she had and flashed a watery smile at him.

"Wait for me... Alicia..." was all he said once again.

"I will be waiting, Ezekiel..." she held onto his one last finger that was slipping out from her grasp. "Come back to me... to us... soon..."

He smiled. "I will." And then he uttered her name one last time as his finger slipped out of her hold. "Alicia..."

"I love you... Ezekiel..." she whispered as she watched him disappear right before her very eyes. And there was nothing she could do about it, even if she cried her eyes blind.

When the gate finally closed without a sound, as though it was nothing worth noting, and not a single trace of him was left, she fell to the ground. She collapsed to her knees, bent her head and sobbed quietly into her hands.

The separation was still no less painful, but she felt that after this, she was going to be able to live on without him being beside her for a long while. She did not know how long this waiting period would be, but she will wait, nonetheless. For him, it was worth even if she waited until the end of her life. It was usually him who waits. Now, let it be her who do the waiting. She was confident he would keep his promise. He will return to her side one day.

Running her palms across her now still flat stomach in a rather protective manner, she wiped away the last few tears that fell from her eyes with the back of her hands and smiled as she lifted her face up. Her eyelashes fluttered as her eyes lightly closed and imagined her husband’s face in her mind. His image was imprinted deeply within her and would forever be kept in her heart and mind.

"I will wait for you... we will wait for you, no matter how long it takes. I love you... Ezekiel..."

~ The End ~

PLEASE READ!

There will side stories that will be released on 25th. So look forward to it hellbounders! (The sidestorirs will be very interesting so don’t miss it! ^^)

I also just want to say that I had always planned to give HWY an open ending hence this ending. I know this ending might leave many unsatisfied but this is how i wanted HWY to end even before i decided to do Hellbound Heart.

But now that there’s HH, i want to tell everyone that Alicia and Zeke’s story will continue in HH. Though i would like to ask everyone to be patient as HH’s main characters are Sebastian and Izabelle. It would take time for the other couples from HWY to get the story’s spotlight.

Alicia and Zeke might not have their own book but they deserve to be major characters inside two books.

I hope to see you all again in HELLBOUND HEART.

Thank you very much for everything! Thank you for sticking by me for the last 2 years of writing Hellbound With You. Please check the ending event to get frames and also read my messge there. Thank you. <3