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When Maggie started heading towards her bedroom, she had been planning on falling on the bed and sleeping for as long as she possibly could. Ever since she had her spikes taken out, she had been feeling the need to sleep again, which was just fine with her. She didn't like having to spend her nights wide awake because sleep was no longer needed. What she did not plan on was Hal Mason, sitting on the ground right beside her door.

She had not seen her ex for almost two whole days, after she had informed him, that he was the reason she had got her spikes taken out. Maggie had originally thought it was because Hal had been spending time with Isabella, but when she had casually brought it up to the other girl, she was just as clueless as Maggie as to where Hal was or what he was doing.

Maggie approached the young man quietly, as it appeared he might've been sleeping, with his head pressed against his knees that were pulled up against his chest. When Maggie reached his side, she got down on her knees, and laid her hand on his shoulder. Hal gave a small jerk as he lifted his head and looked around in confusion before his eyes finally locked on her.

"Hey." He said quietly, his voice very drowsy.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Maggie asked, keeping her voice low.

"I was hoping I could talk to you, I wanted your advice on something." Hal answered. This caused Maggie to frown in thought. What advice could she possibly offer to Hal? She looked back at the man that she knew she still loved. His bloodshot eyes, the still healing bruise from Pope. He looked beyond exhausted. There was no way she was going to deny him any help that she could give. So she nodded and together, they stood up and entered her room.

As Maggie shut the door, Hal looked around and realized that the only place where they could sit and talk, was her bed. There were no chairs or anything, unless they wanted to sit on the floor. Hal stood in place, knowing he was already probably feeling uncomfortable with him being there, especially since he actually fell asleep at her door, he didn't want to make it worse. Maggie though went and sat on the bed and noticed Hal still standing, looking very unsure and a little uncomfortable.

"You can sit down." Maggie told him. When Hal heard that, he slowly came over to the bed and sat down beside her, but did not look at her. Neither spoke, and after a few moments, Maggie finally asked, "What's wrong Hal?"

"Do you remember, back before we even got to Charleston, we were out scouting with Tector and Crazy Lee? We ended up taking a break at that hospital, and we starting talking on the steps." Hal inquired.

"Yeah." Maggie replied, as if she could forget, that was when they had their first kiss, but she had the feeling that that wasn't what he was getting at.

"You said, that when you went in for your last operation, you didn't care if you survived, that you had accepted it. What did you do when you woke up, I mean, how did you get back into the world after being ready to leave it?" Hal didn't meet her eyes at all as he was speaking. His gaze either turned to stare straight ahead or down at his hands.

"Well, I ended up becoming a druggie. It wasn't until after I," Maggie paused and took a deep breath before continuing, "after I gave birth, that I finally decided that since I did survive, there must've been a reason for it. I just had to go and find it. Hal, what's going on?" Maggie's concern for her best friend growing exponentially.

"When Pope had me, there were times he would, just shove his gun right in my face, right against my forehead. I looked into his eyes and I could see that he was ready to pull the trigger. I thought he was going to kill me, I had accepted it. Luckily though, I escaped, with some help. But then, we come here and again, I have more guns being pointed at me. I'm just, tired of staring down a gun's barrel, wondering if this time the person holding it will actually pull the trigger. I can't keep going from being ready to die, to suddenly having to be alive." Hal explained, placing his head in his hands.

Maggie sat in silence. Hal had seemed to be dealing with everything just fine. She shouldn't have been surprised to find that he was struggling, he had been through so much, especially over the last few weeks. Maggie placed her hand on his back, and ran it up and down it spine to comfort him.

"Hey? It's okay Hal. You're alive, you've survived so much, you'll survive this too." Maggie told him.

"I just hate, feeling like this." Hal said, finally looking up at her face. Maggie wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him close. Hal turned from his spot to face her and wrapped his arms around her waist, placing his head against his shoulder, tears starting to run down his face.

When Maggie felt his tears hit her shoulder, she held him tighter, wishing she could take his pain away. Soon, she felt his body starting to shake against hers. Maggie knew that this was why he'd come to her, because he knew that she had been through this and survived. He needed her to show him how to do it too.

Maggie waited until Hal stopped shaking before she pulled away so she could look at his tear stained face. His bloodshot eyes were almost pure red now, making the dark circles and his one bruise look even worse than they did before. Maggie lifted her hands to his face and began to gently brush away the leftover tears.

"You survived for a reason Hal, you have to believe that. But for now, just lie down and go to sleep. It's okay, you're safe here." Hal nodded and laid down on the bed. Maggie stretched out beside him and watched as he fell asleep.

2 years later...

Maggie screamed as she felt the pain wash over her body again, and squeezed Hal's hand that was wrapped around her own.

"Almost there Maggie. Just one more push." Anne told her, looking up at the woman in the bed over her large stomach.

"Come on Mags, you can do it." Hal encouraged, kissing his wife's knuckles. Maggie looked over at he husband and gave him a smile, before pushing with all her might, and was rewarded with the sound of a baby's cries.

"It's a girl!" Anne exclaimed, and after cutting the cord, placed the newborn in the mother's arms.

Maggie was torn between crying, and laughing in joy as she held her baby girl in her arms, taking account of every detail. The dark hair covering her scalp, her small nose, and her, what looked like, brown eyes staring back at her as she slowly settled in her mother's embrace. Hal, got off the chair and sat on the bed beside the, now two, most important women in his life. Maggie looked back at him and lowered her arms, allowing Hal to get a full look at his daughter. He lifted his hand and placed it on his child's head, before bending down and giving her a kiss on her short, dark hair.

As Hal looked up at his wife, he said, "I guess you were right. We did survive for a reason."

Maggie frowned for a moment, before remembering what Hal was talking about, that conversation they had, one late night, almost two years ago. She smiled again, agreeing whole heartily with her husband as she looked back down at their little girl. Their reason for surviving. Anne smiled at the new parents, before leaving to inform the now, Grandpa and uncles, of the birth.