Aurora’s P.O.V

"Ashton, how can you say that?" My voice trembled, the weight of his words pressing against my chest like a slow, suffocating force. "Hope is the only thing keeping us alive." My hands clenched at my sides, my breath uneven. How could he even think of giving up now? After everything we had been through, after everything we had to survive till this day, he was just going to let despair take over?

Ashton exhaled sharply, running a hand through his disheveled hair, ...