twenty five

Tyler Anderson

Car from the left, into our side, crash.

My arms immediately wrap around Alice's body, shielding her from getting hurt. I feel my body slamming to the ground, a breath leaving my lungs. I can't breathe, it hurts, so bad.

I hold her close to me. I need to protect her. The driver gets out of his car, I don't hear what he's saying. I'm focused on Alice's unconscious body in front of me, I'm trying to breath, only a scream of pain leaves my lips.

Stay awake, stay awake, stay awake. My brain screams. You need to stay awake for her. You need to make sure she's safe.

I close my eyes, trying to breathe but it hurts to much, I groan, this pain is unbareable. The street is cold and rough, I cradle her body close to mine, my arms wrapped around her, her head in my chest.

I open her visor, seeing her eyes closed. I can't move, all I do is move my arm. I want to tell her that there will be help soon but I can't talk, I can't even breathe... How am I supposed to talk.

I see something sparkly next to her. Her necklace, she lost it when we fell. I reach my hand out and take the necklace, the little butterfly pendant shining under the light. I put it into my pocket.

I finally here the sirens, the ambulance holding next to me. The man asks me if I can hear him, I just nod, he's asking me if Alice is unconscious, I nod again.

I untangle myself from her, they carry her away.

Is this my end? Will I stop breathing? I don't know, the man takes my helmet off, checking if my neck or anything is hurt, my neck and head are fine.

As he asks me where it's hurting, I point at my chest. He asks if I have trouble breathing and I nod again. I mumble something, telling him to take care of the girl. He resures me that she's in good hands and then my eyes close. My vision goes black.

______________________

There's a beeping sounds when I wake up again, my blurry vision slowly getting clear, I'm wearing a oxygen mask, giving me some help breathing even though it still hurts like hell.

I hear someone walking into my room, I don't dare to move, I'm scared it'll hurt as well. A nurse appears in front of me, a friendly smile on her face. She takes the oxygen mask of me.

"Try to breathe, Mr. Anderson." She says softly, I take a breath, it hurts but it's bareable. "How are you feeling?" She asks. I just shrug, wincing at the simple motion, immediately regretting what I did.

"You broke three ribs. It'll take some time to heal but you'll definitely heal." She resures me. "Thank you." I choke out. She smiles, "Of course, sir."

"Is the pain bareable at the moment?" I nod. "Good. I'll see after you later again." She leaves. My mind drifts to Alice. How is she doing? Is she okay?

The days in the hospital pass slower than anything else. Breathing hurts and everything I'm doing is laying around in this bed, doing nothing.

Then suddenly the door opens. My brother walks in, I smile. "Hey buddy. How are you doing?" He asks, sitting down on a chair next to my bed. "I'm kinda in pain." I whisper.

"You don't know how I'd love to smash your head right now. Driving without gear... You're crazy." He shakes his head, scoffing. "I know." I cough.

"You definitely had a dead wish." He sighs, running a hand through his hair.

"Alice is fine by the way. She's back at college. Just had some scratches." He just knew me to well. He knew I was going to ask for her, my heart felt lighter as he resured me that she's fine.

"She was here but you were still sleeping." My heart skips a beat, she was here? "When?" He shrugs. "Been some days, you've been out for quite some time. A week?"

"I've been out for a week?" Cole nods. "I want you to be more careful in the future, you hear me? This should've teached you a lesson. Wear your fucking gear, Anderson."

He looks mad, mad and worried. "I'm sorry, it was really dumb... I should've checked that we're both safe." He nodded along my words.

"A friend of mine fixed your bike. Had some scratches, nothing serious." I nod. "What are you even doing in New York?" Cole rubbed the back of his neck.

"Moved here a while ago. My friend's dad gave me a real good prize for an apartment so... I moved here." I run a hand through my hair as I listen to him.

"Hold on- since when do you have a tattoo..." His eyes run over the tattoos on my forearms. I sometimes forget I got this a few months ago.

"Oh... Those. I got them a few months ago. Was pretty random." I run my hand over the ink.

"Looks good." I nodded a thanks. We continued talking for a while. I haven't really had the time to talk to him at prom.

He left after some hours, my breathing got more swallow again and I really had to rest. My chest keeps hurting but I try to ignore the pain. I just want to focus on resting for now.

___________________________

"Mr. Anderson. Your girlfriend is here to see you." The nurse informs me. What girlfriend? What step did I miss? Did someone erase some kind of memory from my mind-

And the she walks in, the beautiful brown hair in soft curls, her blue eyes filled with worry. She shrugs her coat off and sits down in front of me. "Hey..." She breathes out.

A smile ghosts my lips. Alice is here.

"Girlfriend, huh?" I cough, smirk on my lips. "They wouldn't let me in. I needed to see you... So... I told them I'm your girlfriend." She fidgets with the fabric of her shirt while looking into her lap.

"I don't mind that, gorgeous. I'm glad you finally excepted that your mine." She rolls her eyes and I just laugh but start coughing right after, cursing under my breath.

"How are you doing?" She asks, slightly tilting her head. "I'm getting better. I'm just glad you're not hurt." She shakes her head. "You're so stubborn. And I'm so, so sorry..." Her eyes start to fill with tears.

"I didn't mean for all of this to happen... I ran away... I was a coward..." A tear slips down her face. "Your brother told me... I should've believed you. How was I so stupid and thought that anything Adam said was real..." She runs a hand through her hair.

"Why do you still put up with me Tyler? I've been the worst to you. You deserve better than me." I want to say something but she continues talking.

"I want to apologize. I want to say sorry for everything I did. Ever. I want to be a better person. It's just... I never had so much attention from a boy..." She wipes the tear away with the back of her hand.

"You were my first in everything and I guess it just scared me sometimes." It kind of made my heart swell with possession when she said I was her first. First boy to give her attention, first kiss and first time.

"You know I'll never be mad at you, gorgeous. And I don't want to deserve better. I want you." I gesture for her to come closer and she sits down on the edge of the bed.

"I got something for you by the way." She looks curious. "Open the drawer of that nightstand." I nod my head into the direction of the nightstand.

She opens it, gasping. "Oh my god, Tyler. I thought I lost it in the accident." She takes the necklace out of the drawer.

"Turn around, I'll put it on you." I carefully sit up in bed, wincing in pain slightly. I brush her silk brown hair out of the way gently putting the necklace on.

"Thanks..." She whispers and turns around to face me once more.

Her eyes drift over my arms, her finger smoothly gliding over the ink on my forearms. I can feel my breath hitching, I missed her touch on me. "Tattoos, huh?" I nod. "Got them while you were away." She bites her lip while looking at them. "You look even hotter with them."

I cock an eyebrow at her. "Oh yeah? Do I?" She just nods. I chuckle, pulling her close but immediately regretting the action as I let out a sharp gasp, always forgetting about my current situation.

"Oh I'm sorry, was that my fault?" I shake my head, trying to find back to my steady breathing. "You did nothing wrong, gorgeous. I just forgot that I'm still not fully healed." I sigh, running a hand through my hair.

Alice being here makes all my pain melt away. I just want to capture this moment forever, hold her forever and be close to her forest. I actually want to confess my love to her right now but the hospital isn't the best spot for this.

I'll have to wait a little more. I feel like we're finally where we wanted to be from the start, together, with no sneaking around or denying each other's feeling. We both knew what we feel for each other.

I know what she feels and she knows what I feel even though we don't say it. We know it. We feel it. And I just know we were made for each other. We belong together and I want us to be together for a long time.

I slowly lay back in the bed. "I promise we'll spend more time together once I'm out of here." A warm smile spreads over her soft lips. "I'd love that. But you have to focus on recovering first." I take her hand into mine.

"I will. I'm just glad you're here with me." I raise her hand to my mouth and place a kiss onto her knuckles holding eyes contact all along.

_________________________

What should I say... I moved to New York...

Why? Because of Alice. Obvie.

Boston is where my friends are but here's where the person I can't live without is.

Sounds silly, right? I know. Cole helped me get an apartment through his friends dad. It's small but enough for me, cozy.

"You owe me something. I came all the way here for you." My best friend mutters and I just pat his back.

"Yeah and you know I love you for that, Caddle." He just rolls his eyes at me, of course.

He and Cassie were good again and Daniel warned him he'll kill him for real if he messes up one more time. Chris promised he knows how to handle relationships now... Which I don't believe...

"Thanks for helping me move in though. Beer?" I ask, walking over to my fridge. "Yeah, could use one." We plop down onto the couch, clinging our beer together and just talk and talk and talk.

It felt like the old days again. Eventhough the four of us kind of separated after high school. Chris had a break from school right now and was doing pretty good in school with Cassie's help while Noah decided to move to Dublin to be close to his family and Daniel and Camilla started dating.

We were all living our own life now but still have time for each other. Our friendship has always been strong and will always be. My friends are my second family.