Ren looked down at Chuck in satisfaction, a smirk growing on his face. It had felt good to finally hit that son of a- Suddenly, there was a blinding pain on the back of his head, and the world went black. He was out before he even hit the ground.

Ariel was turning from where she stood next to Rusty, a triumphant grin on her face, when she saw one of Chuck's greasy little cronies sneaking up behind Ren with a brick in his hand and a malicious look on his face. Her eyes widened and she stepped forward with a cry. "Ren! Watch out!"

Before Ren could even turn around, the ugly idiot smashed the brick into the back of his head with all his might. Ren dropped like a rock, landing face-first on the ground with a loud thump. Ariel stood, shocked, for a moment, then her vision went red and she sprinted over to where the moron stood and punched him solidly on the jaw. Her knuckles stung like hell, but she had never wanted to hit somebody so much. The stupid man stumbled back a few paces, where Willard caught him and threw him on the ground.

As soon as she was sure that Ren's attacker was down for the count, Ariel knelt down next to Ren's still form. She could already see blood through his thick brown hair, and there seemed to be a lot of it. Ariel bit her lip as tears started forming in her eyes, determined not to cry. This was all her fault, and she wouldn't be any help to Ren if she started bawling like a baby.

Some of the people inside the cotton gin had heard the commotion and were spilling out into the parking lot to gather around the group. Ren's football friend Woody crouched down next to them, laying a hand on Ariel's shoulder. "We need to turn him over, see if he'll wake up. He probably has a concussion." Ariel nodded numbly, then helped Woody turn Ren over. She crawled over to his head and lifted it into her lap. Her dress was already streaked with dirt from kneeling on the ground, and now there would probably be blood on it, but she didn't care. Ariel looked anxiously up at Woody. "What now?"

The burly football captain shrugged. "We wait for him to wake up. Meanwhile, maybe we should make our way over to the hospital. With any concussion, it's smart to get it checked out by a doctor." Willard, who had sat down next to Ariel, nodded sagely. "Yup, the doctor will know what to do. We can take my truck, if you want."

Ariel shrugged. "Sure, let's just go." Woody nodded at Willard, and they both took a side and lifted Ren up, wrapping their arms around his waist. Ren let out a pained groan, but his eyes didn't open. The two boys started half-dragging, half-carrying Ren to Willard's truck, and Ariel was left standing in the middle of a circle of worried people. She knew she had to look like a mess, but she pasted on her best smile. "He'll be fine everybody, it's just a little bump on the head. Why don't y'all head back in there and boogie? Ren would be pissed if he knew you interrupted the dance just for him. Go dance your asses off."

There were a couple uncertain glances, but for the most part the students filed back into the makeshift dance hall. Soon, it was just Ariel and Rusty standing there. Rusty came over to Ariel and put an arm around her shoulders. "Come on," she said gently. "If anything's gonna wake that boy up, it'll be your pretty face." Ariel gave her friend a small, grateful smile and started toward Willard's truck.

The boys had settled Ren into the back, and Willard was climbing into the driver's seat. Ariel went around to the other side, then hoisted herself into the back with Ren. They had sat him up in a seat, but he had begun to slide down so she pulled him down so he could rest his head in her lap again. She looked up as Rusty slid into the passenger's seat, noticing that Woody was looking into the back from Willard's door with a worried look on his face. When he saw her looking, he smiled at her reassuringly. "I'm sure he's fine. I'll stay back here and make sure everyone still has a good time. We can't let all of Ren's hard work go down the drain."

Ariel nodded at him gratefully, so he closed Willard's door and gave them a small wave. Willard started the truck, then began to ramble down the road at a moderate speed. Rusty gave Willard's arm a light smack. "Hurry the hell up, Willard!"

Willard shot her a wounded look. "He's just got a concussion, he's not havin' a baby." No matter what he said, Ariel could still tell that he had sped up.

Ren gave another groan, and Ariel looked down at him just in time to see his eyes flutter open. He looked dazed and confused, especially as his gaze focused on Ariel's concerned face. "What happened?"

Ariel smiled softly at him, the sight of his brown eyes relaxing her. She pushed his hair back from his face, then traced her index finger down his jawline. "You got yourself hit with a brick, stupid." Maybe that wasn't really proper bedside manner, but those were the words that came out of her mouth.

This obviously didn't clear anything up for Ren, so he just blinked up at her a few times. "I.. what?" His speech was slightly slurred, which Ariel knew was a sign of a concussion. "I hit m'self with a brick?"

She giggled and shook her head. "No, you were being a hero and a dumbass came up from behind and got you." She began to worry when his confusion didn't seem to be going away. "Do you remember the fight with Chuck?"

He blinked up at her for a moment, then tried to shake his head. Apparently, his head wasn't quite up for that, as he winced. "Chuck?"

She nodded. "At the dance, the moron came with a bunch of his minions so he could start a fight. Pretty pathetic if you ask me."

Ren's forehead wrinkled as he tried to remember. "The dance? We went to the dance?"

Now Ariel was really starting to worry. "Yes.. You picked me up at my house and said I was beautiful.."

He frowned. "I.. did? I mean, you are beautiful.. 'specially right now.." The lines on his forehead faded as he lost his train of thought and just gazed up at her contentedly. "My head hurts. Why does my head hurt 'gain?"

Ariel looked up at Rusty, fear crossing her features, but Rusty shrugged helplessly.

When she looked back down at Ren, his eyes had slid closed again. "Willard?" Ariel called to the front. "Should I keep him awake?"

Willard glanced back, then nodded vigorously. "If you can. That's what coach always says, anyways. The hospital is still a good fifteen minutes away, so try to keep him awake and talking."

Sighing, Ariel patted Ren's face softly."Ren, baby, wake up." When he didn't respond, she shook his shoulder just a bit harder. "Come on, wake up Ren. Lemme see those pretty brown eyes." His face remained slack, and panic began rising in her throat. Trying her best to keep her voice even, Ariel spoke to Willard without taking her eyes from Ren's face. "Willard.. he's not waking up. What do I do?"

"Shit," Willard muttered under his breath. The truck engine revved as he sped up significantly. "Check to see if he's breathing."

Ariel's eyes widened, but she responded quickly by pulling out her phone and holding the screen right next to his slightly open mouth. She sighed shakily when she saw that her screen was fogged up. "He's breathing." She could see Willard's shoulders visibly relax at her words, but when he glanced back again she saw that he was still worried."Well.. just keep trying to wake him up, but don't shake him too hard or anythin'."

Ariel nodded, looking down at Ren's oddly expressionless face. She definitely wasn't a doctor, but she knew that this couldn't be good. He had been hit with a brick, for God's sake. Now that there was absolutely nothing she could do to help him, the tears she had been suppressing started to roll down her face. It was her fault that Chuck had come after Ren, she had been stupid enough to go after the man's car with a crowbar. She should have known that the idiot wouldn't let her get away with it, even after he had smacked her down.

Remembering that she was supposed to be trying to wake Ren, she caressed his cheek with her thumb and squeezed his hand. "Come on, baby, please."

Surprisingly, his eyes fluttered open again. However, this time his eyes were completely out of focus and his face paled. "Ariel.. I think I'm gonna.." Her eyes widened.

"Willard, pull over, he's gonna puke!" Willard cursed again, but kept driving. He leaned over and rummaged around with the hand not on the steering wheel, pulling a plastic bag from the glove compartment. He quickly handed it back to Ariel. "Sorry, I gotta keep driving."

Ariel took the bag and held it with her right hand, gently pushing Ren onto his side with her other arm. She wasn't a moment too soon, as Ren began to vomit. She used both hands to hold the bag steady, trying her best to ignore the smell that filled the car. Rusty and Willard both rolled down their windows, sending sympathetic looks toward the back seat.

Ren threw up for a good minute, eventually just dry heaving into the bag. When he was done, he rolled back so he was gazing up at Ariel. His face was pale and sweaty, and she could tell that his headache had worsened because he was squinting. "Ariel," he croaked, "Wha's goin' on?"

Her forehead creased with worry, Ariel began to stroke his face again. "Don't worry about it, Ren. You'll be fine, just stay awake for me, okay?"

He sighed. "But I'm really tired."

Ariel bit her lip. "I know, baby, I know."