Here is my completely rewritten story! Hope you guys enjoy :)
Song of the chapter
When We're Fire by Lo-Fang
Oops :)
I sat cross-legged in front of the small screen, a thin blanket wrapped around my head and body and a bowl of popcorn in my lap. Currently, Tadashi's favourite horror film was playing. 'Ha ha, your best friends making you watch a horror movie even though you're terrified of them-' Wrong! I- stupid as I am- wanted to shove in his dumb face that I could in fact, watch horror movies alone without shitting myself, quite literally.
Boy, was I wrong.
My eyes were glued to the screen in horror, watching the jump scares and gore with panicked, short breaths. How do people enjoy these?
Shrieking, I hit the ground with a thud after feeling a hand crawl up my back. The laptop landed on my stomach, knocking the wind out of me shortly. After hearing the familiar laughter, I let out an annoyed huff of air.
"Y-You went flying!" Tadashi snickered, attempting to muffle his chuckles behind his hand. Hiro was quite the opposite, doubled over, not even trying to hide his amusement. I blew a strand of hair from my face as I sat up, probably resembling a pouting child.
"Aw, poor baby." Tadashi teased, offering me a hand up.
"Ha, ha." I deadpanned, trying not to blush at the nickname. "You're just lucky you caught me off guard. Besides- I wasn't even that scared." I spoke, matter of fact as I crossed my arms over my chest proudly.
That sent Hiro into another fit of laughter, earning a glare from me. "What are you doing here, anyways." Hiro asked after catching his breath.
"I wanted to watch that film Tadashi kept wanting me to watch. Besides, im here almost everyday anyways."
"True."
"Also, Aunt Cass called." Hiro winced as I shook my head disapprovingly. "Better make this up to her quick before she eats everything in the café."
"For sure." Hiro spoke after sitting in his swivel chair, eyes now glued to his computer screen.
"And I hope you learned your lesson, bonehead." Tadashi added, walking towards his brother.
"Absolutely." Hiro spun around in his chair and looked up at his brother with a blank expression.
Tadashi watched his brother with confusion on his face, I could see the cogs slowly moving in his head. "You're going bot fighting, aren't you?"
"There's a fight across town, if I book, I can still make it." Hiro shrugged as he stood, grabbing his bot as he made his way to the stairs with a smug grin. He rolled his eyes after being pulled back by the hood on his hoodie.
"When are you going to do something with that big brain of yours?" Tadashi sighed disapprovingly, tapping his brothers forehead with a frown.
"What, like go to college like you two?" Hiro brushed away Tadashi's hands as he spoke. "So people can tell me stuff I already know?"
"Just go with him, Tadashi. There's no way you can stop him from going and you know it." I broke in, finally joining the conversation. Tadashi sighed, knowing that was the best he was going to get.
"I guess you're right. Just let me grab my keys... Abby, you coming?"
"Nah, I should probably head home and check on the dog anyways." I stood and stretched my arms over my head as I made my way towards the two. "Kick ass for me, all right?" I grinned as I ruffled Hiro's mop of hair.
"Please!" Hiro scoffed. "Place your bets now!"
The large golden retriever raced between my legs and inside, spinning around to greet me. I giggled as I bent down to Honey's height, soon cringing after receiving a slobbery kiss on the cheek. "Still at work, im guessing?" I spoke, speaking of my father. I wasn't mad- it wasn't like he could control his hours. Being a single parent isn't easy.
I walked upstairs to the loft, also known as my bedroom, with Honey short behind me. Honey collapsed on the bed and was soon snoring. I, on the other hand, didn't feel like sleeping quite yet. I pulled the familiar box filled with old memories from under my bed, and began to rummage through it. I paused at a picture from graduation. It was a picture of Tadashi and I. I was on Tadashi's back as we both looked at each other smiling, not even realising our picture was being taken. I sighed like a lovesick teenager, looking at Tadashi with a stupid grin on my face. This should really be on the wall.
I stood and made my way to the wall filled with pictures of fun times, the majority was filled with pictures of my friends. I was cut off from my thoughts after pinning the picture to a rare empty space by the loud buzzing of my cell phone.
"You wont believe it- I showed Hiro the lab and he wants to enroll!" Tadashi's voice screamed through the speaker, causing me to hold my phone away from my ear as I winced.
"Seriously? Did you show him the office? Baymax?" My grin stretched wide from excitement, as I collapsed onto my bed I imagined Hiro's reaction to the giant marshmallow.
"Obviously." I could picture his sarcastic eye roll now. "He's entering the University showcase. I'm sure whatever he comes up with will blow Callaghan away."
"Well, duh." I affirmed. "It's Hiro for Christ's sake, fourteen year old prodigy."
"Yeah, he has nothing to worry about." Tadashi agreed. "So, what's up?"
"Oh, nothing much, just going through my box of repressed memories." I sat up and brought the box next to me closer, digging through it once more. "Old friendship bracelets we used to make each other, pictures, dusty CD's-"
"You kept all that?" Tadashi asked with a laugh.
"Well duh- you would tell me if I lost those friendship bracelets you'd never speak to me again! Then you'd lose them and have to remake them all over again!" Before Tadashi could protest, I continued speaking. "Oh, look! That old valentines day card I made you in eighth grade- which you then gave back to me."
"Oh, god." I could hear the embarrassment in Tadashi's voice, making me giggle.
"Quite the smooth one you are, huh Hamada?" I laughed, opening the card as I read it to myself.
"All it says is you suck on it! And this girl I was trying to impress saw it and laughed at me!" Tadashi argued, but you could still hear the amusement in his voice.
"I know! You wouldn't talk to me for a week." I added, through my giggles.
Our laughter soon turned to silence, leaving me with hesitation and empty thoughts.
"So, Abby, I-" Tadashi began before the sound of a door slamming shut cut him off.
"I think my dad just got home- hold that thought for tomorrow, I gotta go."
Little did I know, he wouldn't get the chance.
"Good morning Aunt Cass!" I called through the small café, shutting the door behind me. I smiled at the sound of the door jingling, although something small and insignificant, it brought a warm feeling of familiarity. Closing my eyes, I took a large intake of breath, breathing in the wonderful smells of treats being made from the kitchen.
"Not Aunt Cass! She's off picking up a package I believe." Tadashi called from the kitchen. "Mind doing me a favour and waking up Hiro? He had a long night trying to come up with ideas and fell asleep on his desk. I decided to give him a couple more minutes." Tadashi continued, finally coming to the entrance of the kitchen to greet me.
I saluted as I made my way towards the stairs, a slight skip to my step. "On it!" I added, nodding my head firmly.
After making it to the top floor, I hesitated to wake Hiro up. He looked exhausted from what the dark circles under his eyes were telling me. Slowly, I nudged the bottom of his chair so it would move slightly, hopefully enough to wake him up. Much to my dismay, the push was rather harder then I expected. His arms, propped under his head like a pillow, fell of the desk resulting in his head hitting the table, enough to wake him up. In a rush of panic, Hiro eventually ended up on the floor.
I soon ended up next to him, my uncontrollable laughter too much to bear. "I-I'm... s-s-so... s-s-s-or-r-r-y." I eventually got out, holding my stomach as I curled into a ball on the floor.
"You are the worst." Hiro moaned, rubbing his face with a hand. "I am so getting you back today." I cringed as I watched him rub at his eyes, genuinely feeling guilty at the little spill I caused.
Dramatically, I placed a hand to my mouth and faked a gasp. "No! You can't be mad at me I just can't bear it!"I made it to my feet and placed a hand to my forehead in despair. "I guess the only way I could truly make it up to you is just taking your shift until you get some proper rest."
Hiro rolled his eyes and took the hand I eventually offered to help him up. "You're already working today, I can't make you take all that extra work." Hiro drawled. "As amazing as that would be."
I gave him a quick, one armed hug before heading towards the stairs back to the café. "Don't worry about it, bro, I got it. You need the rest, I know how stressed out you must be." I assured, quickly running down the stairs before he could argue.
After making it back downstairs, I wrapped an apron around my waist and tied my brown hair back into a quick bun before grabbing a broom to quickly sweep the floor. "Where's Hiro?" Tadashi asked, walking from the kitchen as he rubbed his floury hands onto his apron.
Just finishing sweeping, I placed the broom away as I spoke, "Told him id cover his workload. He was exhausted, he needs a couple more hours at least." I began to place the chairs off the tables onto the floor, Tadashi soon wordlessly joined me. "Something on your mind?" I asked, noticing the rare silence coming from him.
"No, no." Tadashi dramatically waved me away. "Just stunned to silence by how nice my best friend is." I let out a loud, obnoxious snort, earning a large laugh from Tadashi. "Oh? So hard to believe?" He asked through his muffled laughter.
I rested my arms over the bottom of a chair still placed on the table. Tadashi, on the opposite side, mimicked me. "I just am shocked with how much of a sappy loser you can be sometimes." I joked, batting my eyelashes in a mocking way.
"Wow, after all we've been through." Tadashi faked a gasp, moving from the table to continue setting up the café. "That really cuts deep, Abby."
I scoffed, moving the last of the chairs to the ground. "Just help me clean the counters and ill take it all back." I rolled my eyes after hearing his ridiculous comment about the months of therapy he'll need to recover. "I say just move you on to shock therapy and be done with it. Oops. Now im done."
"Noooooooo"
The long work day finally over, I decided to just sleep over, which really wasn't uncommon. I lay comfortably on Tadashi's bed, flipping through the pages of a book. Tadashi soon landed on the bed beside me with a mop of wet hair, causing me to jump in surprise.
"Good book?" Tadashi asked with a wicked grin.
"Jerk." I mumbled with a glare, lightly elbowing him.
Tadashi placed a hand to his chest with a gasp, his face turning to a pout. "A jerk? How shall I go on?"
Before I could reply with a sarcastic remark, we were interrupted by Hiro aggressively slamming his head into his desk. "Nothing. No ideas. Useless. Empty. Brain." I cringed and watched some of the crumpled up balls of paper fall from his desk. Hiro attempted to come help out downstairs but Tadashi and I sent him back, assuring him we could take over as he worked on his project.
I had to admit, the mess he made in the short amount of time was impressive. "Wow. Washed up at 14. So sad..." I spoke sarcastically, flipping the page of my book.
"I got nothing. I'm done. I'm never getting in." Hiro sunk back deeper in his chair as Tadashi made his way over to him.
Tadashi sunk to Hiro's level after spinning his chair to face him. "Hey. I'm not giving up on you." Tadashi affirmed. In a matter of seconds, Tadashi had lifted Hiro up and over his back, holding on to him by the ankles. I erupted into laughter as Tadashi began to thrash him around, playfully.
"Agh! What are you doing? Abby, help! Don't encourage him!" Hiro screamed as he tried to free himself from Tadashi.
"Shake things up! Use that big brain of yours to think your way out! Look for a new angle!" Tadashi spoke as he continued to jump about.
"Wait- wait! I got it!"
Weeks passed and finally, Hiro's project was complete. Everyone stood around the last, opened garbage can in anticipation. Hiro stood in the very front, holding the last microbot above the bin. As soon as it landed, everyone began to cheer, congratulating Hiro with quick hugs or pats on the back. Eventually everyone's attention turned to the pizza boxes, everyone but Hiro.
Leaving the group of friends demolishing pizzas, I stood next to Hiro before placing a hand on his shoulder. "We better get in there before they eat everything." I beamed, my expression soon turning into a frown after receiving no reply. "You okay?"
Hiro looked down at a microbot in his hand, tightening his fist around it as he spoke. "Just... I really want to go there... What if they don't like it?"
"Your invention is going to change the world, Hiro." I admitted, turning him to face me by placing my hands on both of his shoulders. "They'd be crazy not to like it." I added, before pulling him into a quick hug. "Now go get some pizza. No time for worrying."
I watched Hiro join the group of friends with a large smile on my face. Tadashi held the pizza slice over his mouth, sticking his tongue out to help guide it in, Honey Lemon and Gogo were racing each other to finish their slice of pizza first, Wasabi nearly vomited as he watched Fred who had challenged himself to fit as many as he can in his mouth. This silly, dysfunctional group, are my closest friends.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
The university showcase finally arrived, and nerves were high, although Hiro did an excellent job at playing it cool. I scanned the room in amazement, looking at all the different booths with excitement. I couldn't wait to look around.
Pushing one of the many garbage bins, I couldn't help but voice my excitement. "Look at all the sweet tech here today!" I beamed, nearly jumping up and down.
"How you feeling?" Tadashi asked, nudging Hiro.
Hiro scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You're talking to an ex bot fighter, takes a lot more than this to rattle me." Hiro shrugged nonchalantly, but everyone could see through his façade.
The rest of the group seemed to magically catch up from behind them. "Yup. He's nervous." Gogo spoke, causing the rest of the group to quickly sweep in with some encouragement. Finally making it to the stage, we set all the garbage tins up, although the friendly banter still continued. I cringed after hearing Fred's disgusting way of wearing underwear.
"Wow. That is both disgusting, and awesome." Tadashi admitted, making me roll my eyes.
"Don't encourage him." Gogo and I spoke in unison, causing the group to burst into a fit of giggles. We were cut off by Hiro being announced to the stage, Honey Lemon was quick to pull everyone into a group photo before we dispersed to set up the garbage tins.
The rest of the showcase went off without a hitch. Hiro was offered a place at SFIT, which really wasn't a surprise. Callaghan would be crazy to deny him a spot after that performance. After a promise of free food from Aunt Cass, the group were quick to make their way to their cars. After noticing Hiro and Tadashi were missing I pulled Aunt Cass aside.
"Oh, they said they were going to catch up in a minute." Aunt Cass explained. Biting my lip, I couldn't help the strange feeling of paranoia. Aunt Cass, sensing my discomfort, continued, "They're probably not far. You could go catch up with them?" With a smile of gratitude, and a quick hug from Aunt Cass, I made my way back towards the building with a skip in my step.
From afar, I spotted Tadashi and Hiro on one of the bridges overlooking the campus. I shook my head with a small smile, crossing my arms over my chest. I probably shouldn't disturb this moment for them. As I turned around, planning on heading back to the car, a loud fire alarm cut me off. Without hesitation, I ran towards the large, burning building. I froze, watching everyone pile out of the building in shock. Only when I saw Tadashi and Hiro running towards the building did I continue to move.
Hiro grabbed onto Tadashi's arm before screaming out in horror, "Tadashi, no!" Tadashi looked to Hiro and the burning building before he seemed to make up his mind. Finally making it to the pair, I pushed Tadashi to the ground as hard as I could before he could continue his sprint towards the building.
"Callaghan is still in there! Somebody has to help!"
I looked towards the burning building then Tadashi. "You can't go in there. You have Hiro, Aunt Cass, everyone who cares about you!" I watched realisation dawn on Tadashi's face. Tadashi rapidly shook his head, beginning to get back up before I pushed him back down again. "I'll be fine... Like you said, somebody has to help..."
I barely made it inside the building before the building exploded into a puff of orange flame and smoke. I was thrown from the blast and past the stairs, my left side taking most of the damage. I couldn't move my left arm. There was screaming. I watched the smoke and stars come in and out of focus again as unconciousness began to take me. I couldn't sleep. Not now.
"Abby!" Hiro? Or was that Tadashi?
I screamed as my eye burned, bled. The burns down my neck and body were pulsing from the pain. I can't feel my arm, my eye is bleeding, and there are burns down my body. And all I could do was sleep.