*blows the dust off of this profile* Wow, it sure has been a while since I uploaded, huh? It feels like I sent a baby off to college and they're just now visiting again . . . *sighs* I'm feeling very nostalgic now xD A lot of stuff has happened over the past few years, but one of the main reasons why I've been MIA is because I'VE BEEN ACCEPTED INTO THE NURSING PROGRAM AT COLLEGE! For those of you who don't know, nursing school is one of THE MOST stressful and challenging I've ever committed to, so I've always been busy with that. But now I'm back and ready to write some more! (Hopefully that's a good thing haha). Before I go on, I'd like to answer a question that I've been asked frequently, and that's if I'm ever going to update my Husky/Nana chaptered stories. To put it simply: yes I will. BUT! It may take ages as I've found new fandoms that I'm interested in (those of which include ARH, Haikyuu!, and Phan) so don't expect it to be soon. I promised that I would finish them no matter what so as a woman of my word, I will, but it will be on my OWN TIME. I'm stressed out as is xD So with all of that being said, here's a new story for a new fandom to kind of get back into the mindset of writing, so sorry if it's not the best. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy! (: 3

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters; they rightfully belong to Hazel and Bell. This is a work of fiction and I am in no way trying to romanticize or make light of school shootings. My younger sister was involved in one, so I understand how scary it can be. If anything in this story bothers you, please let me know!

This was only supposed to be a short drabble but . . . ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Takes place right around page 184, where they're taking the exam. Please enjoy and read the authors note at the end! (;

-/-

"I almost lost you."

Carter just barely choked out as he buried his head into Adrian's shoulder, gripping onto the back of his shirt as if he'd disappear if he let go. Adrian placed a shaking hand on Carters cheek and forced him to look up; he was still in shock from the event that happened just moments ago. Adrian gently wiped away a single tear.

"It's okay. I'm right here with you, and I'm not going anywhere. Just stay with me. Please."

Carter responded by pushing his forehead to Adrian's and rubbing their noses together in an eskimo kiss. "Always"

-Flashback to an hour ago-

Adrian knew going into the exam that he was going to fail, and that he was going to disappoint his parents once more. He also knew that he could care less. Adrian had it all planned out: he was going to finish the exam as fast as possible so he could talk to Carter afterwards and hopefully apologize for his behavior. If there was one relationship he didn't want to screw up, it was definitely the one he had with Carter; his parents could go suck a fuck for all he cared. What he didn't know, however, was that Carter would finish before him . . . way before him as a matter of fact. Adrian looked up as he heard the sound of a chair scraping against linoleum floor next to him and he watched as Carter walked towards the front of the classroom.

'Hmph. He must be asking the teacher a question.' Adrian thought as he watched him with curiosity. His eyes widened as Carter carefully placed his exam on the desk, wished the teacher a good summer, and promptly walked out the door. Adrian stared blankly at the closed door.

'No. Way. This can't be happening! I was certain that I would finish before Carter; it's only been 40 minutes! How dare him!' Adrian started to go into panic mode now. How was he supposed to apologize and confess his feelings to Carter now? There was no way he could turn in a test with only a fourth of the answers done. Perhaps he could just fill in random answers and just hope for the best? Adrian contemplated his options for quite some time when suddenly . . .

BANG!

The room went deathly silent. Adrian felt like his heart dropped down to his stomach and all of the oxygen got sucked out of the room, making it difficult to breath. He started to pray to every deity possible that the loud, cracking noise that he just heard was not a gunshot. Please, anything but a gunshot.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A series of loud screams that followed just confirmed Adrian's worst fears, and everything all too suddenly became a reality. He could feel the color draining from his face once he realized that the gunshots were coming from across the hall. The teacher shot up out of his seat and ran to lock the door. He turned to face the students with a panic-stricken face.

"Everyone take cover along this wall over here! Keep your heads ducked and don't make any sounds!" His words jumbled together in a rush to get them all out. Adrian's ears started ringing and he nearly tripped over his own feet going over to the 'safe spot' of the classroom; he slowly took a seat with his back to the wall. He took this chance to glance out the window, making sure Carters' truck was gone. He mentally sighed with relief.

'At least Carter left before this happened . . .' Adrian thought as he dug his phone out of his pocket with shaking hands. With Carter still on his mind, Adrian sent out just one text, quite possibly the last one of his life.

Then, there was a series of loud banging on their classroom door.

-Carters P.O.V-

As soon as he got home, Carter threw himself face first onto his bed and buried his face into his pillow. He acted like such a nervous idiot in front of Adrian, and he was only trying to have a casual conversation!

"Ugh! I'm such an idiot!" Carter yelled into his pillow.

"Hey, that's finally something that we can agree on." Rebecca's voice on the opposite side of his room startled him so much, he nearly fell off of his bed.

"Rebecca! What are you doing in my room?! Shouldn't you be somewhere else obsessing over boybands or something?" Carter retaliated as soon as got back on his feet. He stood in front of his sister and mimicked her by crossing his arms. Her smirk turned into a frown as she rolled her eyes.

"Actually, mom wanted me to tell you to text Aunt Mary and see if she's coming to the reunion for her since she lost her number and my phone died. She also told you to put your phone back in its prison when you're done or else you're grounded from playing Animal Crossing too." Rebecca said with triumph in her voice. Carter groaned and started walking out of his room.

"Fine. Whatever. Just get out before your lameness starts to spread everywhere." Rebecca responded by playfully punching his shoulder as he walked past. Once Carter reached the table, he lifted up the glass case and retrieved his cellphone. He immediately noticed one missed text message. He lifted an eyebrow once he realized who it was from.

"A text message from Adrian? Shouldn't he still be doing his exam right now?" Carter thought aloud as he clicked open the text message.

To: Carter

From: Adrian

There's someone with a gun shooting in the classroom next door. I love you.

Carter read the message again. And again. And again. He's already memorized it word for word; it was practically engraved in his mind now. But he refused to believe it.

'This isn't real. This has got to be a joke, Adrian must be messing with me.' Carter dropped his phone when the realization hit him. 'No, this is Adrian we're talking about. He's too serious about everything.'

Carter's body moved as if on autopilot. He wasn't even certain how long it had taken him to get in his truck and start driving towards the school; his mind was too busy repeating the mantra of 'please let Adrian be okay, please let Adrian be okay.' That's all that he could think about.

He was glad that it was only a five minute drive to the school, because if it were longer, he'd probably have a heart attack due to how fast his heart was beating. It was hard getting into the parking lot because much to Carters surprise, the police were already here, and they were everywhere. As soon as he found a place to park, Carter shot out of the vehicle and started to run towards the large crowd of people, hoping that Adrian's orange hair would be easy to find. It wasn't.

Carter was starting to get frantic at this point. He even retorted to forcing his way through the crowd of already frightened people yelling "where's Adrian?! I need to see Adrian!" But it was all to no avail. The moment when he noticed that people started giving him a sorrowful look is when he felt his heart nearly stop. His face fell, and he felt hot tears starting to form. Oh god, was Adrian really-

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND, YOU DUMBASS?!" A distant voice yelled from behind him. Carter's eyes widened and he slowly turned around. He didn't even have time to register that Adrian was running towards him because almost as soon as he made eye contact, arms were wrapped around his neck, legs were wrapped around his torso, and they were both falling to the ground due to the impact of Adrian's jump. Adrian sat up on Carters stomach and grabbed his face with both of his hands.

"What are you doing here?! I was so relieved when I noticed that you weren't here when the shooting started! What made you come back here?! Do you have a death wish or something?! Or are you actually that stupid?!" Carter definitely didn't expect to get yelled at, and had this been a different situation he would've given him a sarcastic reply back, but when he noticed the fear in Adrian's eyes and how badly he was still shaking, he bit his tongue. Instead, he rose up to Adrian's level and pulled him into a short, simple kiss.

"I came here because . . . I love you too, Adrian. I got your text message, and I had to make sure that you were okay. I don't know what I would've done if you were-" Carter started to choke on his tears at this point. He wrapped his arms tightly around Adrian, and the boy responded by kissing him on the nose.

"It's okay. Everything is okay. Only one person got hurt, but he's not in critical condition; someone from the other classroom called the police so they got here pretty early on. The shooter was targeting teachers who gave him a failing grade, so I don't think he would've hurt any of the students to begin with." Adrian explained and Carter could only nod. They stayed in each other's arms in silence for quite some time, just watching as the police escorted people out of the building. Carter suddenly pulled away from the hug and surprised Adrian with another kiss, longer this time and filled with emotion. Adrian happily obliged and brought a hand to Carters face. He found that he was still crying.

"Hey, why are you still crying? Everything's going to be okay, you know." Adrian reassured and Carter placed his own hand on Adrian's, laughing a little.

"I'm just happy that you're okay and my feelings are returned" Carter started blushing as he confessed, and Adrian gently pushed his free hand through Carters hair. He smiled for the first time all day.

"You dork."

-/-

A/N: That's the end! I originally wrote this for a best friend of mine but decided to post it so I could get more feedback on it! I haven't written any type of fanfiction for quite some time (probably around 2 years so sorry if it seems so rushed!) and I felt like I needed to brush up on my writing before I start a chaptered fic that I have in mind. This was my first attempt at writing something for Always Raining Here and I really enjoyed it! If anyone has any requests, I may write more in the future? Anyways, I hope everyone has had a good day so far and hopefully I'll see you again! Stay happy my lovelies! (: 3