Chapter Two

You Were There, Now You're Here

**PRESENT DAY**

"Hey, Alicia!" I skipped into her house happily, shutting the door behind me. Even though I had been living at my house across the street for the past few months, I still came over every morning to get driven to school by Madison. I was terrified of driving, and after the accident that hadn't changed.

"Hey Tash! I'm in here!"

Alicia was in the bathroom brushing her teeth. She only was wearing a towel and I laughed. "Well, you sure look ready for school." I jabbed, running a comb through my long, auburn hair. "Aren't we going to be late?"

"Mom's on the phone with someone right now, and Travis is fixing the sink." Alicia mumbled, snatching the comb from my hands and using it. "Besides, since when do you care if we're late for school?"

I stepped out of the bathroom, pulling my hair back. "I care because after school Luke said he'd pick me up." I smirked at her, walking beside her. "Besides, your mom seems to like him! It's only you who has a problem with him." I groaned, looking at her. She had a disapproving look on her face. I knew she didn't think he was the right guy for me, but c'mon, she had a boyfriend and seemed happy, and I wanted that too.

"You know, I don't think Mom would like him as much if she knew you were screwing him nearly every night."

I pushed her gently, narrowing my eyes. "Oh, come on! It's not like I could spend my entire life waiting for Nick to get a clue, besides, when was the last time you even heard from him?"

Alicia walked by me, going into the kitchen. "Was that Nick?" She asked Madison as I trudged in behind her. I raised my eyebrows, why would Nick be phoning out of the blue.

"He's in the hospital."

"Is he okay?" I asked abruptly, looking from her to Travis. My thoughts were scrambled in an attempt to calm my heart from racing.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to go see him. I can drop you guys off at school first-"

"No way! I'm going too." Alicia piped up, running into her bedroom to get dressed.

I stood silently, rubbing the back of my neck. "I guess I'll tag along, too. Luke can pick me up after and drop me off at home."

Madison nodded, but I could tell she was distracted. "Madi, I'm sure he's okay. It's Nick, he's a tough guy." I smiled at her, giving her a small hug as Alicia walked out to join us and Travis.

As I sat in the car next to Alicia, my thoughts were racing. I hadn't seen Nick in over a year now. And I had hoped to keep it that way. I was happy, sort of, with Luke, and I had thought I could finally move on from thinking him and I could ever have a future together.

When Travis pulled up to the hospital, my heart dropped. I knew at that moment I wouldn't be able to let it go; let him go. I trudged through the halls after Madison, coming to a halt as we came to his room. I looked at her wearily. "I'll wait here..."

Madison smiled sadly at me and nodded before walking through the door. "Are you sure?" Alicia asked quietly. "I'm sure he'd wanna see you."

"I, well, after you guys say hello I'll pop in for a second." I mumbled, siting down on the floor.

Half an hour later both Travis and Alicia stepped out of the room. I stood slowly, glancing at them nervously. "Mom's just saying goodbye to him," Alicia stated, a grin on her face. "He asked about you, you know."

I was taken aback, but I smiled. "Did he?"

She nodded, her grin widening. "You're blushing."

I rolled my eyes, pushing past her playfully as I stepped into the room. I glanced over at Madison to make sure it was alright. She gave me a kind smile, looking between her son and I for a moment. "I'll be outside."

When she was gone, I allowed myself to look at Nick for a moment. I breathed in a short breath as I took in his appearance. He looked no more worse for wear than all of the other times he had relapsed, except this time he was more psychologically affected. His hair was long and a complete mess, and his skin was fairly pale.

"Tasha." Nick breathed after a moment which snapped me out of my thoughts. "You look good. Healthy."

I almost smirked, amused that of all things to call me, he would say I look healthy. I then thought back to the last time he would have seen me and cringed. "Well, I haven't overdosed on any drugs recently so yeah, I'm pretty healthy." I took another step towards him. "You don't look so good though. Although, for getting hit by a car you're no worse for wear."

Nick frowned, sitting up slightly. "I know you're upset with me."

"That's the biggest understatement of the year." I mumbled, looking anywhere but him. Of course I was mad at him, I overdosed on his drugs and when I woke up he was gone.

"I couldn't stay." Nick spoke quietly. "I wasn't going to drag you down the hole that I'm in."

I scoffed. "Look, I'm not here to talk about why you left when I overdosed. I just..." I trailed off, playing with my hair to diffuse the tension.

"You just what?" Nick's soft voice enticed me, his brown eyes searching mine.

I sighed. "I wanted to see you." I admitted, smiling slightly. "When Madison said you were in the hospital I thought you were dead, or something. I was worried. But, now I see that you're still the same old you." My smile turned into a frown as I looked away from him. This was what he'd do. He'd show up, try for a month, then fall back to the drugs and disappear for months on end. I couldn't handle that again. He had to fix himself.

"Tasha, c'mon, I'm trying the best I can." Nick pleaded, grabbing onto my hand.

"Are you, Nick? Because all I hear are excuses. I understand how tough drug addiction is to control, but at this rate you won't live to be 25! I can't keep sitting around wondering if my friend is going to wind up dead. I can't do that. I care about you too much..." I trailed off, hearing footsteps behind me.

"Tasha? Are you ready to go?"

I turned around, smiling at Luke. "Yeah, I'll be down in a minute."

Luke nodded, placing his hand on my shoulder a moment before walking off. Nick looked at me with a confused glance. "Who was that?"

"Luke Graham. He's my boyfriend." I smiled slightly, rubbing the back of my neck. "Look, I gotta go Nick. But it was nice to see you."

"Tasha, I'm gonna get better, and I'm gonna get sobered up."

I smiled at him once more before turning my back. "I hope you do. Goodbye, Nick."

It broke my heart to leave, but I couldn't save him. Nick had to save himself, the same as I had to.

Luke was a kind man. He truly was. But he wasn't him. I tried for so long to push my love onto Luke, but even as Luke held onto my hand tightly as we drove away from the hospital, I felt distant from him. He was a safe choice, he had a good job, and sure he was nearly five years older than me, but that's why I needed- stability. He could handle me at my darkest moments, and could bring me back up again.

"I have to work tonight," Luke sighed, bringing my hand up to his lips. "But I'll be back at midnight, alright? There's some food for you on the counter."

I forced a small smile. "Okay. Thanks for the ride, babe." I kissed him on the cheek gently before stepping out of the car.

"Hey, are you gonna be okay?" Luke called as I walked towards the house. "I know how much he means to you."

I smiled slightly. "Yeah, I'll be okay! See you later!" I waved until he drove around the corner, letting out an exasperated sigh.

This is going to be a long day.