Blue jeans' face appeared in front of me. Her blue eyes were shining with tears. But hadn't she just walked giggling with her friend? And why was she crying? More objects appeared in my vision, they seemed to be becoming more realistic. 'Get Well' balloons, a nightstand, three chairs, monitors, terribly gray walls and flooring, and a beautiful were now in sight. The lines on the monitors began to form a steady line. A nurse rushed out of the room.

"Eli!" Clare cried as I opened my eyes, in a daze of confusion. Tears dabbed her perfectly flawless cheeks.

"Clare, W-Where am I?" I asked weakly, staring at the beauty in front of me.

"You're in the hospital.. You've been in a coma for five days. You had a terrible wound.. When you fell, you fit your head extremely hard against the wall," She explained with tears in her voice. What on Earth was she talking about?

"When I fell?" I asked, baffled. When had I fallen?

"You don't remember?"

I looked at her with a lost, questioning look in my dazzling green eyes.

She hesitated and her face changed from relief to pain, as if she didn't want to remember. It seemed like she had been trying to omit whatever this memory was from her mind.

"Well, remember your little rivalry with Fitz?" She questioned me.

"Yeah, that jerk. Thinks he can get away with every freaking thing." Of course I remembered him.

"and all of your petty fights and the fake ID mishap?" She continued her interrogation.

"Yeah, my idea was brilliant. If I may say so myself." A smirk spread across my lips. Putting the name of a convicted arsonist on Fitz's fake ID as a truce was brilliant. In my opinion, but apparently not Clare's.

"Eli," she sighed, obviously used to my self-satisfaction, "You were so naïve! That didn't help anything between you two. It was a stupid idea and you should certainly not be proud." She looked at me, concerned, "Do you remember Vegas night?" Huh, that was a good question. I remembererd Clare agreeing to go to Fitz to 'protect' me from him. Like he would severely injure me on school property… he probably didn't have the balls. The stupid Boiling Room incident with Alli, Drew, and Bianca popped into my head next. All those stupid gambling games returned to my memory-I didn't remember actually winning anything. Everything up to putting Epicac into Fitz's drink while we were agreeing to yet another truce was clear. Then, my memory got fuzzy. What was I missing?

"The most I can remember is making Fitz puke," I smiled, remembering the pleasure that gave me. She looked at me, stunned. "How can you smile about that? After that, I went for YOU to Fitz, yet again He had a knife in his locker! I ran around and finally found you! You wouldn't run, you said you weren't scared of him." She frowned and the tears returned to her eyes, "Then…Fitz came down the hallway. We were the only ones. He had the knife. You pushed me away and he cornered you against the wall. You pleaded for him not to, then he-he," The tears came spilling down her cheeks, "He stabbed you Eli! The police came and arrested him. They carried you away in an said you might die." She was bawling now.

"Hey, I'm here now." I said, attempting to comfort her. It hurt me to think that if I died, she would be in denile. That my foolishness caused her this much pain.

"But you're alive! That's all that matters! I don't think I'd know what to do without you." She explained, her face was now tear-stricken. But no makeup ran down her face, my Clare was beautiful without makeup.

"I didn't know that if I acted like that, that it would have that affect on you. I'm so sorry I put you through this!"

"Listen," I continued, "When I was in that coma, I went through all the important events in my life. I'm not sure why, but I was transported back to those memories. You were in one of those. I think that one was my favorite. That means something, right? Clare, I would never leave you. I like you too much." I looked up at her and she was smiling, her cheeks were damp.

"Come here," I whispered, "I have a secret to tell you." She leaned in close to my face. I turned abruptly and kissed her as passionately as my weak lips allowed me. I pulled away and she looked at me, a wide smile spread across her face and her cheeks a rosy pink. "Clare, I'll never leave you. Promise."