- Final chapter everybody! I tried writing this one different from the others - I hope it's not too confusing!

*Just to let you know, Bif's conscience is in italics.


Chapter 8 – The Beauty and the Tragedy

The sunlight was strong the next morning as Bif opened his eyes.

In a single glance, he could tell he was in the hospital because everything was pure white. He was wearing an itchy hospital gown and Johnny was sitting next to him, in what looked a rather uncomfortable chair. His eyes fluttered closed, then back open, as he finally recalled the past night. Everything was a slight blur and he could faintly recall the outline of the events.

"What day is it, Vincent?" Bif gritted through his teeth. It was the first question that came to mind.

"You've been in a coma, kid. It's November 4th..."Johnny spoke gravely. Bif slunk in his bed, looking at all the tubes attached to his bruised body. He glanced over at Johnny, who had developed dark bags under his eyes. He looked absolutely terrible and Bif could easily tell he'd been running his fingers through his hair whenever he wasn't occupied with something else.

"What's wrong?" Bif asked sincerely, keeping his voice to a low whisper.

"We nearly killed him," Johnny whimpered. "I nearly killed him."

"W-what?" Bif asked, completely confused. Vincent nearly killing somebody? It was impossible unless –

Unless it was his worst enemy.

"You nearly fucking killed him?!" Bif screamed, sitting up on his bed. Johnny jumped out of his reach for precaution. Bif slowly began to get out of his hospital, making his way for Johnny, whose face was livid with horror. It was completely irrational, to attack somebody like he was – but it didn't matter anymore. There was no such thing as rationality when your love has almost been murdered by your ex lover.

"Nurse? Nurse!" Johnny screamed, backing away from Bif, who had now picked up a syringe that was left on the medical trolley. "You're fucking insane, Tremblay! They need to ship you off to Happy Volts or some shit!" Bif's eyes were glowing with rage. Derby couldn't be dead. His pretty face would look... The thought sent Bif into a dark hysteria.

"You nearly fucking killed him!" Bif yelled furiously, jumping onto Johnny and straddled him on the floor. Johnny's spaghetti arms were no good against Bif's boxing muscles.

"Where the fuck are the nurses?!" Johnny yelled, bringing his hands up to his face to protect him.

"You bastard!" Bif brought the syringe down in Johnny's jugular, knowing exactly where it was due to boxing. It was amazing how he remembered such a small thing – he felt like he was slowly losing a piece of his mind by the day. "I fucking love him, Vincent! Then you have to come in and spoil everything! Fuck you!" He pushed the syringe in deeper, earning higher pitched screams from the struggling Greaser. Johnny gasped for air and before Bif could finish him off, a familiar face opened the door to his room.

"Bif! Get the fuck off him!" Tiffany screamed, rushing towards Bif and knocking him to the ground. Three nurses rushed in to aid Johnny's bleeding neck. "You idiot! You big idiot!" Tiffany cried, punching Bif square in the jaw. He couldn't react. His face was numb and his mind was unwinding slowly...

He had just tried to kill Johnny Vincent.

"You Preps are all the same in the end! All out for your selves! The beauties and their fucking tragedies!" She began to cry harder into Bif's chest, where he wrapped his arms around her small, sobbing body. "Get off me!" She screamed, immediately rolling off of his body and went to Johnny's side. Why had he done that?

The doors pushed open and to his surprise, Bif's parents were standing in the glass doorway.

Everything was completely fucked. Was this a dream? Was he hallucinating from a bump on the head? He looked at his parents, who were staring open mouthed at Johnny's bleeding body. All of the noises around him became muffled and all he could hear was himself.

You almost killed the Greaser King, congrats bud.

His conscience was practically laughing at him.

"Shut up!" Bif screamed, grabbing the sides of his head which began to throb painfully. His parents' heads snapped up to stare at what seemed to be their son.

Your parents think you're a freak show. Do you think they'll save your ass from this mess? Think before you act... His voice sounded so... proud and cocky and it was driving him absolutely mad because it wasn't him. Why hadn't anyone run over to help him? Tiffany was crying against the wall, her back to him. Tiffany Harrington – how was she taking this all? Had her parents said anything to her?

Questions filled his mind as a nurse walked over to him cautiously, as if he was a dazed lion.

Kill her. She's going to put you down for good, you worthless fool.

"This is for your own good, Tremblay," the nurse said sadly, injecting a rather large needle into his neck. It hurt but he couldn't do anything. He couldn't hit this nurse, who hadn't done anything wrong – she helped people, saved their lives. She probably had a loving family to return to back home. He could see how her husband would react if she...

Before he could finish his thought, Bif once again fell into the familiar land of blackness.

***

"The boy's clearly gone insane..."

"What are going to do with him...?"

"Harrington is still in critical condition..."

The voices were somewhat soothing in a way but it was irritating. He couldn't do anything - he was in a trance like state. He couldn't feel or see anything; he could only hear their chirpy voices. His conscience seemed to be locked away somewhere.

"Gashes all over his face..."

"Found unconscious on her floor..."

No. Derby's face would recover, no matter how bad he was injured. But why were they referring to him as a she? Definitely a mix up of words.

"What about that other...?"

"Oh! Poor kid, nearly torn up to pieces. Not sure if he'll pull through..."

What kid?

"Oh dear, his heart is beginning to pick up... shall we discuss this in a more private place?"

No. Don't leave, don't leave. Bif desperately wanted to grab them and make them tell him everything. He could hear their shoes exit the room, leaving him to absolute silence.

You're dead, kid. So is your fag, Harrington. You two never should have fucked each other. You screwed everything up. I wouldn't be surprised if Johnny wanted to dry hump your leg again – probably wants a little bit of make-up sex, huh?

How could a conscience be so strong when just a moment ago, it was gone?

***

He couldn't find it in himself to reply.

It was completely fucking him up.

He wanted to reply – he wanted to tell everyone to just shut up because they were giving him a headache.

He still hadn't heard Derby's voice in the crowd... where was the bastard?

***

His eyes flew open, as he finally had control. His arm shook with anticipation and he could hear a startled grunt in the room. It was dark and he couldn't see the walls and from the middle of the room, there was one single light hanging from the ceiling. Across from him stood Derby with a frown on his lips.

Derby was alive – his face perfected. Where were the scars and gashes they had been talking about? To Bif's eyes, there wasn't one flaw.

"You're alive..." Bif breathed slowly, reaching out to touch Derby to see if he was actually real.

"And you're going to Happy Volts you fucking psycho," Derby's voice replied harshly and on his last words, Bif's hand when through the blonde's shoulder.

Was anything real anymore?

"You almost killed Vincent you stupid fuck," Derby snarled like a dog. "Do you seriously want to go to fucking prison?" His voice was weird... it was somewhat changing with every word.

It sounded exactly like his own.

No.

Bif was not stupid enough to let this one pass. His conscience was fucking him over, tearing away at his fragile mind. He rushed at Derby, fist raised. Anything to shut himself up, even if it didn't work – he had to shut himself down somehow. He managed to land a solid fist in Derby's face, which mysteriously rippled and produced Bif's reflection.

The hatred in his eyes was nothing new.

***

"Dr. Crawford! Mr. Tremblay is having another hallucination!" A nurse yelled as she attempted to hold down the struggling boy. A few more nurses and doctors rushed in to strap Bif to the hospital bed, securing him in place. His screams scratched at their hearts – it was as if a father was crying over his dead son.

But, in his hallucination – anything could be happening.

"Clearly this boy has lost his mind to the trauma! Dr. Crawford, state your opinion!" A nurse hollered furiously at the young doctor who was scratching his chin as he watched his team begin to take blood tests. A syringe here and a larger syringe there.

"He's fucking insane," Dr. Crawford frowned as he turned on his heel, leaving the nurses to the distressed boy. He opened the door to find Mr. and Mrs. Tremblay the door with grave expressions. Mrs. Tremblay's eyes were shining with tears and her hand was entwined in her husband's. You could easily note the fear and dread in their expressions as they craned their necks to see their boy screaming in the background.

"We're done on his case. It's over – he's never going to be the same. Sure, he'll have those 'normal' moments but one memory or even one word can cause him to snap. Even a dream could send him hurling into the biggest nightmare of all," Dr. Crawford frowned, taking a quick look back at the nurses who had gotten everything back under control.

The peaceful look wouldn't last on their son's face for much longer.

"Let us move to another private area, I need to discuss something to you about him..." The Doctor threw a hushed look at the nurses who immediately became quiet – pretending no one was in the room. Dr. Crawford walked out of the room with the Tremblay's behind him. He let the nurses scuttle out before he closed the door.

***

Discuss something in a private area...?

The room was unnaturally quiet...

Then he was gone, his conscience silently rising to the surface to keep him company.

You're dead, Bif. We're both going to be dead.

He could somehow feel a tear running down his cheek.

Was that too, even real?

***

"His good friend hung herself in the boiler room at Bullworth Academy a night ago. No one really knew her – she was a new student I believe. Derby's parents are mourning their loss and the funeral will be held at..."

Derby already knew that she was dead. He had cried alone that night – wishing he could pick up his cell phone and dial Bif's number. He had never felt so alone – even as his parents embraced him that sorrowful night he couldn't feel their warmth. She never really fit in or liked any of the Harrington's but a Harrington is a Harrington. Just the thought of another loss sent a shiver down his spine. Already, he could see that Bif's mother was crying uncontrollably as Dr. Crawford explained the funeral for his sister.

"As for your son..."

Derby crept closer to the adults, trying to stay out of their sight.

"He is mentally unstable for such a public environment... therefore he will be admitted into-"

Derby ran before he could hear the finished sentence. His legs ached as he pushed through the hospital doors, ignoring the stares of commoners. Bif was never a commoner – he had always been sane unlike everyone else at Bullworth. His boxing was the way to control all his emotions and avoid bull shit like this. After they got involved... Bif had stopped going to the boxing arena. He devoted all of his time to his love and never once doubted anything Derby said. He could feel his eyes stinging with sadness as he pushed past everyone – even his own clique members. He could answer their questions when he was stable. Right now, he felt as if could join Bif to where he was going.

He ran to the dock in Bullworth Vale, pleased to find no one was near his area.

He ran out to very edge and sucked in as much breath as he could, feeling the cool night's air fill his lungs. Everything around him was still until his lips moved.

"You fucking idiot! You fucked everything up! You're gone and you're not coming back, you bastard! You've left me!" His voice ran across the lake, carrying as far as the school where people stopped what they were doing and listened to the dull words. Derby breathed heavily as he gazed down at the water, which was rippling slightly.

A tear fell into the lake, and then another and one more joined him. He tossed his head back and screamed once again. Rain suddenly came down, pounding on his head and instantly soaked his clothes. How he wished for one moment, he could take Bif's place. Replace his pain and give him all the joy in the world – he didn't deserve to be screwed up like that. Just remembering those shrill screams from his room sent shivers down his back. The rumbling thunder didn't help much to their situation either. It was done a deal. The overwhelming reality shattered him as he pictured Bif standing in front of the forsaken building with a dead expression.

Once you're in Happy Volts – you never come back the same.


A/N: We're done guys. This is the end of Running Up That Hill. It's been a pleasure writing and I adore every one of my reviews and people who have read this story - even if they've only read the first chapter then left. This story has been my baby and I've been working on it for two months - now, that may not seem very long to some of you... but by the time I get a few thousand words going, I lose interest. Sure, I gave up on this story a few times but I never could fully let it go. I just really wanted to thank Like.. because you, m'dear helped me going. You gave me lots of encouragement to finish this and even right now - you're pesting me to update this.

I really hope you guys enjoyed this because every single word is for you.

PS: There might be a sequal... so watch my channel and you just might find a new chapter in your inbox.

Thank you very everything ~