It was the sound of beeping that woke me up. It was rhythmic and a steady beeping, not to loud but still hearable in the silence. I slowly came to but somehow regretted that as a throbbing pain quickly made itself present in my head. I opened my mouth to groan but my throat was awfully dry and no sound would come out. Then, I tried to open my eyes. It was slow and the amount of light seemed overwhelming, leaving me to take a while to adjust to it before I finally gained some vision.

The view I met was white.

I lay there for a while before I realized that it was a white ceiling and sat up slowly. Looking around for a few seconds, I slowly started to realize where I was.

''A hospital…'' I breathed and then everything came back to me. The head wound! My hand flew up to carefully touch it but instead of feeling my hair, they were met by bandages instead. It moved down to my shoulder and felt bandage there as well. As I let out a relieved breath, the most important memory came back to me.

Kenshi.

I flew out of bed, realizing how weak my legs had gotten and being temporarily stopped by patches on my skin with wires attached to them. I tore them off and noticed how the beeping flat lined but I didn't hesitate to force myself to move. Once I swung the door open, my legs seemed to have gone back to normal but I was quickly met by several people running towards my room. They stopped once they saw me and all seemed to calm down a bit, except for one of the nurses who stepped closer to me.

''Miss, what are you doing? You're supposed to stay in bed.'' She sighed as she looked at me but turned around, '' it's fine people, go back to your stations. False alarm.''

The crowd of people dissolved and I was left with the nurse, who was once again looking at me. ''Now, missy, let's get you back to your room.''

''What? No, no no no, I need… I need to find someone.'' I spoke, slightly panicked and breathing quickly out of fear. ''Please!''

''Who?''

''I-''

''Lena! You're awake!''

I turned around, slightly startled, when I heard someone say my name.

''Riki!'' I took a few wobbly steps towards him. ''Where's Kenshi? Is he alright? I want to see him!'' I was close to crying as I spoke, almost begging him.

''Hey, hey, calm down. You've been out for two days, maybe you should-''

''Riki, please.'' I interrupted him.

He watched me for a bit before sighing reluctantly. ''Nurse, is it alright if I take her to the room nr. 357?''

''Well, he concussion shouldn't be so bad now, I guess it's okay. But she has to go back to her own room after that.'' She eyed Riki, obviously making him responsible for me.

''Thank you.'' Riki smiled his usual charming smile and placed a hand on my healthy shoulder. He started to lead me down the hallway but the walk was rather short and we stopped in front of the door.

I looked back and forth between the door and Riki, waiting for him to give me a small nod before I dared to slowly open the door. It creaked faintly and I stepped inside quietly.

''I'm going to call the others.'' Riki spoke behind me and I merely nodded while moving further inside the room.

I didn't hear that he closed the door behind me as I walked inside with a racing heart, scared of what condition he could be in. I rounded the small corner and came to a stop. There he was, on a bed and sleeping. I let out a breath before moving again, walking up to the chair next to his bed. I quietly sat down on the chair while keeping my eyes on his peaceful face. I smiled faintly once I concluded that he looked fine. His shoulder was bandaged but that seemed to be it.

''You're alright…'' I mumbled as the relief washed over me and I felt my shoulders start to shake again. I didn't fight the tears this time, I simply couldn't. He was alright, he was right in front of me and everything was good now. I closed my eyes and kept the sobs back.

''Lena, why are you crying?''

I looked up at the same time a hand appeared on my cheek. When I met his brown eyes and saw his faint smile, I couldn't help but sob and possibly cry even more.

''Because, you're alright.'' I managed to speak in between sobs and tried to calm down again.

''Hey, please show me your smiling face instead.'' He smiled and sat up, wincing slightly.

''I'm trying.'' I cried, halfway to a smile but still having trouble.

He waited for me to calm down, patiently watching me cry my eyes out while he only pulled me closer to and let me lean against his chest. It was everything I needed, really; the sounds of his heartbeat and feeling that he was breathing steadily. Once the tears had stopped flowing, his lips softly pressed against my forehead.

''I'm glad you're okay too. Riki told me that you had a concussion.'' Concern played in voice and I looked up at him. ''Look,'' his fingers wiped the rest of my tears away while he smiled sweetly, ''your eyes are all red now.''

''I was scared. You were… The blood and then…'' I spoke but stopped once I felt tears press on again.

''It's alright… We're both alright.'' His voice was just a soft murmur as I leaned my head back against his chest.

We fell silent for a bit, maybe both realizing that it was true. We were both alright. I let out a soft sigh while letting my hand find his on the bed. Once our fingers intertwined, I looked back up and met his eyes with a smile. We leaned closer as if it was most natural thing to do but our lips never met because of the door opening. We both leaned back a bit but our fingers stayed intertwined as the whole group came in the room.

''Looks like you're both up.'' Atsumu smiled at us.

''I'm glad you're okay, I was really worried!'' Hiro smiled as well.

I smiled back at them while I felt Kenshi give my hand a light squeeze. ''Thank you, guys. If you don't mind me asking, what happened back at the cabin?''

''Kagi got away with the invention.'' Takuto muttered with a sour expression.

''That's true… But the most important is that Kenshi and Lena are alright.'' Atsumu glanced shortly at Takuto before moving it back to Kenshi and me. ''When we got there, Kagi was already gone but Riki noticed the tire marks from his car so we knew something was wrong. Once we got inside, Kenshi was already halfway up the stairs and insisted that we found you first before doing anything about himself.''

I looked up at Kenshi but he quickly avoided my eyes with an embarrassed look on his face.

''Riki and me found you unconscious in the old mill after following your footsteps in the dirt.'' Hiro joined in.

''They brought you back to the cabin and we called an ambulance. I've pulled some strings so you've been admitted as victims of a car robbery.'' Atsumu continued calmly.

''Wait… When was this?'' I asked, feeling a knot appear in my chest.

''You've been sleeping for two days.''

I fell silent for a bit before I dared to ask the question that was on my mind. ''Did… Did anyone show up?'' I cringed when I heard how hopeful my voice sounded. I noticed Kenshi looking at me instead as if he was realizing what I was actually asking.

''I notified your parents when you were brought in.'' Riki spoke up, looking directly at me.

''Did they… I mean, did they show up?''

''Lena… Maybe this isn't the time for it.'' Kenshi spoke out beside me and I looked up at him instead. His expression said everything I needed to know.

''You know they didn't…'' I breathed and watched as his eyes went down shortly before looking back up at Atsumu. ''Could we get a minute?''

The guys exchanged a quick glance before nodding and saying something about getting back to work anyways and seeing us later. Once the door closed, I was already biting into my lips to keep myself from crying. Kenshi let out a soft breath before moving a bit to the right.

''Come on.'' He hummed softly and moved the blanket so I could move and lie down beside him. I gave him an insecure look before moving and then bursting into tears as soon as he had put his arm around me and pulled me against his chest. His hand gently stroked my hair while he simply held me for a while before saying anything. ''It's alright…'' He whispered, ''the guys and me are here for you.''

I let his soothing words calm me down but it felt like it took ages before my crying subdued, even as it felt like I had no more tears to spill. ''They're supposed to show up, Kenshi…'' I sniffed and let my hand softly grip the hospital shirt he was wearing.

''I know…'' he softly murmured and kissed my forehead. ''I know.''

''Just…'' I spoke before knowing what to say and just fell quiet instead. How could they stay away? Even with the made up story and everything, how could they still be so stubborn and not show up? I felt myself beginning to cry again. ''Please don't ever forget me like they did. Please…''

''Why would I ever want to do that?'' He let his hand move from my hair to under my chin and tipped it up so our eyes met. ''I love you. A lot. I didn't imagine this outcome back when I first saw you but now I can't think of it ending any differently. Well, I could live without the bullet hole in my shoulder but if that's what it takes to keep you then I'm fine with it. So please don't forget me either and always show me that beautiful smile of yours, alright?'' He smiled at me with a flushed face and I nodded faintly while showing him a small smile.

''Thank you… And I love you too.'' I smiled and let go of his shirt to wipe the tears away from my cheeks. ''You're way too good for me.'' I exhaled softly.

''I think we can discuss that matter for a while, so let's save it for later.'' He chuckled softly and I leaned my head back against his chest. Shortly after, his head leaned against mine and we both stayed quiet.

Once I heard his breathing turn heavy and steadily, I closed my eyes as well with a small smile.

Everything was going to be alright…

''Kenshi?! Where did you put the white paint?'' I shouted from the living room and hoped he would be able to hear it upstairs.

''I'm bringing it down now.'' He yelled and started to walk downstairs. Once he showed up in the doorway, I smiled at him.

''Remember I told you I had a really good idea?''

He gave me a nod while walking closer, taking his usual position behind me with his arms around me and his head on top of my head. ''I'm guessing that's why you taped a square on the wall?''

''Yeah, see, if we paint the walls in here all white and then we put a lot of colors here in the square. I thought maybe the couch could be against this wall, so it would look like a painting.''

''How about we put our hands in different colored paint and do handprints in the square?''

''That's what I was thinking. I'll look great.'' I smiled while moving my eyes from the square and turned around to face him instead. ''Would you mind getting the cans from the kitchen table?''

''Sure.'' He smiled and hummed before giving me a soft kiss.

When he had walked out of the room, I turned to look at the square again. It was still hard to believe that it was now a year ago since everything happened. Kagi had gotten away with the finished invention, which turned out to be a chemical which could clean water with just a tiny bit added to it. The paper I had found was the formula for it so even if Kagi had sold it on the black market, we made sure that someone was handed the formula and that it was in the right hands with them. It had taken a few months before Kenshi had regained all the strength in his arm but after a short break, he was back to work and seemed happy to be out and moving around again.

It wasn't long after everything had settled down that I decided to use the old house as my new home and asked Kenshi if he wanted to live with me in it. My parents had signed the house over to me without a word through the mail and we had started renovating it. The guys were happy to help and the house was beginning to look good and the run down look was gone rather quickly. At the moment, we were down to only needing to paint the living room and move our furniture in. I was excited. Compared to how things had looked back then, everything had turned out so much better than I had imagined it.

''I think this is all of them.'' Kenshi smiled from the doorway and I turned to look at him. He was wearing some old clothes filled with paint spots.

''Thanks. Which one should we begin with?''

''Take your favorite color.''

''That's an easy choice then.'' I smiled and sat down on my knees to find it among the other colors. I noticed how he crouched down across from me but didn't think more about it until he stretched his hand out. My glance fell on his hand and noticed what he was holding between his fingers. My glance shifted from his to his face and then back down to his hand. ''Is that...?''

''I've been meaning to ask for a while now, I just couldn't find the right moment.''

''Kenshi… I-''

''Lena, do you want to marry me?''

I felt my pulse quicken as my heart was hammering against my ribcage. My eyes left the ring to look at his calm, smiling face instead. I felt my lips turn into a smile and before I knew it, I had lunged forwards and practically tackled him. ''Yes! God yes!'' I laughed as I lay on top of him on the floor and then let my lips find his.

''You just made me very happy.'' He grinned before kissing me again.

Once our lips had parted, he sat up and slipped the ring on my finger as I watched with a big smile.

''It's beautiful.'' I breathed as I took a closer look to it. It was mostly gold but where the ring was placed in the middle, a twisted design of silver sat on both sides of it, nicely framing it against the gold beneath it.

''It was my mother's engagement ring.''

''I'm honored… really...'' I smiled and felt a couple of tears roll down my cheeks.

''You're supposed to smile, not cry.'' Kenshi laughed softly and let his thumbs wipe away my tears with affection.

''I know… I'm just…'' I sniffed while smiling and leaned my forehead against him. ''I'm really happy.''

''That's good.'' He smiled before letting his lips tenderly press against mine.

I moved my arms around his neck, savoring the sweet kisses he was giving me as we sat on the floor, surrounded by paint cans and with the radio playing in the kitchen.

Everything had definitively turned out better than just alright.