Hi everyone! Sorry about the long wait between chapters, but I've been really busy lately, what with school and being in the final stages of putting together a band (just need a drummer and somewhere to rehearse) and everything. So please bare with me! This story is one of my top priorities right now, so I'll try my best to finish this story as best I can, and I hope everyone will keep reading!

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Sora had always hated hospitals. Ever since that day when she was eleven, and she was taken out of school because her parents and her older brother had been involved in a car accident. Someone had taken her to the hospital, and she'd sat at her mother's side, watching her family die. Hospitals were places where people died, leaving behind children who were sent to orphanages.

And now, she found herself in one of those death chambers, too scared to talk to the receptionist, and too stubborn to go home.

"May I help you?" A young woman in a nurse's uniform smiled at her. "You've been standing here for almost half an hour. Do you need any help?"

"Uh… Well, I…" Sora took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. "I'm looking for Tala Ivanov. I heard he was in the hospital, so…" She bit her lip, looking down at her feet.

"Tala Ivanov?" The nurse sounded amused. "Oh, the young redhead that came in a few weeks ago. Come with me, I'll show you to his room. Is he your boyfriend?"

Sora shook her head as she followed the nurse. "No… He's a just a good friend of mine."

The nurse smiled, flipping golden brown hair over her shoulder. "Really? He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that has good friends."

"He isn't, either. It's only me."

"In that case, it's nice of you to come visit him." She stopped, flashing a stunning smile at Sora. "Well, here we are. Visiting hours are over in about an hour and a half. Is that okay?"

"Yes… that's quite alright." Sora took a deep breath before pushing the door open and entering the room.

Tala seemed to be asleep. He just lay there, white as snow, in the white sheets in the white room in this white hell, his flaming red hair being the only thing that stood out.

His eyes snapped open when the door slammed shut.

"You're a really fucked up person, you know that?" Sora sighed as she sat down on a chair beside his bed. "You're making it hard for me to care about you."

"I guess." Tala's voice was empty, as was his words.

"I'm serious. What the fuck is wrong with you, Tala? I know you're kind of crushed because of the whole thing with Max, but it can't have messed you up that bad. You're sick."

The redhead smiled weakly. "Don't forget twisted." He let out a sigh, reaching for Sora's hand, but she pulled back. "Look, I had a bad childhood. And I mean really bad. My dad… he was a drug-addict and he used to beat me and my mom all the time. Every fucking day, Sora. When I was a kid – fuck I barely remember it anymore – my mom couldn't take it any longer, and she left. I don't remember what she looked like, or how her voice sounded." He laughed bitterly. "And my dad became even worse. He claimed it was my fault she'd left, that she'd stayed if it weren't for me."

"So you decided to do the same?" Sora raised an eyebrow. "It must have been hard for you, I know, but that's no excuse for being fucked up."

Tala's face became blank again. "I killed him, Sora. When I was ten." His voice was shaking slightly, and he closed his eyes, pressing his lips tightly together, as if to prevent himself from crying. "I fucking killed him! After that, I started thinking that maybe it really was my fault. If I was actually able to kill my own father, why wouldn't there be something about me that made him start hitting me? Why wouldn't there be something about me that made my mother leave me behind to be terrorized by him?"

"You… you killed him?" Sora was worried her eyes might pop out of her head if she kept staring, but she was unable to stop. "You killed your dad…?"

"They just assumed he'd committed suicide." Tala shook his head. "I… I think I called the police or something. At least, they showed up, and his body was taken away while I just sat there and stared at him."

"Why did you kill him?"

"What should I have done? I didn't know I could get help. I was just ten."

Sora swallowed. "You… I… Look, I get why you're so fucked up. But I don't know if I can forgive you. I just came here to find out why you... why you did that. And… I also came to apologize. I could have killed you."

"I don't expect you to forgive me. I don't deserve it. I would have deserved to die, Sora. There's nothing to apologize for."

There was an uncomfortable silence between them for a few moments, during which they both stared intently at anything that was not the other.

"So… why?" Sora finally asked. That strange smile returned to Tala's face, and it made Sora's stomach turn, threatening to throw up her dinner.

"I fell in love with you," came the reply. "I admit, when we first started hanging out, I only wanted to hurt you, to get my revenge on Max, but after I got to know you… I fell for you. And I felt bad because you were so hung up on Brooklyn, so I started drinking more, and suddenly, I found myself doing drugs again, even though I've been trying to stop." He sighed, bringing a hand up to his temple, rubbing it slowly. "When I'm high, I lose control. I knew that, but I thought I could overcome it. I thought the drugs could make me forget how I felt about you, and that if I forgot, I wouldn't do anything stupid. But I was wrong." His blue eyes turned to Sora in an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry, S. I really am."

"I thought you were gay," Sora mumbled.

"Bisexual, actually." Tala shrugged. "But with a big preference for guys."

"Tala…" Sora cursed herself for starting to cry, and she angrily wiped the few tears that trailed down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, too. About your dad… No wonder you're sick and twisted. I should have known."

Tala shook his head weakly, taking Sora's hand in a gentle grip. "You shouldn't. We've barely ever talked. There was no way you could have known."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Really?" He sounded amused. "You don't really believe I'd like people to know I'm a murderer, do you?"

"I guess not." Sora smiled slightly. "You know, I think this is the most we've ever talked."

"Yeah, I suppose." Tala mimicked Sora's action, giving a sweet, genuine smile. "What have you been up to lately? Have the wannabe-popular dorks been bothering you at school?"

Sora shook her head slightly, giving a small laugh. For some reason, she felt all warm and gooey and cliché-y, and she smiled genuinely in what felt like forever. "No, they haven't. I've been hanging out with Hiwatari, actually."

Tala raised an eyebrow. "Hiwatari? I hope you don't expect me to be around him when I get out of here, because none of us will be able to stand that."

"What? Why?"

"We have this really sick relationship. We used to be best friends, and I fucked that up, the way I have a tendency to fuck up everything." He squeezed Sora's hand slightly, looking adoringly at her. "Don't worry, I'll live. I'll just sit quietly and keep my mouth shut."

"I've missed you, T."

"Are you sure you don't hate me for what I did to you?"

Sora shook her head. "You're my best friend," she said, still smiling slightly. "I don't think I could hate you, even if I tried. Just promise not to go creepy drughead rapist on me again, okay?"

"I promise, S. So we're cool?"

Sora nodded. "We're cool. I gotta go, though. I've got homework."

"Since when are you actually doing your homework?" Tala laughed.

"Since Kai started copying it." Sora laughed slightly. "Sorry, T, but I really do have to go. Besides, I hate hospitals. Reminds me of when my parents died."

"Bye, S."

"Bye, T."

As she was about to close the door behind her, Tala shouted, "You fall in love too easily" after her. She laughed at the tricky smile on his face, and replied with a short "shut up".

Judy picked her up outside the hospital. The blonde woman was smiling, asking an endless amount of questions about Tala. Sora wondered why she cared so much about him. Of course, she must have known him well, considering Tala had been dating her son, but she seemed to care much more for Tala than anyone else did.

"I wish Max hadn't broken up with him," Judy said after many long minutes of silence. "That only drove him much further down. Tala needed Max." She gave a small, sad smile. "One of the two times when I've really despised my son was when he broke up with Tala. The other time was when he got together with Brooklyn."

Sora smiled, leaning her forehead against the car window, looking up at the sky. "You really care about him, don't you?"

"I do." Judy sounded worried. "I suppose you know already, but Tala never really had a mother. During the years he spent with Max, I became a motherly figure for him. I guess the connection worked both ways."

"He was with Max for a long time, wasn't he?" Sora kept her gaze at the sky. The darkening blue color seemed calming to her. Ever since she was little, when she was sad or had problems, she would always look up at the sky. Maybe it was because her mother had named her after it (she had used to say that the sky was the most beautiful thing in the world, second only to Sora), or maybe not. All she knew was that she found it soothing and reassuring, reminding her that there was more to life than just her problems.

"For two whole years. I don't know what Max did to hurt Tala so badly, but I know that he took some serious damage from it. Max hasn't been the same since then, either. They need each other."

"Really? You mean Max hasn't always been a slut?" Any other day, Sora would have regretted those words the second they left her lips. However, she didn't have the energy to worry about anything. She had spent all of her mental strength trying not to break down crying in the hospital.

Judy surprised her by laughing. "No, he hasn't," she said, sounding amused. "I suspect he's trying to replace Tala. But I couldn't know for sure."

Sora had an odd feeling – a slight turning in her stomach – that was making her uncomfortable. Somehow, even though she knew Max was a slut and a bastard, she didn't like hearing Judy talking about him like that. For a brief second, she thought that maybe, just maybe, it was because despite what he had done to her, he was like a brother to her, and she cared about him. Maybe that was also why she could admit that she sometimes hated him, and also the reason why Judy could talk about him like this without feeling guilty about it. Because they were family.

"I'm really becoming a Tate, aren't I?" she mumbled to herself, and Judy gave a friendly laugh, bring one hand down from the steering wheel to rest atop Sora's own hand.

"I believe you are, dear."

Sora's eyes still stared up at the sky, Judy's hand remained over Sora's, and for the first time since her parents died, she felt completely at ease. Like it didn't matter if her life was chaos, because it was bound to get better. She had her family, she had Kai, and she had Tala. In some twisted way, the last one seemed both calming and frightening at the same time. But that was how Tala was. Gentle, friendly, and completely fucked up.

The first stars were already coming out, and normally, Sora would have wanted to reach for them, catch them. But now, she felt content right where she was, just watching them, enjoying their beauty.

Yay! I'm not going to keep you all for much longer. Just a short comment to tell you to please review. I'd love to hear everyone's opinions on the story so far, so let me know what's good and what could be better, because I plan on re-writing the story sometime in the future. Thanks for reading, and - hopefully - I'll see you in the next chapter!