AN: this is the big chapter! So, this will be Sam's PoV first...then I'll decide if I want to write Charlie too. So as of this author's note, I don't know if there will be Charlie's PoV. Kay?

The song for this chapter is... ENTWINED BY TIM MYERS! Love this song. Love it.

Sam's PoV:

I was swimming in the dark. I wasn't even sure if I was swimming, but I was sure I was moving. I was looking for an out, some way to escape the darkness that had imprisoned me for who knows how long. It had started out as coming out of a deep sleep, and trying to figure out why I couldn't see. And after a while I remembered the accident. I remembered being in indescribable pain, and feeling like my whole body was on fire, I remembered a point where I couldn't feel the pain anymore, and I remembered that it was a very bad thing. I had gone into shock. I remembered telling myself to feel myself burn, to not go into shock no matter how much it reduced the pain, and I remembered being set on fire again. I remembered all the things Charlie told me while trying to keep me from closing my eyes, and how bad I wanted them to come true. And I remembered the commotion around me as doctors tried to keep me alive. And the last memory I had before the darkness was seeing somebody inject something into my system, and starting to feel drowsy, and eventually sleep winning over. Everything after that was pitch black darkness. I don't remember how exactly my brain started working again, it was a point when I was asleep and then the moment passed and I became aware of my existence. After that it was a fight against the infinite darkness that surrounded me, fighting for a way out. I remembered trying to open my eyes, applying so much force that I moved some other part of my body. And somebody was talking to me, and they stopped and screamed. And then it was black again. And everyday I heard that somebody talk to me, I had no idea what they were saying, or if they were talking at all, the idea of someone being there was comforting, and it gave me support to fight the darkness. And I remembered coming so close, my eyes almost opened, and someone with curly hair was on the chair beside my bed...Patrick. And the darkness came over me again. The time after that was probably the hardest, because I felt myself going deeper, and I felt myself losing awareness of my existence. I fought as hard as I could, as I could to not slip in again. I fought too hard, and that was good. I came out again, and forced the darkness to stay away. And there he was. His eyes were wide, and I was vaguely aware of our entwined hands and his other hand caressing my cheek, and I tried to absorb his every feature. His blue eyes, which were completely contrary to what I was used to; sullen, dark, desperate, and swollen. He had been crying a lot, and I didn't want to know how long had it been since he last slept. He had lost weight, was he not eating properly? His hair were shaggy and all over the place, but not in the familiar "Charlie" way that I was used to and made me feel at home, it was something else completely. I hated to think that I was the reason all this happened to him, but it was true. I tried to say his name, and that was when I knew that I had been asleep for a long time. I knew because my throat burned and I couldn't speak. I tried so hard, and he seemed to notice that, because he told me, "Sam...what is it? You can do it. Just whisper, you don't have to be too loud."

I couldn't do it. I couldn't say the rest of his name. I started to feel the darkness come back and I stopped at my third attempt to say "Charlie," and tried to make the darkness go away again. But I was too tired to give a decent fight, and my eyes closed again.

After that I fought harder than ever, because I was fighting for a new reason. I was fighting to see Charlie again. I kept myself from going in deeper, and tried to open my eyes. It was hard. But my need to wake up had escalated since I saw his face. I couldn't bear to see him the way he looked, and to think he was this way for as long as I was gone didn't sit well with me.

Finally, it happened. I managed to make the darkness go away, and I managed to make it go away for good. I didn't know how I knew it was gone, I just did. I was in a white room, it was too white. I was connected to monitor and there was a tube shoved down my mouth. I had been intubated, the tube had been helping me breathe, or rather it had been breathing for me. I don't think I really wanted to know. There were doctors and nurses everywhere, somebody was taking my blood, somebody was ordering a scan, somebody was checking me up. I couldn't see very well, and the terrible dryness and burning in my throat was pretty damn distracting. I didn't bother trying to speak because of the same reason. A nurse handed me a glass of water and I chugged it down in a matter of seconds.

The scans and the tests took a couple of hours, and soon I was back in my room. A friendly looking nurse, the one who gave me water, helped me sit up. I was staring at the door, I realised I was looking for Charlie. Apparently the nurse caught that because she said, "Visiting hours will begin shortly, your friends will arrive soon." I gave her a look and hoped it would carry my question across.

She looked confused at first, and soon realisation washed over her face. "Oh, are you wondering if they visited regularly? Yes, they've been coming since three months. Today is August 5th. Though there was one boy who always stayed longer, if you don't mind me asking, is he your boyfriend? Black hair, blue eyes?" I nodded, not being able to keep the smile off my face.

I played with the edge of the sheets and drank more water, somehow I got so lost I didn't hear the click of the door when it opened. It was so quiet.

Something made me look up, I wasn't sure what. I gasped loudly and the heart monitor started beeping faster, which was very embarrassing. But Charlie didn't seem to care, he just stared at me as if I wasn't real. Holding his gaze, I gulped down some more water and whispered hoarsely, "Hi..."

That seemed to shake him out of his daze as his face morphed into a happy grin, and he whispered, even though he didn't have to, he just whispered. "Hi..." And he took a seat on the chair beside my bed. The action seemed to come naturally to him, as if he had been doing it for a long time. I wasn't wrong. We stared into each other's eyes. It was such a simple thing to do, something we used to do all the time three months back. But right now it made me feel like a teenager who caught her crush staring at her, and it made me feel like the happiest person in the world.

He was sitting on my good arm's side, which was great. I moved that hand and placed it on the back of his neck, and pulled him closer. I licked my lips so they wouldn't feel so dry. We were both leaning in, and soon our faces were just centimetres away from each other, our noses touching. I wasn't sure who closed the distance first, but when we did there were fireworks. I know that was the cheesiest way I could describe a kiss, but when you kiss the love of your life after spending three months in a coma, that's exactly how it feels. It wasn't an intense make out, and it wasn't filled with lust or sadness or anything. It was just a kiss, a kiss with which we let each other know that we missed each other and the time we spent apart hurt. Physically and emotionally. Our mouths fell apart, and I touched my forehead to his, and we stayed like that for a while. After that we just held hands and enjoyed finally being with each other after a long struggle. I didn't realise that visiting hours were almost over till the rest of my friends came bursting in, crying and laughing at the same time. It sent a stab of pain to my heart when I saw their swollen eyes, especially Patrick, who looked almost hysterical with happiness and relief.

"Oh my god! Sam, how are you?" Alice and Mary Elizabeth sobbed.

I gave Charlie a meaningful look and he said, "She's okay. She can't speak properly right now, but it's okay. That'll be fine in a couple of days." I smiled at him in gratitude, and he returned it. I noticed Patrick was particularly silent, but I wasn't one to talk since the only word I'd said since I woke up was "hi." They both walked closer and hugged me, careful to not touch my broken arm. They moved away so I could see Patrick. He was still standing at the door and staring at me with wet eyes. I waved at him in a "hey" kind of way and smiled tentatively. He hugged me gently and whispered, "I missed you so much, Sam. If you ever do this to us again, I'll kill you."

I whispered a weak "okay." They all said things about how much they missed me and how worried they were, and I got several more death threats. I grinned and laughed silently, nodding whenever required. Charlie stayed quiet at my side, looking happier than I had ever seen him, and never letting go of my hand. They did all the talking, but it was okay, because it made things seem more normal. Like Patrick and Mary Elizabeth arguing, Alice trying to be the mature one and trying to stop them, and Charlie just silently sitting beside me and smiling like an idiot, looking all adorable like a little puppy. It just made me love him more. I was kind of sad when it was time for them to go, but they all promised they would come back tomorrow and stay the whole time, that made me feel better. Charlie stayed with me, he could stay since I was out of intensive care and had been shifted to a regular room. Regular being a relative term... Charlie had gone all out by getting me one of those fancy suites. I tried to convince him to get me a simple room, but he said he wanted to give me the best he could get. After controlling my girl emotions I gave him a note asking him to stop being the perfect boyfriend, the one who gets the girl suites and diamond necklaces and everything. He just looked cute and embarrassed. Later that day, I gave him another note to tell me what happened while I was out. Apparently, a lot had happened.

"Well...for starters your mom and I are pretty close now, we kind of leaned on each other for support when...you know. And I got very angry at...your stepfather, I sort of lost control the night, um...we brought you in, so we're not on very good terms right now. He apologised for doing what he did, and I just didn't know what to say to that. I think that was because I was too angry and sad to get my mind to work, so I kept quiet. We haven't really talked to each other since then. They came to visit you every other day, those days were...awkward. I don't know if you want to know this, but I forgot to shave for a while and I grew a bit of a beard, I cut it off though. Everyone thought I was starving myself, which, for the record, I was not. I'm perfectly healthy and not starving, see?" He said and pointed at himself. He had a three or four day stubble, and he had lost a lot of weight. I raised my eyebrow challenging his beliefs.

"No? But... I'm fine!" He whined like a three year old.

I cleared my throat and tried to speak again, it was slightly better than last time. "Sure... I...believe you." He frowned but I could see the smile in his eyes, and two seconds later we both burst out laughing.

The laughter had died out, and the joke was over, but neither of us could stop smiling. Charlie's smile turned sad after a few moments, which made my own smile falter.

I spoke again, "What is...it?"

"Nothing." I glared at him. It was my deluxe "don't-make-me-talk-so-much-to-get-you-to-tell-the -truth-or-I'll-kill-you" glare.

"It's nothing...I missed you. I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"For what?" I croaked.

"For not stopping you. You were so upset that night, I should have...I should have done something."

I sighed and grabbed the notepad and scribbled something on it. It said, "It's not your fault, so shut up and stop blaming yourself. This one's on me, I shouldn't have run out like I did. And anyway, it's done now. I have slept so much I don't think I'll ever be able to close my eyes again, I have broken enough bones for a lifetime, and now I'm here. With you. After three fucking months. So you better not spoil this for me, okay?" I shoved the note at him and he read it quickly, chuckling at the end.

"Okay. I won't." I smiled at him, and he leaned in to kiss me. This one lasted a lot longer than the one earlier, but it still wasn't an intense make out. Though I really wanted it to be. Charlie was very careful with me, running his hand up and down my good arm with a feather light touch, and his other hand held me to his mouth gently but firmly, as if he was worried that I might slip away again. I almost moved my bad arm to his hair, but I remembered the plaster in time and stopped myself. This was going to take some time to get used to.

He broke the kiss off, and I stopped myself from pouting. Kissing him was different now, I valued his lips moving against mine a lot more than I did before, and I cherished it. And I never wanted to stop. He touched his forehead to mine and stayed there, his hand going up into my hair.

I whispered the words for the first time in three months, "I love you, Charlie."

He smiled and pressed his lips to mine and whispered, "I love you, too, Sam." And the kissing commenced again. It wasn't until a nurse cleared her throat loudly after twenty minutes when we broke off, blushing furiously. She said it was time for my pain medicines which might make me drowsy, and Charlie's face contorted into worry. The nurse told him, "Don't worry, she'll wake up." I squeezed his hand reassuringly and kissed him again. I moved my lips to his ear and whispered, "Don't worry." He kissed my cheek and nodded. The nurse injected the stuff through my I.V and I started feeling sleepy. The last thing I remembered seeing was Charlie's warm smile.

*few days later*

In the last few days I felt more alive than in any moment from my life. Even though I had quite a lot of setbacks, like not being able to walk, and not being able to move one arm, I was thankful that I was alive. That I was awake. And it made me appreciate things more. And I was happy about that. I was speaking again, which was a relief since talking through looks and notes was something you couldn't do for more than a certain period of time. A certain period of time not being more than two or three days. Charlie, Patrick, Alice and Mary Elizabeth helped me become confident with talking again. Charlie even suggested a speech therapist, and we gave him a big fat "NO." In response he muttered, "I'm just trying to help."

The doctor said my fractures were pretty much healed, and that my plasters would be off in the next week or two. And then my physical therapy would start, to help me walk and move my bad arm. He said I would be given exercises that I would have to do regularly if I wanted to make a quick recovery. I wanted to make a quick recovery.

Charlie stayed with me every night since I woke up, he only went in the morning to clean himself up. He told me they'd all moved out of the hotel and rented a guest house. He said I'd like it because there were a lot of windows and a lot of sunlight. We had turned into one of those couples who couldn't keep themselves off of each other. We were kissing and almost-making-out nearly all the time, if not that we were usually holding hands. It had come to a point where we were in some kind of physical contact almost all the time, and neither of us said anything about it or objected, because it helped both of us heal. I could see the damage all this had done to him in his every move, and I wasn't any different. I was reminded of this fact every time I saw the scar running from my stomach to my left side. I knew it would fade with time, but what I didn't know was how long it would take us to move on and re-start our lives.

We were both changed people. We just needed to figure out if the change was good or bad.

AN: she's back! I am back in my comfort zone. The last few chapters were a real challenge for me as a writer, I can't write Charlie or anyone else in the gang as good as I can write Sam. So to speed up updates, I'll be posting more Sam. Ahh I'm leaving in 8 days! I'll try to post as many chapters as I possibly can, okay? Even with packing and everything.

You know what's next... REVIEW!