Hi everyone! No, you're not dreaming, I did double upload today. I found it unsatisfying that I hadn't set the story up in a way that immediately hooked readers in and left them wanting to read more so I added a prologue to this story. Nothing earth shattering - segue into this chapter that had me feeling all types of emo. Fun fact, I wrote the first half of this chapter while listening to an early 2000s angsty playlist and I've had the second half of this chapter written for months, if not over a year. So grab your alt-punk-rock band t-shirts y'all because although this chapter is short, boy howdy is it a ride.

Now enough of my incessant rambling, and let's get on with this chapter!

~Deepika

Chapter 35

.:.

Blaze sighed in exhaustion as she closed the door behind her. Grams hadn't remembered her name. She had known that this would be a possibility but this hurt more than she could have imagined. Before she knew it, sobs began to wrack her body. She tried to catch her breath as she sank to the ground, leaning against the ornate door. Her hands grasped the hair on either side of her head and she buried her face in her knees. It was all becoming a reality. Too fast, too soon, she didn't want to accept this as her new reality. Grams would get better. There would be a miraculous advancement in medication and her grandmother would get better and not leave her with her parents and their disintegrating marriage.

She was alone. Completely and utterly alone.

oOoOoOo

Blaze sobbed onto Aisha's shoulder. This was the third time that Byron had flaked on her this month and she was starting to take the hint. Maybe she had been too forward in asking him for help with her ailing grandmother; but on the other hand, it was him who had suggested it first. Aisha could only rub her friend's back soothingly. Grams was asleep upstairs and they had a baby monitor so they could keep an ear out for any trouble with Grams.

"I can feel it Sha," Blaze choked out, her voice thick with emotion. "Her days are-" Blaze's voice broke and Aisha could feel her own heart shattering into a million pieces as she heard the vulnerability in her normally tough as nails best friend. "I think her days are coming to an end."

"Oh babe, please don't say that. You can't possibly know it," Aisha shushed her and rocked her gently, allowing Blaze's pain to wash over her. Little tears had formed in Aisha's eyes.

"He promised Aisha. He's never gone back on a promise, he's not that type of person. Maybe if we just wait a little longer..."

"Sweetie, I'm sorry to be the bad guy in this situation, but I don't think he's coming, no matter how much you want to believe that he will."

"It feels wrong to lie to Grams. She's always asking me where Byron is and if he's asked me out yet or if we've gone on dates. I don't want to lie but if I tell her what's really happening, she'll stress out for my sake and..." Blaze couldn't even voice what would happen if her grandmother became too stressed; it was far too real to even picture in her mind. "This is why I never wanted to open up and trust someone. I should have listened to myself and realize that I'm better off alone. It's not worth it to pour your energy into someone when all they do is throw it right back in your face."

"Bethany Louise Malcolm!" Aisha gasped. Blaze looked at her with a shocked expression. Grams was the only person who ever called her by that name. "You know as well as I do that none of that is true! You aren't even sixteen yet! We have our entire lives to live and it is far too early to be talking like that. Now I know you haven't had the best examples around you but you just have to believe that there is hope and you'll find the right person to love and trust one day! Byron is going to be a speck in the dust years from now." Blaze sighed, shaking her head. The anger was burning in her stomach, threatening to spew out onto whoever was the unfortunate victim.

"I'll never forgive him Aisha. Never, ever, ever." Aisha swallowed, looking a little frightened by her tone. Good, Blaze mentally thought. Aisha ought to know how serious she was.

"Blaze, I think it's time the other girls knew what was going on," Aisha quietly responded after a short silence.

Blaze wanted to put up a fight, to be the tough girl that everyone knew her to be. But she was exhausted and broken at this point. She felt like a hollow version of herself, emotionless and empty. But she knew enough to know that it was extremely unfair to put this type of burden on Aisha alone. Her friends had been supportive of her even though they didn't know the entire story. They deserved the truth.

"Yea, ok," she conceded. Aisha looked shocked that she hadn't put up a fight but Blaze couldn't even muster up enough energy to even care anymore.

And that was how Blaze Malcolm found herself in the middle of dog-pile style hug. The girls were in tears, instantly sympathetic to Blaze's situation. Blaze's fellow redhead was in a particular sour mood about Byron's involvement in this. It was clear that the redhead had a vendetta against the male species and channeled it through ridiculous violent fantasies.

Dawn on her part looked as pale as a ghost. She sat distanced from the group, hugging her knees to her chest and looking like a puppy kicked to the curb. Blaze walked over to the bluenette, who looked deep in thought.

"You alright, Sunshine?" Blaze asked, her voice gruff with emotion. Dawn looked up, clearly startled even though Blaze hadn't snuck up on her whatsoever.

"Yea...I...yea, I'm alright," Dawn stuttered unconvincingly. Blaze snorted, taking a seat next to her. "Ok, no, I'm not alright," she sighed, hanging her head down.

"What's on your mind?" Blaze asked, not making eye contact with the navy haired girl. Even though she had finally admitted her situation to her friends, she was still very uncomfortable with emotion driven situations such as this one. Sensitivity was not her forte.

"I feel like I'm partly to blame for Byron being such a dick and abandoning you at your time of need," Dawn began, nervously biting her lip. "I'm the one that brought you guys up to the mountain and I'm the one who introduced you guys to Hunter and Jesse. I wouldn't be surprised if you hated me."

Blaze made a surprised noise. "Dawn, I could never hate you or blame you. They're your friends and you had every right to want your friend circles to combine. Byron being a complete imbecile has nothing to do with you being friends with Hunter and Jesse." Out of the corner of her eye, Blaze saw Dawn look down.

"I'm glad to hear I won't be kicked out of the group or anything," she sadly laughed and Blaze shook her head in incredulity.

"You're a mystery to me Sunshine. Everyone sees you as this ball of positivity and brightness but there's a darkness in you that you don't let a lot of people see, huh?" Blaze sighed, tugging on her fringe. "To be honest, I guess I can't judge because that's all of us. Hell, I even managed to hide all of this mess until now."

"It's easy to hide when no one's looking," Dawn's quietly replied. Blaze swallowed, feeling a wave of darkness emanating from the blue haired girl. "I'm very used to being ostracized so I guess I'm just very used to expecting the worst."

"Well that doesn't sound like a fun way to live," Blaze replied, mentally slapping herself for such a stupid reply. It suddenly hit her that even though they made a show of being a group of best friends, there was a lot that they didn't know about each other. It was the nature of their lives, always wanting to present people with the best versions of themselves, but clearly, there was a twisted and dark part inside each of them.

Dawn finally sighed, got up, and turned to Blaze, shooting her a half smile and offering her a hand. "No, it's not, and one day, maybe I'll feel good enough to tell you guys the whole story but for now, knowing that I have your guys' support is good enough for me." Smiling and shaking her head at the rapid mood swings of the navy hair girl, she grabbed the stretched out hand.

"One day, our lives are going to be a lot more simpler, but for now, I guess I need to learn how to rely on you guys for support."

"I know it's hard for you, and you've known me for the least amount of time, but I just want you to know that we're going to be there for you through thick and thin."

"That's right!" May's voice cut into their private conversation as she wrapped her arms around Blaze's and Dawn's shoulders. "I don't know how it's happened that we're somehow going through some of the worst things in our lives right now, but everything's going to be ok. Besides, we're in high school. Once we get out, these problems in our lives are going to feel like lightyears away!" Blaze snorted at the brunette's optimistic nature.

"Princess, this is a mope session. I didn't ask for your bubbly optimism here," Blaze smirked and then ended up giggling at May's pout. Leave it to the female Oak to somehow be able to put a smile on her face.

"Don't worry, Blaze, everything's going to work out."

Oh how wrong she was.

oOoOoOo

Byron walked into the school courtyard only to count five out of the six girls and the other guys. His heart sank as he suddenly realized that something was wrong. None of the girls were acting like their usual selves. Misty was staring angrily at the cherry tree they sat under with Gary crouching near her. Dawn was staring down at the table with Paul sitting across from her and looking uncomfortable with the situation. May had her knees hugged to her chest, her chin resting on her kneecaps with Drew soothingly rubbing her back. Aisha was under the cherry tree, her head on Rocky's chest as the Hispanic boy wrapped his arms around her as her body shook every couple of seconds.

None of them seemed to acknowledge his presence until the sound of him walking over garnered their attention. Swallowing in order to get his throat working again, Byron gave Sha a tentative smile. "Where's Blaze?" he asked and Aisha bitterly laughed causing the other girls to flinch.

"Oh, so now you care," Sha scoffed, ignoring the warnings that her friends gave her. Byron's face hardened at the not-so-subtle jab.

"Why don't you calm down and tell me what's wrong?" Byron growled. Rocky immediately came to Aisha's defense. "Oh, so now you're on my case too, Rock? You suddenly realize you have feelings for her and you start to take her side for everything. Real nice."

"Get off your high horse Carter and maybe listen to what she has to say. It's not just Blaze you've been ditching for the past couple of months," Rocky said calmly.

"Blaze trusted you with one thing, and one thing only. She opened up to you, put her guard down for you and this is how you repay her?" Aisha snipped. It was a strange thing to see Aisha and Rocky acting like the polar opposites of themselves.

"Aisha, I seriously don't get it. What happened?" Aisha was beyond furious now and she stood up with tears streaming down her face and her hands up in the air.

"For God's sake Byron! Grams passed on! She passed away on Saturday, the day that you and Blaze usually go to her house and help her out! She died in Blaze's arms and you know what was one of the last things she asked? She asked where you were Byron, and Blaze couldn't answer. You were too busy spending time with your new friend and forgot all about your old friends!

"I was there with Blaze that day, you know Byron? And I don't think I've ever seen my best friend so heartbroken over something. You promised you'd be there Byron, and like the good friend you are, you totally kept your promise. So, congratulations to you; while you were out there catching the latest wave, you abandoned your friend at her time of need. Well done," Aisha scoffed before storming off, Rocky quickly following her.

The whole courtyard was in silence. They were lucky it was after school and not many people were there to hear Aisha's outburst. The four remaining girls and the other guys sat in silence, unable to come up with anything. Everything suddenly crashed down on Byron and he realized how stupid he was for blowing Blaze off. Every reason he had come up with suddenly seemed insignificant now. The memory of him promising to be there for Blaze flashed in his mind and only then did he realize that he may have just lost Blaze forever.

tbc