Disclaimer: If my name was Kazuki Takahashi then I wouldn't even be on this site, so, yes, I don't own YuGiOh GX.
Claimer: My series, my plots, my titles, my original characters…go get your own.
Chapters Remaining (Excluding this one): 2
xXx
Narrative POV
Lauren cried out and collapsed to the ground, burying her face in her hands. Chris dropped down next to her, arms coming tightly around her, hugging her firmly against his chest. The nurses and Dr. Kawasaki slowly moved around the room, cleaning up while Jaden's body lay lifeless on the bed.
Alexis didn't understand what was happening. Everything seemed so surreal. Nothing was making sense, not Lauren sobbing, not the shrieking of the heart monitor, nothing at all. Nothing until her brother whispered in her ear.
"Oh, Lexi, I'm so sorry." His voice was torn, broken, and that's what broke her.
"NO!" she screamed, clawing her way out of her brother's arms and flinging herself at Jaden's side. A sob tore its way out of her chest as she framed Jaden's face with her trembling hands. "No, Jaden, please, you can't leave me!"
"Lexi, stop," Atticus said, wrapping his arms around her as he gently pulled her away from the body.
"NO!" Alexis shrieked, kicking and tearing away from her brother's comforting embrace. She resumed her position at Jaden's side, hands framing his face. "Jaden, wake up! You can't give up now! Wake up, please!"
"Sissy, please," Atticus said, once again trying to pry his sister from the side of her dead boyfriend. Alexis didn't even yell again, only screamed and shrieked as she tore out of his arms for the third time. Atticus tried to reach for her again, but Zane placed a firm but gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Atticus, don't. Let her be," he whispered his own voice hoarse with emotion.
Atticus looked up at his best friend, agony in his eyes. "But, Zane," he whispered, but stopped when Zane started to shake his head.
"Atticus, leave her alone. She needs this right now. Her world is shattering, so let her live in denial, even if it's just for a little while," Zane said, eyes drifting away from Atticus to look at Alexis. "She needs to believe that this isn't happening."
Atticus sighed and nodded, looking away from Zane and back at his sister, forcing himself to remain still and away from her. Zane's hand slowly slipped off of his shoulder to fall and hang at his side. Everyone else, who was all slowly falling either out of a state of shock or into one, all just stood still at the door of the room.
Alexis was oblivious to everyone and everything around her. The only thing that she could see was Jaden and the fact that he wasn't waking up. Her shaking hands pressed harder against his face as she leaned closer to him, still screaming, "No! Jaden, please, wake up! I love you; you can't leave me like this! Please, Jaden!" By now her sobs had almost completely taken over her body. Her tears were running down her cheeks too quickly to even bother trying to stop. "Jaden!"
A final sob tore its way from Alexis' chest as she collapsed against Jaden's chest, hands leaving his face to clutch his shirt as she sobbed against it. Nothing mattered any more. Jaden was gone and Alexis could no longer be in denial, and the pain was excruciating.
Ba-bump
Alexis gasped sharply, hands tightening in shock. Her face remained pressed against Jaden's chest, where she heard and felt it again.
Ba-bump
Now his chest lifted slightly: a breath; and Alexis quickly jerked her body up to stare at his face. Her hands loosened on his shirt but remained pressed against his chest.
Ba-bump
The heart monitor stopped shrieking, and a soft blip filled the room. The sobbing that was coming from various people stopped and the room became eerily quiet. When Jaden's chest gently lifted again and the heart monitor slowly began to beep at a regular pace, Alexis whispered, "Jaden?"
Eyes locked on his face, she held her breath and watched as his eye lids moved slightly, seeming to be pulled tighter shut before slowly opening, revealing chocolate brown orbs that no one had seen in so long. Slowly, almost as if in slow motion, his eyelids fluttered open and shut a few more times before Jaden slowly sat up in bed. As he shifted, Alexis' hands slid limply from his chest to lie on the bed at his side. Using his arms to support himself, Jaden looked around the room, taking in all the shocked, tearstained faces of his friends and parents, the nurses and Dr. Kawasaki. He looked all around the room as his eyes slowly cleared. When they were, he looked down at his side, seeing Alexis there with tears still running down her cheeks.
A soft smile turned Jaden's lips and he lifted his hand up, using one arm to support himself, and lightly pressed his hand against her cheek, causing her to gasp. His thumb lightly wiped away the tears still pooling in her eye. "Why are you crying?" he whispered, causing Alexis to inhale sharply. It was his voice; it was Jaden. And he was staring right into her eyes. "Didn't I promise that I'd never leave you?"
Alexis couldn't stop the startled laugh that bubbled out of her throat as more tears slipped out of her eyes. She smiled wobbly at him before it really clicked to her that Jaden was staring at her, talking to her, touching her, and the smile disappeared. "Jaden!" she cried out as she leapt up from the floor and onto him, arms wrapping tightly around him.
Jaden fell back on his bed from the force of her tackle, but he didn't care. His arms wrapped around Alexis as he pulled her as tightly as he could against him, burying his face in the crook of her neck.
He was alive.
xXx
Jaden's POV
I was alive.
I could hardly believe it, I was so sure that I was dead, but I wasn't. Everyone was in complete shock. I was declared legally dead, had been legally dead.
But now I wasn't.
Dr. Kawasaki was the first to recover, after Alexis of course. He quickly rushed over to my bed and lifted the head of it up so I wasn't lying flat on my back with Alexis clutching me tightly, not that I minded. I could actually feel when I was being touched and touch back. I'd almost forgotten what it was like.
But Dr. Kawasaki managed to talk Alexis into letting go of me, but she only detangled herself from my arms to curl up against my side, clutching one of my hands tightly between both of hers, quietly sobbing when I clutched her hands back. With her at my side, Dr. Kawasaki began to run a couple of quick tests. Mostly he checked my motor functions, pointed a bright light in my eye, and asked a bunch of questions, questions like if I knew what day it was. He was so surprised when I told him the exact date. He also asked what the last thing I remembered was which I lied and said I remembered bright lights and squealing tires; he would have thought I was crazy if I told him the real thing I remembered.
He wanted to take me down and run some scans on me, to see if I had suffered any real damage from the minute or so I went without any oxygen being pumped into my body. But, at seeing my parents and friends, and the vice grip Alexis had on my hand and arm, he realized that maybe right then wasn't the best time for any scans.
"Well," he said, putting his flashlight back into his pocket. "All I can say is this is one hell of a miracle. You seem perfectly all right and there doesn't appear to be any brain damage, though I won't know for sure until I'm able to run some tests." He glanced around the room. "But, I think those can wait for awhile." He then smiled at me and lightly patted my hand, the one laying beside me. "Welcome back, Jaden."
I smiled back at him. "Thanks, it's good to be back."
He and the nurses quickly left the room a moment later, and when the closed the door behind them, my mom lunged up from the floor and was at my side before the door even clicked shut.
"Oh, my sweet baby," she whispered as her hands framed my face and she kissed my forehead. She quickly wrapped both of her arms around my neck and hugged me against her chest, her cheek resting against the top of my head as her lips lightly brushed against it. "I'm so glad you're okay."
I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around her, thankful that Alexis willingly released my arm. I turned to press my face against my mom's chest, whispering, "I'm so sorry, Mom."
"No," she said, quickly pulling away to stare at me. "No, Honey, don't you dare apologize. Nothing was your fault."
"But I broke my promise," I whispered.
She just laughed softly, wiping away some tears that escaped her eyes. "Sweetheart, I don't care. All that matters is that you're alive, you're okay, and you're going to get better." She smiled and lightly kissed my forehead again, hugging me tightly for a moment before letting go.
I looked up to see Dad standing next to her, just staring at me. I smiled. "Hi, Dad."
Dad didn't say anything though. He only hugged me fiercely, and I hugged him back, taking a deep breath, feeling like I was finally home. He turned his head to the side and lightly kissed my temple, whispering, "I love you, Son."
I felt a lump form in my throat and I couldn't talk around it, so I just nodded, eyes closed tightly to keep myself from crying.
After a moment, Dad pulled back and stood up straight, clearing his throat and rubbing his eyes on his sleeve. Mom, who had finally stopped crying, smiled at him and kissed his cheek, taking his hand in hers. "Well, we're going to tell the rest of the family, but we'll all be back in a couple of hours," he said.
Mom smiled at me. "Hopefully, Dr. Kawasaki will have run all of the remaining tests." She ran her hand lightly over to the top of my head one last time before allowing Dad to lead her out of the room. When they closed the door behind them, the only people left were my friends.
The room suddenly became very awkward. No one knew what to say or do, and I was starting to become uncomfortable. Though, I suppose I do understand why they were so nervous. I was declared legally dead not fifteen minutes ago.
I was just figuring out what to say, something that would hopefully return everything to normal, when I noticed Claire pushing away from Jesse and walking toward me. I noticed then that she was only limping slightly, so her knee must be healing up nicely. She walked all the way to my bedside and just stood there, staring at me with me staring back at her. When I was about to say something, she did something that only she would do:
She smacked me upside the back of my head … hard.
"Ow!" I yelped, hands shooting up to cradle my abused area while everyone else seemed to stare at her in shock. "What the hell, Claire? Do you want me to become coma-" I was cut off when Claire suddenly threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly.
"Scare me like that again and I'll kill you myself," she whispered, face pressed against my neck.
I relaxed and nodded, smiling softly as I hugged her back. "Don't worry, I won't," I whispered back.
She nodded. "Good." She released me and leaned back, jumping slightly when Jesse wrapped an arm around her waist.
He smiled down at her, kissing the top of her head lightly before turning to look at me. "It's about time you woke up," he said, extending his left hand toward me.
I smiled and extended my right hand, grasping his extended hand tightly, squeezing it. "It's good to be awake."
He smiled at me and squeezed my hand for a moment before we both let go. After that, the tension and awkward air seemed to vanish as my friends all surrounded my bed. There was a lot of people talking, crying, practically all of them reaching out to grab my hand or hug my fiercely. It only took about ten more minutes for everyone to calm down, mostly because my arm was getting sore and I had to lie back down.
"So," I said when everyone managed to find a place to sit down. Since there was only two chairs, Chazz claiming one and Aster the other, everyone mostly sat down on the ground, except Alexis, Claire, and Jesse. Alexis remained curled up against my side, clutching one of my hands tightly, while Jesse was sitting at the end of my bed, Claire's head in his lap while she lay along my side, feet resting just next to my shoulders. "What'd I miss?"
Everyone looked around at each other, probably trying to figure out how to answer that. Jesse just stared at me, raising an eyebrow in confusion. I just winked at him, which made him chuckle.
"You didn't miss much, Jaden," Zane insisted, leaning back against the wall near Aster, folding his arms across his chest.
"Yeah, we just went out a couple of times, acted like tourists," Syrus said.
"How do you act like tourists?" I asked.
Hassleberry shifted around on the ground, folding his legs in front of him. "Well, with Private Truesdale getting lost everywhere we went, it's not very hard."
Syrus immediately whipped his head around to glare at the Ra soldier. "Excuse me, Dino-Brain, but I believe you kept getting lost with me!"
"You were the one with the map! And you refused to give it to me!" Hassleberry countered.
Syrus pointed at him. "That's because the last time I gave you the map, you got us even more lost and then you refused to stop and ask for directions!"
"We didn't need directions! If you would have just swallowed your pride and called your brother we would have known where to go!"
"Don't turn your idiocy back around on me!"
The two of them then started to bicker back and forth, playing hot potato with the blame.
"Aw, they're so cute," Claire said. She turned her head around so she could look at them. "So, tell me boys, when's the wedding?"
Both Syrus and Hassleberry quickly shut up and turned to stare at her confused. "What in Sam Hill are you talking about?" Hassleberry demanded.
"Well, the two of you are arguing just like a couple, so I was just wondering when you were making it all official. I could totally help you plan it. I did help my mom when she and my stepdad tied the knot," she explained, smiling wider when both Hassleberry's and Syrus' jaws fell on the floor.
"WE ARE NOT GETTING MARRIED!" they both screamed at the same time, causing everyone in the room to burst out laughing.
"Then stop arguing like you are," Aster said, smothering any remaining chuckles.
Syrus and Hassleberry looked at each other for a moment before quickly scrambling away from each other to sit on opposite sides of the room. When the laughter died back down, I looked around the room and noticed the Chumley wasn't there anymore.
"Hey, where'd Chum go?" I asked, sitting up slightly to get a better look around.
Claire pushed me back down with her foot. "He said something about calling Pegasus and telling him you're okay."
"Oh," I said.
"But how'd he get out of here without anyone noticing?" Bastion asked, looking at everyone.
"He didn't," Claire said, looking at him. "I did notice him."
"I meant aside from you," he explained, to which Claire's answer was to shrug.
"Hell if I know."
"Great explanation there, Claire," I said. Her razor wit response was to stick her tongue out at me. I just chuckled, and then looked back around the room. "Hey, where are Danny, Morgan, and Mark?"
"School (1)," everyone answered, and I nodded.
Not even a second later, the door swung open and the trio all leapt into the room, screaming, "Jaden!" They then ran over to my bedside.
"Or not," Claire said.
"Shush," Jesse said, covering her mouth with his hand.
"I thought you guys were at school," I said after hugging all three of them.
"Well, we were," Morgan said, leaning against Mark.
"Was it not a full day or something?" I asked, but they shook their heads.
"Nope, still a full day," Danny said.
"Wow, is it that late already?" I asked, looking around the room for a clock. When I saw that it was barely after noon, I looked back at them. "Well, it isn't late at all."
Mark shook his head. "We know; we just ditched the last half of the day."
My jaw dropped. "You did what now?"
Morgan rolled her eyes. "Chill out, Jaden. Like we were going to sit there the rest of the day after hearing you'd woken up."
"How did you guys hear?" Axel asked, looking at them closely.
"Lauren and Chris told a teacher, who told us," Mark explained.
"And after Mark and I heard, we hunted down Danny and ditched," Morgan finished.
"Why look for Danny? Why not just ditch and come right away?" Aster asked.
Morgan looked at him. "Because Mark and I have never skipped, so we didn't know how to leave campus without being caught."
Danny smiled. "And while I was the town thug, I always skipped school. It's not even a challenge anymore." He sounded so sad about that.
"Well, good, you shouldn't ditch school at all," I said. "You learn important stuff there."
"Oh, how would you know, Slacker?" Chazz asked. "You sleep through every class."
I shrugged. "So? At least I attend."
"Sadly, Mate, sleeping isn't much better than ditching," Jim said.
"Quiet, Jim, I'm trying to teach Danny a lesson here," I said, which only made the Australian chuckle and shake his head.
"Oh, would you relax, Yuki, it's not like we're missing any important classes," Danny said with a shrug.
"Yeah, we're only missing math, science, and history," Mark elaborated.
"Oh, yes, because those classes aren't important at all," Chazz said.
Danny pointed at him. "See? Even Rich Boy agrees."
"It's sarcasm, Moron," Chazz snapped.
Danny shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Okay, fine. Even Sarcasm agrees."
Chazz fell out of his chair. "Not this again!" he yelled from the floor, which made me and Syrus burst out laughing. He grumbled as he pulled himself back into his chair.
"Well, I don't know what that was all about," Mark began, looking between Chazz, Syrus, and me. "But I'm glad you're finally awake, Jaden, because I have something really important I need to talk to you about."
I stopped laughing and looked at him confused before I remembered what he said when he visited me while I was in my coma. Suddenly, before I realized what I was doing, my arm shot out and grabbed the collar of his uniform, jerking him away from Morgan and bringing his face very close to mine. "Oh my God, what the hell were you thinking, Mark!"
Everyone looked at me confused while Mark just stared at me in shock. "What are you talking about, Dude?"
I shook him slightly. "Your 'important thing'! How dare you ask for some sort of sign while I'm in a freaking coma! Why on earth would you drop that kind of news on me! That was totally not cool!"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Mark yelled, lifting his hands up in a sign of surrender. "Sign, coma, news," he whispered before gasping and staring at me with eyes the size of dinner plates. "Wait, you heard me!"
"Of course I heard you! I heard everyone!"
"Wait – what?" everyone but Jesse demanded. Jesse, because he already knew that I knew what was going on while I was in my coma, just started to chuckle.
"That doesn't matter right now! I want an answer, Mark!" I shook him again, trying to get his attention back to the matter at hand.
He just shook his head and looked at me, a little depressed. "So, you don't think it's a good idea?"
"I never said that. I think it's a wonderful, brilliant idea and I claim full ownership of said idea if anyone asks, but that's not what I'm saying. I want to know why you asked me while I was in a coma," I explained, releasing his collar and lying back down.
Mark smiled and leaned back. "So, you think I should do it?"
I pointed at him. "If you don't do it, I'm going to kick your butt."
He pointed back at me. "Great answer, no worries, I was going to do it no matter what you said."
I threw my free hand in the air, because Alexis was still holding my other one. "Then why in the world did you ask me what I thought you should do?"
He shrugged. "You're my best friend; I just wanted your opinion."
"But what was the point if what I said wasn't going to matter?" I asked.
"It's just like when we were talking last winter, Jaden," Claire cut in.
I turned to see her sitting up, looking at me. "Talking about what?"
"In the car, on the way home after we picked up breakfast after that big snowstorm that caused the power to go out, remember?" She raised her eyebrow at me, and I did remember. It was the time when I asked what she thought of Alexis, and she asked me the same thing.
"Oh, okay, I guess that makes sense then," I said, relaxing again.
Claire just rolled her eyes and shook her head, lying back down.
"Wait, what are you guys talking about?" Morgan demanded, jumping forward as if I wouldn't recognize that it was her who spoke.
"Nothing," Mark, Claire, and I answered at the same time.
"It obviously isn't nothing," Syrus said.
I shrugged and relaxed against the back of my bed. "It's nothing that you need to worry about, Sy," I elaborated.
He just frowned and shrugged, leaning back against the wall and looking up at the ceiling
"Okay, now that the Mark rant is out of the way, can we rewind to what Jaden said a minute ago?" Atticus asked, looking around at everyone as if he needed their permission.
"What thing?" I asked.
He looked at me. "That thing you said about being able to hear everything that everyone said," he explained.
"Oh," I said, glancing around at everyone. "Oh, well, to put it simply, I heard everything you guys said." I shrugged, as if it wasn't a big deal.
"Are you serious?" Blair asked eyes wide.
I nodded. "Well, yeah, why would I lie about something like that?"
She just shook her head. "Not the point."
"Then what is the point?"
Chazz quickly interjected. "The point is there is no way you heard what we said. You were in a coma for crying out loud!"
I just turned and smiled at him, almost smirked. "Oh, come now, Chazz, don't be so mean. Are you just acting like this because you don't want everyone to know how highly you think of me?"
He snorted. "Highly? Don't make me laugh, Slacker."
I just smirked a little softer and said, "Okay, whatever you want to believe, Chazz." I waited a moment. "And thanks."
He looked at me confused. "Thanks for what?"
"For believing I'm the strongest person you've ever met."
He gapped at me.
I couldn't help but continue. "I hope that I proved it to everyone else now." Then I smirked.
Chazz opened and closed his mouth a few times, looking like a fish washed up on the side of a river, before finally giving up and snapped his mouth shut, folding his arms across his chest. "Whatever," he grumbled.
"Oh my gosh, you really did hear what we said," Morgan gasped, looking between me and Chazz.
"And Chazz said nice things about you," Syrus continued, looking a tad more shocked than he probably should have.
Chazz bristled and turned quickly to glare at the younger Truesdale. "I said no such things."
"Oh, you can lose the act, Sarcasm, we all know already," Danny said with a shrug.
Chazz snapped his glare from Syrus to Danny. "Seriously, are we really going to play this game again? It got old at Duel Academy fast and it's already old now!"
Blair quickly intervened before things got ugly. "Don't change the subject now, Chazz. What happened?"
Aster nodded and turned to look at the boy dressed in black. "That's what I'd like to know. Last I knew, you said you didn't go and visit Jaden."
Chazz shrugged. "I lied, so what? It's not like I was under oath or anything."
"But why lie about it?" Bastion asked. "That's what has us really interested."
Hassleberry nodded. "Yeah, Soldier, you didn't need to lie."
Chazz quickly scanned the room and realized that everyone was looking at him, waiting for an answer. So, he folded his arms across his chest and sat up straight in his chair, closing his eyes and tilting his head up toward the ceiling at a weird angle. "You know what? I do not feel comfortable with this line of questioning."
"Too bad, now answer the question," Blair said, moving to kneel next to him.
Chazz didn't budge. "I assert my fifth amendment rights."
"You're not in America, Genius," Claire interjected.
Chazz just looked at her for a moment before quickly looking away. "I don't care; I'm still not saying anything."
Jim patted him on the back. "You know what? That's all right, Mate, because you're silence is all the answer we need."
Chazz quickly looked up at him. "Why do you say that?"
"Because, the more you deny it, the more obvious it is that you really did say nice things to Jaden," the Australian explained.
Chazz just pressed his lips tightly together and looked away, choosing then to keep quiet. But he'd already said plenty, and everyone started to tease him. He kept quiet, but the way his lips curved slightly, I could tell that he didn't mind the teasing; he was just glad that I did prove him right, which made me smile.
And I was glad that I did too. But I wondered how.
"You finally found your will to live," Winged Kuriboh said, appearing in my mind so everyone around me disappeared until it was just the two of us.
"My will to live?" I questioned, and he nodded.
"Yes, that was the only way for you to live, Jaden. It's why it took you so long to finally break free from your coma," he explained.
"But I've been trying for the last two weeks!" I interjected.
He shook his head. "No, Jaden, you kept trying to wake up. You never really had a solid will to live."
"What's the difference?"
"A very big one." He flew closer to me. "That's why you started breathing on your own when you're parents took you off of the ventilator. Despite giving your mom permission, you had a will to live, so your body started to breath."
I stared at him confused. "So, I needed to die in order to live?"
He shrugged. "Sometimes that's what it takes, that's also why your body started to breathe. You weren't ready to die then, Jaden, so your will to live spiked, thus your body was able to survive, so you could live."
I shook my head. "Wow, that's confusing."
He chuckled. "I guess, but just know that you've had the power to live the entire time."
"Wasn't I already alive?"
"Yes, you were alive, but you weren't living." He sat down on my shoulder. "You were so focused on simply waking up that you forgot to live, which is why it never worked until the very last second."
I looked at him. "And how did it work?"
He turned to me, wearing a knowing expression, and he didn't need to say anything for me to understand why I was suddenly able to wake up.
No.
Why I was suddenly able to live.
xXx
It was late when a nurse wheeled me back into my room after Dr. Kawasaki ran all of the scans he wanted to. He was right with his assumption; there was nothing seriously wrong with me. I was just extremely weak, and after such a long and eventful day, I was completely exhausted, but sleep was the last thing I wanted.
"You sure are one lucky guy, Jaden," the nurse said as she helped me back into my bed.
I looked at her confused. "Lucky? You mean because I escaped death?"
She smiled at me, pulling my blanket up and fluffing my pillow. "Oh, well that, but I was talking about your friends and family." Her smile brightened. "They're so loving."
I smiled back at her. "Yeah, I guess I am a lucky guy."
"Yes, you are." She patted my hand. "Goodnight, Jaden."
"Night," I said, watching her leave. Sighing, I glanced around my new room, out of the ICU. Dr. Kawasaki moved me here after the rest of my family showed up, because we were already breaking hospital regulations with everyone sitting around in my room. I chuckled softly to myself and relaxed against my bed, taking a deep breath. I closed my eyes, feeling myself slowly succumbing to my exhaustion.
"Jaden?"
I opened my eyes and turned my head to see Alexis sneaking into my room. "Lex." I sat up slightly, staring at her in shock. "What are you doing here? I thought you went home already."
She shook her head and walked over to my bedside. "No, I stayed behind."
"Then how are you getting home?"
She jerked her thumb behind her. "Jesse is waiting in the parking lot with a car."
"Oh." I smiled at her and lay back down. "So, why'd you stay behind?"
She shrugged and grabbed my hand, linking our fingers together. "I just wanted to."
To this, I frowned and reached out my other hand, pressing it against Alexis' cheek and turning her head so she was facing me. "Alexis," I whispered, stopping when she suddenly released my hand and crashed her lips onto mine, hands clutching the front of my shirt. I was startled by the sudden kiss, but I quickly got over it and closed my eyes, kissing her back. My hand slid from her cheek to cup the back of her head gently.
Her lips were hard and urgent at first, like she needed to feel that I was alive and with her, but slowly the kiss calmed until it was soft, gentle, and full of sweetness. She chocked on a sob and pulled back slightly, pressing her forehead to mine. I opened my eyes to see that hers were still closed, tears clinging to her eyelashes.
"I thought I lost you forever," she whispered, voice clogged.
I shook my head, being sure to keep our foreheads together; my fingers lightly kneaded the back of her head. "No, I would never break that promise to you," I whispered.
She opened her tear filled eyes to stare into my dry ones. "But I told you that you'd have to leave me sometime."
I kissed her eyes closed, brushing the tears away with my lips. "And I told you," I said after kissing her left eye, moving to her right. "That it would never happen if I had anything to say about it." I leaned back enough to stare at her, my fingers running softly through her hair. "And I did have something to say about it, because here I am with my promise unbroken."
She didn't say anything, only released my shirt to wrap her arms tightly around my neck, burying her face in my neck, just breathing deeply. I wrapped my arms firmly around her, hands lightly rubbing her back. We just remained like that for a moment too long to measure.
"I love you, Jaden," she whispered.
"I love you, too, Alexis, so much," I whispered back, arms tightening around her, keeping her pulled firmly against me. And there, holding the one girl I loved with my whole heart, my whole soul, my whole self, I finally felt like everything would be okay. I felt alive, and I felt like I was home.
Holding my will to live in my arms.
xXx
-x-Anime-Queen-2011-x-
-o-Mel-o-
1: The gang may have a 3 week spring break but the other guys don't! A great way to cut back on the OC involvement I believe. :)