! Trigger Warning: An injury happens and is kind of described. I'll put bold exclamation points around the content, and then explain at the end !

The ride home was loud and rambunctious, and the conversation had me laughing to the point of tears multiple times.

We got home and I grabbed my bag, slowly walking up the stairs. I was going to go design some clothes, maybe make some modifications to my clothes.

I threw my bag onto my bed, pulling out my sketch pad and beginning some doodles. I wanted to create more photoshoot outfits or even outfits for music videos.

Chloe meowed at me a while later, and I realized I hadn't given her lunch yet. I stood, gently grabbing Chloe and heading downstairs.

The house was quiet, but I found Alex sitting in the living room. She was laying down, a blanket covering herself up. I grinned, walking into the kitchen and getting Chloe her milk. I grabbed a couple of pieces of lunch meat for myself, shoving them in my mouth and chewing quickly.

Chloe was done eating a few minutes later, climbing all over my arms. I walked back out into the living room, seeing that Alex was awake now. I sat down next to her just as she was sitting up.

"You wanna play Just Dance?" I asked. That had become our game to play together.

Alex smiled, stretching, "Sure."

I stood, setting Chloe on the couch and starting the game up. I scrolled through the songs as Alex continued to stretch.

"Let's do Havana first," Alex suggested, grinning.

"Yeah," I clicked it, making sure that Chloe was out of the way before we began dancing.

We kept dancing for a while, laughing and having a good time. Eventually, we approached the end of the line-up, and the only song we hadn't done faced us.

"You wanna try Rave in the Grave?" I looked at Alex, panting.

She shrugged, "We've made it this far, may as well try."

I smiled, wiping my forehead before clicking on it. I clicked on the girl, and Alex clicked on the tree looking thing. We couldn't help but laugh at the way the characters looked, glowing bright but looking dumb.

The song started off simply, just a few moves. I moved in front of Alex a ton, dancing around. And then they started doing one of those stupid Fortnite dances.

Alex and I laughed, hard. There was no way my hand would move with my foot while we were jumping around. Finally, that part of the dance had finished.

I laughed, "What kind of dance was that?!"

"A popular one," Alex replied, laughing just as hard as I was.

We continued, trying our best to do the moves. And then the Fortnite moves started again.

"Oh boy," I mumbled, trying my best to do them.

We started around the circle when suddenly Alex's foot caught on my leg. We came crashing down, and a sickening crack came from Alex's leg.

!

Alex screamed, causing me to roll off her. I looked and saw a jagged piece of bone protruding through Alex's skin.

"Oh my god," I mumbled, looking at Alex. She had her eyes shut, hands held tight around the wound.

"It's gonna be okay," I whimpered, looking back down at Alex's leg. "Alex, don't look at it, it'll only make you feel worse." She didn't stop screaming in pain.

I looked around quickly, Sorry Korey. I grabbed a towel off the couch, a raggedy looking one, and pressed it against the blood that was now pouring out of Alex's leg.

!

I barely registered the thudding on the stairs through Alex's screams of pain. I looked up to see John and Korey crashing down the stairs, obviously having just woken up.

"What happened?!" Korey asked, running over towards the two of us.

"We- We were just dancing and Alex's foot caught on my leg and we fell!" I said, gently pulling the towel back. Korey gasped, gulping.

John was next to us a second later, "Kor, call 911. Alex, look at me baby, you're going to be okay."

Alex's eyes met John's, and she nodded. John looked down at her leg, seating himself on the floor next to Alex. He propped his leg up behind her back, allowing her to rest on it while he held her. I couldn't hear much over the pounding in my ears, but they had their eyes closed and they were mumbling.

I kept the towel over Alex's leg as Korey talked on the phone. My hands trembled, but I started to notice that red was creeping through the towel. I adjusted, causing Alex to cry out.

John wrapped his other hand around her head, pulling it into the crook of his shoulder. He rested his chin on the top of her head, allowing her to cry into his chest. John kept his eyes shut, and I finally understood what he was saying. John was praying. Praying and reassuring Alex at the same time.

"Ambulance will be here in about 15 minutes," Korey mumbled, kneeling next to me again. I nodded, and didn't register John and Alex nodding as well.

A few moments later, Korey's hands appeared in my vision, gently prying my own away from Alex's leg. I looked at Korey, but after a pointed look, I moved back, allowing Korey to hold the wound. I couldn't stop looking at it though. My hands remained on my lap, palms up. I felt something on my cheek, and reached up and wiped it away with the back of my hand. Didn't want to spread blood all over.

I could hear the sirens a few minutes later. The sound shocked me out of my state, and I allowed myself to meet Alex's eyes. She looked up at me, and smiled a little.

"Are you okay?" I asked, voice cracking.

"I will be," Alex said. "Maybe no more Just Dance for a while?"

I laughed a little bit, "Yeah, we'll stay away from Just Dance."

Alex laughed, reaching out and patting my hand.

Korey looked at me, "Aria can you come hold this again? I'm gonna help the paramedics get in here." I nodded, scooting forward and pressing gently against Alex's leg. The towel didn't look any more soaked than when I had left it. I was surprised that Alex hadn't passed out yet.

The paramedics were in a few seconds later, stretcher in tow. They loaded Alex up, and after a brief discussion, Korey followed the paramedics out, leaving John and me on the floor.

"Aria?" I heard. I looked up to see John looking at me, "Let's go clean your hands, okay?"

I nodded but didn't move.

"Aria..." John reached forward slowly, gently grabbing my elbows. He moved me onto my knees, and then onto my feet. Chloe meowed indignantly as John wrapped his arm around me, leading me to the kitchen.

I couldn't get the sound of the sirens out of my ears. I was thrown back to that night all those years ago. It wasn't until I felt the coolness of water running down my hands that I was launched back into reality.

John had placed my hands under the sink and was washing them for me. His hands were gentle, scrubbing the blood as best as he could without hurting me. Once the water ran clear, John removed my hands from the water and dried them with a paper towel. His actions were slow and gentle.

"Aria, Alex is going to be okay," John said softly, "God's got her."

"It's my fault," I whispered.

John tilted my chin up, "What makes you say that?"

"I suggested doing the dance," I mumbled, "If I hadn't offered-"

"What's done is done. Alex is going to be okay," John reassured, pushing some hair out of my face.

I nodded, sighing.

"Can I hug you?" John asked.

I shook my head, "I- I'm good right now."

John nodded, removing his hands from my arms, "Okay. Why don't you go take a nap? I'll go tell Xavier what happened, and if anything happens to Alex I'll come let you know. Sound good?"

I nodded.

"Alright," John walked out of the room, heading upstairs. I grabbed Chloe, holding her close as I walked up the stairs slowly, all but collapsing into my bed when I got to it.

John had taken the time to make sure that I was okay. That I was cared for. He cleaned my hands, and respected my boundaries...

Maybe John wasn't that bad after all...

! Alex's leg ends up being broken !