Thanks for all of the fantastic reviews, I really appreciate them! Please keep reading and reviewing. I hope you like the rest of my story :).

Brian rubbed his eyes and sat up – then promptly lied back down. He groaned, clutching his throbbing head. Surveying the empty beer bottles and cans discarded on the floor and stacked on all flat surfaces, he remembered the party. Epic it had been. The last guests had not left until long after the sun came up.

He stumbled into the kitchen, swallowed two Advil, and downed a glass of water. A glance at the clock told him that it was mid-afternoon. The others were probably still asleep.

Why was he sleeping on the couch? That's right. Bianca hadn't been feeling well, so he'd let her sleep it off on his bed. The poor girl had drunk way too much, and he was pretty sure this would be her first hangover. He grabbed the Advil bottle, a glass of water, and a bagel, and headed up to his room.

He paused for a moment in the doorway. God, she was so beautiful. Her black hair fell in waves across his pillow. Her skin looked paler than usual though, nearly as pale as it had been when she'd first arrived at their home, which was a sign that she must have been quite sick.

"Bianca," he whispered softly, sitting down on the bed beside her. There was no response. With a smile, he gently touched her shoulder and whispered, "Wake up, sleeping beauty," in her ear. Nothing. He repeated her name, louder and louder. He shook her motionless body. No one slept this deeply. "Bianca! Wake up!" He was shouting her name so loud, right beside her, and still she did not stir.

His heart racing, Brian ran across the hall and pounded on the nearest door. A groggy Jake answered, quickly rising to action upon Brian's declaration, "There's something really wrong with Bianca! She won't wake up!"

Jake tried to rouse Bianca as well, in vain. They then ran through the house, alerting all of the men that there was trouble. Angry grumbling over being awoken turned into concerned panic when the men learned that their friend was ill. Matt inspected her, and determined that she did have a pulse, but announced that it was out of his hands. With much commotion, they carried Bianca with them out to Dave's van and drove off speedily and recklessly.

Bianca's eyes fluttered open. Disoriented, she wondered what was going on. She appeared to be lying in a hospital bed, with some sort of tube hooked up to her arm.

She looked up, and the first thing her eyes rested upon was a doctor. Blonde, tall, and muscular, he was quite possibly the most handsome man she had ever seen. He looked like a movie star.

The doctor glanced at her and smiled. "You're awake!" he exclaimed, walking towards her.

"What are you talking about? How long have I been asleep?" She felt very weak; it was difficult to sqeeze the words out.

"You've been out for three days now," he informed her. "Darling, you were poisoned."

"Poisoned!" she yelped, straining her voice. Who could have – oh. In a moment of clarity, Bianca realized who had done this to her, and her anger boiled. Trying to calm herself, she muttered, "She got to me. That horrible woman."

"The police have been searching for your attacker," the doctor continued, paying her no heed.

"Didn't you hear me? I know who did it," Bianca called out. "It was my stepmother. They have to arrest her."

"Oh, they're looking for her," he answered, jotting something down on a clipboard.

"Looking for her?"

"We called your father to tell him that you were here. When he got back home, she had fled, which aroused suspicion," he explained. "The authorities are still searching for her."

"My father has been here?" Bianca asked, perking up.

"Every day. And so have a bunch of boys. Rowdy. They cause a scene every time they come in here," the doctor frowned.

Bianca chuckled. "Those are my friends," she told them. "I've been living with them."

"A girl like you? Living with those buffoons?" He checked something on the machine that was attached to her arm, then looked down at her disapprovingly, his strong brows furrowing. "Why?"

"Well, I was just living there temporarily. I was running away from my stepmother, and I happened to come across their house," she explained nonchalantly, hoping to keep this attractive doctor's attention.

"I see." He proceeded to check her lungs and heart; Bianca was sure it skipped a beat or two as he sat so close to her. "You seem well," he told her. "Not quite perfect yet, but you appear to be on the way to a full recovery. I'll check on you in a little while." After a glance at his watch, he added, "Your friends should be here soon; they always arrive as soon as visiting hours start and seem to be around all day, driving us all crazy." He left the room, giving Bianca a chance to get an approving glimpse of the back of him. It was, indeed, as perfect as the front.

Sure enough, about half an hour later, her entire household came bounding into the room.

"You really are awake!" Eddie exclaimed when they saw her sitting, flipping through a Cosmo magazine someone had thoughtfully left on her bedside table.

"I really am." Her face burst into a huge toothy smile. "Control yourselves, boys," she instructed, to no avail, as they all pushed to get to the front of the crowd to see their newly awakened friend. The story of the last few weeks unraveled through their excited, gleeful shouting, interrupted three different times by nurses yelling in vain to keep the noise down.

"Brian found you unconscious," Eddie offered. "He went into a complete panic, running around the house, telling us all to come help."

"You wouldn't wake up. I was afraid you were dead," Brian said.

"Then we rushed you to the hospital in my van," Dave told her, "and we all came in here. I guess we caused quite a commotion."

"I hear you cause quite a commotion every day," Bianca laughed.

"Well, what are we if not great riot-causers?" Corey shrugged.

"Great friends," she smiled. The resulting awkward silence was broken be the arrival of Bianca's father.

"Daddy!" she shrieked.

"Oh, Bianca!" John rushed to her side and threw his arms around her. The boys respectfully filed out of the room, leaving father and daughter alone.

"I am so sorry," he gushed. "I don't know how I could let anyone hurt you. I've been worried sick. To think I let that woman into our house," she scolded himself.

"It doesn't matter," Bianca buried her face in her father's shoulder.

"Yes it does," he cursed. "I am so, so sorry."

"Apology accepted," she gave in. "And I'm sorry I ran away. But I couldn't come back, you know, and I couldn't think of a way to tell you that your wife tried to kill me."

"I know." John sighed. "But you're safe, and that's all that matters. You're going to be fine."

They sat for a while, John telling her about their search for her and Bianca briefly describing the men who had let her take refuge at their home. "I know you wouldn't want me living with boys, but they are great people, really," she reasoned.

"Anyone who gives my daughter a good home is a friend to me," he told her gently. "Plus, you're going to college next year… you're practically on your own anyway. But I'm hoping you'll want to come back home until you do?" It was a question, not an order.

"Of course I will, Daddy," Bianca said, hugging him again. Over his shoulder, she saw Eddie's head peeking into the room. With a laugh, she motioned for them to reenter. Bianca formally introduced everyone to her father; to her delight, they were very polite and each gave his hand a firm shake. Over the next few days, there was a flurry of activity in her room. The day after she had woken was especially exciting; it was her eighteenth birthday, so her father brought a cake and candles, and her seven friends and her father and some of the hospital nursing staff that had been caring for her all sang, very much out of tune, but from the heart nonetheless.

The handsome doctor tended to her needs throughout her hospital stay. Bianca was surprised to discover that he wasn't too much older than her - he had just graduated from medical school a year ago. When she finally was getting ready to leave the hospital, he told her it was a pleasure to have met her – and asked her to dinner. Though her father gave her a disapproving look, she accepted.

"He's a bit old for you, don't you think?" he grumbled.

"Just a little. But daddy, he's just the kind of guy I always pictured being with," she explained. "Smart, handsome, kind. How could you want more than that for your daughter?"

He ruffled her hair. "I suppose you're right. He does seem like a nice man." Bending down and kissing the top of her head protectively, he muttered, "Even though I still don't think you should date until you're at least forty."

Bianca giggled. With her father's blessing, she wrote her phone

number on a scrap of paper and told the doctor to call her the next day. He grasped her hand and told her that he most certainly would.

The boys all arrived to wish her well as she was leaving the hospital. They gathered at John's minivan, and, weak as she was, Bianca stood to hug each of them good-bye. She thanked them all for being so kind to her when she needed them. Everyone said that they would miss her, in their own way. Corey, as always, tried to charm her, saying, "I'll miss seeing your beautiful face."

Bianca laughed and replied, "You know, I'll really miss you, Corey. I've never had any friends quite like you."

Finally, she came to Brian. She could not find the words to express how much she would miss him, so she threw her arms around him and buried her face into his neck. Nothing in the world had ever felt quite as good as this hug did now. Tears started to trickle out of her eyes. He held her tightly, burying his face in her hair. "I'm going to miss you so much," he said softly.

"Me too," she choked out. He loosened his arms a little, and looking around, she saw that the rest of the guys had politely begun to chatter with one another, so as to give Bianca and Brian a moment all to themselves.

"Oh, don't cry," he said, wiping her tears away with his thumb. "You can come visit us anytime, you know. And I can visit you. And maybe… you could possibly live with us next year, if you go to a local college?"

Bianca smiled. "Thanks. I would like that."

After a long pause, Brian said, "Well, I suppose you'd better head out of here."

"I guess so," she nodded.

Brian pulled her tight for one last hug, and roughly kissed her on the cheek. "Take care of yourself."

With tears streaming down her cheeks now, Bianca sniffled ungracefully and waved good-bye to her friends. Though she was happy to be reunited with her dad, it hurt when she realized that it may be a long time before she saw her closest friends again.