Kates POV

My alarm rang, stirring me from my sleep. I groaned as I hit the snooze button. I'd set it about an hour earlier than usual because I didn't know how slow I would be getting ready. I gave myself thirty minutes of extra time and thirty minutes of snooze time. I fell back asleep quickly and just as I got comfortable my alarm went off again. Ten minutes already? I thought. I hit the snooze button again, before quickly falling back asleep. The fucking sun isnt even up yet. Why do I have to be? I was starting to build up a dream in my head before my alarm went off again. I hit snooze and went back to sleep. It was so warm in my bed. I don't want to expose myself to the cold yet. Tell you what though the shower is gonna feel fucking great. But the shower isn't my bed, and I'm not ready to get out from under my quilt just yet. I realized I had no choice when my alarm went off for the third time. I hit okay and sat up. I whimpered as I looked at the time. 6:30 I wanted to cry. I stood up and with the help of my crutches, walked slowly out of my room and to the bathroom.

I splashed some water on my face to wake me up before brushing my teeth and taking my morning piss. I hopped in the shower and sure enough it did the trick. As I stepped out of the bathroom I heard Lilly getting ready on the other side of her door. That's right, normally I'm still asleep. I walked back to my room and put my clothes on. Jeans, black T-shirt and my black sweatshirt. I thought about wearing my leather jacket but i'll wear that when i'm not in crutches. As I stepped outside my room again I saw Lilly making her way down the stairs.

"You're up early" she commented. I carefully hopped down the stairs after her.

"Yeah, I figured I'd give myself extra time," I said. "When's Humphrey gonna be here?" I asked once I reached the bottom of the stairs.

"He should be on his way, so like five minutes or so, '' Lilly answered. Good. At least we won't be late for school. I sat on the couch and played on my phone while I waited. When Humphrey pulled up in the driveway, Lilly let me know as she waited by the door.

I walked outside and over to the car. The cold air hit me almost instantly, the morning fog only adding to the cold feel. As i sat in the back of the car though i felt the heat of the car hit me, it felt great.

"What's going on guys?" Humphrey asked as Lilly sat in the front next to him.

"Same old same old" Lilly said before giving him a kiss. Humphrey nodded with a smile as he pulled out of the driveway. As we were driving I realized I wasn't going to be able to get my coffee like I usually do. It's gonna be a long week, I sat in silence as Lilly and Humphrey chatted about… something. I don't know, I blanked out as I looked out the window. Once we arrived at the school Humphrey parked and I saw that Rick was waiting for us. He looked up from his phone and took a couple steps to the car. Lilly opened the door to greet him and we were immediately hit by the freezing morning air.

"Been waiting long?" Lilly asked.

"Not at all," Rick answered as he waved to me. I felt a bit of joy as I waved back with a small smile. After the texting we did yesterday I couldn't help but feel closer to him. It was nice to finally see him again.

"Miss her?" Humphrey asked. Rick flipped him off as he walked back to his truck and grabbed something out the passenger side. We all got out and started making our way over to him, me of course being behind everyone. Once we were there we saw what Rick was grabbing and my God was it an excellent surprise. He pulled out a four pack of Dunkin Donuts cups, all of which had hot steam coming out of the cups.

"Lilly i believe this is yours, Humphrey yours, and Kate yours" he said handing out the drinks. He held on to mine though. "Want me to give it to you in the first period?" he asked.

"Yes. oh my god Rick i could kiss you right now" i said happily. He put the drinks down on the driver's seat before turning back to me.

"What's stopping ya?" he asked jokingly before I gave him an exaggerated kiss on the cheek.

"All right let's head in, it's freezing. See you guys soon?" Humphrey asked me and Rick.

"Yeah, see you later," Rick said. Humphrey raised his cup before walking off. As he walked away Rick grabbed the styrofoam tray before shutting his door. He then walked slowly alongside me.

"How did you know what to get?" I asked him.

"Lilly texted me your order and what she and Humphrey wanted. Wasn't sure if you would have the time to stop" he explained. It was a small gesture but one that I appreciated greatly. We stepped inside and I received stares and apologies. Stuff I didn't want to hear. I didn't see any sign of my friends though, so I started to question whether or not they were actually my friends. Did they even know I was in the hospital? I didn't care if I was going to be honest with myself. I felt like as long as I had Rick, I knew he cared for me and that's all I wanted. When we got to my homeroom Rick told me I'd see him shortly. I thanked him for everything and he gave me a hug before leaving.

Ricks POV

After homeroom I walked quickly to go meet up with Kate. If I was going to look out for her I had to be there for her, and that was something I planned on doing. When I reached her homeroom again I saw her just walking out. I walked alongside her and greeted her.

"There you are," she said. She had the same smile as always. It was so beautiful.

"Here I am. So listen, for the classes we don't have together i'll still be there to look out for you, i'll just need to remember the room number" i explained.

"Sounds fine to me," Kate said. As we turned the corner to walk into the first period I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Garth. He looked pissed.

"Yes?" I asked , annoyed.

"We have to talk," he said. I told him to wait a moment while I walked into the classroom and placed the coffee down on Kate's desk.

"Where you going?" Kate asked me as I began to walk away.

"I'll be back," I said. I stepped into the hall and met Garth, he was waiting with his buddies Hutch, and Cando. "What did you need?" I asked him.

"Are you going to act like you didn't punch me that day?" he asked. I stood confused for a moment before I remembered. Oh yea i punched him when he grabbed me as i was trying to take Kate to the hospital.

"Oh… shit I forgot about that," I said.

"You forgot? What do you mean you forgot? You think you can just punch me and not be confronted about it?" he asked sharply. Before I could talk Garth spoke again. "You just did it and left," he snapped.

"Kate was the priority," I responded.

"Look i get that you needed to get her to the hospital… but punching me really didnt help your case, you do that again and i'll fucking kill you" he threatened. I cocked my head as I stepped to him.

"If thats really what you were worried about then you need to get your priorities straight, that girl almost died what the fuck is wrong with you?" I asked angrily.

"Well in case you haven't noticed a lot of people are saying we fought and that you fucked me up, I just didn't want you to hear that and let it go to your head, '' he explained.

"You're worried about popularity?" I asked disgustedly. Garth scoffed

"you wouldnt understand, the fuck are you doing with her anyway? You should learn your place" he said.

"This Conversations over" I said as I turned my back to him. I heard him scoff again before walking away.

Kates POV

I sat waiting for Rick to come back. I wonder what he was doing. He looked concerned. He came in just as the bell rang and sat next to me.

"Where did you go?" I asked.

"Had to talk with someone," he said, avoiding eye contact. He took his drink and sipped at it. He was quiet for the rest of class. Once we were done we walked to science. I was looking forward to it simply because we sat at tables rather than desks. Me and Rick took a seat and I grabbed his hand. He glanced at me and gave a light smile. We didn't talk much because we were doing work. Couldn't wait for lunch time so we could finally have a conversation. I was probably going to sit with him because I just didn't want to sit with my friends. I felt like they didn't give two shits about my well-being. Fuck em. After science Rick walked me to my next class before leaving. I didn't have him here so it was going to be lonely. We didn't talk much in the other classes but his presence was all I needed.

When lunch time rolled around Rick and I walked to the cafeteria.

"Mind if i sit with you?" I asked.

"Of course, but don't you want to sit with your friends?" he asked.

"I feel like they don't care, they didn't even come to see me when I walked in this morning" I said sadly.

"You feel like they don't care?" he asked.

"Yes," I said bluntly. Rick laughed as we were approaching the cafeteria.

"I'm not so sure about that," he said as we turned the corner. What I saw surprised me.

"WELCOME BACK KATE!" the cafeteria yelled as there was a banner that said the same thing, and in the center of it all was Lilly, Humphrey, Angel, and my friends.

"Surprise," Rick said.

"You guys… did this for me?" I asked emotionally.

"Yes. we missed you so much" Winter said.

"The school wanted to do something for you so… we suggested a little celebration for your return" Candy said.

"We all pitched in," Rick said, patting my shoulder.

"I… I don't know what to say" I choked.

"Say nothing. You deserve something. NOW LET'S CELEBRATE GUYS!" Humphrey yelled. That cafeteria cheered as they proceeded to partake in what was very similar to a normal lunch but there was a table with cupcakes, pizza, and soda. I sat at a table with my friends, Humphrey and Lilly.

"I'll get you something," Rick said before leaving.

"I can't believe you guys did this for me, I was beginning to think you didnt care" I confessed.

"We understand why. We didn't want you to think that, so…" Sweets said, putting her hands up, gesturing to the small celebration.

"Surprised the school let us do it" Humphrey said, at that moment Rick placed a plate and cup in front of me. It had a cupcake, pizza, and in the cup was… coke. I found out after I took a sip.

"Thanks" I said to him. He patted my shoulder as he walked off. It was then that I realized there was nowhere for him to sit at the table. I felt bad and wanted to call out to him but was stopped when Candy asked me how my leg was feeling. I picked up a cupcake and answered her before taking a bite. "It feels fine honestly, i get it checked on thursday and most likely i'll get it off" i said.

"So you gonna tell us about you and Rick? I heard you two have been spending time together after he saved you '' Winter said. I didn't know how to answer that.

"We have been hanging out but we're not dating, '' I explained as I took another bite of my cupcake.

"Well gossips have been going around ever since he knocked Garth on his ass" Sweets stated.

"What? When did that happen?" I asked confused.

"Oh yeah. I forgot to tell you, when he put you in his truck Garth wanted to wait for the ambulance so he tried to block Rick, and he punched him. Right in the face and knocked him down" Humphrey explained. Rick… punched someone so he could help me?

"We didn't see it go down but everyones heard about it and um…" Candy said pointing at something. I followed her finger to see Rick standing with some girl, talking to her. He was smiling. Is that who he was texting me about last night? Is that who he loves? What does she have? She doesn't even know him and now she wants to talk to him because he got physical with some jerk? How dare she use him like that the fucking slut.

"What's the matter Kate? Not to your liking?" I heard Winter say, snapping me out of my trance. I was confused at first until I looked down at my hand and saw that I completely crushed my cupcake. I didn't even realize I was doing it.

"I.." I didn't know what to say. Did I really just get that mad over Rick talking to some girl?

"Never heard her growl before," Lilly said. I fucking growled? What is wrong with me? Winter took another look at Rick and then back at me.

"Ohhh I get it" she said.

"You do?" I asked as I started to wipe my hand.

"You're jealous of that girl" she said as the other began to laugh.

"It's not like that" I defended.

"I think the cupcake would disagree, '' Lilly joked. Before I could see anything else I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Angel and some girl standing next to her.

"Hey Angel what's up?" I asked her.

"Kate… this is Faith, she wants to… apologize to you" Angel said with what looked like worry in her eyes. I glanced at Faith to see her avoiding eye contact with me.

"Apologize for what?" I asked.

"I… im the one who hit you with my car…" she said, continuing to avoid eye contact. My eyes widened and the table went silent.

"It was you?" I asked.

"Please don't be mad. I just… I haven't slept in since then. I can't. I needed to tell you that it was me, i've felt so bad since" she explained as she started to cry. I felt bad for her. I think I remember her arguing with her boyfriend just moments before. I stood up, not bothering to grab my crutches, and gave her a hug.

"It's okay" I whispered in her ear as she hugged me back and started to fully cry. Poor girl, she must have felt really guilty.

After lunch I met up with Rick again and started walking to my next class.

"That was nice," I said.

"Yeah… I'm just glad they let us do it" he told me.

"Sorry there wasn't a seat for you, i wanted to call you but you were talking to some girl. Who is she?" I asked, I started to feel nervous about what answer he might give me. Please don't say it's your girlfriend.

"Honestly I'm not sure, she asked me about what happened with the whole Garth thing. Have I told you about that?" he asked me.

"No but I know about it," I told him.

"Well she asked about it and wanted to see if i was doing anything later" Rick explained. That bitch, i fucking knew it.

"What did you tell her?" I asked.

"I told her I was probably going to be chilling at home," he said. Thank God.

"I still can't believe you punched Garth over me '' I laughed. Speaking of the devil, here he came to greet me.

"Hey Kate, I'm so glad to see you're okay," he said.

"I'm sure" I responded dryly. Rick stayed quiet.

"Sorry for not coming to visit you in the hospital but I was busy" he explained.

"I bet" I told him.

"Just tell me if you need something or someone" he said. I didn't respond. I just stayed close to Rick. When we got to class I sat down next to him and took his hand again. He smiled.

"Hey Rick?" I asked.

"Yeah?" he responded. He waited for an answer as I hesitated.

"You care for me right?" I questioned shyly. He turned to face me entirely before answering.

"Kate… I care more about you than anything in the world" he said. I choked on my words as I began to ask my next question.

"Do you… know my last name?" I asked.

"Hunter," he said. I was so happy to hear that he knew. I gave him a quick hug before placing my hand on his again. Class began and me and Rick did our work. We helped each other whenever we needed to and overall we had a relaxing week up until thursday. I was so happy to get this cast off, and once again Rick came through for me.