I do not own DEH or it's characters. I'm simply a die-hard fan. Please enjoy chapter two of this story!

WARNING: brief language

Other than that, I do not believe there is anything bad. If there is, please tell me, and I will add that to the warning.

But, just in case it's more triggering than I believe it to be, please READ WITH CAUTION. I don't want anything bad happening to someone because of what I write.

It has also come to my attention that when this is all happening is kind of confusing. I am making an executive decision and deciding this is going on in June-the same time of year Evan broke his arm the previous year. In the preview for the new DEH novel (amazing by the way!) it's revealed that Evan was a Pisces. This implies he was born in either late February or early March. In my story, he's a Gemini. It's not canon, but neither is this entire story. Please feel free to PM me about any lingering questions.

Reviews are always welcome (good and bad alike). If you have any good ideas for stories or just random head-canons you want to see, please feel free to contact me:) I only ask, try to stay away from romantic requests...I am not very good at writing romance, LOL!

Anyway, enjoy!


I bet he'll be begging me to be his friend again when I give him this.

Jared smiled proudly at the small bonsai tree in his hands. It was a present for Evan. A present of reconciliation. Plus, it was Evan's eighteenth birthday, and Jared knew he wouldn't be getting anything from anyone else. And it had been silent between the two for long enough. Frankly, Jared was bored. Really bored. He would never admit it, but Evan had been his only real friend. And, yes, it was Evan that had ruined the friendship, but Jared was ready to move on. He wanted to be able to tell someone the fake things he had been doing recently. Jared supposed it was cruel—to tell Evan all the "things" he was "doing" with other "people"—but it made Jared feel better about only having one friend.

Evan had called a few times after the fight, but Jared hadn't answered. Instead, Jared just sat around his house doing nothing. When his parents had asked about what he and Evan were up to these days, he hadn't said they were fighting. He just did what he always did to Evan and made up stories.

"We went to the orchard and planted trees."

"We went to his house and had a movie night."

"We went to the Murphy's to celebrate the opening of the orchard."

All of them were lies, of course. But it didn't really matter since his parents still paid for his car insurance.

Jared sighed. Of course, it matters. He wanted the lies to become true. He wanted to be able to talk to Evan again. He wanted to be Evan's friend again. He wanted to be a part of something again. Contrary to what Evan thought, Jared loved being a part of the Connor project. But, it wasn't that easy to stay a part of. Alana had forgotten he had even been a part of it. Everyone had forgotten about him. Not only had everyone forgotten that he was even a part of the Connor Project, but the Murphy family had not celebrated anything. They probably figured out that Evan was lying. Jared didn't think it was that hard to figure out. Nothing in the emails really added up. Especially once the "suicide note" was released.

The letter.

Jared remembered when Evan first told him Connor had taken it. Jared had joked about it being a "sex letter" to Zoe Murphy. He had no idea what it had actually said. Evan had never told him. But when that was released, Jared read it. And he almost slapped himself. Had he known what it actually said… He would have never joked about it.

I should have been a better friend.

I could have been a better friend.

Jared walked confidently up to the Hansen's front door. He didn't see Mrs. Hansen's or Evan's cars out front, but he supposed they could have been in the garage. He rang the doorbell.

Hey, Mrs. Hansen. Is Evan here? I brought him a bonsai tree, Jared practiced inside his head. He was getting restless just standing there. He rang the doorbell again. There was still no answer.

Jared placed the tree on the porch table and peered through the window. Some lights seemed to be on, but he couldn't see anyone. He decided to call Evan's phone.

Ring.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

Ring.

Maybe he doesn't even want to reconcile.

Ring.

Maybe he doesn't really need me to be his friend.

Ring.

But I sure need him to be mine.

"I'm sorry. The number you called is unavailable. At the tone, please recor—"

Jared ended the call. "Where are you, Evan?"

He rang the doorbell one more time.

No answer.

Jared sighed, picking up the tree again. I'll just have to come back another time. He got into his car and started to drive away. He couldn't stop thinking as he drove away from the Hansen's. Maybe he should leave Evan alone. Maybe he should let Evan come to him. But, Evan was not one to make the first move. Even after the short three weeks where he helped run the Connor project, he hadn't really been a spontaneous person. And if Jared knew one thing, you had to be pretty spontaneous to make the first move talking to him. Jared knew people thought he was weird and annoying. Jared thought of himself as weird and annoying. But at least he had had Evan. Now he didn't, and he was completely lost. He needed Evan. He couldn't take "no" for an answer.

Filled with this newfound confidence, Jared pulled out his cell phone and called Evan again.

Ring.

This is what I want to do.

Ring.

This is what I need to do.

Ring.

This is what I must do.

Ring.

I must let him know he's still my friend.

"I'm sorry. The number you c—"

"Damn!" Jared seethed as he ended the call. Why wasn't Evan answering? It's not like he has anything better to do. He doesn't have any other friends. Zoe isn't talking to him. Alana isn't talking to him. There was no one else that really talked to him. No one except Jared. And they hadn't talked in weeks.

Jared called Heidi. She didn't answer.

Jared decided to call Evan one more time. And this time, he would leave a message.

Ring.

Please, Evan. Pick up.

Ring.

I want to be your friend again.

Ring.

I need to be your friend again.

Ring

I can't lose you.

"I'm sorry. The number you called is not availab—" Jared sighed, letting the voice continue. He promised he would leave a message and he planned to stick to that promise. "—may hang up or press one for more options."

Beep.

"Hey, Evan. It's Jared. I wanted to tell you that I need to talk to you. And I don't care if you don't want to talk to me anymore. I've made up my mind. I need you as my friend. Because you're my—" Jared swallowed his pride. "—you're my only friend. And I don't think I can handle losing you. So, please, call me back. Oh. I almost forgot. Happy birthday Evan."

Jared hung up the phone.

The light turned green.

Jared started to pull out but heard the sirens.

An ambulance blew past him.

I wonder what happened to that person?


Heidi had called the police. It hadn't been very hard to decipher where Evan was. After all, he had told her about the previous summer and what he had done. It makes sense that he would have gone to that place—that tree again. She had dropped everything but her purse and the letter and got right back into her car. She had to get to him. She had no idea how long he had been gone, so she had no idea if he was still going to be—

Heidi shook her head. She couldn't think about that. She had to keep her mind focused while she drove. After all, she had seen plenty of people who had been in car accidents because they were thinking of something—someone else. She followed every traffic law and drove the precise speed limit. She couldn't afford to get pulled over. The police had said they were sending an ambulance, but she needed to be there. She needed to ride with her son—her baby—this time. Her baby was hurting. She had thought he was doing better. She should have seen this. She should have known this was going to happen. She should have learned from her mistakes.

Heidi pulled into the park just as the paramedics were getting out of the ambulance. She ran over to the base of the tree—the tree. I didn't seem tall enough to kill him, but she didn't know as much about physics to tell.

Heidi made sure to stay out of the paramedic's way, but she had to get a look at her son. She peered over the paramedics as they secured Evan's head.

"From the looks of it, he has some kind of skull fracture. There might be some internal bleeding. We have to get him to the hospital now."

"Excuse me?" Heidi asked, trying to get one of their attentions. "I'm a nurse's aide at the hospital, and this is my son. May I ride with you to the hospital?"

"What's your son's name?" One paramedic asked.

"Evan. Evan Hansen."

Before Heidi could even comprehend what was going on, they were all in the ambulance on their way to the hospital. The paramedic was checking all of Evan's vitals when he realized Evan wasn't breathing. He quickly got to work.

Heidi just grabbed her son's hand and rubbed it gently, but what she felt was not what she expected. His skin wasn't smooth. It felt rough and bumpy. She glanced down at his wrist and almost doubled over in shock. She had no idea what her son had been doing to himself. She hadn't known he was hurting himself. How long has this been going on? How long has he been hiding this?

Heidi couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened. Evan had tried to take his own life again. Heidi wanted to slap herself for not realizing her son was hurting. Ever since his fight with the Murphy's, he had been different. He was taking his medicine again, but the doctors also had him on anti-depressants. Evan had been going to therapy even more than he had been—at his own request. The two of them were spending more and more time together, too. Things had been looking up. Well, at least she had thought they were.

Looking back, Heidi realized that Evan had never really talked with her much about what had happened with the Murphy's or Jared or Alana. He had told her that he had a fight with each of them but hadn't gone into much detail. Heidi sighed. It must have been worse than he let me believe. All Heidi knew was that they were about the Connor Project. She couldn't believe how stupid she was.

Heidi hardly realized that the paramedic was now trying to get Evan out of the ambulance. She climbed out after them and followed the doctors as they rolled Evan into the ER. When she got to the double doors that she knew she wasn't allowed to cross, she couldn't help but try to cross them. It was her son they were wheeling in there—her son!

One of the doctors that had worked with Heidi on multiple occasions gently pushed her out of the room. "I'm sorry, Heidi, but you know you aren't supposed to come in here. We'll take great care of your son."

Heidi reluctantly did what the doctor said and stayed outside the room. She backed away from the door, unable to look at her son's unconscious, broken body anymore. She made her way to the waiting room, filled out paperwork, and waited patiently for any news of her son's condition.

It was more than three hours before the doctor from before came to see her. "Heidi?"

Heidi stood up and anxiously walked over to the doctor. "Jeff, what's wrong with my son?"

"He's in surgery right now. He has a depressive skull fracture and possible meningitis. In conjunction with his head injury, some spinal nerves seem to be damaged, so there could potentially be paralysis. We'll know more when he gets out of surgery." The doctor placed a hand on Heidi's shoulder, noticing how unsteady her expression looked. "He's stable for now. Why don't you go home and rest?"

"I can't. My car is at the park. I rode here with the ambulance."

"I'll call my wife to come pick you up. How about that?" Heidi simply nodded. Jeff handed her a bag. "This is everything Evan had on him when he came in here."

Heidi nodded again. "Thank you." She took the bag and sat back down, not bothering to look through it. Her eyes landed on her cell phone. She picked it up. There was a missed call from Jared. I wonder if I should call him and let him know what happened.

She scrolled through her contacts. She was about to click on Jared's name, when another name caught her eye. She hadn't called him in probably five or six years. She supposed he needed to know that Evan was in the hospital. She sighed and clicked on his name, totally forgetting she was about to call Jared.

The phone rang, and the answering machine got it. "James? This is Heidi. I need you to call me back. I need to talk to you. It's about our son. Evan."


Ta-da! And guess what? I already have all the other chapters planned out. How it's planned so far, there will be ten chapters total. I have not written any of it yet...

Updating it may take place every week at the longest. It might be kind of sporadic. I have work and other things going on.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to review!

Sincerely,

Me

(Always34)