So, hopefully I can start writing new chapters and get them posted with smaller time gaps. I normally just end up working on this whenever, so it takes weeks sometimes to pump out 1000+ words for an update. Ridiculous, I know, but there are other stories I'm working on ATM so sometimes this one has to take a back seat. :/ Sorry guys.

I realized after uploading this chapter that I just kind of jumped from the present to the past between chapters 3 and 4, but there is still a lot more that I have planned to go on in the hospital with Kris and Neil (and whoever else I have turn up. I'm just playing it by ear right now. xD). In fact, all of chapter 6 will probably be the present, and maybe chapter 7 too.

And I figured I'd just clarify in case, but the present is typed regularly and the past is typed in italics, not to mention that the past and present are separated out by this symbol: _*_*_*_*_. In the portion of this chapter that takes a look back into the past, I also have this symbol: _*_*_. This is just to break up the dialogue. I hope all of my crazy symbols don't get too confusing! lol

Please review! Happy reading! :)

Neil led the way in and I followed closely, my eyes finding Adam immediately and locking there. He looked the same as he had, more or less, the only difference being that he looked more peaceful now. I wasn't quite too sure whether seeing his serene face calmed me down or scared the hell out of me. I decided that it was probably a close mixture of the two.

Neil bent down beside him and smiled, patting him appreciatively on the shoulder. "We know you're gonna wake up, man. You'd never let a stupid crash kill you, would you?" His smile faded slowly as he glanced down at his feet, then turned cautiously toward me.

"Or would he?"

I shook my head. There was no way that Adam would let himself die from a crash, but things were out of mine and his hands, weren't they?

Neil's eyes fell back to the floor and he sighed, his eyes glistening a little from tears I knew he was trying his absolute hardest to hold back.

I walked around the edge of the bed and sat by Adam's feet. I then grabbed his arm with my hand and gave it a small squeeze, trying to recreate what he did to wake me up each and every morning after driving over to pick me up. Somehow I didn't get the same electric tingle, and it wasn't just because I wasn't the one that was having his arm squeezed.

"Hey Kris, would you tell me a little more about you guys?" asked Neil, his eyes lighting up when he brought it up.

I couldn't exactly say no, even though my gut was telling me to wait a while and focus on Adam. It was a good way to pass time, and who knows? Maybe Adam would even be listening in on them, somewhere deep down.

I nodded a little reluctantly and looked down at my hand, still resting on Adam's arm. "Do you want me to pick up where I left off, or just skip to the end?"

Neil smiled and laughed, looking me straight in the eye when he said, "Skip to the end? What fun is that?"

Somehow I knew he was going to say that.

I took a long breath and tried to remember exactly what happened next, rubbing my thumb gently over Adam's skin and biting my lip.

"The next time I saw him after that was in my chorus class. He was an assistant to our instructor and would give advice to the kids in the class…"

_*_*_*_*_

I sat down in the chair farthest from the door and tossed my book bag carelessly to the ground. I didn't want to be there. I wasn't a singer and never would be.

The teacher stood up front and threw us fake smiles every few seconds in between stacking some loose papers and I seemed to be the only person that knew it was bogus, because every other one of my classmates was returning it with unusual enthusiasm. I cringed. I wasn't smiling back, and not even being threatened to be written up would make me.

The bell rang loudly in my ear and everyone stopped talking almost immediately, turning to face front.

The teacher threw us the exact same smile once more and I rolled my eyes inside my head, kicking at my book bag in irritation.

"Good morning, everyone. Most of you already know me, but for those who don't my name is Mrs. Callaway and I'll be your choral instructor for this semester."

I leaned into my hand, raising my eyebrows. Same damn speech in every class. If I had to do this, we should at least jump right into singing. This whole "Let's introduce ourselves" thing was really getting old after hearing it in three different periods.

"I'm going to tell you a little bit about myself, but first I'd also like to introduce you all to my new assistant- Adam Lambert. Some of you guys might know him already."

The name resonated in my brain and sent an unusual chill up my body. My eyes snapped up and found him immediately, walking in and standing beside her.

He laughed and his bright blue eyes seemed to light up the room as they fell on the girls sitting next to me.

"Thanks Mrs. Callaway. Um, yeah, I do know some of the people in here… Let's see… There's Jenny," he said indicating the redhead on the far left, "Emma, Angie, Christi, Katy…"

His eyes fell on me and I was expecting nothing more than a frown, even a scowl, but got a kind of curious smile instead.

"Kris…" he finished, my name coming out more like a question than a fact. I sat up a little straighter in my chair and looked him directly in the eye, feeling my throat tighten as I did.

He was doing it again- that weird magnetic thing that prevented me from looking away. I couldn't stand it and I suddenly felt worse as I noticed that all eyes, including Mrs. Callaway's, were on me.

"Yes, well…" Mrs. Callaway began, shocking me back into reality, "A little more about me…"

She rambled on and on for a while about her likes and dislikes, why she decided to instruct this class as opposed to other academic courses, and about her experiences in high school, which were no more informative or interesting to me than the stories that my grandparents used to tell me when I was little.

"And Adam, is there anything you'd like the class to know about you?"

The name got my attention again and I glanced up and saw him smile bashfully, the freckles on his mouth stretching upward with the curve of his lips.

"Well, I'm a drama nerd, if you didn't already know. I've been in…"

He threw Mrs. Callaway a quick look and turned to face us again.

"Four? Yeah, four school plays… Well, maybe more. I can't remember right now," he said with a small chuckle. The girl next to me, Katy, giggled with him. I quietly groaned.

So, Adam must still be "in the closet" as they call it. I mean, no girl in their right mind would fall for a gay guy… right?

Adam told us about what music he liked- classic rock and Broadway show tunes mostly, and he told us a little about his family, including his brother Neil (who was in my grade). He finished off talking about himself by advertising for the coffee shop and informing everyone that there were student "Back to school" discounts all week, at which point Mrs. Callaway kindly stopped him from continuing.

She proceeded to split us into groups for the day and have us sing for either her or Adam that way she could place us into our permanent choral groups.

I crossed my fingers, praying to God that she'd be the one listening to my group and not Adam.

I was paired with Katy, a smaller, nerdier looking boy, and two other girls. The brunette one nudged me with her elbow after a few minutes of waiting around and hearing other groups' voices.

"Yeah?" I said, immediately feeling guilty as I noted the harshness in my voice. But she just smiled, her eyes sparkling as she asked, "You're a freshman, right?"

I let go of a deep sigh and took in her bubbly aura, mustering up a cheery smile and happy tone as I replied, "Yeah."

Her grin stretched even wider and I started to wonder whether I'd regret telling her that later. It was no secret that freshmen were the bottom of the food chain here.

"I thought so... I knew I'd never seen you before. Your name's Kris?" she asked, eyeing me interestedly. Katy and the other blonde girl looked over at me too, and I suddenly felt small and weak.

I nodded and my eyes fell back on Katy, who was examining me from head to foot. I felt my cheeks grow hot.

"Okay guys," said a voice from just behind me that nearly caused me to fall out of my seat. I recognized it immediately as Adam's and knew what hearing it meant.

He grabbed the backs of mine and the brunette girl's chairs and his fingers lightly brushed my back as he leaned forward, making me squirm uncomfortably.

"Are we all ready to sing?"

_*_*_

I was the last to sing, and by the time that everyone had finished and he'd given advice, I was lightheaded and nervous, and I wasn't even the type to get performance anxiety! I was always forced to sing on every special occasion, not to mention a million times IN BETWEEN each of those holidays…

Adam fixed his ice blue eyes on me and smirked slyly. "You're up."

So, I sang the Star Spangled Banner for him. Part of the reason was to be a smartass, and part of the reason was because it was the first and only thing that came to my mind. Throughout the entire song, he just stood and stared at me, looking mildly amused.

The three girls in my group all laughed when I finished. The brunette one even threw in a wink as Adam said, "Well, definitely an interesting choice…"

He took a few slow steps toward me and licked his lips as though in deep thought.

"Your voice…" he began, his face relaxing as he raised his eyebrows, "is really beautiful."

I felt myself blush and instead of immediately thanking him, I just grunted, leaning back in my chair as though it didn't mean a thing. I didn't know it then, but those words out of his mouth that day meant the world to me.

_*_*_*_*_

"They still mean everything to me," I said, feeling a shy smile creep onto my face as Neil watched Adam.

"Why were you so scared to admit to yourself that you liked him?" he asked me quietly.

I sighed, not too sure how to answer. There was a multitude of reasons why I couldn't own up to being attracted to him. There were my parents, who were never overly accepting of the gay (or Bi, in my case) lifestyle, there were my friends at the time, who showed respect to only the straightest pigs on the face of the planet, and then of course there was Katy, who I'd gotten together with after the first month or so of school.

I started to open my mouth to tell Neil all of this, but was paralyzed, body and soul, as I heard a trace of Adam's voice reach my ears.