Hey babes! Sorry it's been a little while since I updated. I didn't have this chapter completely written because I was a little stuck. But I've finished it so I'm uploading it now.
Also, I am now down with my first year of college and I'm home now for the summer. Woo!
Patricia: Thank you so much. :) And haha, yeah. Lincoln was a jerk to Skye.
Guest: Updated! :)
And now, the chapter. Enjoy!
Taking a deep breath, Skye pushes open the door to the hospital room, finding Marianne sitting in the chair pulled up close to Grant's bed.
"How is he?" she speaks up somewhat quietly, not wanting to startle the older woman.
Marianne turns her head towards Skye and gives her a soft smile, "He's doing better."
"That's good," Skye says, dropping her bag just inside the door and moving closer to Marianne. She stops right next to the chair, resting one hand on the back of it. "I hate seeing him like this."
"So do I, sweetheart."
"Have Kebo and Kara come by yet today?" she asks.
Marianne shakes her head, "No. But it's only nine in the morning. I'm sure they'll be by at some point. Would you mind sitting with him for a while? I forgot a few things when I left the house to come here. I'd rather he not be alone."
"Of course I will," Skye smiles. "You don't even have to ask."
"Good," Marianne smiles, standing up from the chair. "I shouldn't be gone too long."
"Take however long you need," Skye tells her, sitting down in the chair and focusing on Grant. She looks briefly up at Marianne, "I'll keep him company."
"Alright," Marianne gives her a small smile. "I'll see you soon." She turns and makes her way out of the hospital room.
Skye turns her attention back to Grant, reaching out to clasp his hand in hers. "I'm back," she says. "Just like I told you I would be." She scoots the chair closer to the bed, sitting slightly forward on it and leaning down. She rests her head on his hand, just like she's done each other time she visited, and closes her eyes.
She's not sure how much time passes before she feels a slight twitching beneath her head. She lifts her head up with her brows furrowed in confusion. She feels his hand twitch again in hers.
"Grant?" she sits up the rest of the way. She sits forward in her chair, "Grant? Can you hear me? Grant?"
She reaches out and presses a button to call the nurse in when she sees what she thinks is a slight twitch in his face.
"Come on, Grant," she whispers. "I know you can do this for me. Wake up."
"You buzzed?"
Skye looks over her shoulder to see a nurse entering the room. "Yeah," she nods. "His hand moved a little and I swear I saw some kind of a twitch in his face."
The nurse moves between the different machines, checking them as well as Grant. She looks over at Skye and smiles, "He's definitely improving. We put him on a very heavy anesthesia to help his body recover, but I think it's wearing off. So hopefully if everything is good he should wake up soon."
Skye nods, "Yeah, okay. Thanks."
The nurse checks a few more things before turning around and walking out of the room, leaving Skye alone with Grant again. She reaches forward and runs one of her hands through his hair before sitting back down in her chair and letting out a sigh.
"Hello?"
Skye looks over her shoulder to see Jemma and Bobbi stepping into the room, nervous smiles on both of their faces.
"Hey guys," Skye smiles at them.
"How is he?" Jemma asks.
"The nurse said that he should be waking up soon," she tells them.
"Well that's good news," Jemma smiles.
"Yeah," Skye sighs, looking back at Grant. "I just hope 'soon' happens right now. I didn't really realize how much he's still a part of my life until I heard his song."
"Song?" Bobbi asks with a slightly raised brow.
Skye nods and looks at her friends, "Yeah. He uh, he wrote me a song saying how he always has been and always will be there for me when I need him. Apparently he didn't actually intend to show it to me; I only found out because his friend Kebo gave me Grant's laptop that had a video of him playing it on it."
"He wrote you a song," Jemma says. "That's so sweet."
"Yeah. And apparently, according to Kebo and Kara, Grant's in love with me."
"Gonna kill Kebo."
Skye gasps and whips her head around to see Grant still lying with his eyes closed, his head lolled to the side.
"Grant?"
She sees his eyes slowly crack open and he gives her a small smile. "Hey."
"Oh my gosh," she breathes out, tears springing to her eyes again. "You're awake." She leaps out of her chair and practically throws herself on top of him, wrapping him in a hug. "I was so scared you weren't going to wake up," she tells him.
"Well I'm sorry I scared you," he says back. "That was not my intention."
Skye sits back and wipes at her eyes. "I know it wasn't," she says. "But I didn't realize how much I actually need you in my life, Grant. You're always there for me, even when you aren't actually physically there."
"I see you're still wearing that," he says, pointing to the pendant hanging around her neck.
Skye smiles down at it and touches it briefly before looking back at him, "I hardly ever take it off. It reminds of how close we used to be. We used to do everything together, Grant. We were pretty much inseparable."
He nods, "I know. And then we grew up and got interested in different things. It happens all the time."
"But I never thought it would happen to us. I miss you, Grant. I didn't realize how much I missed spending so much time with you until I almost lost you for good. I never want to feel like that again. You're my best friend, Grant."
"And you're mine," he smiles. "Just don't tell Kebo that, he's a bit sensitive about the whole thing."
Skye laughs quietly and wipes at her eyes again. She takes a deep breath and leans back in her chair. "So," she starts, "you finally finished a song."
Grant closes his eyes and sighs. "Kebo?"
Skye nods, "Kebo."
"I am so going to kill him," he mutters.
"Don't," Skye says. "I'm kind of glad he showed it to me."
"Well I really wish he wouldn't have. I didn't want you to see that, Skye. I didn't want things to be weird between us. You're with Lincoln and I didn't want to put you in any kind of weird spot with him."
"Lincoln and I broke up," she tells him.
"You did? Oh, wow. I'm so sorry, Skye."
She shakes her head, "Don't be. Things between us were starting to fizzle out, anyways. I knew it was only a matter of time. But you getting into the car accident just pushed things a little faster. He didn't like how I was so worried about you instead of focusing on him. He also didn't like the idea of me traveling instead of going to college, thought that I was essentially throwing away my future."
"Then he never deserved you," Grant says. "If he cared about you even a little then he would have supported you no matter what he thought."
"I know," she nods. "Which is why I'm really glad to still have you in my life. You're always so supportive of me and everything that I want to do."
"That's mainly because I know how stubborn you are once you set your mind to something," he smiles.
Skye laughs quietly, "Yes, that is very true. And uh, I just want you to know that I think the song you wrote is really sweet. It made me cry, actually. But I think the fact that I watched it while you were unconscious in a hospital bed had something to do with it."
"Yeah, probably. But you liked it?"
She nods, "Yeah, I did. And it actually got me thinking..." she shifts in her chair, "about you and me. Grant, I—"
"Skye, please, don't."
"What? But I thought you lo—"
"I do," he nods, cutting her off again. "Believe me, I do. But I don't want you to say what I think you were going to say. Not now, not like this."
She furrows her brows, "I don't understand."
Grant sighs, "I love you, Skye, I have for a really long time. But you just got out of a relationship and I was just in an accident."
"I know, Grant. That's why we can't waste anymore time," she reaches forward and grabs his hand in hers, linking their fingers together.
Grant looks down at their hands for a moment before looking back up at her. "I want this so badly," he says barely above a whisper. He speaks up at full volume again, "But I don't you want to just be rushing into this kind of a decision. I don't want you to be with me for a few months only to realize that you don't actually feel anything for me. That it was just some spur of the moment thing because of everything you were feeling. I would be crushed if that were to happen."
"So what are you saying?" she asks him.
He takes a deep breath, "I'm saying that I'm going to go to college, and you're going to travel the world. And then, when you get back, if neither of us have met anyone, and we still feel this way, we can give us a shot," he gives her a small smile.
"But we can give us a shot right now," she says. "I don't have to leave and we can see where this goes."
Grant shakes his head, "No, Skye. You need to go travel. That's what you've always wanted to do. I'll still be here when you get back."
"Yeah?"
He nods, "Yeah."
"Okay then," she agrees with a small nod. "We'll wait and see what happens down the road. But you have to promise me that we're going to hang out a lot over the summer. And you have to officially meet all of my friends."
He gives her a smile, "I think we can make that happen."
"Good. Speaking of which, there are two of my friends here who I think would like to meet you." She turns her head and then furrows her brows, "Wait. Where'd they go? They came in here to see how I was doing."
"I think they stepped out sometime around when you were hugging me."
"Huh. Well, I guess you'll just have to meet them another time."
"Yeah, I suppose I will," he smiles.
"Grant!" Skye shouts through the facility to get Grant's attention when she sees him walking by.
Grant stops and turns to look at her, a smile growing on his face.
She waves him over and he immediately walks towards her. Kebo and Kara, both of whom had been walking with him, change their course and trail right behind him.
"Everybody, this is Grant, Kebo, and Kara," Skye says when the three teens reach the group. "Grant, Kebo, Kara, this is everybody. I'm sure you'll figure out all of their names by the end of the night."
"Hey," Grant gives them all a small wave.
"So," Bobbi speaks up, "you're the guy Skye's always talking about."
"You talk about me?" Grant asks, looking down at Skye.
"Course she does," Lance speaks up from beside Bobbi. "The last few days she has, anyway. Not so much before that. She didn't really start going on about you until you got in that car wreck."
"Lance," Bobbi says through gritted teeth, back handing him in the chest.
"It's fine," Grant gives them both a small smile. "I'm fine talking about my accident, really."
"But I, on the other hand, am not," Skye points out.
"Yes I know," Grant nods. "You were completely terrified that I wasn't going to make it."
"But you did make it," she tells him. "And that's all the matters now."
He smiles down at her and wraps an arm around her waist to pull her into a side hug, "Yes it is."
"Well would you look at this," Kebo grins from his spot. "You finally got the girl, Grant. I'm proud of you, mate. Little ticked off you didn't tell me and I had to find out like this, but I think I can forgive you."
Grant rolls his eyes, "We aren't together, Kebo."
"Not yet, anyways," Skye adds with a small smile.
"You're not?" Kebo asks, his brows furrowed.
Grant shakes his head, "No, we aren't."
"What do you mean?"
"I'll tell you later," Grant says. "Right now I think I just want to enjoy this party."
"Me too," Skye agrees. "We are now high school graduates and should be celebrating that fact. And you know what? There's a pool here and we all brought our swim suits just like they told us. So let's all go swimming."
"I wanted to go and get some more food," Lance responds.
"Of course you do," Skye says. "Come on, guys, it'll be a lot of fun."
"I agree," Grant says.
"Well I don't know about you lot, but I look great in a pair of swim trunks," Kebo speaks up.
Kara rolls her eyes, "You like to think you do."
"Guys, stop," Grant says before Kebo can respond.
"Let's all head to the locker rooms and change then meet in the pool," Skye says. "Does that work for everybody?"
"Sounds good to me," Grant says.
"I guess I can wait on the food," Lance grumbles.
"I think we're all in," Bobbi tells Skye.
"Excellent," Skye beams. She pulls away from Grant and moves with the other girls to their locker room while Grant and the other guys move towards theirs.
"Here we are," Skye breathes out as she approaches the security line.
"Do you have everything you need, baby girl?"
Skye turns around to face her parents, giving them a smile. She nods her head, "Yeah, I think so. At least, I really hope I do. Because that would definitely suck if I forgot to pack something that I really need."
"Well you better get going then," her mom says, stepping forward to pull her into a hug. "Have fun, sweetheart."
She hugs her back, "I will, mom. And I promise to call you guys every chance I get."
"Skye!"
Looking past her parents, Skye beams when she sees all of her friends making their way towards her. She drops her bag at her feet and rushes towards her friends, immediately being engulfed in a large group hug.
"What are you guys doing here?" she asks them when she pulls out of the hug.
"Did you really think we were going to let you leave without a proper send off?" Bobbi speaks up.
"We all wanted to come say goodbye," Jemma tells her. "We're going to miss you very much, Skye."
"I'm going to miss you guys too," she smiles. "But I'm only a phone call or FaceTime away."
"I'm going to hold you to that," Grant says, stepping around the group.
Skye smiles at him and steps over, pulling him into a tight hug. "I'm going to miss you so much while I'm gone," she tells him.
He nods against her, "I know." He pulls back to look at her, "But I'll still be here when you get back."
She nods, "Yeah, I know you will be. I'm just really going to miss you."
"And I'm going to miss you too," he smiles. "Do you have everything you need? Ticket, passport, travel guide?"
Skye smiles, "Yes, yes, and I'll get one in each place I go to."
Grant lets out a breath, "Alright, well, I think you're ready."
Skye nods silently.
Grant furrows his brows, "Hey, I know that look. What's the matter?"
Skye shakes her head, "Nothing. It's just, am I really going to do this? Am I really going to travel on my own for two years? Maybe I shouldn't do this, maybe I should just stay here. I'll find a job and maybe apply to community college."
"Whoa whoa, hey, stop that. You are going to be just fine out there. You've always wanted to do this. So you're going to go out there and do it."
Skye nods, "You're right. This is what I want. I'm going to do this."
"Yes you are. And you're going to take Europe completely by storm. They won't even know what him 'em," he smiles.
She smiles back. "I'm going to call you all the time."
"I expect you to," he says. "And I want pictures of you everywhere you go, alright?"
Skye nods, "Absolutely. It'll be just like you were right there with me."
"Good," he nods. He takes a deep breath, "Now, you better get through that security line so you don't miss your flight."
"Right," Skye nods once. "My flight. Yeah." She takes a deep breath and turns back towards all of her friends, "This is it."
"You're going to have an amazing time, Skye," Bobbi tells her.
"Thanks," Skye smiles. "I guess I'll see you guys when I get back." She turns around to face her parents, "I'm going to miss you guys."
"We're going to miss you too, baby girl," Melinda smiles at her. "But we'll still be here when come home."
"I know," Skye smiles. She pulls them both in for one last hug.
As she makes her way over to the security line, she stops and drops her carryon bag to the floor. She turns around and quickly makes her way over to Grant, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him down into a searing kiss.
Grant's eyes go wide and he stumbles for a moment before relaxing and reciprocating the kiss. His hands just barely land on her hips before she pulls back and smiles up at him.
"Skye...?" he whispers.
She bites her bottom lip between her teeth. "I wanted to know what it'd be like."
"And?"
"Not too bad. Definitely gives me something to look forward to for when I get back."
Grant lets out a quiet, breathy laugh. "You really should get going."
She sighs, "I know. Promise you'll still want me when I get home?"
"I promise," he smiles.
"Good." She gives him a quick peck on the lips before going over to her carry on and picking it up to walk over to the security line.
Grant watches with a smile on his face as Skye makes her way through the line, passing through the body scanner, and reclaiming her things off the conveyor belt.
As she approaches the entrance of the hallway to take her to her gate she looks over and locks eyes with him. She gives him a small smile and then steps forward, disappearing from view.
So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
For those interested, I'm working on a special project for the wonderful Brett Dalton. Let me know if you're interested, I'd be happy to give you more details. :)
Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!