"I'm sorry," he said. Julia and I both let out gasps, Kennedy started shaking. Every single one of the guys faces fell. "But you are going to have to put up with him for a lot longer. He's going to be fine. They are moving him to ICU."
"Are you kidding me?" I said. I wasn't one to make a scene, but really?
"A little doctor humor, I guess. It's never funny, but we do it anyway," he chuckled.
"Haha, that was so funny. When do we get to see him?" John Ohh asked. I finally let myself look over at him. California agreed with him. He looked better than he had in a long time. He was letting his hair grow back out. His hair looked good any length, I suppose.
What was I thinking? Stop it, Peyton.
"You can see him now, if you wish. He's not very talkative. He's mostly whiney."
"Well, I am sure he gets the right to be whiney. He was in a major car crash. It was on the news and everything," Eric chimed in. I looked over at him now. I hadn't seen him in a long time. He didn't come to our wedding. Maybe it would have been too hard for him, I don't know. He was growing his hair back out too. I loved his hair long. He was starting to bulk up, leaving the scrawny kid I fell in love with behind.
Lastly, I studied Justin. His hair was shorter than it had been the last time I saw him, many months ago. He looked the same. He looked more relieved than anyone else. He had a big heart, and that was one of the things I loved about him.
All of my "what if's" were swimming through my brain, but they all drowned when Kennedy squeezed my hand and started leading us to go see Nick.
I froze outside of the room and looked over at Justin, who froze next to me. This was the room my dad was in. The room Justin and I had our first kiss in. Of course it was. I shook my head and walked over the threshold.
Nick looked terrible. He was awake, which was a good sign. His tiny body was swallowed by the bed and masses of machines helping him recover. It broke my heart. He was one of my best friends.
"Peyton," he said, rather hoarsely. I stepped forward and grabbed his hand gently.
"I am so sorry about your car," he said.
"Car? Screw my car, Nick. I am just glad you are okay."
"Shit," he said, slowly looking around the room. "Everyone is here."
"You mean a lot to a lot of people," I said, sitting on the edge of his bed.
"How is the person I hit?" he asked.
"We haven't heard anything about her," I said, looking around at everybody, in case any of them knew. Nobody spoke up.
"I can go ask," Justin offered.
"Please," Nick nodded.
"Do you hurt?" Kennedy Stephen asked.
"Nope. I can't feel a damn thing." Nick answered.
We asked him things about the wreck, and he answered them all, but I could tell he was getting annoyed. He was staring at the girl he ran into for a moment too long and when he looked up, the car in front of him was stopped. He swerved one way and almost hit an eighteen wheeler, so he swerved the other way, into the girls' car and both cars ended up flipping.
Tough break on both of them.
"She's going to be okay, Nick." Justin said, giving us the report on the other girl. Nick sighed in relief and relaxed again.
"What is this, a party?" a nurse asked as she came in. "There are too many people in here. Half of you need to leave."
"I'm tired anyways, you guys. I don't need all of you in here babying me." Nick smiled, and then everyone started saying their goodbyes. I kissed his cheek and was almost out of the door, until I heard him call my name. I turned around and walked back towards the bed.
"Can you call my mom and tell her that I'm going to be okay?" he asked.
"Sure, but I can guarantee that she would rather hear from you." I said, pulling out my cell phone. Yeah, I know, you aren't supposed to have cell phones in the hospital. Sew me. I am a rebel.
All I could hear was Mama Santino's frantic cries in the background. Nick kept trying to get a word in, but he gave up, and just listened to her. He teared up listening to what she had to say, and I teared up, because their relationship was so beautiful.
"I love you, mom." He finally said. He hung up and handed me my phone. "If you tell any of the guys that I cried, I will never talk to you again."
"I promise, your secret is safe with me." I told him, sliding my phone into my back pocket.
"So. You and Kennedy are okay now?" he asked, pointing to the giant rock on my left hand. I nodded and showed him my ring.
"Damn, I did a fine job picking that sucker out, didn't I?" he asked. I looked at him, confusion written all over my face. He just chuckled.
"Just kidding. He did a better job than I would have. I am horrible at that shit. Hope I never get all blissed out on love. You guys are sickening."
"I hope you do get blissed out on love. You deserve it."
"One day," he said, with a shrug.
"I love you, Nicholas Bernard Santino. Get some sleep. I'll be back by later tonight to check on you."
"Love you too," he yawned, already closing his eyes.
/\/\/\/\/\
The second I stepped into the waiting room, my whole world was flip flopped around. There were security guards and copious amounts of people trying to pull them away from each other. There was no blood, thank god, but I imagine there would be if this went on any longer.
"ENOUGH," I yelled, pushing through people to try to reach them.
"Don't you EVER talk about her like that again," Kennedy yelled, lunging at John.
"Or you'll what, Brock?" John spat back, trying to break free from the security guard and Garrett's hold.
"She's not a possession, you asshole," Kennedy growled.
"Enough," I said again, shaking my head from side to side, the annoyance I felt clearly showing on my face. "Is it so hard to put the past in the past? You," I said, looking at John, "need to get over it. I am engaged to Kennedy, and if you try to break us up again, I will cause you bodily harm so immense, you will need surgery to fix it. And you," I said looking at Kennedy, "need to stop jumping all over everybody. Like you said, I'm not a possession. Stop treating me like one. I can take care of myself. And you," I said, looking at Julia, "Are taking me to your house. Right now," and with that I turned on my heel and exited the hospital like a bad ass mother fucker. I pulled my sunglasses from their perched position on top of my head down so they rested on the bridge of my nose. I was over this. These boys needed to act like they were 22, not 12.
/\/\/\/\/\
"Daisy!" I said, scooping the hyper pug up and letting her kiss all over my face. The love I had for this dog was unreal. After I had given her enough of my attention, I set her down and walked into the kitchen for something to eat. It wasn't my house, but Julia always had the good snacks. You know, the really fattening ones that I could never bring myself to buy. "Jackpot," I whispered, smiling like a kid on Christmas morning. I had found the fudge rounds. All was right in the world. I opened the wrapper before I even left the pantry, stuffing a part of the glorious snack cake into my mouth. I turned around and came face to face with Julia.
"Raiding my snacks?" she asked.
"No," I said, talking with my mouth full. A few crumbs fell out of my mouth and Daisy was swift to lick them up.
"If my dog gets sick, you are taking care of her," she said, grabbing a fudge round and tearing open the plastic wrapper. I hopped up on the counter and continued to shove the Fudge Round into my mouth. I looked very lady like, as you could imagine.
Jared and Pat came into the kitchen not two minutes later, and watched both Julia and I shoved Fudge Rounds into our mouths.
"Where do they put it?" Jared asked Pat.
"Have you seen the size of Peyton's feet? That's where hers goes. And Julia's," Pat said thinking, "definitely her boobs."
"Stop talking about my boobs," Julia said, opening another package and pulling the sweet treat out.
"Talk about her boobs all you want, stop making fun of my giant feet," I said, faking hurt.
"They are huge," Pat shrugged.
"Like your ears?" I asked.
"Ouch. Touché. Julia, mind if we play Halo?"
"As long as I can play!" she said, shoving the WHOLE Fudge Round into her mouth, racing off after them. It was just me and Daisy.
"Come on, girl," I said, patting my leg to get her to follow me. I opened the back door and we escaped outside, away from the competitive smack talk happening in Julia's living room. I sat down on the porch swing and pulled Daisy into my lap. She snuggled comfortably into me and fell asleep within minutes.
I was left out here alone with a dog and my thoughts. My thoughts were getting out of control and I needed to sort through them. The way Kennedy keeps trying to defend me, although it is sweet of him, I don't expect him to every time. I am 22 years old. I can fight my own battles. Sometimes I want to fight my own battles. That's the kind of person I am
I have no idea what John said, but I'm sure it was something tasteless. It was more than likely something he shouldn't have said, and that made me wish that he was back in California already.
It was nice to see Justin and Halvo. A little awkward maybe, but they were my friends. No matter what has happened in the past, they would always be my friends. I haven't taken the time to call either of them and see how they were doing.
I was that friend. We all have one. That one friend that makes the relationship one-sided. The one that doesn't call or check in. That was me. I was that person. I was horrible.
I needed to turn things around, with everyone. I barely talked to John Gomez anymore either. He was my savior when I went on the tour with the guys.
I guess I have been so wrapped in Kennedy for a year, that everyone else seemed to take the backseat, and I hated that.
My thoughts were interrupted when a silver Honda Civic pulled into Julia's driveway. I looked at my watch. He lasted a whole hour. It was longer than I thought he would last. He walked up the porch steps and sat down next to me on the swing. He didn't say anything.
"What did John say?" I asked.
"It doesn't matter," Kennedy shrugged. "You have to know that I can't just sit back and watch when I need to defend you. I can't do that," he shook his head, staring at something off in the distance. "I'm not that kind of person. I love you, Peyton, but when John tried to start shit, I had to fight back. I'm not letting him ruin us again."
"He won't. Thank you, Kennedy. I didn't mean what I said at the hospital. I love that you want to defend me. I just think that sometimes you should let me defend my own honor. I just think that two grown men can solve things without pushing and shoving."
"I'm sure we could. I just really want to strangle him sometimes."
"I know. Everyone does."
"We have been best friends for a long time. It's just that you are the first girl we've ever both liked. He's not going to give up on you. I can promise you that. It's almost like a competition to him."
"A competition. John and I knew each other back in middle school. We went to the same camp. We were best friends. We have grown up since then, and I just don't like him in any way other than friends. I am not most girls, Kennedy. I am sure that I can resist his charm. I'm too caught up in all of your charm to even pay attention to him." I said, kissing his cheek. He looked at me and smiled and then kissed me softly.
"I guess I feel a little better," he said, throwing his arm around my shoulders.
"Just because John is in town doesn't mean that he's going to tear us apart. We have made it through a lot. We will spend the rest of our lives overcoming obstacles. That's the way it goes."
"Ready to come home?" he asked.
"No. I miss Daisy. And I miss Julia and Garrett and Jared and Pat. Can we stay for a little while? Let them own me at some Halo?"
"Anything you want," he smiled, planting a kiss to my neck.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"And what are we going to do about Peyton's car?" I heard as I was walking into Nick's hospital room.
"Nothing. You are going to do nothing about my car. It's just a hunk of metal. Come here," I smiled at Mama Santino, pulling her into a giant hug.
"We have to do something. It was Nicholas' fault that you are car-less. Kennedy!" she said, clearly excited to see him. She kissed both of his cheeks and pulled him in for a hug.
"Why are you boys so skinny? I don't get it," she shook her head, sitting back down on the chair.
"You got here fast," I said, sitting down on the side of Nick's hospital bed.
"She got some man kicked off of the already overbooked flight and took her seat. What can I say? She loves me."
"Don't we all," I smiled.
"Andrew's flight should be here in a few hours. I couldn't get someone else kicked off for him," she shrugged, picking up her knitting project again. "Lord knows, I tried."
"Aw, I can't wait to see Andrew!" I said, looking at Nick. He looked better than he did earlier, but I knew it was because his mom was here.
"Since you are marrying Kennedy," Mama Santino sighed, "I have a new girl for Nick."
"Oh really?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. Nick just grinned, and let his mom go on.
"The girl he hit. She is 21, in school. She is gorgeous. Her name is Sophia. I check on her every hour."
"I am hurt that you've moved on so quickly!" I said, giving Nick a stern look.
"You know how I do," he played along.
"I remember when Nick came home the first time after meeting you. He had such a crush," she said, not looking up from her knitting.
"Ma, could you not?" he asked. Both Kennedy and I chuckled. Nick looked at me and smiled. "Now that's gross. You're like my sister."
"And I love it that way," I said, kissing his cheek. "Sorry we could only stay a few minutes. We'll be back tomorrow. How long are you in town for?" I asked Mama Santino.
"Who knows? I am here until Nicholas is better."
"I will see you tomorrow then," I said, kissing her cheek too.
I grabbed Kennedy's hand, and led him through the hallway. We took the stairs, because he knew how scare I was of elevators. We were about to walk out of the entrance, when a young child crying caught my attention. She had nobody with her. Where were her parents? She appeared to be around two or three years old. I squatted down in front of her, trying to get her attention. When she finally looked at me, all I could do was gasp. It was like I was looking at Kennedy. They had the same eyes, the same color hair. The same everything.
"Are you lost?" I asked her. She was too young to really understand what I was asking. She stuck her thumb in her mouth and started sucking. I stood up and looked at Kennedy, who was just staring at the little girl. He must have thought she resembled him too. It was so weird.
Then both of our worlds got a little shaken up as Gabby stepped into the room. Her face fell and her eyes shot straight to the little girl in front of me.
World, could you cooperate with me, just once?
Just once?