ASC: Chapter 14

It was now nighttime here in Sunflower Shoal. Almost everyone who came to visit Alice in the hospital had gone home for the night except for Double D, Eddy, and Eddy's parents. Eddy and his parents decided to go to the cafeteria place; they had nothing to eat so far while they were here while Double D stayed in Alice's room. Daisy told Double D to contact the doctors or nurses if anything happened to Alice while they went to eat.

Evan decided to stay at Rebecca's apartment for the night and move in with her, seeing that the place he was living in would no longer be needed now that his job was over. Eddy also noticed the look in their eyes when Evan mentioned he was going to move in with his girlfriend; he knew exactly what was going to happen tonight but did not say anything about it out loud, 'Guess I can always ask about how it went with him later,' Eddy snickered to himself.

Anyway, we could see Double D in Alice's room, occasionally glancing at his phone to look at the current time. He looked back to Alice, who had recovered very fast from what happened earlier in the day. She was still fast asleep and resting.

As he was looking at her, Double D could feel his stomach begin to turn a little, like he had butterflies fluttering around in it. He was remembering the dream he had again, blushing a deep red, 'S-Stop this foolishness, Eddward!' he thought to himself with frustration, 'You KNOW you're acting this way because of puberty and hormones, but you don't need to keep thinking about it so often!' he made a sigh, 'I wonder if these thoughts will go away once I tell her about how I feel… I sure hope so.'

Double D closed his eyes before making a loud but tired yawn, "I'm very sleepy," he said to himself, speaking for the first time out loud since the others left, "But I need to try and stay awake to watch over Alice…"

That was when Double D began to hear a very quiet moan, it was barely audible, but he did hear it. His eyes snapped open at the sound, gasping in shock. It was Alice! She was starting to stir a little in her hospital bed like she was going to wake up!

"Alice…!" Double D gasped as he went over to her bedside.

Alice slowly began to open her eyes, blinking several times before turning to see Double D next to her. She made a big smile when she saw that he was here, "D-Dee…"

"Oh dear, I-I should inform the nurses and everyone else that you've woken up!" Double D started to say in a small bit of panic, looking around to see where the communication device was to call for someone.

Before he could walk away to call for a nurse, Double D felt Alice weakly hold onto his hand, "Wait, d-don't leave me, just for a s-second… please."

Double D stayed silent to Alice as his heart began to beat faster; this was becoming very similar to the dream he had because of her wording.

"I'm still k-kinda tired, but I… I t-think I heard you talking t-to me, a moment ago," Alice said to him as she squeezed his hand even tighter, "We c-can talk – w-when I wake back up later, okay…?"

Double D could feel himself blushing like mad once again, "Of course. I'll be here when you do."

Alice gave a warm smile to him before closing her eyes to rest again. Double D placed her hand back on her stomach, still stunned at what she said to him, 'S-She heard me speaking to her a moment ago…? Was it when I was talking to her while the doctors were helping her…?! That's incredible!'

Double D went over to the button to call for the nurses and doctors, telling them that Alice woke up for a short moment before going back to sleep. He made a sigh to himself, glancing back over to Alice as he did, 'I should contact Eddy and his family as well before I go to sleep.'

The next day finally arrived, with it now being early afternoon. We could see that Double D was still in Alice's hospital room, sleeping soundly on the guest chair that was in the room. Before he could feel himself starting to wake up, he could have sworn he felt someone's presence close to him when he was asleep; whoever it was, they were very gentle and warm…

Once he had finally woken up, Double D made a small yawn and stretched his arm. He opened his eyes, still very tired from everything that happened yesterday. He looked toward where Alice's bed was… only to see she was no longer there.

Double D's eyes shot open as he looked around the room; Alice was nowhere to be seen!

'O-Oh dear, oh dear!' Double D began to think in a panic, 'Where did she go?! Is she okay? I-I need to go find her!'

Before he could dash out of the room to try and find her, Alice came back in from a door on the other side of the room. Double D gasped when she saw that she was not only awake but also walking around; even though she was still moving a bit slow due to her injury, "H-Hey, there, Double D…" she greeted.

"Alice…!" Double D said with a big smile as she walked over to where he was sitting, "You're awake!"

"Yeah, I'm awake," Alice replied with a nod, "I woke up again a few minutes ago, so I went to the bathroom to use it and freshen up," she made a sigh as she walked back over to her hospital bed to sit down at the edge, "I can't move my right shoulder very well, but thankfully that's the only injury that's bothering me. The doctors said my shoulder will begin to feel better by next week…"

Double D smiled at the news, "That's wonderful!"

He glanced over to the button that called the nurses, "We should tell them that you woke up again!"

"Oh, the doctors know I've been awake and moving already," Alice stated with a chuckle, "I was up all morning before taking a small nap not that long ago. You were the one that's been asleep this whole time until now, Double D."

"… I-I was…?"

"Yep," Alice said with a laugh again, "Must have been beyond exhausted from yesterday for you to sleep in all morning."

Double D could feel himself becoming embarrassed, "My apologies, I've never slept in for that long before…"

"Well, there's a first time for everything!" Alice replied.

The two teens noticed how quiet the room became once they stopped talking. Double D and Alice began to look at each other before realizing what they were doing. Alice tried to look away once she noticed, but Double D did not; he kept his eyes locked on her.

'Oh my god, I never noticed how bright his eyes are…' Alice thought to herself, glancing away while closing her eyes, 'Were they always that green?'

"Alice."

Alice suddenly gasped as she turned to her left. Double D was now sitting next to her on her hospital bed, "Can I talk to you about something? It's… kind of important."

Alice nodded her head in nervousness, already feeling the butterflies in her stomach.

"When the four of us were taken yesterday, did you notice that Mr. Fierro was treating me differently compared to the rest of you?" Double D began to ask Alice, "A-As it turns out… Mr. Fierro took me directly to Mr. Corvin. That's when they told me…" he lowered his head to the floor, "Mr. Corvin revealed to me that my father was his brother who had run away years ago with my mother, making me his nephew by blood. He had my father and mother killed in that same house fire for trying to have a normal life away from him," he clenched his fists in anger, "A-And yet he still had the gall to ask me to be a part of his awful business; even bargaining with me that he would keep you safe if I said yes!"

Alice widened her eyes in shock at what Double D was telling her.

"I refused his offer, of course. I know better than to trust a man like him…" he raised his head to look straight ahead of him, "That's when he ordered Mr. Fierro to take me away to 'reenact' the night my parents died; by throwing me into that burning warehouse you saved me from."

There was a heavy silence between the two teens.

"I… wanted to thank you again," Double D continued to say, "When Mr. Fierro locked me inside the warehouse to burn it, I… I had already given up, not even attempting to try and escape from what was going on," he then turned to Alice with a warm smile, "But then I saw you run over to me, helping me get out when I became too weak to do so."

Double D began to lift his right hand slightly but quickly placed it back down beside him, "You saved my life, Alice. Thank you."

Alice looked at Double D's hand before he retracted it; she had a feeling about what he wanted to do but decided against it. She blushed a very deep red before turning to face him and, before she realized what she was doing, Alice quickly lifted her right hand to his face, leaning towards him before forcefully pressing her lips against his.

Double D's eyes snapped open as he felt himself being pushed onto the bed they were sitting on, lying on his back. His face was blushing red as well when he noticed that Alice was still leaning over him, gently kissing him now instead of passionately as she had done a second ago. Before he could stop and think about this situation in any rational manner (or tell her to stop), Double D closed his eyes, responding to Alice with a deep kiss of his own as he held her, letting Alice stay on top of him as they both made out. They stayed like this for a minute before finally stopping, continuing to look at each other's eyes from their positions.

That's when Alice noticed what kind of position they were in before widening her eyes in horror; she was not wearing a bra right now under her hospital gown due to just waking back up! Alice yelped as she backed away from Double D, who also had to get up from where he was lying down. Double D backed away from her slightly from what happened, gasping as he did.

Their hearts were beating so fast from what they did, "I-I'M SO SORRY!" They both shouted as each of them became red in the face.

Thankfully, the only thing they were doing just now was kissing and nothing else, but it could have been a different story if they had not stopped themselves. The two teens stood in silence for a moment, scared of saying anything to each other.

'OH MY GOD WHY DID I DO THAT TO HIM?!' Alice thought to herself in horror, 'NOW HE'S GONNA THINK YOU'RE SOME SORT OF BIMBO FOR DOING THAT! WE'RE ONLY FOURTEEN!'

'Oh, my lord… I-It almost happened!' Double D thought with horror, just like Alice.

The pause between them was tense before Alice looked back to Double D, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that to you!" she began to tear up as she blushed again, hiding her face from him, "I was trying to kiss you on the cheek, b-but then I couldn't control myself! YOU PROBABLY HATE ME SO MUCH!"

Alice burst into a sob, crying from the thought that she could lose the friend she loved.

Double D widened his eyes at the last thing she said. He walked back over to her side, "Alice, please listen," he said as he tried to calm her down, "I'm not mad at you."

Alice sniffled as she looked up at him, "Y-You don't hate me for doing that…?"

"No, I don't. Eddy already told me about how you feel, and, well… If anything, I'm happy you did that, because…" Double D replied, sitting back down on the bed next to her. He paused for a split second before making a warm smile to her, "Because I feel the same way about you as well. I love you, Alice."

The tears in Alice's eyes began to form again at his words, making a very big smile to the boy beside her. They hugged each other tightly, "I love you too, Double D!"

The two teens continued to sit there in their embrace, never wanting to let each other go.

Author's Note (April 5th. 2024): Whoa.

That's it, just whoa. I have nothing else interesting to say. Not sure if the next chapter is the final one, but we'll have to wait and see.