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Dedication: FloralStyless for always commenting so much and voting! Thank you <3

Recap:

My cheeks feel hot as I blurt that out. I narrow my eyes at her as she takes my words in, her bottom lip trembling.

"Yeah. I know."

Silence presses heavily down onto us and I shift my weight from my right foot to my left.

"Well, if you ever want to apologise and start acting like a proper friend, you know where I am," I say firmly, before pushing past her and striding down the hall.

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"Ready?"

"Hell yeah."

I smile up at Miles as he shrugs into his jacket. He clenches his jaw and screws up his face in pain. I rush to his side and help his arm into the sleeve. Even though he is being discharged, he is still in quite a bit of pain.

Wrapping an arm around his waist, I help him walk down the corridor. Once inside the elevator, he leans onto the railing with a weak smile on his face.

"What are you smiling about?" I question.

"I'm looking forward to the next week," he tells me.

"Me too," I agree.

Due to the bad storm, a lot of places around town have been damaged, including the school. School is shut for the remaining week, to fix the damages. The school dance has been post-poned for a few weeks, which works out perfectly for me. Miles wasn't able to attend, but now he will be.

Considering we won't have school and Miles is in recovery, mum has offered him our spare room. Which is also really perfect for me.

I send a wave to the nurse on reception and she smiles in return. Once we step outside, the cool wind slaps us back into reality. My eyes look over the tree branches and leaves scattered across the road. People in fluoro vests and work trucks are idling on the side of the road, attempting to clear the storms destruction.

Luckily, our house seems relatively unscathed. Our pool ended up with more of a sticks and leaves ratio than actual water and a few of mum's pots cracked, but nothing significant.

"It was a bad one, wasn't it?" Miles murmurs as I make my way to my car.

"Someone said it was the worst storm we've had in ten years," I reply.

"Wow."

Miles gently lowers himself into the passenger seat. I lean over and buckle him in. He smirks up at me.

"I could have buckled myself in," he teases.

"Sorry."

"It was cute," he grins and I give him a sheepish one in reply.

After inserting my coins in the machine to pay for my park, I drive back to my house, having spent very little time there and majority of my days with Miles, cooped into his small hospital bed, watching T.V shows.

When we walk into the lounge room, I raise my eyebrows at the large banner hung a little unevenly across the wall, with Welcome, Miles! written in bold letters, balloons dancing around the words.

"Oh," he breathes, his eyes wide. "That's really nice."

I grin. "Mum goes a bit overboard. She's a big fan of banners."

He chuckles as mum emerges from the kitchen, holding a party popper.

"Hi!" she grins. "Welcome. Can I get you anything?"

"Oh, I'm okay. Thank you very much for all of this," he tells her.

She bustles towards him and plants a kiss on his cheek. She's been like this all week, getting overly emotional and weird. I roll my eyes and help Miles to the lounge.

"Look what the cat dragged in," Finn says with a grin, hobbling towards us, down to one crutch now.

Miles and Finn do the one-arm-shoulder-hug, before Miles plops back into the arm chair. Miles and Finn have slowly been falling back into their old friendship, which is extremely heart-warming to see.

"Yo," Jai greets us as he walks in.

"I come bearing snacks," Kiarra pipes up, wandering in beside him.

Kai slaps Miles on the shoulder as Kiarra comes to my side, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"What's happening?" I ask in confusion.

"Movie day at the Collins' residence," Finn announces.

Becca comes in shortly after with an armful of movies. She smiles at us, her bright eyes shining underneath the lights.

It takes me several minutes before I realise Alec is hovering near the entry way, his arms folded, looking torn whether he really wants to be here or not. I smile at him and after a long moment, he smiles back.

Jai sets up three mattresses, pressing them all together. I snuggle up to Miles on the lounge, Becca and Finn on the other. Alec sits with his legs drawn on the floor, a packet of salt and vinegar chips in his hand, while Kiarra and Jai are sprawled on the mattress.

"Guys, did you hear?" Jai asks us, rolling his head back so that his eyes sweep over us.

"Hear what?" Finn asks obnoxiously as he stuffs a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

"Bentley's roof came off in the storm. His house got damaged really bad."

We're all silent.

"So they have to move. They're going to live with his grandparents until they can rebuild," he continues.

We all exchange a glance.

"That sucks," Finn eventually says.

"Good riddance, I say," Kiarra shrugs. "I do feel bad for his family though."

"Me too," Jai agrees. "But I'm glad that jack ass will be gone. Even if it's just for a while."

"True that," Finn nods and Miles raises a thumbs up in support.

Becca presses play as we settle into a comfortable silence. The room is dark, the only light coming from the flickering T.V screen.

The the cool temperature and the drizzling rain, makes for the perfect movie day.

And having my best friends here, only makes it more perfect.

***

It's been three days of constant movies, cuddling and sharing endless moments with my best friend. What makes it even better is that my best friend and boyfriend are the same person. Besides Kiarra, of course.

Miles fingers lightly run through my hair as we watch the ending draw closer to another movie. I sigh in bliss. This has been so relaxing. Miles, me and time to spend with each other. It's exactly what we needed.

It's been fun having Finn and Becca here as well. Kiarra and Jai come over every day, which makes it feel like a continuous slumber party.

The credits begin to roll and I stretch. There's a knock at the door and we all exchange a look.

"Can someone who hasn't been bashed or has a broken leg, get the door?" Finn asks sarcastically when no one makes an effort to get up.

"Not my house," Kiarra pipes up, pressing her finger to her a nose, as a way of saying 'not it'.

"Well, I guess I will," I roll my eyes and get to my feet.

I pad to the door. When I swing it open, I literally flinch, stepping back.

"Hey," he says casually, as if showing up at our house is a normal thing to do.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I practically shout at him.

His expression doesn't change. "He's here, right?"

"What do you think?" I snap rudely.

"You've got some fucking nerve, mate," Finn says in a thick voice as he peers over my shoulder.

He must have heard my angered voice.

"Yeah, I guess I do," Eli replies. "How's the leg?"

"Fucking sore, thanks to you!" Finn yells at him.

Eli buries his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. He nods.

"Yeah. I'd imagine so."

Soon enough, the rest of the group have gathered behind us, all sending heated glares to Eli.

"Right. Jai, you hold him down, Miles if you let me have first shot, you can have the rest," Finn begins and I would have laughed if I wasn't glowering intensely at the scum bag of a human in front of me.

"Funny," Eli states with a pointed look, even though everyone here knows Finn isn't exactly joking. "I'm here to apologise for all the fucked up things I've done. I wanted pay back for the hell you've put me through. Now that I have," he draws in a breath. "I'm done."

"If that's supposed to be an apology, that's a pretty shit one," Kiarra says in a frosty voice.

"I spent a long time obsessing over ways to get back at you both. I chose two of the worst things to do and I thought I'd feel much better, but I don't. I'm just... sorry. For everything."

We all blink at him, silent.

"It won't ever make things right. We won't ever go beyond this. I know. But I wanted to say it. I've also resigned from the football team, so I won't be around anymore."

None of us know what to say.

"So, yeah. That's all. I guess I'll see you around," he turns, before looking back. "Or not, actually."

He walks unhurriedly down our driveway. All you can hear is the sounds of his shoes scuffing the pavement and our quiet breathing. He gets into his car and calmly drives away, leaving us all completely and utterly stunned.

"Well," Jai says, rocking back onto the heels of his feet. "That was a bit unexpected."

Unexpected is the understatement of the century.

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I wrote this in like 30 minutes and haven't read over it, sorry about it being rough. The story is drawing closer to the end, but there's still a bit more to come! Thoughts on what happened?

Also, don't forget to check out my new story Darker Than Sin!

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