Blaze's POV:

The moment I got the phone call, it felt like my heart dropped to my feet. Scottie and I were out looking for Parker when we got the phone call.

We had gone to his house (the one we went to back in the beginning of this year), his favorite food place, and even the local indoor pool because apparently that's where he went to cool off.

We were both extremely tired and extremely worried about him. I had no idea where he was or if he was safe, and that scared me. I didn't want anything to happen to him.

Scottie and I had just gotten back in the car from looking for him at another place when his phone rang. He answered immediately, hoping it was Parker who called him.

Well, he was half right.

It was Parker's phone calling him, but it was not Parker on the other end. It was a nurse at St. Mary's Hospital, a hospital only a couple minutes away from where we were currently.

Apparently, Parker had been driving drunk, and speeding when he crashed into a tree. The police aren't sure if it was on purpose or accident, but either way he was in a very serious condition.

The crash had knocked him unconscious and unresponsive. One of his ribs broke and punctured his lung while the glass from the windows shattered all over him, giving him cuts all over. The worst of it, however, was his head.

The crash had knocked him out, but there was more damage than they initially thought. All the force caused something to rupture in his brain and caused it to bleed, causing serious problems. I don't really understand all the science of it, but I do know that he's now in a coma because of it.

And the worst part was, it was all my fault.

We rode in silence on our way to the hospital, but I couldn't stop myself from thinking that. I was the one who had caused him to storm out angry, to get drunk in the first place.

If I had just never approached him, if I had left him alone, then maybe he wouldn't be on the brink of death right now.

"Blaze," Scottie whispered.

I looked over at him and saw the bright lights behind him, telling me that we were at the hospital already. As fast as I could, I hopped out of the car and ran inside, eager to see how Parker was.

I almost ran into a nurse carrying a tray of pills on my way in.

The man working the desk where you go to find out information about patients was startled when I ran up, demanding to know what room Parker was in. Poor guy dropped his coffee all over himself.

I don't feel bad, the only thing on my mind right now is making sure Parker is okay.

"Listen girl, if you would calm down I could tell you what room he's in." He looked at me like I was crazy.

I took a couple deep breaths to calm myself before responding to him.

"I'm sorry, I just really need to know what room he's in. I have to make sure he's okay," I said shakily, trying not to cry. Scottie was standing right next to me, rubbing comforting circles on my back.

I'm sure he was just as upset as I was, but he was holding it in better. But, no matter how good he held in the pain, I could see it in his eyes. It was written all over them.

He was scared he was going to lose his best friend.

"Where is he?" I heard a lady shouting.

Turning around, I was bombarded by Parker's mother and father running towards us, the rest of their kids trailing behind.

"Mrs. Knight, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault, you can scream and hit me as much as you want, I deserve it."

She looked at me like I was crazy.

"I don't care about that, I just want to see my son."

The guy sitting behind the desk with coffee on him interrupted us again. "If you would all just calm down and quit yelling, you would've heard me tell you he's in room 305 on the third floor in the ICU unit."

"Oh thank the lord," I heard his father mumbled and then we all took off running towards his room.

His father was the first one thee, bursting in and running over to him.

"Oh my sweet baby boy, how could this happen to you?" his dad cried, grabbing his hand and holding it close to his chest. I saw a couple tears fall onto Parker's limp hands, something I had never seen before.

I know I've only met his father a couple times, but he seemed like such a tough guy that I never imagined him crying. Although, I guess when your child is lying on a hospital bed unmoving, anything is possible.

As I watched the scene fold out in front of me, I couldn't help but feel more guilty. This whole thing was my fault. I should've never gone to that party in the first place. I should've stayed home and watched movies the entire night.

Suddenly overtaken with guilt, I rushed out of the room. I couldn't be in that room anymore, the guilt was suffocating.

Even though his parents hadn't outwardly said anything, I know they blame me too.

Running out of there, I ran to the only place I could think of that would be empty at this hour, the chapel inside the church.

Now, I'm not a religious person, I've never been to church a day in my life, but I knew no one would think to look for me in here. It was the one place that would probably be empty too, considering it was almost 3 am.

When I burst in there, I was thankful that I was right. This place was abandoned at this hour.

I took a seat in one of the back pews and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. I needed to calm myself down, but it was with my emotions running high.

I tried to concentrate on only good thoughts and emotions considering everything that had happened.

It didn't work.

The bad thoughts continued to flood my brain, filling my mind with ideas that I knew were not my fault, but still caused me to blame myself none the less.

Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore and crashed to the floor in a pile of tears. They started streaming down my face, harder than before. My whole body was racked with sobs that I couldn't hold back. It felt like someone was ripping out my heart.

If I could take it all back, I would. Parker doesn't deserve this, it wasn't his fault.

Sure he was an asshole to me for years, but I was mean to him too. We were both calling each other names and fighting with each other. I didn't think things would turn out this way. Maybe if I knew, I could've stopped it.

I could've done something to stop him from falling for me, to stop all the pain he was going through when he crashed into that tree.

I felt even more guilty when I thought about the fact that he had to watch me being happy with his best friend while he was silently suffering. It was also worse because I didn't reciprocate his feelings.

I deeply cared for him, but only as a friend. I should've done more to help him.

I could've stopped him from drinking, I could've not approached him and left him alone, I could've taken his keys so he couldn't drive.

As I lay on the ground, my body slowly bleeding dry of tears and becoming numb to the excruciating pain I'm feeling, I heard someone's footsteps stop near me. I slowly looked up, expecting it to be Scottie, but it was Parker's mother.

"Mrs. Knight, I am so sorry. I never meant for any of this to h-happen," I hiccupped, trying to hold the rest of my tears in. To my surprise, instead of slapping me or calling me a murderer like I thought she would, she wrapped her arms around me and rubbed comforting circles on my back.

The whole situation must've looked ridiculous. Here I was, crying over a dying friend, and she (who's son was lying unconscious in a hospital room 20 feet away) was the one comforting me. It didn't make any sense.

"Shh, it's okay. Cry as much as you want," she said while continuing to rub circles on my back.

"Why are you doing this?" I sniffed. "Shouldn't you be screaming at me for almost killing your son or something?"

She chuckled lightly, but this was the first time I could hear the pain in her voice. She was scared that her son wouldn't pull through.

 "I would never get mad at you for that, it's not your fault," she assured me.

"But I was the one would caused him to get angry and storm out of the house. If I hadn't done that, he wouldn't be laying in a hospital bed right now."

"Listen, there's something you have to understand. My son made those choices. He chose to get drunk, and he chose to drive while under the influence. None of that is your fault, you understand me?" she told me.

I nodded my head hesitantly.

"Parker has made many stupid decisions in his life, including the ones he made tonight, but don't ever blame yourself for something he did. I know you're not fully going to believe me, but I wouldn't want something bad to happen to you because you felt like it was your fault."

I stayed silent, because she was right. No matter how many times she told me, part of me was always going to blame myself for what happened tonight.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

She had no legitimate reason to be nice to me. I was the daughter of someone she had hated for years and had bullied her son for years too. It was her son laying in that hospital bed, not me.

"Because, like I said a couple weeks ago. I'm sick and tired of the feud between our families, it's too much work to keep up with it. For a while, actually, I've wanted to reconcile with your mother, but she never listened to me. Despite her hating me, I've always had this feeling that we would be really good friends if we stopped hating the other."

"I guess that makes sense," I mumbled. My tears had long been dried up, but I still wiped my face anyways. Something had been tickling my cheek.

"There's another reason you know," she said while nudging me lightly with her shoulder. "Like what?" What other reason could there possibly be for her being so nice to me?

"Parker," was all she said.

My eyes widened a little bit. "Him? Why?"

"Because whenever you're around, he's happier. He's always been a happy child, ever since he was young, but for some reason whenever he talks about you, his smile is different. It's effortless, like he doesn't even realize he's doing it. At first I thought I was just imagining things, but then I caught him staring at a picture of you, and I knew. I knew that my son had fallen for you."

"It's incredibly cliché, but yet it still happened. The thing that surprised me the most was how long it took. I had always bet on you two being together by high school, but I guess I was wrong."

I was shocked by this. Not as shocked as I would've been if she had told me this a day ago, but still shocked.

Obviously I was aware of Parker's crush on me (it's literally the reason why we're all at the hospital right now), but I never expected his mom to know about it. That just goes to show how little I actually knew about him.

"When did-" I didn't get to finish my sentence, because a doctor come walking in, asking for Mrs. Knight. Apparently, they had an update about Parker.

We both walked out as quick as we could, eager for news on Parker. Her short legs (which are shorter than mine believe it or not), managed to carry her to her son's room faster than I could walk there.

The doctor turned to face us, a clipboard in hand.

"Are you Mrs. and Mr. Knight?" Parker's dad walked in right after us.

"Yes! How is my son? Is he going to be okay?"

"Well, I'm not going to lie to you. His injuries from the wreck are very extensive. It's going to be a long road of physical therapy ahead for Parker, but I believe he'll pull through. But, because of the stress and severity of his injuries, we had to put him in a medically induced coma. We'll know more when we wakes up."

"Do you know when that'll be?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. It could be a couple hours, it could be a couple weeks. Only time will tell."

I slipped out of the room after that. I knew his mother wasn't mad at me for this, but I couldn't stand to be in the same room as them. It was too much.

Instead, I sunk down to the ground just outside his room and put my head in my hands. I had no idea how to move forward now.

Someone I considered one of my closest friends was just in a major car wreck, and I don't know if they'll ever make a full recovery. And yes, I do consider him as only a friend.

It's weird, because now that I know he likes me, I'm slowly realizing all the subtle hints he left. All the times he talked about the girl he liked while looking directly at me, the way he looked at me when I was laughing at something he said.

I feel horrible for not liking him back, but this isn't some cheesy early 2000s rom-com. I'm not going to magically realize I have feelings for him just because he told me about his. That's not how life works.

I just hope, that no matter what happens in the future, that we'll always be by each other's side.

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