The sound of the heart monitor continued to drown out Demarcus and Maria's conversation, which included them bickering because Demarcus was hungry and Maria didn't want to leave me. I on the other hand couldn't eat until Drew woke up, but listening to them argue in muffled breaths was starting to get in my nerves.

I turned, "You know you two can go eat right? We'll be here when you get back."

Their attention settled on me, Demarcus's worried eyes scanning over Drew who was still fast asleep. How she hadn't woken up from all the noise they were making was beyond me, but I still refused to leave until she did.

Maria shook her head, "He can go by himself, he's a big boy..."

She was teasing him but I insisted, "Go. I can hear both of your stomachs growling like you haven't eaten in days."

They decided to stop protesting and go get breakfast downstairs, which was more of a relief for me than them. When I had called them last night thy had both rushed over here, getting news of Drew's condition and not wanting to leave until they at least saw her. She was put in a room of course, to stay over night and be monitored. I had stayed as well, refusing to leave he room in case she needed me for anything.

I watched Drew breathe deeply, her eyes calmly shut as her chest rose and fell. She had been taken into surgery last night, the doctors claiming that Evan had most likely damaged her joints and muscles inside the shoulder that had been shot. I didn't know exactly what that meant but I was praying that when she woke up everything would work alright.

Not only had I been completely worried sick over Drew while she was in her surgery but I also had been confronted by the police. I told them everything, word for word to make sure that there was nothing that would get Drew or me in trouble. They had left me within a few hours after, just in time for me to see Drew after her surgery. Although she had been asleep and I couldn't talk to her.

Last night had been the absolute worst night of my life, and I was still shocked that we had made it out alive. I had a feeling we would both have nightmares for a long time concerning this, and the struggle was far from over even though Evan was finally gone.

Evan was dead, and knowing that he wouldn't be able to hurt Drew again finally allowed me to breathe easier.

Of course the circumstances were hard, and I pitied the way he had gone about things, but there was nothing I could do. He had brought this upon himself, and all Drew tried to do was coax him down from his mental breakdown. It didn't work, and that inevitably led to his death.

Then I heard Drew stirring in her bed, my heart fluttering at the sight of her finally waking up. I watched those eyes flutter open, immediately scanning the room and looking for someone's presence.

When she saw me she relaxed, taking a deep breath.

I smiled, moving closer to her, "Hey, how do you feel?"

She swallowed as she came too, blinking away the sleep in her eyes. I listened to her muffled response, "I feel like my arms on fire... But other than that, great."

She gave me a weak smile, and I knew she would probably have to stay another night. She had lost a lot of blood last night, and I'm sure the doctors wanted to make sure she was close to one-hundred percent before they let her walk out.

I grabbed one of her hands, lacing my fingers in them as I answered, "Do you want your painkillers? I can call the nurse..."

She shook her head, "They'll just put me to sleep, and I want to talk to you."

I felt my face flush with color, realizing this was the most we had talked in over a week. Why had it taken Evan threatening our lives for us to see? Why did it matter anyway? We were here, together, alive and okay and I couldn't be more grateful.

I took a deep breath, "They said the surgery went well, but that the gunshot could've damaged your nerves. Does that mean...?"

"It probably means my arm might not function like it used to," she confessed, looking down at her patched up wound. She groaned, "It's better than being dead."

I squeezed her hand at the sound of that, not wanting to imagine what that would've been like. I couldn't fathom the thought of actually losing Drew, it would literally kill me. I pushed the image to the back of my mind.

I didn't know why I was suddenly becoming emotional, but I was, and Drew could most definitely tell. Seeing her last night, bleeding out and struggling to keep her eyes open had terrified me to death. It had taken everything I had for the past twelve hours to not break down and cry. I was exhausted, and I felt so weak from holding my shit together, but I didn't want to do this right now.

She comforted, "Hey, it's okay... I'm alive because of you, you know."

I shook my head, "You're in here because of me, Drew. I should've never led you to us last night-"

"And what?" She interrupted, "Have him kill you and then most likely me later on? You did the right thing because it was all you could do."

I took a deep breath, my eyes still burning from the threatening tears. I blamed myself for a lot of things, and of course I blamed myself for this, but I knew she had a point. That didn't mean it made this any easier, because she was still sitting here with a IV and a mangled shoulder. But it could've gone a lot worse last night, and one of us could've ended up dead, but we weren't.

We were finally safe, and that thought alone helped me pull myself together.

I bit my trembling lip, attempting to make it stop but the emotions were just all flooding out of me.

She squeezed my hand then, grabbing my attention, "If you wouldn't have distracted him, or pulled against him he would've shot me right in the head. I kind of survived because of your recklessness, actually."

At this I couldn't help but laugh, because here I was in a hospital room with Drew who was basically thanking me for being stupid. Maybe she was right, and maybe it would take time for me to forgive myself for what had happened, but at least I knew she didn't blame me. At least I knew she would be okay.

Her eyes never tore themselves off of me, "I kind of owe you my life now."

I rolled my eyes, laughing again, "Shut up, Drew."

"You don't want me to shut up," she teased, "we've barely talked all week. I know you have a lot to tell me."

My eyes focused on her, and even though she was kind of joking I knew she was was secretly telling me we would need to have the talk. Of course I agreed, but not here.

"Not now," I demanded, knowing the last thing I wanted was to have the relationship talk with her in a hospital gown. All of that could wait till later.

She just eyed me from her bed, as if she was debating on telling me something. I knew that look all too well, I just hoped she decided not to hold back.

Finally she confessed, "I want to kiss you, but I'm scared to move."

I laughed then, feeling the joy spread throughout my being. I got up and leaned over, careful not to touch her shoulder as I captured her lips in mine. It felt so good to kiss her, like I was finally coming back home after years and years of being away. The fire in my heart was finally ignited again, as if Drew had taken the flame whenever she had decided to leave. It had left me cold and hollow, but I was full again. Full of those sweet moments and fuzzy feelings she had tried to take away.

I pulled back, "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything," she responded breathlessly.

I smiled weakly, pulling back to see her face, "Why'd you come back, like when I called you? For my birthday and last night?"

She looked down, "Well, because I was worried. The first time you were hammered... So the second time..."

I shook my head, "Yea but you could've just let me be. You could've stayed away, but you didn't."

This time I saw a look move across her face, something she didn't look too sure of herself. I wanted to understand what was going on in her head, but it was Drew. Being patient has always been the key.

She pondered a little longer before confessing, "No matter how hard I tried or how much I distracted myself... I never detached from you. Usually it's always so easy for me to do that. Stop talking to someone, push them away and forget. I couldn't do it."

It started to all make sense, all the things she had told me when she left. It hadn't been her telling me those things, trying to convince me she would never be good enough. She had tried convincing herself of that, but like she said just now, she couldn't. She didn't have the ability to make herself believe those horrible thoughts. She tried pushing me away for my own good but inevitably realized she was hurting herself in the long run.

"I hate you," I mumbled, knowing damn well I didn't mean it.

"No you don't," she leaned her head back, a weak smile playing on those gorgeous lips.

"I don't, I hate what you did to me."

Guilt washed over her expression as if it physically pained her for me to admit that. I didn't mean to hurt her feelings with my honest response but she deserved the truth.

"Bree... I'll never be able to make up for what I did, but I want to try." Her hand squeezed mine once more, pulling my attention towards her. She sounded so genuine when she said it, and I knew by the way she looked at me she was still in love with me. She didn't have to say it.

But now wasn't the time to be talking about this, "It's okay. We'll have time to talk about this outside of the hospital."

"I'll be in here all weekend," She tilted her head, teasing me because she really wanted to talk. I did too, but I wanted it to be when neither of our minds were clouded with thoughts of last night.

Plus, I believed I needed time to think everything over.

I shrugged, "There's no rush, Drew."

As much as I wanted to talk it over right now I knew we couldn't. I needed time to think over everything and process the recent events that had just altered my entire life, not to mention Drew's. There were too many things going on for us to have any type of relationship talk, but I planned on having one as soon as Drew was released.

The only thing I needed to figure out was what I wanted to do before then.

~ ~ ~ ~

So the weekend passed with me practically moving into the hospital during Drew's stay, ignoring her pleas for me to just go home and get some rest. I didn't want to because I was still a little too traumatized from Friday night to let her out of my sight. I wanted to make sure she recovered without no setbacks, but most of all I just wanted to keep her company.

She was released Monday morning, instructed to wear a sling while her wound healed, which would prevent her from doing a lot. She didn't like the news, but there was nothing she could do about it besides live through it.

Wednesday morning I heard from her while I was loading up Jada's SUV.

I answered, "Hey."

"If I don't get out of this house I will go crazy," She confessed, provoking a wide smile to spread over my face.

"Well, I'm about ready to leave and haul my stuff into my new apartment," I momentarily wondered if she would like to tag along. With Jada booked all day with clients the drive would be quiet and I really didn't want to take the three hour drive alone.

"Can I come? I can't help much but I can always keep you company," I heard the hopefulness in her voice, as if she really wanted to come.

We hadn't had that talk I promised her either, so this could be the perfect opportunity. Although I had thought about it intensely since Saturday I still remained a little on edge about the whole situation.

"Of course you can, I'll be at you house around nine-thirty."

"I'll fix us coffee," she responded with a smile in her voice. I could tell she was excited to see me, which melted my heart a little.

"See you in a bit," I eagerly commented, hearing her goodbye and hanging up. Things weren't weird between us, which was a good sign, but I didn't know if giving her another chance would be worth it. I mean, I was moving into my new apartment after graduation, so I wouldn't be here in New York. I didn't want another long distance relationship either because my last one hadn't worked out.

Did I still want her to move in with me? Did my offer to have her help me teach continue to stand after everything that had gone down between us?

I continued hauling things into Jada's car until there was no room left, me climbing into the driver's seat and taking off towards Drew's. I was nervous to talk, but we needed to clear the air. There was an expectation for her to explain everything, but it was guaranteed I would feel different once she was sitting next to me. She could still light up my world without even trying, and that alone clouded my decision.

Although, there was no denying the fact that she seemed different. I witnessed it in the hospital. I couldn't pinpoint exactly what was going on but she no longer had that dark look hidden in her green eyes, like it no longer lived there. She wasn't hesitant, and she wasn't scared... so if she was different, did I want to figure out that side of her too? Did I want to give her another chance to show me who Drew could really be without Evan's presence?

What if she was a completely different person?

I pulled up outside her apartment, hesitating slightly before getting down. I became exceptionally nervous but was more than ready to see her again.

I knocked and waited for her to open. When she did it was like a complete stranger stood in from of me.

She was still beat up, but that was the only negative thing about her. She looked well rested, her hair fell down and was shiny, and her subtle makeup made her already glowing eyes pop. She was smiling like an idiot, one of those full-faced grins I barely ever saw in the time I had the pleasure of knowing her. She looked so different but the same all at once, like there had been this major transformation over the past few days.

I just stood there, dumbfounded, "H-Hey... you look..."

Her curious eyes just searched mine as if she was confused as to why I was acting so strange.

She just shook off my weirdness while handing me coffee, "Good morning."

I continued to study her as she locked her door with her free hand, following me to the car quickly. As much as I loved Drew before... this was different.

I answered, "Morning."

I climbed into the driver's seat as she snapped her seat belt with little difficulty, groaning, "So when's the official move-in date?"

"This Sunday," I confirmed, watching her reaction the entire time. Her mood dimmed a little, and I hoped it was because she didn't want me to leave so soon.

She nodded, "Graduation's this weekend?"

"Yes, thank God," I laughed, knowing I wasn't looking forward to anything but getting out of here. Then again as much as I wanted to leave I felt as if I would miss this place a little more than assumed.

She became silent, which was unnerving because she had seemed eager to be taking this trip with me. I turned towards her then, seeing her staring out the window aimlessly. Had I said something wrong? Had I not said enough? Why had her mood fallen suddenly?

I asked, "You okay?"

She shifted in her seat, hesitating to answer, "Yea... I'm not trying to be overbearing but I would like to go to your graduation."

My heart swelled, and it meant a lot to me that she wanted to come. I hadn't expected her to, but she already surprised me multiple times this morning. I nodded, "I'd love if you came."

She shook her head, "I don't have to, if you still don't feel..."

I reached for her hand, as if to comfort her, "Stop."

"I messed up," she confessed, pain laced in her words, "And I regret what I said to you. You trusted me and I ruined everything."

Her outright admitting this hurt because even though I didn't believe she ruined everything she was right about ruining my trust. I hated knowing I could no longer trust her one-hundred percent, at least as of now, but I didn't think all was lost.

"You didn't ruin everything Drew."

"I was just trying to protect you. I was so scared... but I didn't know what else to do," her voice trembled, as if she was trying to hold back tears. I hated knowing she still hurt over what had happened but all we could do was try to move past it. Of course it would take time to rebuild the trust but that was always salvageable.

I couldn't help myself, "Can I ask you something?"

Her eyes fell onto me this time, me growing slightly nervous under her gaze, "Yes."

"Would you have come back?" I questioned, feeling like I needed to her to say something to take away some of the anxiety in my heart.

"I would've," She confessed, fidgeting with her hands in her lap, "I wouldn't have lasted much longer without you."

My heart throbbed at the sound of that, relief flowing over me. It felt so good to receive the truth from her and to know that she wasn't throwing me away like Ashley. She loved me, and she continued to love me even when she left. She loved me just as much as I loved her, and that meant everything to me.

She broke the silence, "I messed up, but Bree I promise I can be what you want. I can't explain it... but I'm different. I've changed, and I'm free and happy, and I can love you with everything in me. I'm willing to wait, and if you want to have a long distance relationship I'm down for that too. I'm down for you¸ and no one else. I just want to be with you, no matter what the circumstances."

I took a deep breath, already knowing that this had been coming. I wanted her, I did, but she burned me pretty bad. It hadn't been intentional. She was terrified of Evan hurting me, so she thought pushing me away would be for the best. She made a mistake, and she recognized that, but was she ready to try again? Was I ready to give her another chance even though I was still recovering from the first time?

"There's just so much to sort through..." I caught myself saying as if that would make any sense to either one of us.

"You're scared," She nodded, looking out the window, "And you have every reason to be."

She was right about being different because in this moment I swore she wanted nothing more than to do this again. I felt the pain and desperation in her voice, silently begging for me not to push her away and start over. God, I did not want to start over again. I still wanted her, a lot, but fear was always just as powerful as love.

"I still want you," I mumbled, a tremble showing my fear of karmic repercussions. Like I was afraid of the universe becoming mad at me because I still wanted Drew, just like I always would. Even when I shouldn't because she had hurt me. But her motives were vain, completely selfless by doing this for me. I wasn't obligated to give her a second chance, but I wanted to.

Her hand squeezed mine, as if I had put life back into her by saying that, "You don't have to rush into anything... I can wait as long as you want."

I found my head shaking, "But I don't want to wait..."

I shocked myself by saying that but it was true. Drew's eyes remained on me but I refused to look over to her, nervous as to what I would be faced with. I knew I sounded crazy, but I didn't care. I didn't want to lose her, and I didn't want to start over, and I didn't want to wait any longer. I wanted all of her right now for as long as I could have her. The truth of that burned deep in my heart. It wasn't possible to deny my fears, but I couldn't deny my feelings either. I had never had the strength to refute them, so what the hell was preventing me from going through with this?

I confirmed, "I don't want to wait anymore Drew, because now you're ready. Everything had to get really bad before it got good, and I believe we're meant to be together somehow and some way."

I looked at her, those amazing eyes locked with mine in disbelief. She hadn't expected this, most likely because she believed I still hurt over her leaving. I had been, but she came back, and she even admitted she wouldn't have been able to stay away. We had been two lost souls when we met and being out of her life left me dark and empty. It was the same for her, so what the hell was I doing?

I loved her, and there was nothing I could be more certain of.

"I understand we'll have to work through things, and it'll be hard, but I want you. I want you to move in with me, and I want you to help me teach. I want to come home to you, dance with you, and just be happy with you," my voice cracked, emotions flooding through me. The need to tell her this burdened me for so long, and now I could finally tell her the truth.

There were tears in her eyes, which let me know hearing this meant a lot. She was biting her lip too, which had to be the most adorable thing ever because it meant she was holding herself together. I had never seen Drew so emotional.

She released a steady breath, "I know I can make you happy."

"I know you can too," I smiled, squeezing her hand in response. How I wished we weren't on the highway because I would pull over and kiss her so hard right now. The happiness of the situation was overwhelming, but getting this off of our chests meant everything. We were back in each other's lives, free from Evan's plague and the darkness that had once encompassed our entire relationship.

We could see everything in a whole new light, and I saw Drew as who she was meant to be all along.