"I hurt you in the worst way possible, but I still love you and that's why I ask for your forgiveness." -Unknown

A sharp pain spreads throughout my temples as I wake up. I still had the alcohol taste in my mouth and my head was throbbing. I look to the side of my bed and find some pain killers and a glass of water.

"Thank you, mom." I mentally state before plopping the two pills into my mouth. I swallow them down with the water which soothes my throat.

Suddenly the unasked question pops into my mind. How the hell did I get here? I tried to remember what happened yesterday but that just worsened my already bad headache.

"Sweetie, how are you feeling?" My mom asked as she walked into my room.

"My head is killing me but other than that I am fine." I reply as I run a hand through my temples. "Mom?"

"Yeah?" She answers.

"Who brought me home yesterday?" I ask.

She gives me that motherly smile before responding, "Your Prince Charming."

With a smirk she leaves me confused in my bed at what she meant by that. The more thinking I did the more my headache increased so I decided to just ask her again later. There's a ding and I reach over to grab my phone.

Ryder: How's the headache? Your mom left you some painkillers on your night stand.

Finally everything starts clicking. The only way Ryder would know that my mom left me some painkillers would be because he was the one who brought me home yesterday. That or he's some sort of creepy stalker that's watching my every move. My guess it's the first one.

Me: I feel like there's church bells inside my head right now, but with a nice breakfast I'll feel better soon 😊

Ryder: Good to hear, I'll see you at school bye 👋

I smile down at the message before typing away my goodbye.

Me: Bye, see you at school

My heart skipped a beat at the fact that Ryder took time to bring me home yesterday night when I was past drunk even though I wasn't his responsibility.  With a smile I head to my bathroom. I splash some water on my still semi sleeping eyes before grabbing my toothbrush with toothpaste and brushing my mouth as I washed away the alcohol smell. Once I was done brushing my teeth I go back to my bedroom and take out my clothes for the day. I put on a pair of navy blue high waisted jean shorts, a white spaghetti strap crop top, pink button up shirt, and beige wedges that make me look four inches taller. I apply some light make up and let my hair fall into wavy curls.

"Well you look cheerful today." Blake teases. "Is it due to a certain a dark brown haired, brown-eyed, pale, six foot guy?"

"Nooo." I lie but my smile gave up the answer. Blake raises his eyebrow and I sigh, "Maybe."

Blake chuckles before replying, "You know I envy you."

"And why is that?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because, although you two hurt in the beginning, what happened caused you two to fall in love with each other all over again." Blake states. "And maybe 'incident' is only making your love stronger."

He gives me a pointed look before walking out of my room leaving me questioning what he just said.

"I've never thought of it that way." I tell myself. Maybe Blake is right, maybe everyone is right, maybe my heart is right, I should give 'us' a second chance.

"You miss him and it hurts you not being with him." My heart points out and I nod in agreement. With a sigh I decide to head downstairs where a plate of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausages awaited me.

*        *        *

"So I was thinking we should go prom dress hunting this afternoon." April states as we walk towards the courtyard.

It was our free period and the courtyard was the best place to be right now.

"I don't think I am not going to prom." Emma announces and we look at her with questioning looks.

"Why?" Catherine asks.

"One I don't have a date and two I don't like anyone in this school-"

"Suuure." Hannah teases which causes Emma's cheeks to turn a bright shade of red.

"Fine," She sighs. "The one guys I do like hasn't asked me and I doubt he'll ask me after what I did."

"If you are talking about Parker, he won't judge you, you had a reason to do what you did and he understands that." I assure and she gives me a smile. "Plus, I'm going alone, too."

"Why do you have to lie like that?" Amelia teases. "We all know you and Ryder are going together."

I roll my eyes but smile. I do want to go with Ryder but I doubt he'll ask me.

"Shut up." I reply with rosy cheeks.

"So it's settled then, we are going to go prom dress shopping after school?" Alexia asks and we all nod.

"Let's meet up in the parking lot right after school." Nikki suggests and we all agree.

"Here they are!" Andrew announces before the boys walk out to the courtyard. "Hey babe."

Hannah giggled at something he whispered into her ear and I can't help but smile. I look over to Ryder and he catches my gaze which causes me to blush. I love him and I need to tell him, we deserve a second chance.

* * *

The bell rings and everyone stands up and rushes out the door. They're such animals! I quickly pack my stuff and had out the door but before I could reach my destination Amelia grabs my hand and leads me in the opposite direction.

"Come we need to find the girls." Amelia states excitedly.

I look back to find the brown haired boy walking towards his own car. I let out a sigh of disappointment as I trailed behind Amelia.

"There you guys are, hop in." Hannah states before we all get into her car.

"Are you okay Ash?" April asks.

"I'm fine." I reply with an assuring smile. She hesitantly let's it go before turning around in her seat.

It tools a bit of time to find a parking spot but once we did all eight girls hopped out of the car excitedly. We walked into the semi packed mall and decided to try out some boutiques near us first. We entered a boutique called Lusive and beautiful dresses were all placed together on racks.

"Hello, how may I help you?" The attendant asks.

"We are looking for prom dresses." Natalie answers.

"Well you have come to the right place." The attendant states. "Come with me and I'll show you our new prom gowns."

We follow the lady to the back of the store where there are even more beautiful gowns. The girls are immediately drawn to their dresses while I stand there still looking. Finally one light pink gown catches my eye. It was gorgeous. It had a silver cross cross design in the front and in the back.

"That gown is gorgeous." Catherine states.

"Thank you, yours is beautiful as well." I reply as I stare down at the gorgeous black silk gown in her hands.

"Let's try them on." Amelia announces as we each take a dressing room.

The dress fit me perfectly and it hugged me in all the right places, showing my unknown curves. We all steps out of he dressing room at the same time and look at each other in awe.

"I guess we found our dresses." Alexia announces causing us to laugh.

We go back into our dressing rooms and take off the gowns before walking back out to pay for them. Catherine's phone starts ringing while we are paying for our dresses.

"Hello?" We hear her answer. Her eyes become watery and her phone drops as the tears come out.

"Catherine what happened?" We all ask.

"It's Ryder, h-he's in the hospital." She choked out. "He was in a car accident."

I feel the world around me fall apart as I process her words.

* * *

I push the doors open as I run into the hospital building. My heart was beating faster than ever as tears poured down my face. I didn't listened to the nurses advising me to slow down, I-I need to see him. My feet came to a stop when my eyes landed on him. His skin was pale, bruised filled his face. And blood covered the white sheet over him.

I tried getting closer to him, I needed to hug him, tell him I loved him. The nurses pushed me away as more tears slid down my face.

"It's all my fault, I shouldn't have ended things, I should've forgiven him. And now, now I don't know if I'll ever see him again." I cried out as the girls tried to comfort me.

We were all seated down waiting for what seemed like ages. Blake had his arm around Catherine as Parker tried to console Emma. A doctor came out of the room they had taken Ryder to. His face was down as he ran a hand through his brown locks.

"Ryder how's my son?" Mrs. Benson asked, she looked alarmed as she stared at the man.

"He..."

•~•~•
Cliffhanger, again! (laughs evilly) So all of you must hate me now because of what just happened. Trust me things will get better, or will they? Guess, you'll just have to wait to find out. Also, I'll place a picture of Ashley's prom dress on the chapter the prom is going to be in. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter even though it was sad, trust me I had a hard time writing this chapter. Please vote, comment, and share.

QOD: What do you think is going to happen next? Will Ryder survive?

Thank you so much for reading. Adios my lovelies xoxo 💋

P.S.- Questions for the Character Q&A are still open so if you have any questions about the book, characters, or for me feel free to comment them or PM me.

(Ashley's Outfit)